markg

went to phuket 2 weeks ago...

those SCAM taxi drivers who charge anything from 600 to 1200 baht (sometimes per person)

for a 3o min - 3o km taxi drive to/from the airport

where it should cost max 300 - 400 on the meter for the whole cab...

my wife asked 4 places in 100 meters from the hotel

hotel was 1100 for 2 persons, some (i really do not know why they can work this sceme) pakistani-indian so called private car business who tried 900 baht (kamala beach), a travel agency where we booked phi phi trip came with 800 and finally, the realy thai van (private van just for us) at 'only' 600 baht after negotiation ...

In fairness, i managed to get a tuk-tuk on Saturday night from Patong/Bangla road to Surin Beach/Stereo lab for 400baht which i think is a fair price for the distance. I speak Thai to them though which may or may not help.

I've also had the 'you can't park here' incidents. When i asked them 'why' in Thai, they melted away.

Funny that.

Regarding this thread. It is completely indefensible to attack someone with a metal bar for a parking problem.

I'm glad the gazette has picked up on this and this appears to have spurred the police into actually doing their job and visiting the victims.

The Governor of Phuket really needs to get a handle on this. It's gone on too long. He has made great strides into sorting out some of the problems of the jet-skis. Now let's see if his last few months in office can produce results in reining in these tuk-tuk criminals.

All it needs is an international newspaper to get this and it's yet more bad publicity for Phuket and Thailand.

A good movie will stand up on any media. TV, movie house, or computer screen.

If it's one of James Cameron's usual CGI self-masterbation fests, I'll give it a miss.

The only movie Cameron has made that I thought was excellent was The Terminator (the first one).

Don't let the hype/anti-hype put you off KarenBravo. Find 3 hours in your life plus 120baht and make your own mind up.

Personally, i hate overly-long movies, and i'm not a fan of sci-fi type stuff, but i have to say that i enjoyed every single minute of this movie. I think it's brilliant.

I wish i could have enjoyed it in the 3D IMAX but even without that, it was still superb.

Do any cinema buffs know why it can't be screened in 3d on the standard screen? Does it really need a special projector? I know that movies filmed on IMAX need special equipment to be screened, but is Avatar available in standard format but in 3D.

Years ago in the UK they screened 3D movies on the television ! You just needed the disposable 3D specs.

Gee! must have been a BIG speed boat to have 8 Passengers and 2 others. Maybe overloaded?????????????????????????????????????????

Er?What? Many of the speedboats around these parts are licensed for 30 pax.

The boats are about 35 feet long and are powered by 2 or 3 200+hp outboards giving them speeds in excess of 35 knots.

It's the speed that can be a problem, particularly if they hit something in the water.

Glad they all survived.

Yes. Stunning, thanks very much.

Can i make a couple of comments.

It would be nice to have a small text as to where each photo has been taken - maybe next to the current text of who took it.

Secondly, i guess it's probably a bit late in the day, but Thai visa could make a few quid actually selling this in paper format. Still allow free download, but maybe get a deal going with a printer or bookshop and sell it. A lot of people would buy this to hang in their homes.

Good work guys.

Tywais - if you get time, could you list the locations of the photos?

Of course you retain copyright, same as on any public forum. No forum can take away your copyright.

I believe actually that the answer is 'no'.

I was quite surprised that a few months ago, i saw comments and a letter in one of the newspapers which were directly attributed to a post that i made on here. No permission was sought from me.

As far as i know, Thai 'teachers' only need a Bachelors degree to teach. Well........they do at our school anyway.

So, here you have someone who has been through the Thai educations system of rote learning, singing, dancing and colouring things in, who then goes to university to do applied/advanced colouring in and dancing, who then graduates, and then becomes a teacher WITH NO FURTHER teacher training required, and the wheel has turned full circle.

The student has become the teacher and because he is a product of the system, he has no idea if his methodologies are right or wrong.

At our school they are strong at science and maths, but none of the teachers have degrees specific to either subject, nor have they had ANY specific teacher training. hel_l, even a 6 week TEFL course would be of some help !!

