Foreign couple on tourism fact finding mission to Thailand robbed by airport taxi driver

[Get Real]

36 minutes ago, pearciderman said:

 

You clearly have no idea what Thailand 4.0 is.

Yes it has to do with modernizing the IT-infrastructure of Thailand, to contain effective monetary solutions in line with EEC and AEC and at the same time create good oversight and control of people, work etc. That means a lot of databases containing personal information, which will also be needed to control and register who can be a taxidriver and who can not and why.

[anon789561]

9 minutes ago, Apiwan2 said:

Sweden is the ideal world !

Not from what I hear, the influx of economic immigrants have changed that.

We have the best Taxi service in the world in London with the black cabs but even there they have dodgy drivers

Sent from my SM-G935F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

i'd much rather take a half hour taxi ride in a bkk taxi than a london black taxi though eh : )

and if i don't want to talk to a bkk taxi driver i'll just say, don't speak thai but in london i can't stop the guy rattling on and asking how my day is going and shit like that unless of course i just say mate, shut up i'm trying to read the paper 555

Edited March 5, 2018 by Happy enough

[CGW]

19 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

Good points.

 

It's been said from years back that the fleet operators (they always use the term taxi cooperatives, but they aren't they are ruthless business folks who own hundreds of cars and rent them to drivers by the day):

 

- Fleet owner puts the daily rental fee as high as possible (no thought to sharing say 5/50 with the renter).

 

- In many cases the driver is responsible for all maintenance costs and costs to repair damages to panels, etc.

 

- Drivers responsible to wash and clean the cars.

 

- When the government agrees to an increase in the flagfall the fleet operators immediately up the daily rental fee as much as they can get away with meaning the daily renter gets just a tiny % of the flagfall increase.

 

Overall; yes it's not all that attractive as a way to make a living, but astute drivers can make a bit better than the minimum wage, and yes the 'profession' does seem to attract a fair % of unsavoury people.

 

Several times I've had uni students tell me they drive a taxi late night to early morning, week-ends etc., they don't paint a picture of good income and they don't paint a nice picture of mafia stuff (police and taxi driver mafia gangs).

Seems everything here has to be run by a "monopoly" so few people control the lives of so many! same every where i guess, but particularly noticeable here.

Slightly meandering, Singapore is supposed to be "expensive" yet it is vastly cheaper to shop for western food there as the folks that monopolize the import of food here are able to charge whatever price they want! No competition allowed!!

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, Happy enough said:

i agree with you and the post you replied to. i think there's a good chance the taxi driver didn't even know, likely her hand bag, was still in the car and drove off. 

however, if he was returning the taxi as he said but was found with the belongings 3 hours later, then perhaps he didn't know at first but on finding the bag decided to keep it. that's theft

I also accept that this was not a deliberate robbery. The circumstances just do not stack up.

 

As for your last paragraph, it's possible that he wasn't really due to hand the car back in. That was merely his excuse. I'd suggest that he wanted to hand over his fare to a compatriot from Pattaya so that he could get back to his home patch and find some more fares.

[Apiwan2]

i'd much rather take a half hour taxi ride in a bkk taxi than a london black taxi though eh : )
and if i don't want to talk to a bkk taxi driver i'll just say, don't speak thai but in london i can't stop the guy rattling on and asking how my day is going and shit like that unless of course i just say mate, shut up i'm trying to read the paper 555

Depends if your reading the Daily mail 555+

Not all cabbies in the smoke are gobby

But at least you'll get to your destination quickly and safely

Sent from my SM-G935F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Thian]

7 minutes ago, CGW said:

Seems everything here has to be run by a "monopoly" so few people control the lives of so many! same every where i guess, but particularly noticeable here.

Slightly meandering, Singapore is supposed to be "expensive" yet it is vastly cheaper to shop for western food there as the folks that monopolize the import of food here are able to charge whatever price they want! No competition allowed!!

Even the skytrain/subway is cheaper in singapore compared to BKK and it's of a much higher class and not overcrowded and full of advertisings.  And foodcourts there cost a little more but are of a much higher standard. 

 

My friend has a taxicompany in bkk, he rents out 20 taxi's or so, not what i call a monopoly.

