richard_smith237

Rather a toxic comment that... is any evidence or information anywhere that the parents earned money for allowing the child's organs to be donated and saving the life of another, or are you spinelessly highlighting a certain degree of vapid toxicity on your part as an unwarranted Thai-bash ?????

Loads of threads on this... the forum search itself is not great... But, if you plug the following into google you'll get a lot of hits. Google Search: 'Aseannow motorbike sell' https://aseannow.com/topic/1103983-selling-motorbike-while-abroad/ https://aseannow.com/topic/1278611-advice-for-motorcycle-change-of-ownership/ https://aseannow.com/topic/1293078-how-to-sell-my-motorbike-and-transfer-registration/

Props to the parents..... the selfless gesture of giving life... This needs to be given a lot more publicity across Thailand so that everyone knows that even in a time of heartbreak something good can be done. I wish this were automatic of all deaths (in any country) whereby donation is the norm and if any parent specifically wishes for organs not to be donated they have to make that additional request.

Same... in that area its a massive certainly that no taxi driver will use the meter... for what is usually an 80-100 baht journey they will try and charge 300 baht to my area... The amount is not a big deal, is the issue that they're all at it trying to rip us off... I'll usually object to 300 baht on principle and go for someone if they charge 200 baht. If though surprise a driver goes straight to meter - they'll get 200 baht and with that they are very thankful... I explain the tip is for their honesty not like other taxi drivers.

Over simplified again... But up to you if you are going to have a conversation from the street with a taxi driver. With the 'good taxi' drivers... You just get in and tell them where you want to go... its quieter inside away traffic or other noise so its easier for them to understand your direction and easy for you to hear them if they have a question. If you open the door and then ask before you get in... you are already sending the message to the taxi driver that its a negotiation.

What I meant, is that if you get in a fight with a local, more than likely the crowd will join in, against you, or you will take the blame for starting the fight. Best to avoid it. Agree... best to always avoid any form of conflict here... not always possible. I recall being in a nightclub here... Sat at the bar with a good Thai mate... (a Thai nightclub, not many foreigners there at all) Thai guy next to me suddenly punches the waitress in the face... before I know it, I'm on top of the guy, he's face down on the floor and I have his arms behind his back... Bouncers running over... I think I'm about to get a kicking. Bouncers take the guy outside... I go outside with him, I want to know who he is and where is friends are in the club. His friends are all wet and apologetic for their friend, turns out the guy is just a normal guy, the waitress (very attractive) had been stringing him along and he'd been giving her money, he'd had enough of being ripped off... That was that... I wasn't worried about the guy coming back and causing a problem with me... And that was my concern, the guy switches with big loss of face switches his attention to get involved.... I was fortunate.

Agreed - the primary reasons for having both a car and motorcycle here is so that I don't have to rely on someone else driving. Some say they wouldn't want to drive here because its dangerous - I want to be the one in control of my safety.

I agree with avoiding conflict - but disagree with the implication that you are always going to lose in Thailand as we are foreign. Thats not been my experience here.

Only once in another Country... in Abu Dhabi the taxi driver, upset at being cut up by another car, aggressively swept round him and slammed on the brakes in front of him... stupidly I lost it, smacked the driver across the head and threatened to smack the crap out of him... Told him to stop and we go out... that was that... But as it was Abu Dhabi that might not have ended well for me. In Thailand I was in what was a potentially dangerous situation with my Wife in a taxi... She spoke with the driver, gave directions, he drove off.... then asked again the destination, then he decided he didn't want to use the meter. Wife told him to pull over, he wouldn't... So I sat forwards (back seat) and shouted at him to stop, right now... he stopped and went to get something out of the centre console, I put my hand on the lid of the centre console, told my Wife to get out... looked him in the eye and told him to go.. (luckily he did... and the situation didn't escalate). Too many encounters to list which are negative.... a lot of these guys are unhinged... I sympathise because its a crappy job, but its their choice to do that job and its not hard to go from A-B and follow the rules... but while there are so many good taxi drivers there are also a larger minority who do give them all a bad name.

Thats a convenient oversimplification Mike... Its not always easy to tell if the driver is intoxicated, especially if intoxicated yourself. If a driver pulls up and 'doesn't' open the window, its usually a good sign, 'cos, if they pull up and open the window, its either to negotiate a fare, or to decide yay or nay. Thus, if a driver pulls up and stops (no open window), you get in an tell him the destination... all good so far, then he pulls off and instead of switching on the meter, states an elevated fare - you're already locked in and want the driver to stop. Or... Taxi driver appears drunk only once you are on your way... so you want the driver to stop so you can get out. Or... Taxi driver decided he wants to watch a movie with his phone on the dash... you ask the driver not to, he won't, so you ask him to stop so you can get out... It's not so easy as you point out to avoid the total ayhole of a taxi driver...