I swear that i have seen dissertations from two Thai university students, majoring in English, who had 'beautifully' coloured scrolls and cartoon characters on each corner of their dissertation paper...........the contents of both papers were broadly the same as both students had copied from one another.

Neither student could hold a conversation in English other than mundane stuff like where do you come from etc.

They are now qualified to teach English in a Thai school.

I dont expect them to speak perfectly, but i would expect them to have more of a grasp of the language than they graduate with.

I PM'd you the company i went with.

Their van is a Toyota Commuter which is about as big as a 'mini van' as you can get without it being a bus.

They drive pretty fast - but they all do.

If you want speed and comfort - then fly.

If you want to to save money then you have to suffer a little bit !

Where exactly are these bars? there is a fair distance between Yaowarat Road and Dibuk Road.

I would have thought that area would have been fairly commercial.

Yaowarat starts at the circle near the market & runs through to Sam Kong so it intersects Dibuk. Not sure if longtime popular hang out Timberhut is one of the places which has to close early. If so they have taken a long time to enforce the rules as it has been running about 15+ years.

Nah, these 'bars' on Yaowarat are kinda newish, they've been flourishing over the last couple of years. The law should be upheld, this is primarily a residential area and closing restaurants at midnight is quite right.

As another poster said - zoning is the answer. Tell 'em to relocate around Gor Tor Mor, that is ideal !

When I compare sitting in an air conditioned taxi at this price for a fairly long haul to paying 500 in a noisy open air tuk tuk from Kata to Patong there is no comparison. As long as those up the line continue to receive their "commissions" nothing will change.

I think it's an important point Valentine.

Tuk Tuks are not as safe or comfortable as a car - and should be priced accordingly. In Chiang Mai for example, when i was last there, tuk tuks were cheap and you saw loads of Thai people running about in them going about their lives.

In Phuket, tuk tuks are ONLY for tourists, you rarely see Thai people in them. Tourists like them because they are quirky and different. In CM, Thais like them because they are cheap.

What i draw from your comments are that tuk tuks have to be cheaper so that more people use them and make them a viable means of everyday transport.

Hands up how many people on here drive home when they've had one drink too many SOLELY because the price of getting a tuk tuk home, and then back again tomorrow to pick up your vehicle, is too high. Loads of us i m sure. As a viable means of everyday transport they are just too expensive.

Download Speed: 3397 kbps (424.6 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 406 kbps (50.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 95 ms

16 December 2009 06:28:18

TTnT from Phuket

However it is 6.20am here which is just about the fastest time for me. Not much traffic in Asia or Europe due to the time here and zones there

Speed has always been acceptable for me with TTnT as has their reliability. A couple of barely significant outages in 3 years. The modem once blew and was replaced in their shop immediately - no questions asked. I'm not a 'heavy' user - just an average email/surfer.

Are the above speeds good? I pay 750 a month plus tax = nearly 800 a month.

But my comment would be 'so what' ?? Its a free market..

If the tuk tuks were not such an over priced and unpleasant service.. If it operated at say bangkok levels of cost, if it was priced fairly and transparently.. No one would need to find alternatives and other solutions.

The problem is the cartel has allowed them to price to such crazy levels that the job is appealing to too many people, and in turn the viscous cycle of overcharging and over population exists.

Yes that is very true LivinLos and i completely agree, i'm just saying that a guy who bought a tuk tuk, paid his 'registration' fee, pays for his licence, pays for his space on a taxi rank, pays any other 'tea money' sundry costs etc may have a genuine greivance if another service comes along and uses the loophole of being a 'hotel shuttle vehicle' to offer what is essentially a taxi service.

We've gone off on a tangent here. I brought this up as another poster had said that the hotels were offering a 'taxi service'. The original thread is about the disgraceful behaviour of the tuk tuk drivers towards Centara, Siam Safari and Tourismo Asia.

Other news sources have reported that there is still no resolution to the original problem by the way.

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.

