Authorities investigate after online firestorm about travel rip-offs in Krabi

 

Image: Sanook

 

Sanook reported that Thai social media was red-hot with comment about rip-offs for travel from Krabi Airport to Ao Nang and travel around the beach area. 

 

There were reports circulating that people had been charged 3,500 baht for the ride from the airport, 300 baht for a one kilometer ride in Ao Nang and 200 baht for a short journey on a motorcycle. 

 

A person who was asked for 3,500 baht commented it was as much as the air ticket to the southern Thai resort. 

 

The Krabi Department of Land Transport chief and airport authorities - stung by the social media outrage - went to investigate.

 

But they found that buses, vans and taxis at the airport were properly regulated. Prices were properly displayed and everything was above board.

 

As an example passengers on minivans were being charged 150 baht for the trip to Ao Nang and taxis were all using their meters as required. 

 

DLT chief Ronakorn Thong-In said everything was fine - if there was any fleecing it was being done by rogue taxi drivers operating outside the law.

 

Source: Sanook

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-12-22

Just so it is clear to anyone who never travelled around Thailand, where ever you you're a target for over charging and price gouging whether by design or by collisions with other services providers, foreign tourist are viewed a bunch of " rich people" who can afford to pay extra and more that other This or fair price, these are my experience in just about about every travel and tourist business, fair to say that not all partake in this shameful practice, but the majority are..

Well I know whose account am going to believe. Tourists simply don't go out of their way to cook up stories to bash the Thai tourism sector now do they. 

 

Surely they should have pressed for more info about the rogue taxi operator and set about bringing them to task

At the airport, there should be lots of video cameras, so it would be easy to see the incident and identify the ripoff artist. There is no mention of reviewing video so the "investigation" seems to be incomplete. Is this just another attempt to cover-up reality ?

At Krabi Airport you cannot fail to see the advertised prices, virtually everywhere is clearly priced.

Taxis rarely use meters as price has been quoted and paid for before you get in , that being said they are overpriced, and you only have the slow bus as an option.

Thai people i am afraid simply cannot help themselves from doing this,recently i found out my Wife had taken commision from the builders who built our wall,and the expensive furniture shop where i purchased furniture for the new house,and possibly the air con units,no point confronting her as of course she will deny it, very dissapointing,any future works i shall ensure she has nothing to do with,relationship is on hold,no biggy as she lives at her mothers the whole reason i have built the house. Okay i am fairly well off and give her a decent monthly allowance,but to me what she has done is wrong,of course she as a Thai see's no problem,how the hell can you ever change such ingrained attitudes.

36 minutes ago, marko kok prong said:

Thai people i am afraid simply cannot help themselves from doing this,recently i found out my Wife had taken commision from the builders who built our wall,and the expensive furniture shop where i purchased furniture for the new house,and possibly the air con units,no point confronting her as of course she will deny it, very dissapointing,any future works i shall ensure she has nothing to do with,relationship is on hold,no biggy as she lives at her mothers the whole reason i have built the house. Okay i am fairly well off and give her a decent monthly allowance,but to me what she has done is wrong,of course she as a Thai see's no problem,how the hell can you ever change such ingrained attitudes.

How sad.

What amazes me is that tourists and foreigners complain continuously about overpricing ,but no one reacts.

Thai people complain and authorities investigate.

 

5 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Authorities investigate after online firestorm about travel rip-offs in Krabi

 

Authorities are determined to find out why they haven't been getting a cut of the action.

 

 

5 hours ago, rooster59 said:

But they found that buses, vans and taxis at the airport were properly regulated. Prices were properly displayed and everything was above board.

Of course it was... I wouldn’t expect anything else!!!

 

What a bunch of outright children... 

3 hours ago, robsamui said:

How sad.

Time for a divorce, or a geek.  

 

Really, she must be very good looking and good in bed if you would put up with your own loved one scamming money out of you, when you already give her a lot.

 

 

You take the bus 100/120 baht - they drove faster than most everything on the roads - never again 

rather pay 300 from airport to home feel safe and with aircon 

19 hours ago, marko kok prong said:

Thai people i am afraid simply cannot help themselves from doing this,recently i found out my Wife had taken commision from the builders who built our wall,and the expensive furniture shop where i purchased furniture for the new house,and possibly the air con units,no point confronting her as of course she will deny it, very dissapointing,any future works i shall ensure she has nothing to do with,relationship is on hold,no biggy as she lives at her mothers the whole reason i have built the house. Okay i am fairly well off and give her a decent monthly allowance,but to me what she has done is wrong,of course she as a Thai see's no problem,how the hell can you ever change such ingrained attitudes.

