How Do You Rate Baht Bus Drivers (in General)?

[BlackJack]

theyre uneducated

drunk, under paid ( because they have to pay mafia and police )

yobo's and so dont mess with them as they are tight as a drum and ready to snap

[zakk9]

Baht busses are ok, as long as I'm travelling along beach and second road, but try to find one if you live somewhere else. 100 baht to go anything from a couple of hundred meters to a kilometer or two on the back of a pickup truck? That's clearly a rip-off. And try to find one to go downtown or to the bus-station from your home. No way. Then there's the motorcycles. 80 baht, 50 if I'm lucky, from Suksabai Villa (end of soi 17), to the bus-station. For riding on the back of a motorbike with a plastic bucket on my head.

During the week, I live in Samut Prakan. Baht buses are 6 baht, wherever I go, and all of them have signs showing their destination (which none of those in Pattaya have), in Thai, but that's ok with me. I can read. Motorcycles here are 10 baht to pak soi, 25 baht long distance.

The only way to get around in a civilized way in Pattaya is to have ones own transport, which will eventually make the traffic jams there as bad as i Bangkok.

Should we start a thread about taking the bus from Bangkok to Pattaya, and the interesting views on the stretch from Chonburi to Laem Chabang? Hmmm... at least those three hours are cheap.

[Jingthing]

Zakk, you support another point I have been trying to make. You are exactly right, if you live here, you mostly do NEED your own private transport. If you live in Bangkok, you mostly do NOT need this. So a better MIX of public transport options that actually covered the entire Pattaya area would in the long run REDUCE the total number of vehicles on the road.

[NanLaew]

collectively we chose to live/work/retire/die in Pattaya, in a country with chronic (terminal?) democracy issues, where foreigners have the 'f' word bestowed on them. where the law denies them the right to own the land they have the money to purchase. where the government-of-the-day can arbitrarily screw with your investment and retirement income and reinvent immigration rules to boot. so, unable to reconcile ourselves with the bald fact that we will forever be strangers in a strange land, aliens to be generally despised, reviled and taken for every last baht we have earned, we wail and gnash our teeth about those terrible, tangible baht buses.

btw, i recall loads of Bangkok taxis having meters over 20 years ago but drivers willing to use them were scarcer than hen's teeth. if it took Bangkok taxi drivers and users 20 years to achieve acceptance of the metered taxi, i think we will be long gone from this place before it happens here. long live the baht bus.... and every farang driven Fortuner or Vigo 4x4 that is squeezing them off the face of the earth!

i think it's time for my morning jack nam.

[begsaresponse]

I am not prepared to use your 'poll'. The options are distorted in my opinion!

I appreciate that a member of the forum tries to advise other members or guests about life in Pattaya And I realise that perspective is based on someones life experience. Who then am I to argue about another persons experiences!

However I get the feeling that there may be more to this that just passing on good advice!!

I regularly use baht buses and I have not experienced any of the violence you speak of. However I have observed the driver on the receiving end of aggressive verbal abuse a number of times!

The last point I would like to make is that in my opinion there is far too much aggression between posters. And speaking as a newbie its the sort of behaviour that has made me question if I want to continue as a member.

I was under the impression that we are all adults!

[Jingthing]

Dear Begsar,

I rather like the poll choices. (Oh yeah, I wrote them.) Anyway, there is a range from high to low, with the middle there as well. How would YOU have worded the poll differently?

BTW, I did say there is an UNDERCURRENT of violence on the baht buses, not blood on every ride.

Alot of this is a way to thuggishly enforce the double pricing policies. If you want to experience it live, try to pay the correct (Thai) fare for a long ride a number of times, and then I think you will have a nice show.

I haven't seen many farangs abuse the drivers. That observation really surprises me. I am glad for you if you really enjoy the baht bus system and baht bus drivers. I like parts of it as well. The part where their mafia suppresses other transport options is the main part I don't like and the part where they commit highway robbery when negotiating charter taxi fares (which they can do because they are a monopoly) is another part I don't like. And the bats. Yes, I have seen bats.

Edited February 9, 2007 by Jingthing

[Mobi]

I am not prepared to use your 'poll'. The options are distorted in my opinion!

I appreciate that a member of the forum tries to advise other members or guests about life in Pattaya And I realise that perspective is based on someones life experience. Who then am I to argue about another persons experiences!

However I get the feeling that there may be more to this that just passing on good advice!!

I regularly use baht buses and I have not experienced any of the violence you speak of. However I have observed the driver on the receiving end of aggressive verbal abuse a number of times!

The last point I would like to make is that in my opinion there is far too much aggression between posters. And speaking as a newbie its the sort of behaviour that has made me question if I want to continue as a member.

I was under the impression that we are all adults!