It's a fine line. Very fine line. If they are offering guests a shuttle service to the airport - fair enough. If they are offering guests a service which means the guests can hire the vehicle, request to be taken anywhere on the island - for a fee, then that is pretty much what we call in the UK a 'private hire taxi'. It takes private customers hither and thither for a fee and by prior arrangment i.e booking. They dont pick up strangers off the street.

I don't know that this is the case..........someone posted that the hotel do offer this service. If that is true then i feel it's a taxi service they are offering.

How can you see they have a point.. They only have a point if you think they have some god given right to the transportation business.

In a free market competition drives service, take away the competition and you end up with 500 baht costs to go a few kms in a open air noddy van.

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.

I stayed in Phuket for the first and last time last December at the Centara Karon Resort. Usually when staying on an island, I like to hop on the bus or songthaew and check out the adjacent beaches. The only way to do this was to get a bus into town and then back out. To travel directly to the next beach you had to use a tuk tuk and they all wanted 400 baht. The hotal ran a van to the next beach which was considerably cheaper (can't remember exact price), but you had to come back by tuk tuk (even though their van is making the return trip). The receptionist warned me that this could cost up to 500 baht. She said they had tried running a van service themselves, but the van was stoppped, the driver dragged out and severely beaten and the police would do nothing.

In the example outlined above, specifically, a hotel running its guests to the beach, you can kinda see that the tuk-tuk drivers have a point. Kinda.

There is a hotel in Cape Panwa which has no beach access, so provides a van service to guests to get to the beach. This i think is fine. But if the Centara in Karon is actualy running guests around the place when there is a perfectly good beach within walking distance then that is taking the pee a little. The tuk tuk drivers may have a point on this.

Still, no excuse for assaulting the driver of the bus - a fellow Thai national to boot. That's disgraceful.

I really don't think they care, do you think the tuk tuk boss just didn't realise that Central were a big company?

The tuk tuk drivers may or maynot know who is the money behind the Centara group, but if media reports are to be believed, the tuk tuk drivers apparently stopped the wife of the Vice President of the hotel being transported to work in a private vehicle and asked her for her 'travel coupon'. Seems that even the VP's wife isnt allowed to be picked up by hotel staff, but must instead be chauffeur driven in a tuk tuk.

I think, and rather hope, that this time, the tuk tuk drivers might have bitten off more then they can chew.

I particularly like the quote from Don Pomthem alleging that Tourismo Asia and Siam Safari are breaking the law and stealing income from tuk tuk drivers. Even if they were (which they arent) then you can't help but say 'som nom na' Don P.

The principle of this story has an interesting concept. If tuk tuk mafia are aghast at companies picking up guests and taking them to their head quarters or on a tour, then where do you draw the line? For example, many hotel groups offer a free transfer from the hotel. Should that be mafia taxed too? Pizza delivery? Mafia tax it. Tailor shop free pick up? Definitely mafia tax that one.

In fact, perhaps they should set up a tax collection point at Chalong and Karon circle and tax people riding motorbikes because they are 'stealing income from tuk tuk drivers'

Pedestrians too, obviously - tax them - they should all be in tuk tuks.

Cyclists? The audacity. Tax them.

Moving from one bar stool to another. Taxable.

Going to the toilet in a bar. Tax to get there, tax to get in, tax to get back to your seat.

In fact, we should all be in tuk tuks. All the time. I'm getting in one right now.

I agree with Pagalim. Has petercallen's account been hacked?

" I hope no one changes this post to another sight because this is about living in phuket not anywere else in Thailand and i am sure there are other people like me who go by the rules and are very happy living in phuket and people who read this site who are interested in living in phuket and want to know."

Is a rather strange thing to post.............it does sound rather childish and not the usual callen style posts.

Doesnt even sound like a native speaker.

If I lived here, I wouldn't be taking taxis, I'd have a car. That being said, I'm here for 5 months and still find taxis cheaper.

Most of the moaners here can only afford an old motorbike, so why are they complaining about taxi prices?