There's a saying we use up here....how to make a small fortune in Thailand? Bring a big one...you need to sit down and have a good rethink of your plans.the red flags seem to have been popping up all around you....first thing is see a property lawyer and get either a lease or if you can a usufruct on the property you've built.laziness in doing so will cost you.

19 hours ago, marko kok prong said:

Thai people i am afraid simply cannot help themselves from doing this,recently i found out my Wife had taken commision from the builders who built our wall,and the expensive furniture shop where i purchased furniture for the new house,and possibly the air con units,no point confronting her as of course she will deny it, very dissapointing,any future works i shall ensure she has nothing to do with,relationship is on hold,no biggy as she lives at her mothers the whole reason i have built the house. Okay i am fairly well off and give her a decent monthly allowance,but to me what she has done is wrong,of course she as a Thai see's no problem,how the hell can you ever change such ingrained attitudes.

Been there, Done that, Worn the tshirt 

We had a young couple come to stay in our apartment the other day and they had been staying over there Ao Nang and Kho Lanta they said it was quiet

23 hours ago, marko kok prong said:

Thai people i am afraid simply cannot help themselves from doing this,recently i found out my Wife had taken commision from the builders who built our wall,and the expensive furniture shop where i purchased furniture for the new house,and possibly the air con units,no point confronting her as of course she will deny it, very dissapointing,any future works i shall ensure she has nothing to do with,relationship is on hold,no biggy as she lives at her mothers the whole reason i have built the house. Okay i am fairly well off and give her a decent monthly allowance,but to me what she has done is wrong,of course she as a Thai see's no problem,how the hell can you ever change such ingrained attitudes.

You are lucky. Some never find this out about our "loved" one!

Run like hell.

Rip off a regular customer. Make money now. That's all that matters.

Gold egg laying goose losing its feathers. Time to blame everyone but themselves.

On 12/22/2018 at 11:50 AM, marko kok prong said:

Thai people i am afraid simply cannot help themselves from doing this,recently i found out my Wife had taken commision from the builders who built our wall,and the expensive furniture shop where i purchased furniture for the new house,and possibly the air con units,no point confronting her as of course she will deny it, very dissapointing,any future works i shall ensure she has nothing to do with,relationship is on hold,no biggy as she lives at her mothers the whole reason i have built the house. Okay i am fairly well off and give her a decent monthly allowance,but to me what she has done is wrong,of course she as a Thai see's no problem,how the hell can you ever change such ingrained attitudes.

“No point in confronting her...”

 

well and truly <deleted> arent you?...

 

good luck ????

20 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

Time for a divorce, or a geek.  

 

Really, she must be very good looking and good in bed if you would put up with your own loved one scamming money out of you, when you already give her a lot.

 

 

Not sure what to do,yes she is very good looking and very good in bed,the point i was trying to make is as a Thai she would see nothing wrong with her actions.

5 hours ago, happy chappie said:

There's a saying we use up here....how to make a small fortune in Thailand? Bring a big one...you need to sit down and have a good rethink of your plans.the red flags seem to have been popping up all around you....first thing is see a property lawyer and get either a lease or if you can a usufruct on the property you've built.laziness in doing so will cost you.

Already have 30 year lease's on both properties,trouble is she has fallen in with a bad crowd of other girls,all married to expats,her freind did the same to her husband,it seems to be like a game to them,even though they are well looked after,that is what i was trying to get at,these attitudes seemed ingrained in them ,i also have a suspicion she is somewhat of a kleptomaniac,there have been a few incidents that have raised my suspicion's. On the other side of the coin she can be a lovely caring person,and stayed with me in hospital last year after i nearly died and probably help save my life after as i was choking up crap from my lungs and she stood nearly all night next to the bed so i could spit this into tissues she was holding,so she is not a bad person,i mean we all have flaws in our character,this is hers,i don't think it is grounds for divorce that could put me on a very sticky wicket but forewarned is forearmed and i certainley will not be getting her to organise anything else.

19 hours ago, Sigma6 said:

“No point in confronting her...”

 

well and truly <deleted> arent you?...

 

good luck ????

