Bangkok "doesn't want Pattaya style trouble" as sticker forbidding Uber/Grab appears

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Bangkok "doesn't want Pattaya style trouble" as sticker forbidding Uber/Grab appears

 

Picture: Thai News Agency

 

Bangkok police are investigating after a sticker forbidding passengers to use Uber, Grab and GoBike appeared at Central World.

 

They don't want trouble like there has been in Pattaya over the taxi services, said a spokesman.

 

The sign in Thai said that passengers could not be picked up in that area.

 

A picture of the sign appeared on social media but when police arrived it had been peeled off. They are looking at CCTV to try to ascertain who put it there and who took it off.

 

Locals just told them a "man put it there".

 

Police spokesman Kokkrisana Patanacharoen said that it could garner a 5,000 baht fine.

 

He called on operators of transport services to settle any differences in a spirit of cooperation so that Bangkok would not be like Pattaya or Chonburi where turf wars have escalated into trouble, reported Thai News Agency.

 

Source: Thai News Agency

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-12-18

[krystian]

Taxi Mafia wants you to take their taxi with faster meters and they decide if they want to take you or not... while with uber and the like,,, you already know how much and get the drivers details.... 

[impulse]

44 minutes ago, krystian said:

Taxi Mafia wants you to take their taxi with faster meters and they decide if they want to take you or not... while with uber and the like,,, you already know how much and get the drivers details.... 

 

Yeah, and if the legal taxi drivers were allowed to charge the Uber price, they may not refuse as many...  I'm all for tech like Uber, but they need to play on an even field, paying for taxi permits and charging by the legal rates.  Otherwise the legal taxis have legitimate gripes.

 

[craigt3365]

I'm just back from KL. Every mall has a designated Grab taxi pickup location. Signs are everywhere for Grab.

 

Why can't Thailand get it together? Sad and embarrassing 

 

[lust]

1 minute ago, craigt3365 said:

I'm just back from KL. Every mall has a designated Grab taxi pickup location. Signs are everywhere for Grab.

 

Why can't Thailand get it together? Sad and embarrassing 

 

Taxi rates in KL are way more expensive than Thailand.

[rkidlad]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

Yeah, and if the legal taxi drivers were allowed to charge the Uber price, they may not refuse as many...  I'm all for tech like Uber, but they need to play on an even field, paying for taxi permits and charging by the legal rates.  Otherwise the legal taxis have legitimate gripes.

 

There's a huge market for Uber and Grab here. People are fed up of crappy taxi drivers thinking they're above the customer. People want clean and safe drivers and cars. Uber and Grab have a higher likelihood of providing drivers like this. I use them a lot and have had zero problems. I just wanna get from A to B safely and with zero headaches. Adapt or die. 

Edited December 18, 2017 by rkidlad

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

Tried getting a meter taxi at CTW on Saturday night. Got into the taxi, he demanded 200 baht to go to sukhumvit 11. I told him to F off and left the door open when I got out. The meter charge for the taxi that finally took me was only 60 baht.

 

Again no enforcement so they just keep doing it. Lazy cops are as much to blame as the other criminals they pretend to chase.

[chaihot]

44 minutes ago, ALLSEEINGEYE said:

Tried getting a meter taxi at CTW on Saturday night. Got into the taxi, he demanded 200 baht to go to sukhumvit 11. I told him to F off and left the door open when I got out. The meter charge for the taxi that finally took me was only 60 baht.

 

Again no enforcement so they just keep doing it. Lazy cops (???) are as much to blame as the other criminals they pretend to chase.

Lazy Cops?  Are you sure?  Or could it be SCARED COPS?

[impulse]

2 hours ago, rkidlad said:

There's a huge market for Uber and Grab here. People are fed up of crappy taxi drivers thinking they're above the customer. People want clean and safe drivers and cars. Uber and Grab have a higher likelihood of providing drivers like this. I use them a lot and have had zero problems. I just wanna get from A to B safely and with zero headaches. Adapt or die. 

 

I don't disagree that options are welcome and needed.  But if they violate the hack laws, that just gives legal taxi drivers legitimate reasons to push back.

 

As for adapt or die, that's pretty rich on a forum where many of the members can afford their retirement in Thailand precisely because their income was protected by a union, a guild, a licensing requirement or another protectionist measure.  I'd bet they sang a very different tune when the scabs showed up at the facilities they were striking, or the Polish came in at half the going wages.

