DLT, army cracks down on meter-shunning cabbies…. for a day

[Elkski]

Yes, let's do a complete audit of the taxi system.  What's a fair wage 50 baht/ hour? 70?  I say if not use meter then permanent ban for Life.   Set a fair wage sure but many will always w he more.

Regulate the hell out of taxis.

What % should driver get?  

What wage

Maximum driving hours in a row?

Penalties for racing.  Man I almost died last month under the BTS  2 am.  By the way why not require 50% women?

 

Edited February 17, 2018 by Elkski

[Sydebolle]

Serious about it?

 

Then let "short changed" passengers record that (smart phones) and then let them file an official complaint. Fine of THB 2'000, half of it goes to the reporting passenger, if proven true. 

Would assume that this would free police force to take care of the lady boys on beach road instead and the cabbies would be brought to order. I - for one - use only App-based car services, some more and some less official   ;-) 

[Bangkok Barry]

20 hours ago, 1337markus said:

only 1 day in one place in Thailand what a joke. Copy Singapore that has a number of inspectors NOT IN UNIFORM that dress as tourists and take rides to various places in taxis; checking meters, fares, cleanliness of cab, manners of the driver and is the taxi licenced as well as the driver. Fines are steep.

But that's not fair on the driver and would hurt his feelings.

Why does Thailand even have laws, because no-one ever takes any notice and they are almost never enforced.

[Bangkok Barry]

3 hours ago, Andrew65 said:

What would be a much better idea Colin, would be to give these guys a decent pay rise.

 

I've been living in BKK for 20 years, the flag-fall on the meter was 35 Baht then, and still is today, it's probably gone up 10 Satang per km. I'd suggest a rise to 50 Baht and more per km.

 

I use taxis just about every day, my reglular journey is 47 Baht, but I always give the driver 60 Baht.

 

A few years ago, Spectrum in the Sunday BP asked some taxi drivers why they refused fares, all 3 replied, in so many words, that it just wasn't worth the time & effort.

 

(I spent a few months driving taxis in the UK, on a few Monday nights I managed to earn about £6 for 10 hours work, so I know what this is about).

If they can't make a living wage as they claim then they should get a different job. Not too difficult to understand, surely.

If they can't make a living wage as they claim, try taking passengers where they ask to go. They'll pay you for it. Not too difficult to understand, surely.

[dallen52]

19 hours ago, zyphodb said:

Nothing to do with logical, if all the cabs have to be legal, how do you screw them all for tea money? can't do anything to interfere with monthly brown envelopes from the cab owners..... 

Been said before. ?

Why kill the golden goose? 

They all pay for some level of immunity. 

See the red lights on pedestrian crossings. 

How many bike taxis stop for them. 

How many wear helmets. 

How many ride bikes on the wrong side of the road. 

Pavements too. 

Even outside Pattaya police station. 

Same the taxis. 

And the baht buses, charging what they want to unsuspecting tourists. 

Even changing the routes to suit themselves now. 

Even Thai people have to ask whenever they get on a baht bus. 

To see where they are going. 

 

We all give it lip service, but we know that there is no intention of doing anything about it. 

[Andrew65]

20 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

If they can't make a living wage as they claim then they should get a different job. Not too difficult to understand, surely.

If they can't make a living wage as they claim, try taking passengers where they ask to go. They'll pay you for it. Not too difficult to understand, surely.

Absolutely, there are hundreds of companies crying-out for guys in their 50's & 60's. It'd be so easy for these guys just to go & get another job. That's very easy to understand, anywhere in the World, taxi driving is the kind of job you take when there's nothing else going.

 

Taxis always take me where I want to go, sometimes after I offer more than the meter-rate. No meter means all the money goes in the driver's pocket, that's no skin off my nose, and means that I don't have to spend half an hour getting a taxi cos I'm such a Cheap-Charlie.

 

I was in Bangkok in the mid-80's, before meter-taxis, then you just negotiated with the driver before getting in, much nicer.

[Bangkok Barry]

9 hours ago, Andrew65 said:

Absolutely, there are hundreds of companies crying-out for guys in their 50's & 60's. It'd be so easy for these guys just to go & get another job. That's very easy to understand, anywhere in the World, taxi driving is the kind of job you take when there's nothing else going.

 

Taxis always take me where I want to go, sometimes after I offer more than the meter-rate. No meter means all the money goes in the driver's pocket, that's no skin off my nose, and means that I don't have to spend half an hour getting a taxi cos I'm such a Cheap-Charlie.

 

I was in Bangkok in the mid-80's, before meter-taxis, then you just negotiated with the driver before getting in, much nicer.

