They said those stations had not been equipped with the electronic data capture readers needed to scan the cards. The welfare cards have been introduced to allow poor people to make subsidised trips on government buses and trains. At Ban Nong Khaen Train Station in Uthumphon Phisai district’s Tambon Nong Hang, as many as 100 farmers from nearby villages have brought produce to sell on trains and at stations along the route everyday for the past 20 years. They said the universal free train service has been a great help in the past few years. Other farmers said they had considered finding new ways of making their living, because they could only earn Bt400 to Bt500 a day selling vegetables, which made the transport fee insupportable.

Source: The Nation Bangkok November 01, 2017 07:52 UTC