Ministry of Transport's M-Flow system

[Ratsima]

I wonder if anyone out there has successfully registered for M-Flow? From their website:   M-FLOW is an automatic Free-Flow system launched according to Ministry of Transport’s policy to manage and solve traffic congestion problems occurred on toll ways and motorways. (Great English there, eh?)

I tried three times but never made it to the end. The first time I was stymied by the requirement to upload a selfie of me and my passport. I was completing the registration in the car on my iPhone while my wife was driving. Not a great place for a selfie.

Next time I tried I had to start over. I uploaded the selfie but was again stymied by the requirement that I upload a consent form from my wife as she is the registered owner of the car.

Next time I had to start over once again but was halted by the requirement to upload the car registration. It was in the car at my wife's office.

In addition to uploading the above mentioned stuff, you also havre to upload three photos of your vehicle (front, rear and side views). There may be more.

Once again, the Thai government has allowed complexity and confusion to triumph over simplicity and ease of use.

I should add that my wife just gave up trying to register screaming, "You have to upload everything."

[buksida]

Sounds more like a state vehicle tracking and surveillance system than anything to do with easing traffic. I wouldn't go anywhere near it (not that we live near any toll roads).

[Ratsima]

We’ve just been through two tollgates on the Eastern Ring Road. It’s a mess. Drivers are confused. Signs are unclear. Jams worse than ever.

Thailand 4.0.

[Big Boy]

I don't know if it's connected, but about 2 weeks before Christmas I drove back from Chonburi. I stopped at 2 toll booths, but there was nobody to take cash (on both occasions I was lucky not to be rear ended). I was sort of worrying that I was going to receive fines through the post. At the final toll booth (never stopped there before) I was charged a mega fee (total of what I'd have expected to pay at the unmanned toll booths).

Very confusing, and rather than unmanned booths, they should have at least had some signage saying what was going on.

[buksida]

Call me paranoid, but with a smartphone app, GPS enabled, full vehicle details, and ID of the driver, the junta can track and monitor everyone that has registered in close to real-time.

Big Brother big time!

[HHTel]

Google maps is all you need for driving. Advance warnings of traffic congestion and will reroute if it can. Always up to date. Today I was warned of a 14 min delay due to congestion 2 km ahead and an option to reroute.

[Ratsima]

Last week we were driving from Rayong to Korat. Google notified of congestion and an alternate route. We took it, but a right turn we were supposed to take was impossible due to a new center divider. We ended up having to drive several K out of the way and eventually on to an interesting but very convoluted country road. While amusing, the alternate route ended up taking just as long as the the original congested route.

I have many similar tales of Google failure. Like when we mistakenly got off the elevated expressway onto the surface road below. Google gave us instructions as if we were still on the elevated road. We eventually parked the car and found a kind human to point out the correct way.

[HHTel]

That has happened to me when there's been a lower road under an elevated road. I'd imagine the 'eye in the sky' can't differentiate as the position is the same both above and below.

Something else I found interesting today is that it appears to have the service stations now in detail. For example, today we pulled in for the usual 'toilet break' and google told me "Turn right, then turn left after the ATM and rejoin the main road"
Like you'd be lost in a service station. Another new one was "If you're lost then press (something). This happened after arriving at my destination and going round and round in the multi story car park.

[VincentD]

Re M-flow. I was handed the brochure at the toll gate; they seem desperate enough to get this thing going that they were willing to forgo the toll (I use Easy pass). The lines are all painted, the Easy pass lanes have been converted to M-flow (cue more jams, as Easy pass has been shifted to share the cash only lanes).
Upon getting home, I read the brochure, and upon finding out that it is basically a NPR (number plate recognition) system, and that the only option to pay is to give them your credit card details, it got filed in the bin.
No way they will get access to that information.
Re GPS navigation, I do use Google, but typically only for locating a place. For the actual navigation, I use a paid version of Sygic. However, since they upgraded the maps a lot of stuff is in Thai and the search function is hopeless.
I downloaded a paid version of iGO maps as a backup as this has a decent search function in English, but the navigation function isn't as good as Sygic.
Note that both Sygic and iGO maps are offline maps, so once you've downloaded them you don't need a data package unlike Google maps.
And while you can download parts of Google maps before your journey, it is only a very small bit of it. Only useful in a limited area.

