Thai taxi drivers are the worst! No hating. Real life experience

[Hiro357]

Having arrived in Bangkok a while ago, I have already had several TERRIBLE experience with the Thai taxi drivers. Is it me or do they never know how to get to the destination? It happens to me almost every time. Taxis in some countries such as Japan use GPS to help them navigate. And you could rate their service afterwards. However the Thai ones are complete out of order! Once I spent 20 Baht for a motorbike ride to a nearby mall. And ended up spending 100 Baht on my cab ride back because the driver didn't know the way! But I already took a screenshot of the map with Thai road names and everything and showed it to him. He literally took me in circles. I was gutted not for the money but for the way they have been treating me, a tourist(I'm Japanese) to scam money off of. 

 

The other day I had to move to a new hotel. The driver was very unpleasant even though I was polite the whole time. When reaching the destination, he literally lifted my luggages and threw them off the cab while mouthing off in Thai! I didn't even do a thing to piss him off.

 

Another thing I have noticed is that they never want to give you change. Sometimes they will give you however much change they feel like. They pretended they didn't understand.

 

Last thing. The driver who took me from the airport to my hotel( I got the number from the airport which appointed me to a cab standing by), insisted in charging me 50 Baht(or another amount i can't remember) more. And kept pointed at the ticket saying it should be that way. I already paid for the toll fares proir btw. In the end I gave up and let him keep the money. Then he kept saying I was from China as if that was some kind of insult?!

 

I'm really disgusted by the way people treat tourists here. Does anyone have any helpful advice or similar experiences? 

[shanesox]

Welcome to the country where at least half the so called “legal taxi metered drivers” are, to put it politely....crazy!


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[brewsterbudgen]

There is a 50 baht airport fee, so the driver was right. In 13 years of living in Bangkok, the vast majority of taxi drivers I've used have been fine. Maybe I'm just lucky.

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[AliasJohn]

As you said. I must be just you. I have lived here over ten years and taken countless taxi journeys and may have had one or two that got lost. If you get a taxi from the airport there is a 50 baht surcharge. Try getting a taxi in your country for a 30 km trip for about $12.00. I thing mostly it is a great service.

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[akirasan]

I found a great taxi driver last time I was in Bangkok.  If anyone wants his mobile # shoot me a PM.  

[1FinickyOne]

First, there is a 50 baht surcharge from the airport, or at least there used to be... but if you are a good tipper and have some compassion for the driver who may have had to wait 2-3 hours for a fare back to town from the airport, it might not matter...

 

I lived in Bkk for several years and did find the occasional driver who tried to go for a ride, but it was really rare - knowing your way around will help, most of the cheating taxis are easily ferreted out by the fact that they will not turn on a meter.. 

 

It can be an irritating job, taxis here are very inexpensive and traffic is bad... it would not be a good combination for keeping a cheerful disposition... 

 

But also, Thai are pretty sensitive in having a good sixth sense and if you are giving off hostility, they might well be picking up on it... try and relax and I hope things go better for you in the future.. 

 

Mostly, my city experience is Chiang Mai these days... and I never have a bad experience and often have great ones. Yes, I speak Thai and show some concern for the drivers and ask about their families etc... 

 

Good luck in all future endeavors... 

 

and yes, they don't really do well with maps... just wired differently...

Edited October 22, 2017 by kenk24

[inThailand]

I have yet to meet a Thai who can read a map or use GPS. 

 

But that doesn't seem to stop the BKK cabbies from getting you there.

[ezzra]

Not taking anything of the OP refutations, and just want to add that

the taxi industry inherently is and always have been and will be fraught with

rouge and unruly operators, and Thailand is now way up the top 10

of the most dangerous taxi rides in the world i have come to know

and experienced....  

[Hiro357]

3 hours ago, kenk24 said:

First, there is a 50 baht surcharge from the airport, or at least there used to be... but if you are a good tipper and have some compassion for the driver who may have had to wait 2-3 hours for a fare back to town from the airport, it might not matter...

 

I lived in Bkk for several years and did find the occasional driver who tried to go for a ride, but it was really rare - knowing your way around will help, most of the cheating taxis are easily ferreted out by the fact that they will not turn on a meter.. 

 

It can be an irritating job, taxis here are very inexpensive and traffic is bad... it would not be a good combination for keeping a cheerful disposition... 

 

But also, Thai are pretty sensitive in having a good sixth sense and if you are giving off hostility, they might well be picking up on it... try and relax and I hope things go better for you in the future.. 

 

Mostly, my city experience is Chiang Mai these days... and I never have a bad experience and often have great ones. Yes, I speak Thai and show some concern for the drivers and ask about their families etc... 

 

Good luck in all future endeavors... 

 

and yes, they don't really do well with maps... just wired differently...