 

Taxi's in singapore are just perfect, and if you arrive on Changi it's like 7* hotel, EVERYTHING is perfect including the taxi's and all. I really love that airport.

 

I'm disappointed with the big general, he did many crackdowns on the taxi's and airports but it seems that he gave up by now. He's not as powerfull as i hoped.

 

 

 

 

[pearciderman]

20 minutes ago, Get Real said:

Yes it has to do with modernizing the IT-infrastructure of Thailand, to contain effective monetary solutions in line with EEC and AEC and at the same time create good oversight and control of people, work etc. That means a lot of databases containing personal information, which will also be needed to control and register who can be a taxidriver and who can not and why.

 

Not sure where you got your information from, but I can't find that one the page I checked.

 

http://thaiembdc.org/thailand-4-0-2/

 

[buick]

as others have said, once the new queue system was put in place, the wait times for a taxi on the arrivals level is not long at all.  i usually get the ticket and walk to the taxi.  no wait.  in years past, i always went to departure level to get a taxi to avoid lines under the old system at arrivals.  it wasn't to save the 50thb. 

 

these people were going to pattaya so i think that is the reason they went to departure level.  they wanted to negotiate a flat rate with the taxi.  if they'd used the arrivals level system, they would have had to use the meter.  i've never used the meter to get to pattaya but assume it would be more than 1,300thb.  maybe others have used the meter to pattaya and can let us know the rate if they can recall.

Edited March 5, 2018 by buick

[Hupaponics]

57 minutes ago, KMartinHandyman said:

Why were they not on level one at the arrivals taxi stand but instead trying to circumvent the system at the fourth floor departures which required hopping through the incoming turnstiles with their baggage if I’m not mistaken. Looks like they’ve been following cheap Charlie’s advice on how to save ฿50 surcharge and 10 minutes going downstairs. I’ll bet they leave those facts out when the fact finding report comes out. I’ll also bet she left her handbag in the back while unloading suitcase and duffles and the driver assumed they were finished and left when they shut the tailgate not knowing her bag was there as he was easily found within 3 hours and nothing was missing.

 

So what you are saying is that the taxi did not have any customers in those 3 hours? Surely a passenger would say that there is a bag in the backseat (or take it home).

 

Not sure how it is now as I don't do taxis anymore, but I always went b4 to departure level to grab at taxi. Not to save some 50 Baht, but to avoid the hassle and harassment at the arrival level. It was just more convenient do do so. That made me a cheep Charlie?

[impulse]

15 minutes ago, Apiwan2 said:

Depends if your reading the Daily mail 555+

Not all cabbies in the smoke are gobby

But at least you'll get to your destination quickly and safely

 

Don't forget quite a bit poorer.  I don't know about London, but a ride that costs me $8 in BKK costs around $100 in Houston.

 

[RichardColeman]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Foreign couple on tourism fact finding mission to Thailand robbed by airport taxi driver

Up tomorrow, Swedish man arrested for having no work visa for fact finding mission !

[CGW]

29 minutes ago, Thian said:

He's not as powerfull as i hoped.

I believe he has the power! but not the fortitude to see some things through, alternatively maybe he doesn't give a dam, governments of any shape or form are not renowned for caring about the 'people"

[Get Real]

56 minutes ago, pearciderman said:

 

Not sure where you got your information from, but I can't find that one the page I checked.

 

http://thaiembdc.org/thailand-4-0-2/

 

Thanks for the great value! 

[jenny2017]

      She was with her husband on a fact finding mission to Pattaya? I hope that they are not sex tourists, I've heard prostitution isn't allowed in Thailand. 

 

    Always good to have a happy ending. 

Edited March 5, 2018 by jenny2017

[Sonhia]

Not wanting to seem as though I'm making fun out of the couples loss, but the couple may have had their facts answered? 

 

If they decide to dig deeper, they may find many more disturbing truths about the culture.

 

All smiles and knifes....

 

 

[thaibeachlovers]

3 hours ago, darksidedog said:

Swift work by the fact finding tourists too. They found out exactly what the LOS has to offer in very quick time.

