Hua Hin taxi wars: Angry taxi driver makes online threats against all Grab drivers, woman assaulted

[damian]

Used grab dor the first time last weekend in HH. Brilliant. 50% less than the regular taxi. 

[peterb17]

24 minutes ago, AccidentalTourist said:

Grab, Uber you will find all over the world; there is hardly a issue with this in Europe; which of course are mostly civilized countries... which makes the difference

Uber has had their license taken away in London. 

I do have some sympathy for the black cab driver - the ‘Knowledge’ takes many years - but they are stunningly expensive and to be honest with google maps - do you really have to spend years driving around on a moped memorising every street in London. 

[Cereal]

Good gravy, there are so many ridiculous statements in that story that one doesn't stand out as being exceptional. Taxi drivers the world over have had a monopoly for decades and here comes the competition, instantly doing more, doing it better, doing it more efficiently and effectively and the taxi drivers are upset.

 

Too freaking bad. Too many of you have been treating customers with rudeness, disdain and at times criminally for far too long. Taxi drivers in Thailand are infamous for all of the above.

 

Remember the video of a taxi driver speeding and the customer telling him to slow down and the driver said, "Are you dead yet?"

 

Bring on the competition.

[bacwan]

1 hour ago, Bobobirdiebuddy said:

  And it is shameful that the Hua Hin police  not to show more courage in dealing with these violent taxi drivers. 

That's because since the first of the month they have been shaking down falangs. I was actually chased down last week by the HH police (which I've never seen). He pulled me over and took my IDP and made me follow him back to the air conditioned police hut where he showed me a xerox copy in English of violations and fines. He asked for 1000 baht. I only had 600 which he gladly accepted. No ticket, no receipt.

[arithai12]

4 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Local taxi drivers in Hua Hin are angry at the sudden loss of income since the launch of Grab.

Not even under total monopoly would I want to ride with this guy who thinks beating a woman is the way to win a discussion.

[arithai12]

1 hour ago, sahibji said:

no sympathy should be extended. this a a free country and let market forces prevail.

ok good for you, but this story is about Thailand

[bacwan]

Angry and overcharging taxi mafia are the reason that I never visit Phuket or Samui anymore.

[Sydebolle]

Take his license away and blacklist him for good; will set an example to the rest of that mafia lot! 

[FitnessHealthTravel]

Competition - Never well received from the fearful and lazy.

[Lucky mike]

The interpersonal skills of a gorilla and maybe I am being unfair to gorillas ?

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, hobz said:

The "real" taxis are not insured either it seems. Based on the relatively recent news about British tourist who was hospitalized after an accident with a supposed "real" taxi and had to beg for money online to cover hospital expenses.

 

If they want to keep make a living all they have to do is join grab. Their experience should allow them to become top grab drivers quickly if they just follow the rules.

Hell, many of them seems to have done it already in Chiang Mai.

 

As for long term future. Self driven cars will sooner or later take over. But before then I'm not sure if grab is making losses just like Uber did and how long they can keep it up. Maybe they need to raise prices to a level where the taxi mafia can compete again. Who knows?

It never became clear if that was a legal taxi or not. And knowing the area and destination, I doubt it was a legal taxi.

[wpcoe]

Does Hua Hin have metered taxis now?  Or, just the samlors and sawng-taews with a taxi sign on top?

[smedly]

5 hours ago, rooster59 said:

A taxi driver assaulted a female hotel employee just hours after posting online threats against all Grab taxi drivers working in Hua Hin.

Can we not do the typical 500baht fine and instead jail this psycho (and anyone that supports him) for at least a year

 

These taxi wars cannot continue, it will have a direct impact on customers and therefore tourists, a strong message needs to be sent to these thugs making sure they understand that this behavior will not be tolerated, they either get with the program or go find something else to do 

[trianglechoke]

I feel for guys supporting families, but at the same time....... Find me a scamless taxi driver, lam industries like most scam service industries, the internet has levelled the playing field

[tandor]

3 hours ago, bristolgeoff said:

another town in the LOS that has a problem with taxi or motorbike mafia

..perhaps the Taxi Control Board will transfer the offending driver to an 'inactive' position.

