Thai taxi driver said his life is being ruined after English teacher posts damning clip

[MrJohnson]

The taxi driver deserves his right of reply. While I fully acknowledge (as I have done so on this thread) that there are multiple problems with Bangkok taxis, I just have a sneaking suspicion that this whole thing is a ruse to drive traffic to this guy's youtube channel. Maybe I'm just a cynic.

Edited April 19, 2018 by MrJohnson

[scorecard]

19 minutes ago, Chrisdoc said:

I have heard that they have really strict shift times and fines if they are back at the depot late. If you ask to go somewhere they need to calculate how long to get there and back to the depot so they will say yes or no depending on time allowed. Don't know if true.

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Yes there are strict rules about shift changeover and for at least one good reason - if they are late the next driver has reduced time to try to get revenue.

 

And, if the change over is late do you think the taxi owner will reduce the rental fee for the incoming shift driver? 

 

Two further points:

 

- Why don't they have staggered hours for the various taxi rental companies for change over, rather than all taxis in BKK change over at the same time. Not difficult.

 

- Why don't all taxi the vehicles have a lighted sign indicating change over time?. Not difficult. 

 

 

[JAZZDOG]

Don't enter the taxi till the deal is made. Once my GF  made a deal with a baht bus, late night to the condo for me and her. Got to the condo and I headed to the lobby while my GF paid. Heard some yelling, turned around and the driver slapped my GF. Before I could make it the 30 meters back she kicked him in the nuts, kicked him in the head and was in full on ground and pound. I pulled her off him before the damage got worse. He called his wife to the scene as well as the police. The police sided with my GF as there was video that he threw the first blow. She got the option of 2000 on the spot or 6000 after a trip to the hospital. Since the little driver only inflicted a glancing open handed slap she took the 2000 fine and let it go. Had I got involved from the jump the outcome would likely got me some time in the monkey house. Thank God for hard headed women!

[scorecard]

48 minutes ago, mommysboy said:

Technically Danny Mac needs a work permit.  I wouldn't want to be making waves if my back wasn't covered.

 

Maybe the taxi driver got rough justice, but I can imagine the vlogger is always on the look-out for a new story- if you get my drift.

 

Maybe he has a WP?

 

 

[toybits]

Karma can be a female dog...

 

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

 

He cooked his goose right up front by asking about a flat 500Baht fare. IMHO that labels him immediately as a tricky dishonest unethical taxi driver. 

 

I travel often in Bkk by taxi. Often about 2.5 K from my long-stay hotel to my university. I stand at the mouth of my hotel soi on Ramkhamhaeng road, and stop taxis and get in. I state clearly in Thai where I want to go, the standard fare is between 45 and 51Baht, normally around 5 minutes trip. But many times I instantly get from the drive, often rudely, sam roi, sam roi (300). I ask politely to use the meter, usually refused sometimes with rude comments.

 

Many drivers will start driving immediately, no waiting for the discussion to finish. I tell them to stop and I get out. Over several years a couple of times they have refused to stop so I check if there's any traffic coming up from behind and open the door full open.  That gets their attention immediately.

 

A couple of times I've pointed at a policeman along the route and asked them to stop to talk to the police, suddenly it all reverts to meter and politeness.

 

Worst example of all - last year my uni had a visiting female professor from Germany, probably 40 yo, looks 25 yo. She had never been to Asia or Thailand before, cannot speak one word of Thai. By prior arrangement the hotel sent a private car to pick her up at Swampy.

 

The hotel sent a Thai staff member with her in a taxi on the first morning to go to the uni (5 minute trip,no problems) and wrote a note for her to give to the driver in the afternoon to come back to the hotel.

 

About 5.00 pm she went outside the uni and hailed a taxi and gave the driver the note with destination, detailed address and hotel phone number and mentioned that the normal fare was around 50Baht.

 

Taxi driver said something in Thai which she didn't understand, eventually taxi driver wrote 500 on a piece of paper. She tried to get out of the taxi but driver locked the doors.

 

By chance she notices several of her new students (all speak excellent English and of course Thai) coming out of the uni gate, very close to the cab. She banked on the window and yelled and waved and the students noticed her and came immediately. She yelled that the driver wanted 500baht.

 

Students asked the driver to unlock the door, he refused, two of the male students quickly stood immediately in front of the cab and two behind while another student called a hotline number. Two policemen (seperately) appeared quickly, listened to the students and then spoke to the driver. Within a couple of minutes the police handcuffed the driver, they had also called for a police vehicle to take him away and called the company which owns the taxi to come within 10 minutes and recover their vehicle.

 

One of the students lived quite close, he quickly went home and got the family car and all the students involved went with the lady professor to the police station. Then they took her home to my hotel and stayed with her for a couple of hours. Bottom line she was shocked, felt intimidated and she was frightened.