 

[craigt3365]

2 hours ago, lust said:

Taxi rates in KL are way more expensive than Thailand.

Way cheaper with Grab and they all speak English! 

[craigt3365]

1 hour ago, chaihot said:

Lazy Cops?  Are you sure?  Or could it be SCARED COPS?

More like paid off cops.

[yosuik]

Bangkok "doesn't want Pattaya style trouble" as sticker forbidding Uber/Grab appears

 

= Yeah, well wishfull thinking. Bad luck for the good taxi drivers, because the bad one's have f*cked it all up for everyone.

 Uber is sh*t, so are the taxi's who don't respect their own customers.

 Who do they think pay their bills?

 "My boss at the taxi company?" Lmfao

[anon537687643]

A mafia run country top to bottom.no surprise to see a sample of it in a public place


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[eddie61]

7 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

I'm just back from KL. Every mall has a designated Grab taxi pickup location. Signs are everywhere for Grab.

 

Why can't Thailand get it together? Sad and embarrassing 

 

Thais have been screwed by their owners for centuries,, It is normal

[bangkok blue]

I had a ridiculous incident Friday night. Was in a rush and needed to get to Marriott queens park from tonglor in quick time. I knew mafia bike guys top of my Soi charge 100thb for that honour. So thought why not try grab. 42 bhat.... yes please.... grab bike guy made the mistake of phoning me at top of Soi. The mafia bike guys were waiting at top of Soi and really intimidated the poor 50 odd year old, refusing to allow him to take me. One guy was videoing him and his number plate 2 others were there... But one guy in front that originally accosted him I thought was quite rude. I had to get off in the end.... They insisted it's against the law..... I'm not so sure.... Does anyone actually know what the law is on this? I've messaged and spoken to grab who have said they'll follow up, but as yet have not yet confirmed the legalities of their service.

[twig]

6 hours ago, impulse said:

 

I don't disagree that options are welcome and needed.  But if they violate the hack laws, that just gives legal taxi drivers legitimate reasons to push back.

 

As for adapt or die, that's pretty rich on a forum where many of the members can afford their retirement in Thailand precisely because their income was protected by a union, a guild, a licensing requirement or another protectionist measure.  I'd bet they sang a very different tune when the scabs showed up at the facilities they were striking, or the Polish came in at half the going wages.

 

If their income weren't protected by a union, or the government gang protectionist rules, they would have been able to afford to retire comfortably in their own countries.

 

It's the government gangs worldwide that create these income and cost of living imbalances by coercing 100% of their own livelihood out of the sheeple on their turf.

 

The difference in those costs is the direct effect of how much each government gang coerces out of its cash cows compared to the neighboring gangs through all kinds of "laws and regulations" "protecting" the ignorant from all kinds of victimless crimes, military-industrial largess and so on.

 

Coercing the purchase of a government license just to do an honest day of service work is exactly where all kinds of market price distortions originate.

 

The real interest group the government gangs are protecting is their own union and monopoly on power, which they secure by buying votes with their surfs' own money under the guise of "protecting" them from "illegal workers", "terrorists", and all kinds of other bogus boogy men.

 

Rothbard explained it among the best in the "Anatomy of the State" and many other lectures:

 

 

 

 

Edited December 18, 2017 by twig
clarification

[twig]

1 hour ago, bangkok blue said:

I had a ridiculous incident Friday night. Was in a rush and needed to get to Marriott queens park from tonglor in quick time. I knew mafia bike guys top of my Soi charge 100thb for that honour. So thought why not try grab. 42 bhat.... yes please.... grab bike guy made the mistake of phoning me at top of Soi. The mafia bike guys were waiting at top of Soi and really intimidated the poor 50 odd year old, refusing to allow him to take me. One guy was videoing him and his number plate 2 others were there... But one guy in front that originally accosted him I thought was quite rude. I had to get off in the end.... They insisted it's against the law..... I'm not so sure.... Does anyone actually know what the law is on this? I've messaged and spoken to grab who have said they'll follow up, but as yet have not yet confirmed the legalities of their service.

 

 

It's most certainly "against the law" to provide a service for profit without paying the government gang a cut in any country!

 

So is exceeding the speed limit, even if you are the only driver on the road. So are a myriad of other actions "against the law" designed first and foremost to fund the government gangs worldwide.

 

Laws are supposed to be based on morals - innate understanding of right and wrong.