 

To be totally fair, I'm ALWAYS POLITE to strangers including the cab drivers. I see no reason why some of them would act so rude while trying to scam my money. I think partially it's because I don't speak the language that they think I'm an easy prey. Mind you during my short stay here I have taken several rides. This happens so much that it starts to wear me out. I also talked to a Japanese girl in BKK. She had the same horrible experience. She said the drivers sometimes downright scare her, because she sometimes couldn't tell if the driver was driving her somewhere else. 

 

I can't believe people here are fine with cab drivers not reading the map or knowing the city(the place I was at was 2 mins on a motorbike ride, and on the cab it took me over 40 mins!) It's like saying a heart surgeon doesn't know how to use the knife.

[Hiro357]

1 hour ago, ezzra said:

Not taking anything of the OP refutations, and just want to add that

the taxi industry inherently is and always have been and will be fraught with

rouge and unruly operators, and Thailand is now way up the top 10

of the most dangerous taxi rides in the world i have come to know

and experienced....  

One of my friends is a single Japanese girl living in BKK. Could you tell me why it's dangerous? We may start using other methods such as uber.

Edited October 22, 2017 by Hiro357

[Destiny1990]

Dont show maps to Thais.

just say u destination and wait till u there.

[Hiro357]

Just now, Destiny1990 said:

Dont show maps to Thais.

just say u destination and wait till u there.

That's just sad.

Do Thais not know how to read a map?

The reason I started using maps is because they never know my destination and keep taking me around a loop.

[Destiny1990]

1 minute ago, Hiro357 said:

That's just sad.

Do Thais not know how to read a map?

The reason I started using maps is because they never know my destination and keep taking me around a loop.

Well i do wonder why taxies do not have a mandatory gps in their car and are obligated to insert each fare.

[1FinickyOne]

1 minute ago, Hiro357 said:

 

To be totally fair, I'm ALWAYS POLITE to strangers including the cab drivers. I see no reason why some of them would act so rude while trying to scam my money. I think partially it's because I don't speak the language that they think I'm an easy prey. Mind you during my short stay here I have taken several rides. This happens so much that it starts to wear me out. I also talked to a Japanese girl in BKK. She had the same horrible experience. She said the drivers sometimes downright scare her, because she sometimes couldn't tell if the driver was driving her somewhere else. 

 

I can't believe people here are fine with cab drivers not reading the map or knowing the city(the place I was at was 2 mins on a motorbike ride, and on the cab it took me over 40 mins!) It's like saying a heart surgeon doesn't know how to use the knife.

If a two minute ride on a motorbike [don't you know 2 minutes away yet? ] is taking you 40 minutes, I would say they know the knife.. or was the 40 minutes due to traffic in which they make very little on waiting time... 

 

Are you offended about them acting rude or scamming you? Usually a thief will feel a bit guilty and is not likely to act kindly...

 

Maybe you should look into other forms of transportation... if you find that some of the cheapest wine in the world [a metaphor for Thai taxi fares] is not to your liking... find an alternative. Someone above was kind enough to provide a phone number. Get a limo service. They will surely be more polite. 

 

So, does ALWAYS POLITE mean not writing in caps? Or does it mean that you are not always aware of how you come across. I am actually trying to be helpful here. It already sounds as you have a pretty heavy vibe going against Bkk taxis.. Theyare very sensitive to anger... 

 

My experience is the same as others on the forum, if somewhat dated as I have not been in Bkk in a while... In five years living there, I maybe had one or two bad experiences, which weren't that bad and many many that were quite interesting in a conversational way... 

[impulse]

19 minutes ago, Hiro357 said:

I can't believe people here are fine with cab drivers not reading the map or knowing the city(the place I was at was 2 mins on a motorbike ride, and on the cab it took me over 40 mins!) It's like saying a heart surgeon doesn't know how to use the knife.

 

China's the same way.  Taxi drivers couldn't read a map to save their lives.  They never learned, and the street address system is confusing beyond the point of useless.  Until GPS, they navigated by landmark.  They can't get me to #25 Nanjing Road, but they can get me to the Hilton at #1250 Nanjing Road, which (here's where it get weird) is right next door to #25 Nanjing Road. 

 

I could gripe all I wanted about it, but learning the way it works served me a lot better than griping.  When in Rome, I do as the Romans do.  When in Tianjin, I give the taxi drivers a landmark (intersection or big building) instead of an address or some small shop name that they won't recognize.

 

Nowadays, they (Chinese taxis in my former home town) all have GPS and get turn by turn directions so they still don't have to learn to read a map.  Sooner or later, BKK drivers will all have GPS.  In the meantime, in 6+ years of living in BKK, I'd say that 90+% of my taxi experiences have been either pretty good, or my own fault.