With all due respect,your knowledge of Thai women seems to be lacking somewhat,of course there is no point confronting her,because if she admitted it,she would lose face,the worse fate a Thai can suffer,she would also know that i knew so i would be giving away my advantage,i don't know what you mean by cucked either,is that even a word? The point i was trying to make here is we as westerners see this as wrong she as a Thai see's it as initiative,she knows it would not harm me financially and it has not,i don't know how a Thai man in a similar position would react because i am not Thai.

Never had a problem when I lived there. Minivans and buses are regular throughout the day at a very small cost linking Ao Nang, Krabi Town and the airport. In fact the prices are clearly advertised.

I experienced this two weeks ago ...

Flight from KL was delayed almost two hours, so arrived Krabi Intl after dark.  Needing to get to booked Hotel on Koh Lanta, I saw plenty of minibus and taxis waiting outside... and yes, prices clearly marked... but "sorry, no minibus available ... only taxi ฿2500" #  I baulked at this ... ฿400 sign price, (and previously calling my Thai friend on Lanta I can get there for ฿250 inc the car ferry). 

So asked another tourist if he wanted to share, all ok, but we're then charged an extra ฿300 (fair enough because we'll be dropped at different hotels) but guess what? ... minivan takes us ... with at least 5 empty  seats...

 

#And when I questioned the taxi supervisor, she said "no problem, ferry stop 10pm, you can stay in airport take minivan tomorrow"

 

 

 

On 12/22/2018 at 9:42 AM, rooster59 said:

But they found that buses, vans and taxis at the airport were properly regulated. Prices were properly displayed and everything was above board.

So just a bunch of lying tourists !, everyone will know they are

telling the truth,except the Krabi land transport authority,

When is ANYTHING above board in Thailand.

 

regards Worgeordie

I don't think this is posted by a foreign tourist, the post appears to be written in thai.... many details missing on the deal but should be easy to find the ones involved with so many check points and cameras

On 12/22/2018 at 11:50 AM, marko kok prong said:

Thai people i am afraid simply cannot help themselves from doing this,recently i found out my Wife had taken commision from the builders who built our wall,and the expensive furniture shop where i purchased furniture for the new house,and possibly the air con units,no point confronting her as of course she will deny it, very dissapointing,any future works i shall ensure she has nothing to do with,relationship is on hold,no biggy as she lives at her mothers the whole reason i have built the house. Okay i am fairly well off and give her a decent monthly allowance,but to me what she has done is wrong,of course she as a Thai see's no problem,how the hell can you ever change such ingrained attitudes.

..... i found out my Wife had taken commision ..... and that's your WIFE???? lol

On 12/22/2018 at 12:58 PM, petedk said:

What amazes me is that tourists and foreigners complain continuously about overpricing ,but no one reacts.

Thai people complain and authorities investigate.

 

you're dreaming aren't you????

.....The Krabi Department of Land Transport chief and airport authorities - stung by the social media outrage - went to investigate.

But they found that buses, vans and taxis at the airport were properly regulated. Prices were properly displayed and everything was above board.....

 

Seriously... were we expecting anything else

On 12/22/2018 at 9:42 AM, rooster59 said:

But they found that buses, vans and taxis at the airport were properly regulated. Prices were properly displayed and everything was above board.

 

Prime example of the great detective work being carried out by Thai authorities once again. Follow up on complaints once they have reached fever pitch, go out into the field armed with a camera and some locals and snap as many shots as possible with locals and tourists smiling together. "See, tourists are happy with the prices. Look, taxi driver and foreigner are shaking hands and sharing a joke. All is well, come come, spend your money here, cheap cheap." 

 

What an absolute shambles.

 

KP.

 

On 12/23/2018 at 5:45 AM, marko kok prong said:

Already have 30 year lease's on both properties,trouble is she has fallen in with a bad crowd of other girls,all married to expats,her freind did the same to her husband,it seems to be like a game to them,even though they are well looked after,that is what i was trying to get at,these attitudes seemed ingrained in them ,i also have a suspicion she is somewhat of a kleptomaniac,there have been a few incidents that have raised my suspicion's. On the other side of the coin she can be a lovely caring person,and stayed with me in hospital last year after i nearly died and probably help save my life after as i was choking up crap from my lungs and she stood nearly all night next to the bed so i could spit this into tissues she was holding,so she is not a bad person,i mean we all have flaws in our character,this is hers,i don't think it is grounds for divorce that could put me on a very sticky wicket but forewarned is forearmed and i certainley will not be getting her to organise anything else.

She took care of you because she didn't want her source of funds to dry up. 

The word cucked is a neologism and seems somewhat appropriate in this case. Look it up. (I wouldn't use it myself.)