You're missing the point TROLL. This thread isnt about people moaning about the price of a tuk-tuk. It's about the tuk-tuk drivers blockading a hotel so that guests who have paid for a tour are not allowed to be picked up by that tour company. The tuk tuk mafia want a slice of the transportation action.

It isnt really about people who live here. It's more aimed at tourists. Y'know, the lifeblood of Phuket.

Do you have anything constructive to say or should the mods just ban you for being a troll?

Rather than sitting in a sports bar on his own, would suggest that your friend follows a team with many supporters here in Thailand and genuine contenders for the Champions League...Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.

ha ha ha. And your avatar is you at home watching the spurs i presume?! (And flicking over to check how United are doing)

I'm from the red side of Manchester and can't remember meeting any bitters out here, however i do see quite a few Thai's wearing city shirts. They have either been left here by despairing bitters, or were bought on the back of national pride when Thaksin bought city a while back.

All joking aside, you could also post this in the Man city section of the football area in Thai Visa which has quite a vibrant and loyal following.

Yes, it's always your fault if immigration do something wrong.

Yes, it's true. If you get the wrong stamp in, then it is up to you to deal with it. You get 30 days not 50. A friend of mine once got stamped in for 12 months and 30 days as they had set the year wrong on the stamp. Immigration in BKK actually telephoned him a few weeks after and got him to go to the local immigration to get it corrected.

I recently got stamped in for 30 days on my Type B visa which is too little. I went to immigration in Phuket and they immediately corrected the stamp, rolled their eyes at their colleagues on the border, smiled and wai'd me. No pain, no fee, no fuss.

A further update from the media.

A meeting was held on Wednesday chaired by Vice Governor Smit Parawatwichai, and attended by Centra Hotels group, Tourismo Asia (who bring in 120,000 Scandinavian tourists to Phuket each year), and Siam Safari.

In the meeting, Centara alleged that the president of Karon tuk-tuk mafia, 'Don' Pomtep Charmkawn himself telephoned them to say that his tuk tuk drivers would specifically block access to Centra for guests arriving on Tourismo Asia transport. Don Pomtep said that Tourismo Asia were preventing local taxi drivers from earning a living.

Police have apparently been called on several occasions to these types of incidents.

Seemingly, tuk tuk drivers have asked Tourismo Asia and Siam Safari drivers to provide them with a list of the people they are picking up from Centara. The very cheek of it.

HELLO !!!! This is a MAFIA and needs bringing to book. Like yesterday, people.

Do you really think that tourists want to become embroiled in this crap? Do you think they will come back? Y'know, there are other places in the world to choose from when deciding on a holiday destination.

120,000 people a year. A HUNDRED AND TWENTY THOUSAND!!! <deleted>!

Don Pomtep needs some serious investigation. It would appear from the media that he seems to think that Tourismo Asia and Siam Safari are just turning up at hotels in their busses and Land Rovers 'touting' for business.

In the name of all things holy, man, wake up and smell the coffee. When people book a tour, they book a door to door service in general. It is quite QUITE normal for this to happen. You get picked up at your hotel, do the tour, and get dropped off again.

Siam Safari arent giving people rides to restaurants in Patong or anything, they are taking them on a flamin' tour.

Don Pomthep, you are a short sighted idiot only interested in flexing your muscles to show your ill-educated staff how powerful you are. Well, when you've succeeded in driving off (no pun intended) all the tourists, what are you going to do then? I have a bicycle rickshaw you can borrow for a very nominal fee.

Pomthem, I spit on your tuk tuk and fart in your general direction.

What would be their next step, stopping all people leaving the hotel and giving them the third degree on where they are going?

It already happens. My Dad came here twice and stayed in 5 star hotels both times. He said what put him off was the hassle he got. Whilst sitting in the grounds of the hotel, by their pool, dad was constantly asked by hotel massage girls if he wanted a massage. Secondly, immediately upon leaving the hotel there is a 'pool' of taxi drivers outside. Dad was constantly asked and harassed about where he was going and did he need a taxi. It really put my dad off coming back here. He has stayed in nice hotels all over the world and said he just doesnt expect this kind of aggravation when he is trying to relax. I only post this story to highlight the differences between cultures and attitudes. My dad thinks it's wrong, the Thai management of the hotel presumably think it's ok. My dad hasnt been back.