I have to add that the taxi driver must be incredibly stupid. He must have known CCTV at the airport would identify him.

LOL. They must be incredibly stupid too, as any sensible person knows not to put their money and important documents in the back of a taxi, for the very reason that they experienced. Yet they claim to be involved with the tourism industry.

[SOTIRIOS]

...detained...will appear in court...

 

...apology....wai...200-500 baht fine......???

 

 

...wonder what the foreigner caught shoplifting a comb got.....

[Emster23]

"... the driver sped off - along with a bag containing many 10,000s of baht, documents and a phone. "

Wife is Thai? Is that right?

Anyone who would put 10,000's of baht in their bags while traveling is an idiot.

And that's a fact

[zydeco]

3 hours ago, Thian said:

Well maybe they had never heard of that official taxistand with waiting time of an hour.

 

There are signs and arrows leading you there. As for the "waiting time," yes, it happens to all of us. Just because someone is  a tourism adviser from Sweden doesn't make them special.

[rtco]

Similar thing happened to me a few years ago. Got taxi at airport which drove off to a pace where there were a lot of taxi's He asked me to get out and change taxi's because he said he wasn't licensed to drive out of BKK ... B/S. I refused. He was joined by a couple of others who said I should used one of their taxi's. I refused. I remained seated in the taxi and took photos of him, his friends, his id etc. When one reached in to try and persuade me to get out I decided to resist and show an amount of subtle force. The fact that I am 6' 2" and weigh about 115 KG's and keep myself fit with weights etc made them think twice and I eventually got to Pattaya in the same taxi. Maybe it wasn't the best of things to do but it worked. I had a fair amount of cash on me and I wasn't about the lose that.    

[soalbundy]

"So how do you like Thailand now"

"Oh very good, very nice, but next year we are going to Barcelona"

[anon789561]

Just now, soalbundy said:

"So how do you like Thailand now"

"Oh very good, very nice, but next year we are going to Barcelona"

barcelonas full of pickpockets mate 555

[anon789561]

14 minutes ago, rtco said:

Similar thing happened to me a few years ago. Got taxi at airport which drove off to a pace where there were a lot of taxi's He asked me to get out and change taxi's because he said he wasn't licensed to drive out of BKK ... B/S. I refused. He was joined by a couple of others who said I should used one of their taxi's. I refused. I remained seated in the taxi and took photos of him, his friends, his id etc. When one reached in to try and persuade me to get out I decided to resist and show an amount of subtle force. The fact that I am 6' 2" and weigh about 115 KG's and keep myself fit with weights etc made them think twice and I eventually got to Pattaya in the same taxi. Maybe it wasn't the best of things to do but it worked. I had a fair amount of cash on me and I wasn't about the lose that.    

he probably wasn't talking BS. i have had a long journey price agreed up front for and he pulled over about half way and asked me to change taxi. we agreed it would be the same price. he pulls over another taxi. talks to him, i hand him half the agreed amount and on my way to destination in the other taxi and paid him the other half  on arrival, no probs. i think you'll find it's pretty normal and not some kind of scam

Edited March 5, 2018 by Happy enough

[soalbundy]

15 minutes ago, Happy enough said:

barcelonas full of pickpockets mate 555

So I get robbed by an honest thief.

[car720]

Seems their fact finding mission got fact.

[Knocker33]

So the tourists did all the leg work and found the scumbag on the cctv themselves while the police say on their ar$es

[dunroaming]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

The wife called Pramoon, 53, works for a company in Sweden that promotes tourism in Thailand. She was with her husband on a fact finding mission to Pattaya.

Mission accomplished then.  They now know the facts of coming to Thailand.

[soalbundy]

They are now recommending Syria.

[Somtamnication]

Well, they came on a fact finding mission and they were hit with factual information. Can't make this stuff up!

[bangrak]

7 hours ago, mommysboy said:

There's a fact to report then!

Good question indeed 'mommysboy', as it seems all to usual here that some gangster, banker, ...or monk, 'giving back' the money/valuables he had stolen, distracted or embezzled is absolved of his crime(s), as if he had done nothing wrong at all, not only by large parts of the general public, ...but even also by the police!