SURVEY: Taxi Service -- Good or Bad?

[Scott]

There is always a constant flow of remarks about transportation and taxi service throughout Thailand.   Which statement best fits your feelings about personal transportation in Thailand?

 

Please feel free to leave a comment.

[Samui Bodoh]

I live on Koh Samui.

 

Forum rules and common decency/politeness prevent me from telling everyone exactly how I feel about Koh Samui taxi drivers.

 

So, I will simply point out that no Koh Samui taxi driver has ever gone to Heaven. Not one. Ever.

 

Period.

 

Edited February 18, 2018 by Samui Bodoh
Lack of coffee

[Andyfez]

This question is just too general for a meaningful reply.

[lapamita]

cannot give a voting

 

1. bangkok taxi drivers are mostly fair and meterprice is absolutly cheap, always give a tip  on the price 

 

2. for the other tourist destination its just a ripp off everywhere. i am avoidng this drivers where ever i can, using private cars, grab or uber.

 

new ripp off center utapao airport, no way avoid the mafia, prices are  1000  for 27km..or walk by your slefpout of the airport ( 3km) ...  27km  is 25thb /km ... a bkk taxidriver gets lless than 10... and if i take a taxi theother way round where i can choose.. mean fromhome to utapao i pay 450 thb or 500............ for the same way

 

Phuket airport they really asked 1500  to dusit.. i walked out and get one for 400

 

 

we really dont need more taxis,already to many.............. but maybe taxis who use their meter.........at a fair price per km... more than on bangkok but less than the off meter trips

Edited February 18, 2018 by lapamita

[doremifasol]

 

What is this? A "no fail" test?

 

 

[moonseeker]

I am a very frequent user on return trips to BKK plus via some business,  booking at least another 60 trips monthly  mainly with one Pattaya provider for years. The sad experience is, that roughly every 10th. trip is a no show or late w/o so much as a call, mostly. We would say about 50% of the drivers drive below minimum safety standards and tailgate and overtake in ways

that would end them in jail in most countries. We have gone through several providers and have literally given up hope and just learned to live with it. It just reflects

the general standards in this country and especially Pattaya. Have a nice Sunday. MS>

 

[Thian]

I don't/rarely use taxi's anymore, they can't speak english and in the tourist area's they are all not using the metres. Plus that game of not having change is soooo Thai.

 

Buses i also don't use, they are crappy and don't have good busstops which are safe.

 

Skytrains are overloaded, so are metro's. And i don't understand why coming from the purple line at Tao Poon you have to run to the other one or it will just depart right in front of you. Also we have to walk too far from the road to the traindeck.

 

Also the skytrains/metro are not fast enough, takes too much time/effort to use them...taxi costs a little bit more but is much more relaxed.

[geisha]

I just wish that taxis , and all public transport would be insured, experienced and  Safe.

 

[Credo]

I find taxi service in BKK to be generally good.   I seldom have a problem getting a taxi and for them to get me to my destination efficiently.   Outside of BKK, it gets really dodgy, IMO.   

 

 

[thaibeachlovers]

Can't vote on something so general. Also, does that apply only to cars with a sign on top, or include songtheaws and the m'bike taxis etc?

Taxis in Bkk generally good, everywhere else bad, in Chiang Mai appalling.

[rkidlad]

Question is far too expansive with not enough options to choose from (2!!!!)

 

Ridiculous. 

[GordonP]

None of the above!

I try to avoid taxis having yet to find one that uses a meter.

 

[richard_smith237]

In comparison to other cities in Thailand, the Taxi service in Bangkok is stellar. 

In comparison to other cities in the world, the Taxi service in Bangkok is excellent value for money.

 

But, the expectations are so low that when I have a 'normal' journey I am pleasantly surprised. 

 

We've been without a car recently and have thus become heavily reliant on UBER, Grab and regular Taxi's for a couple of weeks. 

 

Taking and picking my Son up from School my Wife has encountered numerous issues from numerous consecutive rejections of travel to aggressive drivers swearing at other traffic, we've had drivers complaining that our destination is too far from Sukhumvit road !.. we've had a taxi break down...  Not having to rely on Taxi's is now a relief !!!

 

That said: Yesterday I took two Taxi's (at night as I was drinking), both Taxies were spot on, safe driving, no complaints or negative vibes from the taxi driver, no aggression, clean vehicles with seatbelts and no rejections....

 

Ultimately... Getting a good Taxi & driver is simply a matter of luck rather than the daily norm.