[HHTel]

I've used downloaded maps from google. It's always large enough for trips within Thailand that I've done. It says that the largest map for download is 120,000 square kilometres.
Then of course it's usable as if you were online.

[buksida]

Thailand 4.0 ...

M-Flow fines have motorists boiling
A consumer rights watchdog has urged the government to review the hefty fines imposed on motorists who fail to pay a toll in the new M-Flow toll collection system.

Many motorists were not aware they were subject to paying a fine 10 times the actual amount of the toll if they failed to pay within two days.

"It's a ridiculously short deadline," said Naruemon Mekborisut, a deputy director at consumer rights protection group Foundation for Consumers.

It appears the 10-fold fine follows the standard of legal punishment against defaulters of general debts, she said on Wednesday. However, it could not be applied in this case because the heavy fine is normally enforced on people who miss more than one debt installment.

"The fine they charge is outrageously unfair," Ms Naruemon said.

Low public awareness about the rule that motorists passing an M-Flow gateway are required to pay tolls within a couple of days is apparently the result of an insufficient public relations campaign to promote the new system, she said.

Getting an M-Flow account is inconvenient for many people as they are required to submit many documents. "It's like applying for a bank loan," she said.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... ts-boiling

Surveillance aside, the app could also be the perfect tool to rake in traffic fines ...

[handdrummer]

M is for merde.

[Nereus]

Highways ordered to return hefty M-Flow fines to motorists

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... -motorists

ransport Minister Saksayam Chidchob has ordered the Department of Highways to return the 10-fold fines it collected from motorists who failed to pay the new M-Flow tolls, and to delay imposing the hefty fines until March 31.

The decision follows an outpouring of conmplaints on Social media about the hefty fines.

A consumer rights watchdog has urged the government to review the huge fines imposed on motorists who fail to pay missed tolls under the new barrier-free M-Flow toll system within two days.

Many motorists said they were not aware they were liable to a fine 10 times the actual toll if they failed to pay within two days.

The Highways Department on Thursday issued a statement saying the transport minister was aware of the impact of the huge fine.

It applies to motorists who fail to pay when they use the new barrier-free M-Flow lanes at tollgates at Thanaburi and Thap Chang on Motorway No 9 (Bang Pa-in-Bang Phli ring road), starting from Feb 15.

Mr Saksayam ordered the department take the following steps:

- To delay collection of the 10-fold fine imposed on motorists who have not yet registered for the new M-Flow system but used the lanes over the past week. Imposition of fines is delayed until March 31;

- To return the fines of all motorists who have paid the fines; and

- Tackle problems that caused inconvenience to motorists and launch an awarness campaign on how to use of the M-Flow system.

The department urged motorists to register for the M-Flow system via Line OA via @mflowthai. For further details, people can phone its call centre 1586.

[Ratsima]

We had the misfortune to drive the Eastern Ring Road (ถนน กาญจนาภิเษก) twice over the last few days. The M-Flow system has made an absolute mess of the tollgates. As mentioned, there is now only one lane for M-Pass/Easy-Pass users. It is not clear which lane that is until you get close to the toll booth causing a lot of last-minute lane changes. There is now no advantage to using either of these as those lanes are just as long as the cash lanes. The three or four M-Flow lanes are mostly empty as dozens of cops watch on. What a cockup.

[Ratsima]

My wife and a colleague drove back and forth from Korat to Chonburi on Saturday via the Eastern Ring Road (กาญจนาภิเษก). The colleague had registered his vehicle with M-Flow. The M-Flow lanes were quick and easy, but the cash/automatic (M-Pass and Easy Pass) lanes were still chaotic and massively congested.