cotambear

How about running a baht bus service Kamala, loop of patong, kata/karon and back? The drivers would have to be armed off duty policemen, and at night the bus parked in the police station. All profits if any to the orphans. Never going to happen I know, but if it did it would be 100 times bolder than virgin galactic.

Report it to the Governor in any case. No time like the present.

I agree that the biggest villains are the `Dons` - the owners who pay the graft contributing to the predominant rotten corruption. But you are way off mark portraying the the drivers as innocent hard working artisans.

Tuk tuk experiences are the number one bad experience tourists complain of when visiting the island. Why is that? Most don`t read this forum so are unlikely to be predjudiced. That must leave their experiences - of being charged 1st world prices in a 3rd world country for a 10th rate service. Of agreeing one (overpriced) fare and being charged more upon arrival at destination, often with menaces. Of being driven by a surly drunk. Of being constantlty pestered while out for a leisurely stroll. Of having nowhere to park, and being attacked if they park in a public spot stolen by these thugs.

No one forces these guys to be tuk tuk drivers. There are plenty of jobs on the building sites where it seems only the burmese are prepared to get their hands dirty.

I really think they expect tourists to walk towards them with their wallets open inviting them to take what they want. When that doesnt happen, thats when they get angry and violent.

I think the lack of planned development, and the lack of civic society in the form of widespread corruption and the vice grip of local hoods like the tuk tuk cartel, is a real tragedy. I also think the idea of the paradise desert island (first half of The Beach) is a myth, akin to the myth of the rural idyll.

You can try it yourself by getting a longtail to abandon you on an uninhabited island. After 6 months on raw cocunut and mussels, covered in mossie bites and with a raging toothache, you`ll get that signal fire going.

'you get what you pay for'

Yet should Thailand ascend to a 'First world' country replete with 'back home' certainties (with prices commensurate to 'desired' nanny-state assurances) most rightfull whingers would likely head straight to the NEXT cheapest under-developed country (and continue to rightfully whinge)

Personally, I won't shed a tear for the demise of Phuket's and other Thailand locations' tuk-tuk cartels, but many here will be gone to 'greener/cheaper' pastures whilst still DEMANDING nanny-state 'perfection'

end of.

With Patong you often get first world prices - eg tuk tuks - with third world quality. Thats what pisses peeps off.

Could anyone please supply a list of the businesses that advertise with tuk tuks?

This argument is pointless unless evryone who has posted registering their shock at this cowardly attack and the tuk tuk extortion/lack of public transport CONTACTS TAT, THE WORLD NEWSPAPERS AND TELEVISION.

IF TOU CAN SPEND 5 MINUTES POSTING ON HERE SPEND 5 EMAILING A NEWSPAPER.

good stuff

krabi has gone up in my estimation now.

No public bus direct to patong, if you are lucky and a service has started on the day of your arrival, expect to see the driver being dragged out and beaten to pulp.

Shoot the real bad guy's!

Or boycott and ignore 'em...

If anyones thinking of `going postal` this is a sure way of becoming a posthumous hero.

I would also challenge the view that the tuk tuk monopoly `aids locals`. Firstly locals have no cheap transport options. Secondly those who benefit are only the drivers, their bosses, the police and other (rich) `influential people`, and possibly patong whisky. Thirdly many tourists resent being gouged and wont revisit, with their spends. Fourth, once the word gets round, tourists are put off coming in the first place. Five, a high proportion of tourist money spent on tuk tuks means less to spend in local businesses.

I've been going to LOS and Phuket for a long time, and will always like it there, although I must say it is not as user-friendly as it used to be. But, then, what is as good as it used to be? So I thought maybe it was just me.

But a friend of mine was there in Phuket and Phi Phi for several weeks in October. When I asked her how she liked her trip, she said she loved Tokyo, and liked Singapore pretty well, too. What about Thailand, I asked? She said that it didn't seem like a very friendly place to her. Sure, they smiled a lot. But it was her distinct impression that everyone there was only after one thing - money! No real sense of genuine hospitality or friendliness to foreigners was felt by her or her 4 friends. She also thought everyone was trying to overcharge them.

When I first went to Phuket 8 years ago, my impression was entirely different.

So could this have anything to do with the downturn? Sure, the people on the package tour with their friends, who are getting a good rate, and just want to party with their friends, and don't care to meet Thais or learn anything about Thailand, just get drunk with their buddies, may still find it is the same for them. They just want a cheap ticket to a party at a warm location with beaches. Is that what LOS is becoming?