 

[moonseeker]

My prior post was referring to Pattaya to Airports or BKK trips. Taxiwise I am 95% pleased with GRAB/car. Especially in BKK. Hardly ever a negative experience. MS>

[toybits]

You should consult Just Weird before doing any kind of Poll. He is the absolute authority in conducting polls.

[Thaidream]

Taxi's in Bangkok cheap and fairly plentiful unless it rains. The problem is that many do not want to use the meter and want a minimum fare of  100 Baht to go anywhere.  I generally park my car and use the Skytrain or MRT to move about the city. The MRT is much better run and gives a discount to seniors including foreigners. The Skytrain is way overcrowded and some stations do not have handicap accessibility that is working and will not  give foreigners the discount.

The traffic in Bangkok has gotten worse year after year and much of it is due to too many cars entering service each year with not enough road space.  Taxi's that rent their car are having a hard time making money and they mostly will not go to certain locations at  certain times of very heavy traffic.

[JAG]

4 hours ago, Thian said:

I don't/rarely use taxi's anymore, they can't speak english and in the tourist area's they are all not using the metres. Plus that game of not having change is soooo Thai.

 

Buses i also don't use, they are crappy and don't have good busstops which are safe.

 

Skytrains are overloaded, so are metro's. And i don't understand why coming from the purple line at Tao Poon you have to run to the other one or it will just depart right in front of you. Also we have to walk too far from the road to the traindeck.

 

Also the skytrains/metro are not fast enough, takes too much time/effort to use them...taxi costs a little bit more but is much more relaxed.

Have you tried a pogo stick? Seems to be about the only option you have left...

?

[mikebell]

2 hours ago, GordonP said:

None of the above!

I try to avoid taxis having yet to find one that uses a meter.

 

You must live in Pattaya.

[Jingthing]

This is really location specific.

Where I live, yes more options needed.

Bangkok probably has enough. 

[nausea]

Brilliant, if you live outside of the tourist areas, and know where you want to go (like know how to get there), and know how to say go straight ahead, turn left, turn right, stop here, in Thai. It always gets me when the guys seems so grateful when you say keep the change. Beats me how they make a living from it, it being so cheap an' all. I suppose for a lot it's a secondary source of income. London Black Cab standard it ain't, but I'll trade that off against the affordability. Don't think twice about taking a taxi here in Thailand. 

[leeneeds]

Necessary evil and I try to avoid where possible, 

             

[a10ams]

None of the answers.

Bangkok taxis are fine. Hua Hin taxis are daylight robbery.

[Suradit69]

3 hours ago, toybits said:

You should consult Just Weird before doing any kind of Poll. He is the absolute authority in conducting polls.

The questions posed on most TV polls are often vague or ambivalent and the choices for responses often overlap with one another and/or ignore some obvious options.

 

But then the results are pretty meaningless anyway and the original post just spawns the same sort of written comments and whining & whingeing that would have resulted if the thread simply asked "What do you think about ..." and skipped the poll entirely.

[Jingthing]

Polls on forums can't ever be scientific. Consider them as being for entertainment and discussion purposes. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Sent from my [device_name] using http://Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Orton Rd]

Ubon taxis and the drivers put the Bkk ones to shame

[GordonP]

On 2/18/2018 at 3:02 PM, mikebell said:

You must live in Pattaya.

I do and really have no need of taxis here. My bad experiences have been in Bangkok, Hua Hin, Phuket and Chiang Mai where taxis have refused fares, not used (refused point blank) the meter and taken less than direct routes to my destination.

Hence my answer.

[seminomadic]

Poll question doesn't gybe with the radio-button questions..... at all.....

 

Taxi service, good or bad? --> assess the quality of the taxi service.

 

It is adequate throughout the country / more needed --> assess the availability of taxis; quantity, not quality. Renders the poll fairly futile exercise. 

 

OPer needs some more English lessons.

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎2‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 3:02 PM, mikebell said:

You must live in Pattaya.

Chiang Mai taxis won't use meters either.

[siam2007]

On 2/18/2018 at 10:22 AM, moonseeker said:

I am a very frequent user on return trips to BKK plus via some business,  booking at least another 60 trips monthly  mainly with one Pattaya provider for years. The sad experience is, that roughly every 10th. trip is a no show or late w/o so much as a call, mostly. We would say about 50% of the drivers drive below minimum safety standards and tailgate and overtake in ways

that would end them in jail in most countries. We have gone through several providers and have literally given up hope and just learned to live with it.

 

 

 

there is a reason why Thailand has finally earned the "most dangerous roads of the world" award