If people hold widely contrasting views on a subject, it is hardly surprising that a certain amount of 'agression' will be present in their arguments and counter arguments. This is quite normal in a civilised forum debate. As long as the aggression doesn't turn into flaming, which is against the forum rules, then I persoinally, as an adult of long standing, see no harm in it.

You state that you don't like aggressive posting, yet you make statements such as "I am not prepared to use your 'poll'", and" I get the feeling that there may be more to this that just passing on good advice!! ", which I would suggest is somewhat inflamatory and would encourage aggressive responses.

Nothing wrong with that IMO. but you are the one who is denigrating such behaviour.

BTW I can't see anything wrong with the Poll, and I'm sure Mr Jinthing has no hidden or insidious motives in posting this topic.

He just doesn't like Baht Buses much - along with a great many others.

Edited February 9, 2007 by Mobi D'Ark

[britmaveric]

Seems nearly 37%, majority think Baht Bus drivers are avg or exceptional.

[Pattaya_Fox]

Seems nearly 37%, majority think Baht Bus drivers are avg or exceptional.

............and 68.42% of voters do not agree with jingaling (oops sorry) jingthing that they are scum as he has called them

[icecubes]

I am not prepared to use your 'poll'. The options are distorted in my opinion!

I appreciate that a member of the forum tries to advise other members or guests about life in Pattaya And I realise that perspective is based on someones life experience. Who then am I to argue about another persons experiences!

However I get the feeling that there may be more to this that just passing on good advice!!

I regularly use baht buses and I have not experienced any of the violence you speak of. However I have observed the driver on the receiving end of aggressive verbal abuse a number of times!

The last point I would like to make is that in my opinion there is far too much aggression between posters. And speaking as a newbie its the sort of behaviour that has made me question if I want to continue as a member.

I was under the impression that we are all adults!

Ha Ha Ha Ha,

Edited February 9, 2007 by icecubes

[jeffrosner]

I am not prepared to use your 'poll'. The options are distorted in my opinion!

I appreciate that a member of the forum tries to advise other members or guests about life in Pattaya And I realise that perspective is based on someones life experience. Who then am I to argue about another persons experiences!

However I get the feeling that there may be more to this that just passing on good advice!!

I regularly use baht buses and I have not experienced any of the violence you speak of. However I have observed the driver on the receiving end of aggressive verbal abuse a number of times!

The last point I would like to make is that in my opinion there is far too much aggression between posters. And speaking as a newbie its the sort of behaviour that has made me question if I want to continue as a member.

I was under the impression that we are all adults!

Wow, for a baht bus driver, your English is quite good.

[ollyrosee]

how many of their passengers have they murdered and raped over the years ? quite a few

[Jingthing]

how many of their passengers have they murdered and raped over the years ? quite a few

Hmmm. Well, I suppose if you use the word rape loosely. Actually I think it is the moto taxi drivers who are more often implicated in those kinds of crimes.

[Jai Dee]

You are exactly right, if you live here, you mostly do NEED your own private transport.

I think that could be said of any provincial city anywhere in the world.

The baht busses do fill a transportation gap... provision for the casual user or tourists.

If you wish to take a "custom route", the price of the fare is most definitely reflected by your negotiating skills... and this can be said for khon Thai as well as farang.

[ukdog]

From a fellow drivers point of view they are both deadly, and unpleasant.

They have a tendancy to stop in the middle of a lane without notice, to go left or right without indication and to generally treat the road as their own personal property without a single concern for any other users.

They are one of the greatest causes of minor accidence when Motorcycles have to take last minute advoiding action when these creatures carry out some action that anywhere else would get the driver arrested. All in all they are a positive danger to all other road users.

When on foot I find them convenient, cheap and frequent.

I believe there are far to many of them on the road, and that they should be restricted to a single nearside lane on all roads. The argument over fares seems to go on forever, within Pattaya I pay 10 baht, I am aware that Thais pay 5, (unless they are with a farang ). 10 baht seems reasonable to me, however I never get on one without the right coins, as trying to get change from some of these legalised thugs can be difficult in the extreme.

However, when on foot I find them convenient

[Couthy]

how many of their passengers have they murdered and raped over the years ? quite a few

Hmmm. Well, I suppose if you use the word rape loosely. Actually I think it is the moto taxi drivers who are more often implicated in those kinds of crimes.

No - as I said earlier, we have a very good friend who is a born and bred 'Pattayan' and comes from an old business family there.

His stories of rapes by the swine are mind boggling and his advice is never, ever, ever get on a Baht bus at night alone if you are a woman.

At the end of the day, competition should be allowed in a transport system serving the volume of passenger traffic that Pattaya offers.

There should be a properly regulated public bus service, metered taxis, Baht buses and moto taxis.

The transport sysyem in BKK works quite well with the options that are open to the traveller.

But, it ain't never going to change in Pattaya, too many fingers in the till.

