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"Need Passport to Top up BTS Card"


OliverKlozerof

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1 hour ago, Fex Bluse said:

While I can acknowledge your point that basically many forces conspire to make certain matters worse, I do not accept the "what to do?", fatalistic, spiritual nonsense type attitude - that is VERY common amongst Thais. 

 

Er, I was asking you opinion of what you think could be done at Asoke ????

 

Possibly I wasn't being totally clear, sorry.

 

Any ideas what could be done within the limits of the existing structures and the requirment to maintain pedestrian access across the roads?

 

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On 4/18/2019 at 5:23 PM, WorriedNoodle said:

I just topped my Rabbit card up from the mobile phone banking app. No need to queue up for that or show any ID as far as Rabbit goes.

Finally a sane answer. Going electronic is the best way to get around this kind of hassle... for me it was a relief from the last time I went to my bank with my passport as I was told to do after wasting 25 minutes on the phone the previous evening... only to be told 'sorry, wrong information - you must go to the original branch (30km away) on a weekday (i.e. take a day off work!) after their ATM rebooted and failed to spit out my card.

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2 hours ago, blackcab said:

Once that idea has gained acceptance point out they don't even need the ticketing machines as part of the process - you can add contactless payments to the entrance barriers.

 

Tell me about it. OTP and MRTA in cahoots with KTB have been talking about contactless EMV for a not inconsiderable time. Thus far they've wasted the work done for the initial Mangmoom and now are discussing Mangmoom 4.0 which will be EMV based. Sadly it's all talk-talk, no walk-walk.

 

All the reputable consultancies won't have anything to do with the game, and look at the bus payment fiasco for what happens with the less-than-reputable ...

 

We await a requirements spec. and budget. I'm not holding my breath.

 

Thailand needs a government agency with teeth and the willingness to use them, like LTA in Singapore.

 

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1 hour ago, Crossy said:

 

Er, I was asking you opinion of what you think could be done at Asoke ????

 

Possibly I wasn't being totally clear, sorry.

 

Any ideas what could be done within the limits of the existing structures and the requirment to maintain pedestrian access across the roads?

 

Move out any and every vendor and reclaim the space for pedestrian movement. 

 

Take the big, round set of ticketing machines - the ones directly in the way of the ingress/egress lines, and move those machines out of the way. 

 

Place a big screen above the now smartly placed machines that runs no ads and only instructions (in English, Thai, Chinese and maybe Arabic) for how to transact and the requirements (including the passport requirement for Rabbit Cards). 

 

Issue a version of "Rabbit Card" that confers the various benefits but without the ability make any purchase other than rides. Thus eliminating the ridiculous requirement to hand over passport details. Maybe call it "Little Rabbit Card". 

 

Make sure signage is large, clear and frequent and in at least Thai and English and done in a style to minimize a language requirement. Drawings, for example. 

 

Paint walking traffic arrows on the floor so that everyone (and particularly Asians) know where to walk. 

 

Consider inconveniencing people in a minor way by controlling ingress/egress to the platform by making entry one way/side and exit another. This, to avoid the issues of cross traffic from, for example, people trying to get out of the station and into it at the exact same spot. 

 

How's that for a start? Just came up with all those whilst sitting on the toilet. 

 

Easy stuff, and we didn't even get to the tech stuff yet. Low tech stuff anyone with a entry level education can implement. 

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Where would you move the machines to? Anywhere other than where they are would be good, but just where without compromising the marginal flow space. They need a clear 1.5m behind to access for service.

 

Clear instructions - Yes!

 

Baby Bunny - Could be an idea, but that's outside the control of BTS who only use Rabbit as a payment vehicle. There's also the possible issue that it will still come under the eMoney regulations. The jury is still out on whether the MRT and ARL cards will require registration in future.

 

There are (some) direction arrows already (mostly hidden under the teeming throng).

 

Access control is also done by the security staff on occasion, but usually only when there is a Technical Issue. Potential for improvement.

 

Losing the vendors? Yup, but it's not going to happen.

 

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1 minute ago, kkerry said:

Mangmoom 5.0

 

A card you can use for one thing and one thing only... travel on trains and buses... leave the retail payment options to Rabbit as they currently exist.

 

 

That was of course the original idea for Mangmoom.

 

And, you have to persuade the operators to accept it for payment.

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On 6/29/2019 at 2:31 PM, Fex Bluse said:

Move out any and every vendor and reclaim the space for pedestrian movement. 

 

Take the big, round set of ticketing machines - the ones directly in the way of the ingress/egress lines, and move those machines out of the way. 

 

Place a big screen above the now smartly placed machines that runs no ads and only instructions (in English, Thai, Chinese and maybe Arabic) for how to transact and the requirements (including the passport requirement for Rabbit Cards). 

 

Issue a version of "Rabbit Card" that confers the various benefits but without the ability make any purchase other than rides. Thus eliminating the ridiculous requirement to hand over passport details. Maybe call it "Little Rabbit Card". 

 

Make sure signage is large, clear and frequent and in at least Thai and English and done in a style to minimize a language requirement. Drawings, for example. 

 

Paint walking traffic arrows on the floor so that everyone (and particularly Asians) know where to walk. 

 

Consider inconveniencing people in a minor way by controlling ingress/egress to the platform by making entry one way/side and exit another. This, to avoid the issues of cross traffic from, for example, people trying to get out of the station and into it at the exact same spot. 

 

How's that for a start? Just came up with all those whilst sitting on the toilet. 

 

Easy stuff, and we didn't even get to the tech stuff yet. Low tech stuff anyone with a entry level education can implement. 

 

Thank you for this. There are many things BTS could do to improve the passenger experience if they would stop trying to monetize every last damn square inch of their system.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 6/29/2019 at 1:38 PM, ben2talk said:
On 4/18/2019 at 5:23 PM, WorriedNoodle said:

I just topped my Rabbit card up from the mobile phone banking app. No need to queue up for that or show any ID as far as Rabbit goes.

Finally a sane answer. Going electronic is the best way to get around this kind of hassle... for me it was a relief from the last time I went to my bank with my passport as I was told to do after wasting 25 minutes on the phone the previous evening... only to be told 'sorry, wrong information - you must go to the original branch (30km away) on a weekday (i.e. take a day off work!) after their ATM rebooted and failed to spit out my card.

Actually since that post of mine, my online Rabbit account asked for ID about a month ago. It's still easy tho, just sat and took a selfie with pp held up next to face within the app. All good to carry on topping up from the mobile phone again. I cannot be arsed to queue up at BTS counters.

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9 hours ago, Millian said:

Any one else being asked for passport every time they top up, even after registering it? 

 

I presumed it was a 1 time thing, but I'm asked every time now. 

 

It really should be just one time.

 

If you are being asked continually I would go to one of the Rabbit customer centres and moan (check the Rabbit website for locations).

 

The BTS reload machine is supposed to ask the Rabbit database if the card is registered, but it seems that if there are no comms to Rabbit it defaults to "not registered", the option to bypass registration is there for the operator to choose if he chooses to.

 

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