 

The students found the private number of the dean of the uni, the lady professor called and said she was not prepared to continue the course and would fly back to Europe as soon as possible. The students asked her to stay and complete the course (total time about 20 further days), they offered to have 3 students (always 2 boys and one girl) pick her up at the hotel in the morning and same thing to take her back to the hotel late afternoon, and go with her if sh wanted to go shopping etc. She stayed and flew home late evening of the last day of the course, students took her to the airport along with a senior uni admin' officer and stayed with her until she went into the passport departure area. 

 

Further, the uni had an ongoing agreement with the uni in Europe for student and professor exchange. The uni in Europe cancelled the arrangement immediately. 

 

And yes, there are many good polite taxi drivers, no attempt at cheating.  

 

Great, great story. Thanks for that. Thailand has a long ways to go, before it can attract quality tourists. The average tourist is just not what it used to be. Word gets around. Nice to hear the authorities took this seriously. I would assume the presence of the uni made a big difference.

[Chrisdoc]

Do you seriously expect people to believe that Thai taxi drivers never try to bargain a fare with you?

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[Chrisdoc]

 
 
I've been here long enough.
 
I open the door, say my destination, guy says ok, I hop in and he turns on the meter. It's been like this for me for the past 4 years.
 
I find it odd that the first thing out of your mouth is barking an order to turn the meter on. Perhaps that's the way it is if you live in Nana. I dunno

Do you seriously expect people to believe that Thai taxi drivers never try to bargain a fare with you?

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[JAZZDOG]

1 minute ago, spidermike007 said:

Great, great story. Thanks for that. Thailand has a long ways to go, before it can attract quality tourists. The average tourist is just not what it used to be. Word gets around. Nice to hear the authorities took this seriously. I would assume the presence of the uni made a big difference.

I don't agree. I think Thailand is a pretty amazing place and receives tourist from across the spectrum like most countries that actively seek out tourism. Fact is you seldom have reason to read about the majority of travelers that have a great experience only the very small minority that run into trouble. Most every country tends to blame problems on people from adjacent countries and tourists. For every story on TV about an expat crime, victim or perp,  there are thousands omitted that are similar committed by Thais. The fact Thailand has a fairly huge expat community says something about the quality of life here. There are many countries where it is cheaper to live with more liberal immigration laws and they don't attract near as many expats even though they entail much shorter distances to travel. People on here insist that travel numbers are falling off yet the statistics show that not to be the case. Maybe a list of the countries that attract "quality tourists" might be helpful?

[hansnl]

Oh dear.....
How sad......

Never mind......

Shut up.......

 

[DrTuner]

Cry me a river. Can't wait for self-driving taxis.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

41 minutes ago, Chrisdoc said:

Do you seriously expect people to believe that Thai taxi drivers never try to bargain a fare with you?

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I swear I never experienced this since I moved here.  Like I said before, 10 years ago it happened to me maybe 30% of the time, but I guess I was an easy target with a huge backpack. I get my rides mostly from the airport, Ramkhamheang road, fashion island, Seacon, Mega Bagna, and On Nut.....4 years on it didn't happen once the taxi driver didn't turn the meter on. Swear.

 

Edit

 

I don't speak thai, but I do always give my location in Thai.

Edited April 19, 2018 by theguyfromanotherforum

[taotoo]

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

 

Maybe he has a WP?

 

 

 

Yes, the youtubers invariably do.

[Chrisdoc]

 
I swear I never experienced this since I moved here.  Like I said before, 10 years ago it happened to me maybe 30% of the time, but I guess I was an easy target with a huge backpack. I get my rides mostly from the airport, Ramkhamheang road, fashion island, Seacon, Mega Bagna, and On Nut.....4 years on it didn't happen once the taxi driver didn't turn the meter on. Swear.
 
Edit
 
I don't speak thai, but I do always give my location in Thai.

Fair enough. I can't disagree with that.

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[stud858]

WP And an anti-retribution permit. I hope heads are cool now. I don't recommend bad reviewing unless anonymous.

[zzidenn]

3 hours ago, Happy enough said:

in nearly 20 years i have never had these problems i keep hearing about. i am in bkk now but live in the south and often take taxis instead of driving if i'm going out to drink in bkk

if you believe these you tube guys don't get themselves in the media to try and boost their hits, well, i'd have to disagree.

doing a good deed eh? not sure about that

I don’t think it is necessary to make this stuff up or even embellish the story. Taxi drivers in Bkk are the worst and behave like spoiled princesses.

[impulse]

3 hours ago, Eligius said:

And I find, Rob, that more and more BKK taxi drivers are simply not stopping when I hail them, even though they've got their 'for hire' light on. I agree with you that such things (and not wanting to use the meter) when they happen repeatedly, one after the other, are VERY annoying!