[mamanoodle]

I live here, and find good and bad bahtbus drivers, same as bus drivers in UK-rude and pull away before you get to your seat-do not lower the easy access when I had my grandchildren in a buggy both getting on or off the bus-very rude to elderly citizens with passes etc.etc.etc. Baht bus drivers try to overcharge, feign any knowledge of where you want to go, even if presented with address in Thai or requested in Thai. But i have also encountered a few who throw off dodgy looking(drunk, high or just suspicious looking) if all other passengers alight and I (farang female) am the only other passenger. Same same everywhere,but good and bad all seem to be tarred with the same brush somewhere along the line.

[jasperblubber2005]

read each of the comments trying to find a department or phone number to complain or file a complaint with but no luck, seems to be more than a few readers here anyone got an idea as to who, and i will use this term loosly, in city government here handles this type of problem.

talked to a pattaya tourist police volinteer last night and was told to report to city hall, total waste of time, never gave me a department or any help that i could use, the last time i went to city hall couldn't even find someone who could speak english, finally seen what looked like someone who gave a hoot and i filed a complaint about bar noise, got no reply no response, like i said a total waste of time.

keep reading here and there that pattaya wants to know about over charging by baht taxi drivers but need a pnone number od a dept within the city, can anyone help here, thanks in advance

jasper

[Jingthing]

Thanks for asking!

From Wiki Travel

If you're overcharged by a songthaew driver, note the three digit vehicle number (top left corner of the windscreen, also stencilled on both sides and in the back) and report the problem to:

* Pattaya City Manager: dial 038429216

* Banglamung District Baht Bus Cooperative: dial 038221271 / 038423554

Caveat: the Banglamung District Baht Bus Cooperative is the same corrupt cabal of mafioso bozos who have publicly justified double pricing because "farang money very strong."

If enough people call the Pattaya City Manager and say WE WANT BANGKOK STYLE TAXI METERS, who knows?

Edited February 12, 2007 by Jingthing

[jasperblubber2005]

thanks jingthing

jasper

[jasperblubber2005]

as a follow up, i callied the numbers that were given to me but no one spoke english at two numbers and no one answered the third, decide to follow-up on the tourist police and go to the police station on soi 9, they said they don't get involved in disputes concerning fares and that i should call the cooperative, i told that i did that but no one speaks english according to the lady who answered the phone at the cooperative.

the police man started to laugh realizing the problem i was facing he then said he would send two (yes two) policemen to help with the language issue, the cooperative is near soi 16 in nacklau if anyone needs to file a complaint, when i got there the police were already there, we went in and the police described my problem to three of the eight people working the office, as it turned out three of the people spoke decent english and i was able to communicate with them with no problems, i told the police they could leave as they had more pressing issues.

the driver in question was called in and it took him 40 minutes to get back to the cooperative, once there, he was sat down in a chair and for the next five minutes each of the cooperative people asked him question after question, the poor guy wasn't really a jerk he actually seemed to be an alright guy but it was his wife who ripped off my buddy and me for 20 baht and i wasn't going to let the big mouth get away from it.

afer the questioning they went to this board that showed the fines that drivers pay for thing like not having your their picture posted (200 baht) and over charging farangs (200-500), the cooperative told me that since he was new at the job and it was really his wife that created the stir he would only get the 200 baht fine, i said fine everyone at the cooperative shook my hand and the manager told me not to hesitate to notify him should a similar incident happen again.

when all was done and said i felt sorry for the driver he was a real qiute type guy who had the misfortune to be married to a greedy big mouth women, the complaint system is not good here most tourist would never give up three hour of there vacation to settle a 20 baht dispute but there was a princepal here and having time on my hand i decided to go for it, any way hope this information is helpful to some of you, thanks again jingthing

jasper

[Pattaya_Fox]

as a follow up, i callied the numbers that were given to me but no one spoke english at two numbers and no one answered the third, decide to follow-up on the tourist police and go to the police station on soi 9, they said they don't get involved in disputes concerning fares and that i should call the cooperative, i told that i did that but no one speaks english according to the lady who answered the phone at the cooperative.

the police man started to laugh realizing the problem i was facing he then said he would send two (yes two) policemen to help with the language issue, the cooperative is near soi 16 in nacklau if anyone needs to file a complaint, when i got there the police were already there, we went in and the police described my problem to three of the eight people working the office, as it turned out three of the people spoke decent english and i was able to communicate with them with no problems, i told the police they could leave as they had more pressing issues.

the driver in question was called in and it took him 40 minutes to get back to the cooperative, once there, he was sat down in a chair and for the next five minutes each of the cooperative people asked him question after question, the poor guy wasn't really a jerk he actually seemed to be an alright guy but it was his wife who ripped off my buddy and me for 20 baht and i wasn't going to let the big mouth get away from it.