 

Edited October 22, 2017 by impulse

[dotpoom]

3 hours ago, shanesox said:

Welcome to the country where at least half the so called “legal taxi metered drivers” are, to put it politely....crazy!


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The examples the OP gave that happened to him would not come under the catagory of "crazy" in my opinion.....bad manners and thievery.... yes... anything but crazy.

[1FinickyOne]

10 minutes ago, Hiro357 said:

That's just sad.

Do Thais not know how to read a map?

The reason I started using maps is because they never know my destination and keep taking me around a loop.

Most Thai grow up w/o a need for maps as they are rather provincial... their brains are just wired a bit different and as you might find out in life, different people have different skill sets. My wife was terrible with directions. Then she started driving and it became important to her and now she is pretty well fine with it... but if you want top of the line help and service, take a step up in class... 

 

I had a Thai friend who drove Bkk taxi - he had a hysterical farang lady in the car who wanted to go to her embassy - she kept screaming Ambassador and so he took her to the Ambassador Hotel and she started freaking out even more... if she asked for satantoot, he would have at least had a fighting chance.. How much English do you expect a Thai to have? and if their English is good, they are not likely going to be working as a Bkk hack. 

 

Just keep in mind that these are country guys w/a 6th grade education working a very low paying job... you want a surgeon to knife through the Bkk traffic, you are going to have to pay a bit more... sorry... figure it out. 

[theguyfromanotherforum]

12 minutes ago, Hiro357 said:

One of my friends is a single Japanese girl living in BKK. Could you tell me why it's dangerous? We may start using other methods such as uber.

 

Hi.

 

I don't want state the obvious, but you come from industrialized country where people follow the rules and are civilized. I really don't understand what did you expect here? You can come to Canada and pay $100 for the same taxi ride (plus tip) or you can keep living in Thailand. Personally, I wanted to move to Japan before coming to Thailand and I even met a nice girl online, but I figured it was never going to work mostly because I never figured out how to survive there for more than 3 months....so here I am putting up with things that I probably wouldn't be putting up in Japan.

 

However, I can honestly say that in the 4 years here I never had problems with taxis and I really mean never. I find that in the areas where tourists live even Thai people will have problems with taxi drivers and I have seen end experienced this with with my Thai ex (she was thai Canadian) a few times when I visited here and stayed "in the city". Even now when I stay in a hotel I see Thais constantly getting rejected while hailing a taxi.

 

Really....stay out of tourist areas.

[Hiro357]

19 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

If a two minute ride on a motorbike [don't you know 2 minutes away yet? ] is taking you 40 minutes, I would say they know the knife.. or was the 40 minutes due to traffic in which they make very little on waiting time... 

 

Are you offended about them acting rude or scamming you? Usually a thief will feel a bit guilty and is not likely to act kindly...

 

Maybe you should look into other forms of transportation... if you find that some of the cheapest wine in the world [a metaphor for Thai taxi fares] is not to your liking... find an alternative. Someone above was kind enough to provide a phone number. Get a limo service. They will surely be more polite. 

 

So, does ALWAYS POLITE mean not writing in caps? Or does it mean that you are not always aware of how you come across. I am actually trying to be helpful here. It already sounds as you have a pretty heavy vibe going against Bkk taxis.. Theyare very sensitive to anger... 

 

My experience is the same as others on the forum, if somewhat dated as I have not been in Bkk in a while... In five years living there, I maybe had one or two bad experiences, which weren't that bad and many many that were quite interesting in a conversational way... 

Geez, I'm not being prejudiced. But having been treated the way I have been I do feel frustrated now. But I don't know that to during the ride. But read it which way you please. 

[observer90210]

This is why UBER became a billion dollar golden goose....thanks to all the cheats and crooks who drive taxis worldwide, including Thailand ...

 

One could pray however that the ruling powers will put a stop to the taxi scammers in lovely Thailand. Thank you Sirs....

[Hiro357]

Never mind. This is exactly what's wrong with the world. People accepting shits happened to them instead of trying to make them better. As some poster said, same  happened it China, but the GPS thing sorted it all out. Even if the Thai drivers don't know the road or read maps, a GPS isn't too much to ask. 

 

The other poster with the surgeon remark. The next time you have an operation, you could ask for a Thai cab driver.

[richard_smith237]

Unfortunately your experiences are normal....  

 

With the exception of the 50 baht airport surcharge - as others have said, this normal. However, it is handled in an extremely lazy way. New passengers are not informed, hence the surprise and then paranoia of a scam when the driver asks for the surcharge. 

 

There are scores of good Taxi's drivers in Bangkok, unfortunately a single negative experience out weighs 5 unmemorable positive experiences. 