 

Thank Grab for a lot of that.  They may be headed to a fare.  Where I am in China, most of the taxis nowadays don't stop, because they've been hailed online.  Why they don't turn off their "for hire" light, I don't know.  But I suspect there are technical, legal and/or economic reasons.  Or maybe they're all just lazy.

 

[OldSiamHand]

3 hours ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

 

While I agree with you in principle that if a guy is accusing a Taxi driver of cheating, he should also be investigated for working without a permit and those nasty tattoos. 

Good point.  Perhaps this foreigner will regret bringing attention to himself if he doesn't have a work permit and is actually investigated by the Ministry of Labour.

[OldSiamHand]

3 hours ago, Chrisdoc said:

Farung should have negotiated the fare before-either meter or amount. He has been here for two years must be pretty dumb to not know that. Did he set this up to get his on his youtube as everyone knows thai taxi drivers hate meters? He teaches on youtube for free but would still get paid for hits to his site. He is just saying he doesn't get paid because he probably doesn't have a work permit. I don't have much money but always tip taxi drivers. Is a hard job in any country.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

It doesn't matter if you get paid or not.  If you work without a work permit, even without any pay, you are still in violation of the Alien Working Act

[connda]

Translation:
"Boo hoo.  I've never been caught before.  But now that I'm caught, I'll need to turn this around into a defamation suit and squash that evil Thai speaking farang." 

[Chicken George]

He still thinks he did nothing wrong! 

[Eligius]

1 minute ago, Chicken George said:

He still thinks he did nothing wrong! 

Yes. This is typically Thai: they are NEVER wrong - even when they clearly are!

[OldSiamHand]

2 hours ago, scorecard said:

 

Maybe he has a WP?

 

 

He might, but who would be his employer?  You generally need an employer to sponsor a work permit.

[holy cow cm]

5 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

I am lost here and maybe wrong but for the last 8 years plus driving in Chiang Mai I have never seen a toll road ?

Any road with a police check point. 

[anon789561]

1 hour ago, zzidenn said:

I don’t think it is necessary to make this stuff up or even embellish the story. Taxi drivers in Bkk are the worst and behave like spoiled princesses.

yes, so i keep hearing, not my experience but there you go

[stud858]

36 minutes ago, OldSiamHand said:

It doesn't matter if you get paid or not.  If you work without a work permit, even without any pay, you are still in violation of the Alien Working Act

Surely it is with pay from YouTube ad royalties. Pay coming from outside of Thailand.  Actual work while sitting in Thailand. 

Has anyone heard of internet work jumped on by the authorities? I think it's classed as in the cloud and not in Thailand.  

[Yann55]

6 hours ago, stanleycoin said:

If he didn't try and rip people off, he wouldn't have a problem.

I love social media, it shows some people up,   for what

they truly are. 

 

Ooooookay ... but surely you realize that social media also open wide the doors for fact-manipulation, slander, one-sided stories, and other such niceties ?

 

You know, for instance, that an alarming (and growing) number of suicides among schoolchildren is caused by concerted mudslinging campaigns organized by their charming schoolmates on social media ?

 

I'm not saying that I entirely disagree with you, and yes, social media do help bring out wrongdoings which would otherwise remain conveniently under the rug. In countries where the police and military tend to assume that the law is for others, not for them, social media can be a blessing. But let's keep in mind that there's also a dark side to this new medium and it can easily ruin the life of a totally innocent person. Even Mark Zuckerberg is aware of that (the question being : does he give a damn?).

 

 

Edited April 19, 2018 by Yann55

[shady86]

Easy. Just change name and start all over again.

[Regyai]

Suggest an image makeover for the campaigning 'Danny Mac'

 

 

or copious

 

machete proof kevlar

[Eligius]

22 minutes ago, Yann55 said:

 

Ooooookay ... but surely you realize that social media also open wide the doors for fact-manipulation, slander, one-sided stories, and other such niceties ?

 

You know, for instance, that an alarming (and growing) number of suicides among schoolchildren is caused by concerted mudslinging campaigns organized by their charming schoolmates on social media ?

 

I'm not saying that I entirely disagree with you, and yes, social media do help bring out wrongdoings which would otherwise remain conveniently under the rug. In countries where the police and military tend to assume that the law is for others, not for them, social media can be a blessing. But let's keep in mind that there's also a dark side to this new medium and it can easily ruin the life of a ptotally innocent person.

 

 

Right! Generally I hate 'social media' - all its triviality, superficiality, time-wasting obsessiveness and addictiveness (the zombification of the young, in particular - and the bullying, as you point out - and Zuckerberg is the perfect poster-child of how an alleged human can end up looking, moving and talking like an android!). BUT in an authoritarian state like Thailand, it really does have an immensely valuable and vital role to play. So much hitherto hidden truth is being revealed about what REALLY goes on in Thailand by 'social media'. So to that extent - I welcome it.

 

 

Edited April 19, 2018 by Eligius