 

What is the  moral wrong in that guy providing a ride to you at your request, and refusing to pay the local government gang a cut?

 

By the same logic, is it morally right for a local armed gang to demand a cut of the proceeds of that guy's work (for providing you an honest service to which you consent, which you requested) as long as the gang calls itself "government" and calls that cut a "license" or "permit" or whatever nonsense term?

 

How can a law criminalizing honest work for honest pay be moral or "legal" in any country?

[anon537687643]

The orange jacket thugs of Bangkok ! Psychos 90% of them, often smelling of alcohol!


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[richard_smith237]

12 hours ago, bangkok blue said:

I had a ridiculous incident Friday night. Was in a rush and needed to get to Marriott queens park from tonglor in quick time. I knew mafia bike guys top of my Soi charge 100thb for that honour. So thought why not try grab. 42 bhat.... yes please.... grab bike guy made the mistake of phoning me at top of Soi. The mafia bike guys were waiting at top of Soi and really intimidated the poor 50 odd year old, refusing to allow him to take me. One guy was videoing him and his number plate 2 others were there... But one guy in front that originally accosted him I thought was quite rude. I had to get off in the end.... They insisted it's against the law..... I'm not so sure.... Does anyone actually know what the law is on this? I've messaged and spoken to grab who have said they'll follow up, but as yet have not yet confirmed the legalities of their service.

 

 

 

I see this as a potential major issue for Bangkok - If these thugs are not handled (by the Police) their sense of entitlement will push them to further crimes... 

 

I for one avoid the regular taxi's where the alternatives UBER or GRAB are available... simply because the alternatives are better and safer and more readily accountable should there be any issues. 

 

I did have to take a regular taxi a few nights ago - driving down the middle of the Soi the oncoming car had to avoid him. The Taxi driver then went into a rant about UBER drivers using their phone to navigate the small Soi's to a pick up point making the roads more dangerous. I figure he may have had a point as for the most part he was a reasonable driver. 

 

BUT, whenever I get into a Taxi my expectations are 'rock bottom' and I'm satisfied with a standard of driving / car / safety that would not be acceptable for UBER or GRAB. 

 

That said the UBER-Flex (Taxi) and GRAB-Taxi are often hit and miss when they rely on regular taxi drivers.

 

 

 

 

[overherebc]

20 hours ago, ALLSEEINGEYE said:

Tried getting a meter taxi at CTW on Saturday night. Got into the taxi, he demanded 200 baht to go to sukhumvit 11. I told him to F off and left the door open when I got out. The meter charge for the taxi that finally took me was only 60 baht.

 

Again no enforcement so they just keep doing it. Lazy cops are as much to blame as the other criminals they pretend to chase.

I always open the rear door and ask how much to xxxxxxxx. If they refuse or won't use the meter just almost close the door and walk away. It's the most difficult to reach from the drivers seat. 

[MaxLee]

On 12/18/2017 at 11:01 AM, krystian said:

Taxi Mafia wants you to take their taxi with faster meters and they decide if they want to take you or not... while with uber and the like,,, you already know how much and get the drivers details.... 

Yup, BKK Taxi Mafia got a call from Taxi Mafia Pattaya.........

[impulse]

16 hours ago, twig said:

How can a law criminalizing honest work for honest pay be moral or "legal" in any country?

 

Been going on forever.  In fact, I think a lot of the BKK taxi problem is from too many taxis and scooter guys for many of them to get enough business unless they do dodgy things.  Because the fare has to cover the time you're in their charge, plus the minutes or hours they waited for their next fare.  (Edit: and don't forget the extortion they pay to whatever muckety muck sells them permission to ply their trade in a specific area- I'd be pissed, too if I was paying big bucks for my spot in the queue or out in front of a tourist hotel, and just anyone could rock up and take the next rider.  It's not right, but it is what it is.)  

 

And if you've ever seen the taxi staging area at the airport, you'll realize that they may be in that queue for hours.  And watching a group of scooter guys in the off hours, my heart goes out to them waiting so long between 20 baht rides.

 

Back home each city limits the number of hack shields, in theory so they can all make a reasonable living.  Sometimes it's in balance, sometimes the guys owning the shields make all the money and the drivers renting the shields from them still work for slave wages- in spite of the high fares.  But I can't see where dumping an unlimited number of unregistered drivers into the mix can be good in the long term.

 

Edited December 19, 2017 by impulse