 

Many guys on this forum will say they never have issues with Taxi's in Bangkok, thats mainly because they are more acclimatized to the issues, have thicker skin and don't care if the driver is erratic, impolite etc....  

To be honest I never have 'major issues' with Taxi's in Bangkok. I always know exactly where I am going, the biggest issues I have with Taxi's are: drunk Taxi drivers, very rude Taxi drivers, the no change game and dangerous driving... but the biggest irritation is being refused a ride repetitively when you need to go somewhere...

i.e. I'm on Sukhumvit Road and consider calling an UBER but there are plenty of passing taxi's, I figure they're not all bad so lets chance it... then kick myself after being refused by a handful of taxi's in a row... 

 

 

Taxi's in Bangkok are Cheap, they are everywhere, we get what we pay for which is a cheap ride around town by uneducated and ill mannered people who are completely indifferent to our existence... I imagine a number of the passengers also fit this description.

 

For those of us who fail to tolerate this indifferent, careless and sometimes deliberately rude behavior with any level of comfort there are other options such as UBER and GRAB.

 

 

[Happy Grumpy]

Wow.

 

Some people just aren't meant to be away from mommy's boob. 

 

Best leave now OP. 

[gandalf12]

Never really had a problem with the taxis. Having said that I do tend to tell them my destination in Thai which does help a lot. Trouble is anyone can be a taxi driver with no real knowledge of the city.

In the UK they drivers spend something like 5 years training before they get a full cabbie license. I am referring to the black cab taxis

[yimlitnoy]

I had to go twice a week from Sathorn Road to Rama 6 Ramathibodi hospital for 6 months, I can say that 80% of the time, the taxi drivers tried to cheat me by going through their way instead of my way which is faster, they act in a threatening way, they have no change when at destination, they let me on the road once because apparently not enough gasoline which was a lie, one fell asleep at traffic light, one was pulling his facial hairs at traffic lights with 2 baht coins, one tried to keep the change from 100 Baht at highway toll.  Come on Thailand, when will you have a school for taxi drivers like they have in most other countries?

 

The first impression of any tourists are when they board their first taxi from airport to hotel...

[impulse]

29 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Taxi's in Bangkok are Cheap, they are everywhere, we get what we pay for which is a cheap ride around town by uneducated and ill mannered people who are completely indifferent to our existence... I imagine a number of the passengers also fit this description.

 

For less than the price of a 45 minute ride home from the airport in Houston, I can hire a Thai taxi/van to take me wherever I want all day, and wait for me outside wherever I'm visiting.  And if I do a little prep work, I can pick a guy with a nice car who speaks English.  For less than the price of a taxi back home, I can hire an AOT "Limo" and get a nice car with a vetted driver.

 

Otherwise, I don't expect a champagne ride on a rotgut fare.

 

And no lesson in Thai taxis is complete without a trip past the BKK airport taxi lot where there are literally thousands of taxis waiting their turn to pick someone up (and hope it's a decent distance so the fare compensates for the hours they may wait).  I let a taxi fill up one day when I had a lot of time to spare before my flight.  He drove past that lot, and my view of plight of BKK taxis was never the same.

 

[lopburi3]

Have been riding taxi here for over 40 years and believe 98 to 99% have been fine.  But yes there are always exceptions - especially when fare is as cheap as it is here.

 

Assume you never had the pleasure of Japanese taxi drivers in the 60's?  Lived 2 years on Hokkaido using below and running full tilt over the back dirt roads was an adventure like none other.

[luk AJ]

I Iive in Bangkok for over 20y and I take several taxis per week often to Don Mueang. I can tell you that most of the taxi drivers are driving very dangerously with cars that are very poorly maintained. I really fear for my life. On the rare occasions I get a friendly responsible driver, I am so happy I give him at least 100thb tip. Grab taxi is no solution, first of all after reservation they always call you for confirmation why?? They sometimes find the way where to pick you up but seldom use gps to get to the destination. Thai drivers in general can’t read maps. So I do follow the OP’s concerns but as so many others already mentioned, the 50thb extra is normal and is mentioned on the ticket.


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[joecoolfrog]

47 minutes ago, Hiro357 said:

Never mind. This is exactly what's wrong with the world. People accepting shits happened to them instead of trying to make them better. As some poster said, same  happened it China, but the GPS thing sorted it all out. Even if the Thai drivers don't know the road or read maps, a GPS isn't too much to ask. 

 

The other poster with the surgeon remark. The next time you have an operation, you could ask for a Thai cab driver.

Going by the tone of your replies , I can understand why that taxi driver was pissed off. If you want a first class service use an executive cab service , will be more expensive of course but you have already said money is not the issue.

[orchis]

Get Uber ot Grab and stop whining. Learn Thai. Bring a map. Sit next to the driver.