strewth mick

The inconvenient truth that Uber lovers around the world cannot see and will never address in their uber fuelled rhetoric...................

Uber as a business has churned through $10 billion in the last few years. They have churned through this money to get rid of traditional taxis which all uber lovers hate. Once traditional taxis are gone uber will put prices up so they will be more expensive than traditional taxis. Venture capitalists need to get a return. Just to say it again....uber have lost $10 billion by providing cheap and unsustainable fares.

I'm not ashamed to say that I am a neo-luddite when it comes to venture capitalist funded technology like uber. Its a planned transfer of wealth from working class drivers into the venture capitalists hands. A race to the bottom that all uber lovers are happy to support.

Delete the app......its not part of a society anyone should want.  

On ‎27‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 12:22 AM, crazygreg44 said:

we can call ourselves lucky to be able to just wave a taxi down at any streetside in Bangkok . . .

 

if likes of GRAB and UBER take full control, it could mean one good thing - no empty taxis polluting the air while driving around looking for passengers . . . . 

 

However then you need a lot of parking spaces for taxis-on-the-wait-for-an-APP-call 

 

 . . .and you need EVERYBODY to be equipped with a Smartphone, not excluding  Grandma & Pops

 

 .. i guess the future is not very far away 

 How do you think uber and grab cars find work? They drive around "polluting the air" the same as taxis.

On ‎16‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 10:40 PM, jacko45k said:

The guy will just have to return to being a regular, abusive Bangkok taxi driver then I suppose!

Why do people think using an app will be any different?

Now even criminals can drive you around in uninsured vehicles.

On ‎16‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 8:15 AM, The manic said:

In the UK the drink driving laws ultimately led to a massive increase in street violence,  muggings, sexual assault, rape and murder.  It also lead to the closure of thousands of small businesses.  Plus we lost a, fundemntal right under common law no to be forced to self incriminate. Oh BTW the people who passed the laws have chauffeurs and four 24 bars the HoP! 

Are you saying that there is no point having strict drink driving laws then? I don't see any enforcement in UK anyway. In 20 years driving there I have never been breathalised.  

On ‎16‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 6:44 AM, stanleycoin said:

How predictable  

I never said i disliked tough drunk drive punishment.

My point is,!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  oh well,   wasted on those who can't  see  the smoke and mirror tricks of Thailand trying to save face,  by not telling the truth about the driving and riding habits of there citizens.

Good day

Yes the truth is there are huge cultural problems on the roads which will take generations to fix. A part of the overall problem is drink driving.

The government and police don't know how to fix any of these problems anyway. 

On ‎24‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 9:24 AM, BangkokReady said:

I think you're confused about what a tefl teacher actually does. If you're working in an international school teaching British or American curriculum in English, then yeah, you would want someone with a PGCE and some experience. Which is exactly what they do have in those schools.

 

If you're teaching tefl in a government school, you are teaching really basic stuff. I doubt you even need a degree at all, epically seeing as a completely unrelated degree is all that is needed. PGCE would be total overkill and most tefl teachers would not need it. I'm not saying it wouldn't make them a better teacher, it's just a lot more than is needed given what they actually teach.

 

You're obviously free to think that every tefl teacher should have a degree in education, a PGCE and several years experience teaching in a Western school, but how helpful that is for someone teaching a class of 50 restless students "what did you do at the weekend?", I'm not sure.

 

Also, there's not much to attract a well qualified teacher to a job that pays a fraction of the wages they could get elsewhere.

 

I'm sure there are some awful tefl teachers, but there are some really good ones as well. I know it's fun for you guys to make out there all hopeless idiots, but they provide a service that benefits the schools and the students.

This person you are replying to probably doesn't know what TEFL is.

8 hours ago, shady86 said:

Infrastructure wise, Thailand is ready for 21st century. People and mindset, maybe still 19th century, not even 20. First step is reduce paper wastage.

Fixing the carnage on the roads will take a couple of generations. Be nice if they started to fix things within this generation of "leaders".

11 pages and counting of Brits defending themselves by saying other nationalities are worse than them.

1 hour ago, tingtongtourist said:

welcome to another 30 page thread of speculation and whining about how they dont want us here.

 

<deleted>, must laugh about the guys who believe Isaan woman can put some spell on a farang.

well maybe is true, they moan and groan so much about eveything Thai does to the farang

but still never wanna leave!

 

but in fact they will do anything, probably even kill..to stay in the kingdom

go figure

And of course the 30 pages are also filled with people like yourself whining about the moaners.

13 hours ago, Songkran18 said:

Uber most likely has been operating illegally  in every city until local governance caved in. 

 

I live in Miami Beach and use it quite often to cross the causeway and save on $30 parking at whatever event. I'll tinker with it in Thailand at difference scenarios.

 

BTW, my flight arrives 1140P on Apr 2., China Airlines flight from Beijing. I'm assuming immigration folk cringe when they service passengers from that destination. How bad is passing immigration and customs in BKK ? I will pass on Uber upon arrival even though 1000 sounds cheap via accustomed standards. I'm currently in Orlando and getting a $76 quote, 15 miles from airport. 