 

You completely miss the point. It has nothing to do with being a Cheap Charlie. It has everything to do with obeying the law and doing your job. If you don't like the rules then get another job, as anyone would in any profession. Thailand claims to have near 100 percent employment so getting another job shouldn't be too difficult, should it. You don't break the law because you don't like the rules. Or maybe you do, which is why you not only support but encourage it.......

Edited February 18, 2018 by Bangkok Barry

[Pattaya46]

47 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

You completely miss the point. It has nothing to do with being a Cheap Charlie. It has everything to do with obeying the law and doing your job. If you don't like the rules then get another job, as anyone would in any profession. //

 

I am pretty sure most taxi drivers would be ready to follow the rules... if you managed first to stop the racket they got from some people in uniform... It's just impossible for them to agree with the taximeter rate/price if they have a big "envelope" to give monthly... 

[mikebell]

Taxi Mafia in cahoots with Pattaya Police Mafia.  A one day blitz, well-publicised in advance will give the appearance of doing something whilst allowing the town centre parking/non-parking spots to be monopolised by the meterless taximeters.

[Andrew65]

3 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

You completely miss the point. It has nothing to do with being a Cheap Charlie. It has everything to do with obeying the law and doing your job. If you don't like the rules then get another job, as anyone would in any profession. Thailand claims to have near 100 percent employment so getting another job shouldn't be too difficult, should it. You don't break the law because you don't like the rules. Or maybe you do, which is why you not only support but encourage it.......

You're wilfully deluded if you really think Thailand has 100% employment.

 

Tipping isn't breaking the law, that's all I'm doing.

 

Thailand has an incredibly weak rule of law, people flout the law with abandon all the time.

 

[sambum]

12 hours ago, Andrew65 said:

Absolutely, there are hundreds of companies crying-out for guys in their 50's & 60's. It'd be so easy for these guys just to go & get another job. That's very easy to understand, anywhere in the World, taxi driving is the kind of job you take when there's nothing else going.

 

Taxis always take me where I want to go, sometimes after I offer more than the meter-rate. No meter means all the money goes in the driver's pocket, that's no skin off my nose, and means that I don't have to spend half an hour getting a taxi cos I'm such a Cheap-Charlie.

 

I was in Bangkok in the mid-80's, before meter-taxis, then you just negotiated with the driver before getting in, much nicer.

That logic is EXACTLY why taxi drivers won't use their meters!

 

I can agree with you re the guys in their 50's and 60's finding difficulty in gaining employment, but surely "Meter Taxi" on the top of the vehicle should mean just that? And if I use a taxi that uses the meter, I always give a decent tip. If they will not use the meter, and I get fed up with being "knocked back" and "negotiate a price" then they certainly will not get a tip at the end of the journey!

 

Call me "Cheap Charlie" if you want, but at the end of the day, the "Meter Taxi" drivers should be exactly that - you accept the job and accept the conditions that go with it!

 

 

Edited February 18, 2018 by sambum

[Bangkok Barry]

1 hour ago, Andrew65 said:

You're wilfully deluded if you really think Thailand has 100% employment.

 

Tipping isn't breaking the law, that's all I'm doing.

 

Thailand has an incredibly weak rule of law, people flout the law with abandon all the time.

 

I said that Thailand CLAIMS 100 percent employment, not that I believe it. How can they possibly know when there is nowhere to register as unemployed. My point was that those who choose to drive taxis do so in full knowledge of what it pays - or they should do. No good taking a job with low pay and then complaining that it has low pay. These are people that are not qualified for higher paid work, same as people in any country in the world. But don't then cheat your customers by demanding extra payment. I don't have to negotiate, argue, with a taxi driver in London, New York, Singapore, Dubai, Sydney or anywhere else. They do the job they are paid to do, honestly and fairly. For some reason many taxi drivers in Thailand don't want to do that.

[Rimmer]

A post linking to the Bangkok post has been removed

[Andrew65]

14 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I said that Thailand CLAIMS 100 percent employment, not that I believe it. How can they possibly know when there is nowhere to register as unemployed. My point was that those who choose to drive taxis do so in full knowledge of what it pays - or they should do. No good taking a job with low pay and then complaining that it has low pay. These are people that are not qualified for higher paid work, same as people in any country in the world. But don't then cheat your customers by demanding extra payment. I don't have to negotiate, argue, with a taxi driver in London, New York, Singapore, Dubai, Sydney or anywhere else. They do the job they are paid to do, honestly and fairly. For some reason many taxi drivers in Thailand don't want to do that.

No one ever gets ripped off by cabbies in London or NYC? Do me a favour!!

 

More than once, I was driven around the houses in Brisbane, Australia. Ripped off in Bahrain also.