If so, there is plenty of competition for that business.

Thats are very well, but does frozen co2 melt or vaporise?

I did say i 'kinda' see their point. A hotel providing a shuttle service for guests from say the airport to the hotel and back is one thing, but providing an actual 'taxi' service, whether free or not, to other beaches is quite another thing. Is the hotel's mini-bus licensed as a taxi for example? They would certainly appear to be operating as a taxi. So, yeah, if i was a taxi driver who had paid cash-money for a taxi licence, cash-money to sit on a taxi rank and all the other associated costs of a correctly licensed taxi, then yeah, i would see my arse if a hotel began ferrying its customers around Phuket.

The original thread was about companies like Siam Safari who do tours. This is not the same as ferrying customers around to different sites the customer wants to visit. I think the tuk tuk mafia have no right becoming involved in that.

I also think they have no right to become involved in violence against a legitimate bus service.

But i stand by my comments made earlier that they kinda have a genuine grievance when a hotel mini-bus is acting like a privately hired taxi cab.

That said, i still believe there are too many tuk-tuks. The numbers could be easily halved. They are a menace on the road, both when they have passengers, and when they are acting as rolling road blocks when touting for passengers. They are dangerous, have no seat belts and offer little comfort or protection for passengers.

I'd be happy if an Army tank rolled over the majority of them.

But the hotels are not operating a taxi service. If they were they would be picking up random strangers and charging them to go hither and thither. They are offering a complementary shuttle service as part of the package they offer guests for a pleasurable stay. They probably rightly figure theyll get more repeat business if their guests arent forced to use an overpriced, unsafe tuk tuk driven by an aggressive drunk.

“About 400 tuk-tuk taxis operate in the Kata-Karon area. Tour companies should use the local taxi service, as it is a job reserved for locals, just like massage, jet-ski and beach-umbrella operators,” added Mr Suparb.

In good company then.

But the whole thing to me is the attitude that we 'must' use their service.. Not that a business lives or dies on the quality of service it provides, or the price, or any one of many real world factors. No the tuktuks must get their slice no matter what they do, and they will blockage, trespass, and break the laws to intimidate and demand their protection money to ensure that their right to that money is protected. Its insane.

Its the very definition of cartel and monopoly that allows no one else to provide a better cheaper service. They really should let them form a blockade and take a dam_n earth mover and smash up a whole bunch of tuktuks, when the 'mob' complains arrest every one that wants to put up a fight and charge them.. This isnt about protecting 'poor thais' its about placating an ever growing (and backed by those with influence) mob. Someone sometime is going to have to take them on or next year its 500 baht per person, etc.

We think we`re being gouged (and we are), in reality it is the poorest thais who suffer most. Denied an effective baht bus service, they must when necessary use tuk tuks, Imagine paying a days wages for a taxi ride.

Rather than getting all worked up about two sets of prices, try thinking of it this way. The higher price is the normal price that everyone walking in off the street pays and the lower price is what the business owner gives to his friends, neighbors and family which is pretty normal everyone in the world. You wouldn't expect him to make a profit on them would you? If they charged local folks who earn a fraction of what farangs do the same prices, they couldn't afford to buy anything. If they charged farangs the same low price as they do their friends, they couldn't afford to stay in business because of the exorbitant rents they have to pay to serve the tourists. In Hawaii, where I lived for six years, everything has a lower Kama'aina price for residents. Everyone understands the financial situation and no one wastes their energy crying about it.

So do they charge `friends price` in non tourist areas? By your logic theyd be bust within weeks.

As a guesthouse owner, I would say that we don't double our prices in high season, we halve them in low season. There's a major difference.

That's what I was thinking. The low season rates are discounted, the high season rates are just full price.

This is a bit glass half full/half empty, but surely the `normal` price is the one that is in place for the majority of the year?

If times are that tough, then the reaction of most people would be to stay at home and have a couple of beers. People who want cheap beer will do exactly that. Scrambling for which bar offers the cheapest 'happy hour' is ultimately going to fail, as there's more to a successful bar than pricing. Staff, service etc, etc are what most people look for, not haggling over a 5 or 10 baht differential.

Spot on pal, advice to all bar owners, hire a nice waitress and charge 1Kb a bottle, place will be heaving.

I was present when a bar owner friend was talking to a thai builder. When they started to discuss price the thai started smirking, so the bar owner said `I`ll pay only the thai price not the farang price`. Why was the builder smirking? Because he was trying to CON.