Except Thais are no strangers in this competition & have won before.., So, cool-runnings, not same, & yes, different!! Well done Thai artists…,

Yawn…. Attention seeking tiktoker fabricating stupidity…. Even filmed herself to remove all doubt of her stupidity, those around her will no doubt reaffirm her ‘efforts’ with “oh so sanook”…. Really no more to say here… Other than more Thaiger nonsense being regurgitated here….

Permanent disability or loss of organs... and you're covered up to 300,000 baht as per the above illustration, but thats the max, the preliminary cover is 35,000 baht... So, you're in an accident and you're loosing a left <deleted> and your right hand is severed at the wrist... you can guarantee that any medical costs are going to be more than 300,000 baht... .... not a lot of cover or compensation for someone who can no longer spaff over their subjects in bukkakesque splendor.....

I suspect 'bad experience' is a matter of perspective. I've had very few 'bad experiences' with Taxi's over the years that I write of as 'the guy was a complete ayhole'. But, I have had a lot of less than positive experiences that I write off as being part of being in Thailand and when thinking bigger picture is not really a big deal. I think for a lot of us it comes down to expectations. We're paying very little for a service, so expect little from it... But sometimes, even with those low expectations the experience is negative enough to leave a mark. Equally, so there are many positive experiences and I've had some great chats with taxi drivers. 'You never know what you're gonna get'....

Not judging you lopburi3... as long as you are happy, thats most important...

A complete lack of tolerance for cerebral incontinence...

Flippin ek... LL... you ok ??? (meant purely in jest of course)

..of their illegal, unlicenced service, as it was at the time. Correct - and Grab ran exactly the same service but were not targeted with numerous legal action.... Grab still run the same service with 'drivers in private cars who are unlicensed as taxi drivers'... which in some areas such as Pattaya, Phuket, Samui still causes a lot of conflict with local taxi consortiums. It is this selective enforcement which forced Uber out of the market and accept a 'deal'.... also removing competition and to the detriment of the customer (public).

Because they agreed to be taxi drivers.... Of course, not slaves, but they have agreed to provide a service....

The customer puts in their location and destination and is given the fare in the App. The driver knows neither the destination or the fare before he accepts the ride - this is to prevent drivers 'cherry picking' rides which is ultimately detrimental to the service on a whole. It is only after the driver accepts the ride that he will know the destination and the fare - this is sometimes when the drivers start 'playing games' if they are not happy with either the destination or the fare.

Well said. I agree... 'the phrase Taxi Mafia' is silly - no such thing. But, the service varies significantly, with Grab, Bolt and Flagfall taxi's.... All work at times in certain areas, all are flawed at times in certain areas. The issues we encounter and are then contested with the 'I never have a problem' type response exist because there is no constent enforced standards... I can try and call a Grab or Bolt from my House (moobaan) at 6pm and its a near guarantee that I can't get one, I'll have to walk to the main road and get a flag-fall taxi (PITA) - Wife usually ends up dropping me !!! I can try and Call a Grab or Bolt from lower sukumvit after 11pm, no chance, getting flagfall meeter, no chance, its fixed rate. I can get a flag-fall taxi from half way down Sukhimvit 71 at 9-10pm at night, no issues whatsoever, nearly 100% success rate with the meter and no issues, getting Grab or Bolt from there is also relatively easy. As far as the Bus / Rail system - Busses ???... erm, no, don't be silly (@lopburi3). BTS - most of my journeys are not along a BTS line and would still require a taxi - the BTS only adds convenience (for me) with very specific journeys. The issues as I see it... In other countries services such as Uber are 100% reliable. In Thailand its more 'hit and miss' becase of the practices the Op describes.

Thanks for the correction... As I understand it, it was a little more 'underhand' than the polished version we read in your link. But, yes, the crux of it was, no money changed hand, but a %tage was given. This was after numerous legal actions against Uber to cease operations.

The drivers accept the ride... then have no intention of taking the ride, so instead of contacting you and asking you to cancel... (which you can report), they just 'wait you out' and hope you will cancel for a different reason (i.e. driver too far away etc or something similar)... then they are free to take the 'next ride' in the hope its to a destination they prefer.

Agreed... but its also rather frustrating the frequency with which this happens... It seems that whatever happens with Taxi's (or similar) in Thailand there is a mentality attached resulting in so many own-goals with such services where lack of professional enforcement weakens standards at the cost of service to the customer.

Careful... as per another thread... Kwilco will be on here telling you there is no such thing as a scooter !!!.... its not a legal term...yadda yadda, yadda... As far as comfort goes.... Bigger wheels.. better suspensions... a number of bikes modify their suspension and switch it out to Ohlins (yes, even scooters)... but I suspect a lot of them are just 'fakes' and the change is cosmetic more than performance. I thought about getting Ohlins on my Vespa (as many seem to do), but its not really a 'performance thing' so the idea is silly. I liked the Honda ADV150... the newer 160 may have decent suspension... the ADV350 may be better still...