The atmosphere was gloomy at the bus station in Krabi on Tuesday June 14. There were few passengers while bus drivers lined up several vehicles to Krabi-Hat Yai, Krabi-Nakhon Si Thammarat and Krabi-Phuket. However, some lines have already temporarily stopped their services because it is no longer profitable since the increase of the price of diesel to 35.42 baht per liter but also because of the decline in passenger numbers due to the health crisis. It was therefore necessary for these transporters to optimize the routes and to accept a trip on the condition of having a minimum of 3 passengers going to the final destination
Minibus operators on the Krabi-Phuket route revealed that the increase in the price of fuel has generated extra costs that they are no longer able to afford if they maintain the usual fare of 160 baht. Some trips have only 3 passengers, which does not cover the cost of fuel, which has almost doubled to 1200 baht on some routes. Users must therefore be prepared for a fare increase of at least 200 baht per person to allow the operators to survive.
