jaiyen

TOP TIPS FOR MAKING A SUCCESSFUL STRESS-FREE TAXI JOURNEY IN THAILAND

1. Ignore the taxis that are parked on the side of the road, just walk on by, they are waiting for the big ripoff fares.
   
2. Look at the age of the driver, if under 40 (ish) ignore them and wait for an older driver.
   

That's pretty much it. Works like a charm all the time. Based on my experiences, older drivers tend to be more polite, much friendlier, and not in it to rip people off. They are the ones I give my big tips to at 3am, not the <deleted> that won't even open the doors for less than 500 baht.

I partially agree with you. At the airport I go to departure level and look for a younger driver as I think he will have a family and wants to earn money. Never had a problem, they are happy to get a return fair, are nice to talk to and appreciate a good tip. My number 1 choice in choosing a taxi is to look for a very new car. Most times it contains a good driver.

Are you so poor that you cant afford a quick and easy journey by taxi ? Buses and trains are a real pain in the RRRs

Easy ! Go up to Level 4 ( Departures ) Go outside and get a Taxi. It is Motorway all the way, takes about an hour and probably will cost 400 Baht plus toll fees. Forget about messing around with trains or buses.

Why do they need 300 new buses ? are there really several thousand prisoners being moved every day ? no, but the backhanders are bigger !!

Now Thailand can be the HUB of deadbeats ! Oooops ! It already is but nobody here noticed.

I know its not on Phuket but there is a big paragliding school at Rayong. He may be able to help.

Email <removed> Mobile 0818152702

A further piece of advice if going to Mae Sot, make sure you take a passport or a good copy or Immigration police will turn you back. We came from Tak to go shopping in Mae Sot for a few hours, which is something we do on every trip, but without my passport, but this time we were not allowed to continue the journey after the 4th checkpoint, just after the big market. Apparently they are actually doing their job properly at some of the checkpoints and are checking all IDs. The police told me that foreigners were all being sent back if they had no ID.

A bit annoying, but if it catches drugs then thats fine with me.

For me the best Muay Thai stadium is in Chiang Mai. Ringside seats are 600 Baht for everybody. Have

comfortable seat and a table, waitress service for beer and good food too. The gambling between locals and foreigners is great fun ( 100 baht each fight ). It is a very enjoyable evening and the fighting is genuine. Everybody is friendly and they love the sport. One night there were 4 KOs. I have never

been to Lumpini. Would rather fly up to CM for a few days.

Here in Australia we are getting Thai rice with weevils in the bags. Restaurants are not happy !! Last year our local Asian shops stopped buying brown rice fron China as it was badly infested with insects. Thai rice is on the way out because of price, quality and weevils.

Centipedes ! You rarely see them but if you get bitten at night it will become painful. They are quite common in the village. I got bit on the hand by one in Bangkok and had to have a jab and antibiotics. My fault for leaving it for 5 days before going to a doctor, who was next door ! My hand was about 3 times normal size.

It may be a great ego trip for the rich Thais to own a Roller but is there any mechanic in the country capable of servicing such a car ? Definitely not in my village !! Oh wait !! a couple of drunks have said they can work on any car ever built. Problem solved.

@ Skorz

Thailand has a woman in charge of reform and look what a classic balls up she is making of it.

Funny how witnesses heard 2 transformers exploding ( What does an exploding transformer sound like ???? Bet nobody knows !! ) but the Electricity Chief can show them both working. Who is telling porkies ??

VBF

We often carry 5kgs of assorted fruit for the wifes parents from Perth. ( Apples, pears, cherries. ) Never had any problem at either end. BKK customs have never checked our baggage. I think there are restrictions on seeds or seedlings.

Could somebody explain how do they calculate how much a tourist spends ? They dont have a clue ! Nobody has ever asked me how much I spend on my trips to Thailand. Where do they get the figure of 776 billion ? I presume guesswork to make it look like it is increasing.

Could somebody explain to me why the control tower can only handle 60 flights per hour. What is their problem ?

When he has succeeded in this crazy task he could take an encore and make Thailand FLOOD FREE !!

The budget is not 5 billion baht, read again, it is now 4.998 billion. Someone has already taken their cut !!

I dont see any more comments from the dirty old men on TV about how beautiful you think she is and isnt it lovely to have a pretty Prime Minister. There aint nothing lovely about her now. She is a dummy not a honey.

I was told by a senior member of Thai Air staff that they would take up to 30kg which I have done. It is to help out the poor blokes that have to lift the bags, not cargo weight or fuel prices as stated by many other airlines. I once had 35kgs at BKK and had to pay excess of 5 kgs. Never a problem with 25kgs between Perth and BKK

Thais dont need a watch cos they spend a lot of money on a mobile phone and spent most of their time looking at it so they always know what time it is.

The Navy will supply 100 water accelerators ???? What the hell are they ? Not a load of little boats revving their guts out like in the last flood I hope.. and the Army will do the dredging ! Doesnt Thailand have any council workers to do the work of clearing the waterways. ( I can see a great cartoon coming up ! )

Buy the Lonely Planet Phrasebook and learn useful sentences first. That is how I started learning. Thai people have a habit of repeating what we say so you will hear it pronounced correctly after you have said it. Another great learning tool. If you have the phrasebook you can show the person what you want to say in the book and they will repeat it to you. Also you can sit in a bar, have a couple of beers, and a girl will happily help you with your learning from the phrasebook. All tried and tested methods.

would someone explain why I cant carry scissors or a nail file on a plane ( Too dangerous ! ) but I can carry a working lighter with fuel in it which can be used to start a fire ?

Naturally he must find the drug dealers first. How else can he dispose of the drugs that Police confiscate ? Next will be the crackdown on closing times in the bars.