A community-based on-demand platform helps promote fairness and inclusion

Online food delivery and ride-hailing platforms have become an indispensable part of life. By ordering food online, we save time spent in the kitchen and get a tasty ready-to-eat meal without leaving home.

Ride-hailing services, meanwhile, provide a convenient solution, allowing you to Phail a ride anytime, anywhere. What’s not to like?

Global data and business intelligence platform Statista predicts the Thai online food delivery market will be worth US$5.24 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach $7.65 billion by 2030, growing by 7.85% annually through 2030.

The estimated value of the Thai ride-hailing market, meanwhile, is US$1.41 billion in 2025, with an expected annual growth rate of 1.70%. It’s forecast to generate US$1.54 billion by 2030.

But not everyone is happy with the popular on-demand platforms, which serve as a go-between for consumers and owners of restaurants, food stalls/riders.

Food delivery riders complain of unfair treatment by the platforms and bemoan the lack of proper benefits. They struggle with long hours, inadequate pay and limited rights.

Furthermore, they say, some popular platforms lack transparency on costs and delivery times.

Owners of restaurants and food stalls grumble about high commission fees, complicated payment systems and delayed payment.

Consumers complain about overpricing, the quality of food, excessive cost of the delivery and unreasonable pricing.

A community engagement tool

To ensure fair treatment for users, a team of researchers from the Institute for Digital Cooperative Economy (ICDE), the research arm of the Platform Cooperativism Consortium at the New School, which aims to promote the principles of cooperative business models within the digital economy, has worked with a group of motorcycle taxi drivers and owners of food stalls to initiate the community-based on-demand platform Tamsang-Tamsong.

Backed by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation and Chulalongkorn University, the initiative is promoted by a team of computer engineering students and alumni as well as the social team.

“Tamsang-Tamsong is not a profit-oriented platform. It’s a community tool that helps empower users, whether motorcycle taxi drivers, owners of food stalls or consumers.

The platform was created to help support local business activities and improve the lives of the local community,” says Akkanut Wantanasombat, who leads the research team.

This alternative on-demand platform also offers a learning environment conducive for the participating students to gain knowledge of economic activities that prioritize social profitability and values like solidarity, the welfare of people and the planet.

The platform was launched in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to widespread social distancing and lockdowns. The impacts radically changed consumers’ behavior, fueling the rapid rise of on-demand platforms to minimize exposure to the coronavirus.

The platform’s services started within the Soi Ladprao 101 Community, involving 40 motorcycle taxi drivers and more than 100 food stalls and stores, then expanded to cover many locations including Bangkok’s Samyan and Charoen Krung areas, Yala’s Betong District, Pattani’s Sai Buri District, Phuket and Surat Thani.

The two main services target food delivery where the platform connects consumers to motorcycle taxi drivers and owners of restaurants, and ride-hailing, covering transporting passengers and delivering documents or small packages and items.

They are provided within a radius of 3-5 sq.km.

Creating a fair, inclusive society

Akkanut notes his team has worked closely with members of the Thai Motorcycle Taxi Drivers Association and owners of food stalls to design the community-based platform that promotes the feeling of ownership.

“They spoke of their problems and expressed their concerns during our meetings. We listened to their pain points and what they needed to be part of the solution, making them aware that they are valuable part of the work and decisions being made,” the researcher says, adding that meetings among his team as well as the drivers, owners of food stalls and consumer representatives are arranged from time to time to promote transparency.

His team also established a clear pricing structure to promote fairness and calculated operating costs that keep the platform running.

Photo by Akkanut Wantanasombut

A study found that the costs for food delivery and motorcycle taxi services through the Tamsang-Tamsong platform is 6 baht per order, which covers the costs of software services — specifically, cloud service fees required to maintain and operate the platform.

“We figured out the actual operating cost and let the stakeholders – drivers, owners of food stalls and consumer representatives – discuss and find out how they should absorb the costs,” Akkanut says, adding that the mechanism helps foster collective ownership, equitable sharing of costs and profit and decision-making power.

The platform is operated through the Line messaging app, with administrators overseeing the operation and managing communications among motorcycle taxi drivers, owners of food stalls and consumers though a chat system.

It’s more than just a cool app

Tamsang-Tamsong is unlike any other online food delivery and ride-hailing app.

Motorcycle taxi driver Chalerm Changthongmadun who heads the Thai Motorcycle Taxi Drivers Association says there are no strings attached when working for the Tamsang-Tamsong platform, which give drivers the freedom and flexibility to work.

“We can work for the Tamsang-Tamsong platform and other popular on-demand apps at the same time as long as we can manage our time. There are no conditions,” he explains.

The Tamsang-Tamsong platform is clear about fare pricing that promotes transparency and accountability, Chalerm noted, saying fares for motorcycle taxi services provided by drivers of the platform are subject to the rates set by the Department of Land Transport, one km for 10 baht plus a fixed operating cost of 6 baht per order.

“We have no idea how popular ride-hailing apps calculate the fare rates. When demand for the service is high like during rush hours, prices increase. But in off-peak hours, the apps lower prices to entice consumers to use the services. Some consumers feel they are being overcharged,” he said.

Tamsang-Tamsong allows the drivers who use the platform to decide whether to decline work offer without penalties, Chalerm says, explaining that work assigned by the platform is based on a queuing system that links orders to the nearest drivers to cut waiting times, while popular on-demand apps are based on a rating system from previous customers which can penalize drivers who decline order offers.

“To me, using the queuing system is fairer. The rating system can affect drivers’ future work,” he said.

The Tamsang-Tamsong platform helps make the community more inclusive by providing fair access to job opportunities, says Chalerm, who is a member of the Ladprao 101 Community.

“The design of the platform is simple and friendly to users including drivers and owners of food stalls who are not digitally proficient. Tamsang-Tamsong is more than just a cool app, it’s a tool that can help improve career development and the quality of lives” he explains adding that many aging members of the community who are unemployed and retirees have become motorcycle taxi drivers to earn extra money.

Photo by Akkanut Wantanasombut

Chalerm noted that he and members of the association are grateful for the opportunity to take part in the design process.

“They bring us into the conversation, allow us to get involved in designing the app and problem-solving. They support us, guide us and give us room to make choices. That makes us feel like we belong and have a real stake in the app,” he said.

Akkanut admits that the community-based platform became less active in some locations when the pandemic subsided as it doesn’t advertise its services but relies on word of mouth.

“We’re going to make the platform’s concept more understandable to the stakeholders for better collaboration and greater productivity and efficiency and make it truly inclusive for all the stakeholders,” he says.