The impact of COVID-19 and mitigation measures for public transport in Thailand

Abstract

This chapter highlights the mitigation measures for public transport in Thailand in response to the spread of COVID-19. Primarily, the Ministry of Transport was responsible for setting out the travel restrictions in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health was defined the details of travel restrictions implemented during the pandemic. The structure of travel restriction policies and its impact to public transport ridership from 2020 to 2022 are presented to illustrate the measures and their impacts, divided into urban and intercity levels. The classification was done to demonstrate the comprehensive effects of the change in ridership and the sequence of policy implementations. The chapter concludes with lessons learned for future mitigations, with a particular focus on the effectiveness and impacts of the Royal Decrees, which were the main legal instruments of the government, as mitigation measures, and their unwanted impacts in hampering public transport service ridership.