afer the questioning they went to this board that showed the fines that drivers pay for thing like not having your their picture posted (200 baht) and over charging farangs (200-500), the cooperative told me that since he was new at the job and it was really his wife that created the stir he would only get the 200 baht fine, i said fine everyone at the cooperative shook my hand and the manager told me not to hesitate to notify him should a similar incident happen again.

when all was done and said i felt sorry for the driver he was a real qiute type guy who had the misfortune to be married to a greedy big mouth women, the complaint system is not good here most tourist would never give up three hour of there vacation to settle a 20 baht dispute but there was a princepal here and having time on my hand i decided to go for it, any way hope this information is helpful to some of you, thanks again jingthing

jasper

Thank you jasper for sharing your experience with us, which has demonstrated that your complaint was handled in a civilised and friendly manner with a satisfactory conclusion.

The hype that has been caused in this thread by certain members who call the drivers Mafia and scum has truly been aired in your postings with this personal experience and involvement in a real life situation and is good evidence that the word Mafia is a totally incorrect name for this co-operative.

I must say I do feel a little sorry for the male driver and I`ll bet his wife got a lecture when he returned home.

[britmaveric]

Yeah feel sorry for the lad myself... 200bht is day salary.

[keenok]

as a follow up, i callied the numbers that were given to me but no one spoke english at two numbers and no one answered the third, decide to follow-up on the tourist police and go to the police station on soi 9, they said they don't get involved in disputes concerning fares and that i should call the cooperative, i told that i did that but no one speaks english according to the lady who answered the phone at the cooperative.

the police man started to laugh realizing the problem i was facing he then said he would send two (yes two) policemen to help with the language issue, the cooperative is near soi 16 in nacklau if anyone needs to file a complaint, when i got there the police were already there, we went in and the police described my problem to three of the eight people working the office, as it turned out three of the people spoke decent english and i was able to communicate with them with no problems, i told the police they could leave as they had more pressing issues.

the driver in question was called in and it took him 40 minutes to get back to the cooperative, once there, he was sat down in a chair and for the next five minutes each of the cooperative people asked him question after question, the poor guy wasn't really a jerk he actually seemed to be an alright guy but it was his wife who ripped off my buddy and me for 20 baht and i wasn't going to let the big mouth get away from it.

afer the questioning they went to this board that showed the fines that drivers pay for thing like not having your their picture posted (200 baht) and over charging farangs (200-500), the cooperative told me that since he was new at the job and it was really his wife that created the stir he would only get the 200 baht fine, i said fine everyone at the cooperative shook my hand and the manager told me not to hesitate to notify him should a similar incident happen again.

when all was done and said i felt sorry for the driver he was a real qiute type guy who had the misfortune to be married to a greedy big mouth women, the complaint system is not good here most tourist would never give up three hour of there vacation to settle a 20 baht dispute but there was a princepal here and having time on my hand i decided to go for it, any way hope this information is helpful to some of you, thanks again jingthing

jasper

did you see him pay a fine?? who is the fine paid to?? or is it just easier to bullshit the farang and he will go away happy? did you get the money back by the way ??im not trying to stir anything up ,just wondering who polices the co operative?

[jasperblubber2005]

in answer to the last question, while i was there the cooperative has what looks like a receipt book which a member of the cooperative fills out, which was done while i was there, the information about the fine, the reason for the fine and so forth are on the receipt, unless i am wrong, and i don't think i am, the driver has a certain period to pay the fine.

i have no reason to believe the cooperative put on a show for my behalf, as a matter of fact i would have thought it very suspitious if the driver did pay the fine in front of me, even in my country uncle sam will give you time to pay of any fines.

jasper

[bdenner]

On my infrequent visits to Pattaya I don't have many problems with the drivers it's just I can't figure which direction the baht bus is going to go. It would be nice if they were painted different colors to depict the routes they serve.

I usually stay in the Residence Garden and see a number of them head up the hill but if I ask the driver if he is going that way the usual reply is 50 Baht, the fare is increased, if I'm on the bus and it goes that way as a matter of coarse I give them 20 Baht. It usually costs me 30 from mid town if I have to change busses.

All in all a reasonable service and "small money for Farang".

[ricksilb]

Baht bus drivers are agressive when pulling over or merging into traffic--if they were'nt they'db be stuck for hours. They'll cut in front of me, but by the same token they don't make a big deal about when I do the same. Seems to be typical Thai sabai sabai, and I've no problem with it.

As far as the fare goes, the basic rate for Thais seems to have increased from 5 to 10 baht for all but the smallest distances. It is B10 now to go from Naklua soi 12 to Big C or Lotus on North Pattaya for my wife, who is Filipina but passes for Thai of course. If they have indeed raised the rates for Thais to 10 baht to solve the overcharging 'problem', then hopefully we can stop reading about Falangs getting "ripped off".