With regard to comments about the Governor. Sad to say that i hear he has to retire next year due to his age - which is a real shame because on the face of it, he appears to be doing some good. Poll after exit poll, year after year, and the results clearly show what annoys tourists. Rip-offs, tuk tuks and jet skis. The governor of Phuket knows fine and well which side the bread is buttered on, and the cancer that is tuk-tuk rip offs needs cutting out. A poster mentioned tuk tuk prices in Bkk and Chiang Mai. In both those cities you will see Thai people in tuk-tuks. Frequently. It is rightfully seen as a mode of transport. Yet in Phuket, you rarely see Thai passengers in tuk-tuks. Here it appears to be seen as a quirky, 'cultural' mode of transport for tourists only. Like an elephant ride is.

It is doubtful that the tuk-tuk mafia; and it is a mafia, can be broken by the Governor in his last remaining year in office. There is just too much money involving too many people. The man would have a price put on his head.

My honest suggestions would be 3-fold. A phased out cutting down of the tuk-tuk fleet with appropriate compensation - in the same way fishing fleets were cut down in Europe to stop over-fishing. Have a set number of licences for all Phuket tuk-tuks and that then limit the numbers.

Secondly, put meters in them and let the Governors office set the tariff, (certainly in the UK taxi fares are set at local authority level - and i think they are in Bkk too?)

Thirdly, a small amount of education is needed. Lesson 1. How do you know when a 'farang' wants a taxi? A. because he is standing at the side of the road, looking at you, with his arm raised up a bit. or B. he is walking away from you, holding hands with his girlfriend and needs you to kerb-crawl along side him tooting your horn shouting tuk-tuk. or C. He has just got off his motorcycle and is stowing his helmet so clearly needs a tuk tuk for the last part of his journey.

Unfortunately, the Don of the Karon mafia has previously stated that 'there are not enough tuk tuks in Phuket' when they asked for the numbers to be increased, AND has said 'meters are not the answer'.

I'm not sure he has been asked about 'education' of drivers........

Interesting indeed. please keep us informed. Sound very extortionary to me. Maybe Tuk Tuk president has good contacts and he will get his money.

The ramifications for this are great.

Imagine staying at a hotel, booking a trip to Phi Phi where a mini bus comes and takes you to the port, and then the tuk-tuk mafia demanding say 500 baht extra per person for lost revenue...............

Visa run companies also pick up at hotels. Would they too have to be paid.

Incredible.

This was posted earlier but was removed by mods as it contained links and direct quotes to a site which is against TV rules.

I think the story needs exposure and have tried to paraphrase it so as to not fall foul of the rules.

An online news source is reported that there was a stand-off between the Centara resorts and the Karon tuk-tuks.

The gist of the story is that guests who book tours with Siam Safari based in Chalong, are then picked up from the hotel by staff from Siam Safari and taken to their base in chalong.

The tuk-tuk drivers got angry and blocked the hotel. The police were called and cleared them off.

Centara and Siam Safari have requested a meeting with the phuket govenor.

However, and this is where the story gets very interesting and quite unbelievable.

The president of Karon tuk-tuk, backs his men 100% and is insisting that each guest pay 300 baht to the local tuk-tuk drivers if they want to be picked up by Siam Safari.

His rationale is that if the guests took a tuk-tuk from Karon to Chalong it would be 300 baht per person and that money should stay in the local tuk-tuk drivers pockets because (get this) they look after the environment of Karon. Apparently.

A quite outrageous statement and claim. Does this strike anyone as being a Mafia style operation? Imposing a tax or levy against one company so that its guests can leave the hotel?

I hope the governor comes down very hard on the tuk-tuk Don.

Errrr, how can you say he's an "old chap" when the story starts out: "A 26-year-old man faces up to three years in prison...."? Or are you yourself a very, very young chap? )

Good point !

I should pay closer attention really, shouldnt i.