Morever, discrimination in one field, legitimises abuse in others. If its ok to abuse farang in pricing, then why not in the legal system? Why not turn a blind eye to attacks/robberies on farang? Its ok to steal from them because hey, don`t we double the prices for them because they are all rich and can afford it.

Agree with 'Markg', bottom line is that there should be one price for all. If discounts are then offered through age/sex/occupation/etc, that's OK, but it should be up front.

That sounds like a bit of a contradiction to me. One price for all, except x,y & z, so it's not one price for all, at all. A product or service has a value, which is simply determined by the price people are prepared to pay for it. That may seem harsh, but it's simply the way it is. Think about airlines/travel agents that double the prices of flights and holidays during the school holidays, simply because they know that's the only time families can travel? What about the motorway services that charges £6 for a crappy sandwich, simply because they are the only person selling sandwiches for 30 miles? It's not quite the same, but it's the same principle. People selling things for a price people are willing to buy them for. It's not new, it's not only in Phuket, it's simply the way of the world. You just need to use your common sense to avoid it as often as possible.

There is of course a Hotel agency at 205/15Rath-U-Thit 200 Pee Road who advertise on the internet, sell the services of a large hotel on the same area, and when youturn up with your family, the hotel refuse to honour the voucher, and deny confirming your booking even though you have the hotels confirmation on theirown headed email, if you want to stay then you have to pay again !!after the drive down from Huahin ,we were knackered and after 2 hours dicussion we caved inand agreed to pay the extra, just to get a shower and a sleep, So I guess you could call that double standards

That's not quite the same thing. In this case you were blatantly ripped off. I understand your needs at the time, but I would never have paid them again, not in a million years. Did you ever get the money back?

Re airlines,you are confusing supply and demand with racist pricing. Airlines, hotels in high season, are simply responding to greater demand in certain periods in the business cycle. AFAI know, hotels and planes do not hike their prices solely for farangs in high season (though if you have examples of where they do, that would be racist pricing). Similary, bars might havw happy hours in quiet times of the day - so long as the price reduction isn`t thais only, that not racist either. Same with motorway services, they don`t charge black people more, do they?

Good call 'Cotambear'. For those people that expressed an interest in arbitrage, 'bonus scalping' or 'bonus whoring' as it's known is a great way to increase your starting capital. As 'Cotambear' said, make sure that you understand the roll over requirements, it's not as if they're just giving the money away without you having to put some effort in. There are lots of web sites around that list all the bonuses currently available, so you don't have to look very far.

On that `how to make money on tinternet site, give us a clue

On moneysavingexpert.com there is a substantial section on how to make money on bookmakers bonuses.

Be aware

a. It requires a level of skill and dedication, use of spreadsheets, laying bets, boredom in repeatedly placing small bets etc, to make it worthwhile money wise. However you can start small and learn this.

b. The bigger your float, the bigger the payoff (and inevitably some money is tied up in bookmakers accounts for some time).

c. To earn serious money involves serious time

d. gambling is illegal in LOS so you need to be discreet

http://www.megafishingthailand.com/content/view/73/40/

Bungee in Patong has a deep pond underneath stocked with many varieties - only 200baht IIRC. If you can get beyond the `unaturallness` of the fishing its a nice way to spend the afternoon.

Has anyone bought Timeshare at Absolute? Why is it a scam? What is the cost & what exactly do you get if you buy into this programme? OK the police have been taking bribes, what is new but Timeshare can be enjoyed by millions the world over. Replies from unhappy customers of ABSOLUTE only would be appreciated.

We purchased an Absolute holiday in Patong on Ebay was no mention of timeshare until we set foot in the resort, 7 days of pestering and earbashing,we started filming some of the so called interviews and touts on the streets, we gave it to a friend of ours with ZDF in Hannover ,who are hopefully going to use it in a documentary in the new year,instead of raising itself out of the ruins, poor old Patong is on the way out, what with pastyfaced british timeshare touts, and with loudmouthed ex SAS sportbar owners be they from australia or UK, patong is in a worse state than Pattaya ever was and then of course not to forget the Bradford connection(for the unknowing the indian and pakistani business people)who now rule the roost in patong, soon it will be like pattaya used to be, a refuge For AFL players ,club members and their families to go to to torment and annoy civilised people,We are looking for supporters and financial aid to build an aussie proof fence aroun d Isaan but thats another story I know its off topic but still phuket rest in peace, Nignoy

I`m from Bradford, so I`d be interested to know what you`re talking about.