[JimHuaHin]

No sympathy for Hua Hin taxi drivers, who charge 5-10 times the cost of a Bangkok metre taxi over the same distance.

 

One early evening last year I heard a Hua Hin taxi driver charge ask 2 farangs for Baht 1,000 to drive the 8 kms  from down town Hua Hin to Khao Ta Kiab.  In the end he settled on 800 Baht!!!

[ICECOOL]

I first used Grab in Penang and loved the service.  Tried it in BKK and while not as good it was still better than the robber taxis. Rarely use cabs in HH but I find the local guys pretty good although getting home can be a challenge because they all want to up the price. 

 

Last week however a group of six headed to the jazz festival and the taxi (not Grab) that took us, was happy for a call to come pick us up. Same price (200 baht)  both ways which was nice.

 

Maybe some are learning. 

 

 

[ttrd]

6 hours ago, darksidedog said:

If taxis and motor bike taxis didn't have such an appalling reputation for bad manners and overcharging, I might have some sympathy.

Good point…:)

 

But what may be a real concern if it will end for Grab as for Uber then the question is who are actually running this country...??.....

[Somchai Logic]

Even the street representatives of the local mafia (the BiB) are telling everyone to not use the competition. We will NOT protect you. This country and its indigenous are an absolute disgrace. From Top to Bottom 

[ttrd]

4 minutes ago, Somchai Logic said:

Even the street representatives of the local mafia (the BiB) are telling everyone to not use the competition. We will NOT protect you. This country and its indigenous are an absolute disgrace. From Top to Bottom 

It is something both "Power" and "Powerful" linked to the word "TAXI" - its very similar to both "Taxes" and "Taxin"....

[geisha]

JUst one look at that guy getting out of the car, and I would never  get in a taxi he  was driving !

[natway09]

If the taxi owners had any brains (only met a few) they would offer the same service & put Grab out of business. They could have a look at many models that work in many places like

Jakarta's Bluebird. Phone or app to contact & book,  uniformed, clean  courteous drivers, no overcharging, always metered,,,,,,,,, maybe too much to expect from a bunch  of bandits here

[ukrules]

There are no licensed taxis is Hua Hin are there ?

 

Just criminal gangs who like to rip people off. The sooner the city gets rid of these parasites the better.

[hhinhh]

Hua Hin taxis are a Mafia of its own. Why is a ride with a simple Tuk Tuk three times more expensive than a ride with a decent airconditioned Bangkok taxi. And the best: Once it starts raining the taxi prices raise by 200%. It is time competition comes!

[smew]

Competition and fewer people using taxis creates panic among regular taxi and motorbike taxi this should be good for regular customers 

[wvavin]

The Thai taxi drivers are now tasting their own medicine. Well done GRAB!

[wvavin]

The Thai taxi drivers are now tasting their own medicine. Well done GRAB!

[spidermike007]

We have been allowed by a succession of incredibly weak, and toothless administrations, including the current one, to get away with charging whatever we want to charge, without regard to the laws. Now, the conditions that we have created have encouraged fair competition, in the form of these new alternative taxi services. We do not like that at all. The government needs to protect us, as they have up to now. We do not want competition. It will lead to lower rates. Lower rates are bad! We want more money. This is bad. We will misbehave! Nobody will punish us, especially not the weak army! 

[wvavin]

The Thai taxi drivers are now tasting their own medicine. Well done GRAB!

[bapoboy]

5 hours ago, AccidentalTourist said:

Grab, Uber you will find all over the world; there is hardly a issue with this in Europe; which of course are mostly civilized countries... which makes the difference

Not many civilized countries left in Europe, only a few like Denmark,Switzerland and the Eastern European countries.

 

countries like France,Uk, Sweden,Germany, Belgium aren’t civilized countries, all the problems and lack of freedom of speak etc etc.