snake24

Man this thread is funny as hell.

I checked into this nice hotel suite called amanta on ratchada. So when doing number 2 realized that they didn't have the bum gun only TP and that sucks, i examined the wall closer and realized they somehow removed the gun fixture and also the opening where the water pipe used to be was also sealed up. Also recalled staying in the hard rock cafe hotel on pattaya in 2004 and they only had paper. Is it true that international hotel chains in Thailand like hilton for example that aren't thai hotel chains and more upmarket only follow western style bathrooms no bum guns? That's gross to tell u the truth.

To be honest, I'm not sure what you hope to achieve by posting photos. I'd just put it down to experience and get on with enjoying your stay. You know next time to not try to agree any fare in a BKK taxi.

Perhaps someone could seek some recourse for me not by refunding me the fare but by punishing the driver. Fine him for me. I have the taxi piece of paper and now i have his name on it too. I can post a picture of that here.

Indeed - but how did these prices of taxi's from other airports in Thailand get out of hand in the first place?. Its only 150B now - in 2 years its 400B over charge...

The behaviour you described is the thin end of the wedge... Lets not put ourselves in the line of danger, but at the same time we are right to throw a minor protest at this behaviour.. No Meter No Ride... Quite simple for the most part except when there is no alternative....

Wow slow down Nostradamus!

Bangkok would not be the first city (nor the last) to overcharge for a cab ride from the Airport to the CBD (used for sake of argument)

Taxis in farangland are notoriously and ridiculously overpriced! Add in their methods for over charging and it's all rather relative.

A cab fare from Swampy to say, I don't know, Suk soi take your pick, isn't going to cost you an arm and a leg - oh wait, is it too soon to be making wisecracks about old mate who got hacked up on suk earlier this year? - over, is it?

Yeah yeah in a perfect world a cab is going to run about 200-300 baht give or take. But really, for $3, what's to squabble over? The same distance back in farangland is easily going to cost you 3-5 times that, and you can generally argue and carry on in English about directions and routes (sic ) to take.

I've not once had any of this nonsense of meters and overcharging nor the cab attendants in cahoots with the cabbies to overcharge, meter's are always used, no questions asked nor demanded.

Am I just a lucky mark? Far from it! Do I tip Somchai at the end? Not really aside from rounding up my fare.

Mind you, despite being a frequenter of Swampy, I'm not always resorting to Somchai the Cabbie to get home but when I do.. I'm not being taken for a - metaphorical - ride...

That's not to say it doesn't happen, just in my experience, it hasn't.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

For me 200-300 bht isn't 3 dollars but rather around 5-8 dollars. I'm not from a farang counrty although my country's currency is pretty strong. 1 AUD is around 1.2 SGD so that would be like 6 dollars to me and in my country the amount charged for certain things is around the same as a farang country like maybe 5.95 for a macdonalds meal is also the same in farang land even though the exchange rate is different. I don't know if there's a term to describe this.

I wonder if it works on cathay pacific the flight j was on was pretty empty and it was so good entire row was empty for me.

All right I have uploaded the pictures of the drivers Id and how he stopped his cab to aid another driver with a flat while commendable for being a Good Samaritan he didn't ask for my permission and he didn't apologize for making me wait although he actually didn't need to since he already lied to me by agreeing to a lower price and then changing it later. I hope the pics can be clearly seen on higher res cos they didn't look too clear on my iPhone screen will use MacBook to check it later. I really should have done this earlier but too busy exploring bkk. I should upload the taxi note thing they give at the booths. I'll get around to it.

thanks for explaining its not really a big thing then

you accepted a negotiaged fare. Why are you whinging?

You should have gotten into a taxi which turned its meter on. End of story.

No he lied to me period

Sorry, but you haven't explained exactly how you ended up in a cab with a driver that already refused to use the meter. You balked at the first guy for a price that was 'quoted'? You should have insisted on the meter or have walked away, back to the desk. However, you NEGOTIATED a lower price with the second driver, who subsequently upped the fare? I assume that when you panned the first driver, you just walked up the next taxi driver (who will have twigged that you had been NEGOTIATING) and asked him, 'How much?'. Your error sir.

You do not need to negotiate ANY local Bangkok fare at the airport taxi rank. Even a fare to Pattaya has a published rate, usually (but not always) on a laminated card on the seat back. Yours was a local run to an area in the east of the city; half hour tops in good traffic.