I wouldn't bother using uber from the airports. At both BKK airports they have well serviced taxi ranks. The taxi to my place in central BKK is 400 baht (uber 1000 baht).

There have been huge queues getting through immigration in the last year or so.

3 hours ago, captspectre said:

what's wrong with that? if it keeps out the trash I am for it!

 

What are the crimes being committed by tourists though?

Is there really that much of a problem?

On ‎05‎/‎08‎/‎2015 at 10:40 AM, kennypowers said:

All Uber rides to and from the airport are a set 1000 Baht fee. It has always been this way. I always grab an Uber; I mean come on, 18 quid for a safe ride to the airport in a brand new sedan with a decent driver whose taxi doesn't stink, is serviced and MOT'd and has a driving licence. A no brainer, as they say.

I've never had any of the problems you mention from the airport in normal taxis.

Also, plenty of stories about the same problems you mention in uber. For example, driver cancelling at last minute, driver doesn't know how to drive, car smells, etc., etc..

Can I ask how do you know the car is serviced and MOT'd here in Thailand? How do you know the drivers have licenses. In London for example, the uber cars are run down because the drivers aren't earning enough money to properly maintain their vehicles. Do you think this is going to be any different in Bangkok. Don't even get me started on insurance and criminal record checks.

I'm glad you like uber but I'm equally glad that I never feel the need to use them.

11 hours ago, kevvy said:

It amazes me how some people just come on this site putting crap on the country they wanted to live in.

RIP all those who died ..

 

Just because they want to live in Thailand doesn't mean they can't have an opinion about the horrendous state of the roads. I hope the Thai authorities read some of the reactions on here so they realise how backward Thailand is when it comes to road safety.

I hope anyone who dies on the road rests in peace too.

To answer the question....will Thailand tire of boozy Brits?

No way.

Apparently tourism is 15% (understated figure) of the Thai economy.....boozy Brits must represent a good chuck of this income so they must stay.

4 hours ago, MrY said:

 

 

It's inane because the headline and the article have barely anything to do with the video it's referring to. It's clickbait, and it worked. Create two sides (those who react to the article vs those that saw the video) and you get 28 pages of this foolishness.

Slightly entertaining foolishness.....or is that too revealing of the sad state of my life?

5 minutes ago, watcharacters said:

 

 

 

But whatever his country is, I wish I could speak the native  language as well as he did with his English posting.     I just don't get it but others may.

 

 

 

They are trying to say that Thailand is more developed than people give it credit for. They talk about the fact that many Asians now partake in tourism to Europe. Whilst demographics are changing I disagree with a few things this person says. The reality is that a huge chunk of the world are living on very small incomes which means they can't afford luxuries such as travel. This includes China and Thailand. They say there are more hookers in Europe than in Thailand....I disagree with this too.

1 minute ago, Fish Head Soup said:

Some peoples circumstances are better than others. That's life.

I know its opening a can of worms......but often the economic indicators people look at do not equal more happiness.

You just have to look at rates of depression and suicide amongst males in Western countries to realise this.

When will people start to understand more about what makes them happy rather than blindly thinking more money is the answer?

41 minutes ago, watcharacters said:

 

 

 

 

I'm not sure if I can agree with anything you've written.

 

I'm a little confused.

 

 

 

I feel the same watcharacters.....its not just you.

I would never take a Thai lady to live in my country. I tell my Thai friends that its not a better life in 'farang land'.

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

You can get a 30 day extension of your visa exempt entry.

Same TM7 form as other extensions.

Thanks Ubonjoe....legendary.

Hi,

I know this has been covered in the past but I'm hoping for up-to-date information.

I arrived on Australian passport without any visa.....so I got the 30 day visa exemption on arrival.

Can I extend this by a further 30 days? If so I guess I would just use the TM7 form as per extending the 60 day tourist visa.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

25 minutes ago, siam2007 said:

 

where are those horror stories in Thailand or nearby countries? I have maybe 150 rides now with both Uber and Grab, and did not experience one single "horror story". Not all rides were 100% perfect and in general Uber offers better quality than Grab, but if I have the chance between a regular cab and an Uber/Grab, I would always choose the latter if available. while most of my 1.000+ rides in BKK were uneventful (it helped that I lived in the suburbs and rarely ventured into tourist areas)  I had quite a few TRUE horror stories with regular cabs where I shit my pants, with drivers almost falling asleep (even on the Tollway from the airport), fighting with other drivers, irresponsible driving style or tampered meters. Night time is a lot lot worse, as I believe at least 70-80% of the cab drivers take amphetamines (watch their body language as they don't know what to do with their extremities when under influence of Yabaa).

And don't forget in some popular areas regular cabs with honest drivers that are willing to use the meter are simply NON-EXISTENT

 

I just don't know why you think the problems you mentioned like drugs or bad driving are less likely to happen with uber. The uber drivers are not trained or regulated in any way. But you seem to know it all so I'll leave this conversation now.