Next time, you say to the girl 'Ratchada soi hah', she gives you a ticket and you follow the driver, he turns on the meter, end of. He suggests a fixed fare, you go back to the desk. Taxis from the airport into Bangkok are typically low drama unless you make it otherwise.

ok I walked away from the first booth no I didn't just approach the next booth or the next driver he would have seen me refuse the ride. I walked a few booths down I approached another booth person quoted 250 by him driver agreed but lied to me once inside.I should have insisted on the meter on hindsight but my mind was on other things. it's actually probably the first time I took a cab by myself without a Thai friend helping me. usually a friend picks me up our they talk to the driver on the phone for me and yes I have walked outfrom cabs before cos he told my fren on the phone he didn't want to use the meter. I don't know why I just sat in and just took it though this time around. j once had a driver give me the evil eye after he found out he couldn't over charge me. told him I would call my Thai fren on the phone and he backed off but was pissed with me. my mind was on activating ais gprs package. I took a picture of his id and will upload it here. oh yes since I just arrived from my home country I didn't have any 100s aft all. just 2 20s. the rest of my currency was all 500s and 1000s. the money changers where I change currencies at only give 1000 and 500s.

Hi yes I have the taxi quote paper how do I complain?

Believe there are many ways to lodge a complaint:

Call 1584

Use Android or iPhone app.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tsadvanced.bkktaxireport&hl=en

Use on-line form.

http://apps.dlt.go.th/1584complain/frmComplainCar-User.php?CarType=1

There may be more details on the slip of paper you received at the official taxi queue on level 1. Ive taken a taxi from there hundreds of times and never had an issue re: using the meter.

I found out that if you aren't from Thailand tout won't be able to download the app. even though I am in Thailand now using a Thai internet connection but my Google Id shows I'm not from Thailand and all the words are in Thai under the comments for this app I read that you must be Thai to submit a report cos they only acceptThai ids. I took a picture of the drivers picture and number. I hope this driver gets punished can someone here report on my behalf I don't mind doing it myself if they accept foreigners reporting it.

Asked my thai friends and they told me in english it's Buddha day but I forgot wat they call it in thai. Checked on wiki and its the 23rd of this day where they mourn the passing of king chulalongkorn but there's no festival tomorrow. What day is it tomorrow? Saw on tv they were giving gifts to the queen and the royals were giving bags of food to villagers.

you accepted a negotiaged fare. Why are you whinging?

You should have gotten into a taxi which turned its meter on. End of story.

No he lied to me period

Hi yes I have the taxi quote paper how do I complain?

so i listened to the advice given by the peeps here to take the taxis at the ground floor. They are green in color rather than pink. went to the first booth. cab driver told me blatantly 450 thb. The girl at the booth told me it's just an estimation but looking at the driver's face i knew he wanted to charge me 450 straight.

Went to another booth told him destination was ratchada. Quoted me 250, driver agreed on that yet inside the cab when he was driving he told me 450. No meter. Then after passing the toll booth on the highway he stopped the cab and helped another driver change his tires.

Reached my hotel. I thought whatever and decided to pay him 450. Gave him 500 thb he gave me 100 told me he didn't have 50 change and wanted me to change 100 into 2 50s. Bell boy didn't have change either so decided to do it at front desk. Went in and checked into room instead. He didn't come into the lobby and the bell boy didn't bother so i paid him 400 instead of 450 but i knew that's too expensive and i followed you guys suggestions take the taxi at the ground floor. A thai long term resident from my country told me to take the taxis at departure on 3rd floor instead. yes they do overcharge but you can change.

Anyway that cab driver was quite a scum for changing the price inside the cab although he was friendly.

Bit confused by OP now.

First the talks about ethnic groups and skin colors.

Then the mix with nationalities, and an example of hooliganism from a western country.

England and Scotland are 2 different nationalities, although under the same Kingdom, correct?

Hierarchy based upon where in the country one come from is just standard arrogance (Londoners tease northerners, NY'ers tease people from Ohio, etc). Not hierarchy.

Of course it isn't official. Lord have mercy it's just like blacks and whites in the US. On paper both are equal but everyone knows that blacks are discriminated and in some ways ppl see whites as higher up.

Rude and nasty people - let them all stay home or get killed/injured and sent home on a stretcher or in a box. Sorry, not nice thing to say, but my experience is just that. Thais are bad enough without the addition of Chinks.

What's up with the racial slurs? Seriously this is disgusting to say the least and not every chinese is from china and rude and nasty.

I have a few conversations on audio and i heard a number of different thai ppl say them. What does it mean?

Thaksin's ancestors came from china. King thaksin who freed siam from the burmese was chinese. The current thai monarchy have chinese roots too. Hail hail.

i would rather crawl 30 miles on broken glass than use a taxi,they are the worst of the worst,im always amazed how they think after a 18 hour flight i want to ''engage in a conversation'' at 3 am, as we all know they are working on the tip the moment you sit down,then when they know you are western out comes the ''eagles greatest hits''...i say ''dude its 3 am''...but we must keep one eye open on the road or they fall asleep at the wheel or they need gas or a new rad hose,then when we finally arrive at our destination,they think we are pals....im waiting for the all female taxi service...thailand would be paradise with out all the thai men between 15 and 50.....the end

any country would be paradise without the men around. What country do you come from? It would be paradise too if all the men in your country from 15-50 just disappeared i also wonder what happens to those below 15.

A Bahraini was humiliated because his wife spoke to another person. It's interesting that you've chosen to ignore the essence of the story.

These middle eastern scum "protect" their women by covering them up and everything and their women are not allowed to speak to other men.

Sure, also beginning in Sri Lanka, have to see if the government has the necessary will to keep a lid on it. Would you call the Thai Buddhist death squads operating in the deep South terrorists? Of course no comparison to the level of killings and mayhem being created by Islamic extremists in other parts of the world

there are thai buddhist death squads?

If the OP is interested in the hierarchical social system in Thailand he needs to do some research on 'sakdina'. Here's a start...

http://www.hrsolidarity.net/mainfile.php/1999vol09no06/1018/

So i am correct after all.

Original Thai's came from China?? You mean the Isaan guys originated from Yunan?

Yup that's right. Go search on the Dai ethnic group of china one of the recgonized 52 minority groups of china from yunan province. They celebrate the water festival and have similar practices to the thais. The dai are the ancestors of the modern day thais.

Go search up on mongolian invasion of china and how the minorities like the dai escaped china proper from yunan and went down into south east asia.

Utter drivel, are you seriously trying to tell us there were no Tai people living here before the Dai from Yunan arrived?

dai and tai are very different and also pls there is a difference in mass migration and small numbers living there. Lame.

Original Thai's came from China?? You mean the Isaan guys originated from Yunan?

Yup that's right. Go search on the Dai ethnic group of china one of the recgonized 52 minority groups of china from yunan province. They celebrate the water festival and have similar practices to the thais. The dai are the ancestors of the modern day thais.

Go search up on mongolian invasion of china and how the minorities like the dai escaped china proper from yunan and went down into south east asia.

Isaan people did not originate from the same place. The Thais used to nip over the Mekong River and kidnap Laos people to work in their rice fields - hence the linguistic and cultural similarities with natives of modern Laos (if that's not an oxymoron)

I don't mean issan ppl muppet.

No superiority comes with being "pure Thai" because a) it can't be seen on one's face, it can't be seen in one's surname, c) wealth/power mean much more (neither the Royal Family, major politicians, nor any major business dynasty I can think of is "pure Thai"), d) there are probably very few "pure Thai" even in existence -- and the ones that do exist are probably farmers.

Next brilliant theory?

Let's not try to be anal about it but the fact of the matter is there are different thais and some can be seen from physical appearance like the dark skinned issan ppl. You can tell them apart from thais from other regions.

and lets cut to the chase...where do "resident" farangs figure in the pecking order...just above or just below the Soi dogs ?

you trying to sound all intellectual, but not doing a very good job dear boy

Below the soi dogs though. That's payback for the slavery of black ppl. At least you can use the same rest rooms and get served in the same restaurants as the thais.

Original Thai's came from China?? You mean the Isaan guys originated from Yunan?

Yup that's right. Go search on the Dai ethnic group of china one of the recgonized 52 minority groups of china from yunan province. They celebrate the water festival and have similar practices to the thais. The dai are the ancestors of the modern day thais.

Go search up on mongolian invasion of china and how the minorities like the dai escaped china proper from yunan and went down into south east asia.