Altercation with a taxi driver

[gppower]

A few weeks ago I had a taxi ride from Asoke to Sukhumvit soi 56. Before setting off, I explained to the taxi driver that the exact destination was on the third sub-soi (yak) off soi 56 and off we went.

When we turned into soi 56, I kept repeating that we needed the third sub-soi but he kept on asking for the name of the building which I did not know. He drove on, missing the turn, to the end of soi 56 and then he stopped. He refused to turn around to look for the sub-soi, claiming that I did not give him the name of the building (even if I did, in order to have a chance to see it we should have been on that bloody yak 3). He told me to pay, get out and take a motorbike taxi. Things started to heat up. In principle, I did not take a taxi to end up stranded in an unknown neighborhood at dark and pay another extortionate fare to a motorbike taxi. On the other hand, I was also very aware of the context: I was a farang in a dark alley in Bangkok, out there just to be ripped off. Nevertheless, I thought I would give him a bit of a hard time, so I told him that I could not pay him if he didn't take me where I wanted to go. At that point, he raised his open hand threatening to slap me mumbling something in Thai and went with the classic line: "you pay now!" . I was not that impressed by his physical threat, as he was quite old and not in shape, but after weighing the multiple consequences, I decided to pay. Not the fare on the meter though, which he had kept running for the whole discussion, but I knocked off 10 baht, just to piss him off.

 

I was upset for the rest of the evening, thinking that I had been ripped off for the 100th time and even physically threatened. What were my options or what would you have done in the same situation?

 

1) Respond to his threat by raising my hands

2) Walk away without paying

3) Call the police (yeah right...)

 

I feared he would pull out a knife and/or call for the help of fellow nationals to beat the crap out of me, so I swallowed the pill and payed. It was not for the money, because the fare was around 100 baht, but it was a matter of principle. But then again, how many fights/beatings between farangs and thais happen over just a few hundred bahts...

        

Edited January 9, 2019 by gppower

[KittenKong]

So what happened when you reported his badge number to the DLT?

 

You did do that, didnt you? And you did get his badge number, didnt you?

[gppower]

9 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

So what happened when you reported his badge number to the DLT?

 

You did do that, didnt you? And you did get his badge number, didnt you?

Ermm....I did not know I had that option...

I reckon the badge number is shown on the dashboard together with his picture, right?

But then, how do I get in touch with the DLT? 

Edited January 9, 2019 by gppower

[OneMoreFarang]

There is option 4:

Say thank you and pay the amount on the meter, take a motorcycle taxi for maybe 20B, and enjoy the rest of the night.

[luk AJ]

Option 4) Pay and walk away


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[KittenKong]

6 minutes ago, gppower said:

Ermm....I did not know I had that option...

I reckon the badge number is shown on the dashboard together with his picture, right?

But then, how do I get in touch with the DLT? 

1584 is the hotline.

https://www.dlt.go.th/en/contact-us/

 

[KittenKong]

3 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

There is option 4:

Say thank you and pay the amount on the meter, take a motorcycle taxi for maybe 20B, and enjoy the rest of the night.

 

1 minute ago, luk AJ said:

Option 4) Pay and walk away

Or just drop your pants in the street and let him shaft you properly.

 

Nah. People like that should be reported and punished and ideally deprived of their employment. There are no other valid options.

[jvs]

So you have been here for a long time and you get upset over a little thing like this?

Imo not really worth it,i do not let things like that ruin my day but i must admit somedays are better than others.

In the end you found the place?

You win some you loose some.

[murrinman]

so you want to cop a flogging for 100 bt pay up and move on poor comms isn't the drivers fault learn the lingo better and things like this don't happen  

[richard_smith237]

In similar situations I've had the idea about wrapping the seatbelt round their neck until they pass out then putting them in the boot (trunk) and walking off...!!!... There... Keyboard Warrior moment out of my system... 

 

In reality.... I'd have told / asked him to take me to a motorcycle Taxi or a street where there are other taxi's. 

 

I avoid the a33h0!e taxi drivers by using GRAB taxi as much as possible... at least there is record of your driver and you can complain of a poor ride etc.. 

 

You are right to be annoyed by this... You requested a service by someone who is in business to provide this service... they didn't and their terrible and entitled attitude surfaced... it sometimes makes my blood boil.. it makes many Thai's blood boil too... so you are not alone in finding such annoyance in this....

 

Anyway, it seems you created 'just enough' of a nuisance of yourself for this tool of a taxi driver to think twice before doing such again. 

 

I have found that sitting in the front to be help when not clear on the destination... I've experienced that the taxi drivers (as a number of Thai's) don't respond well to instructions until you've repeated yourself 3 or 4 times... for some reason it just doesn't register...

 

Another favorite of mine is to say 'Turn left in 100m'... 'Turn left in 50m'.... 'TURN LEFT NOW' each time going a little more Alpha Male than the previous time...  When the taxi driver is being a tool, speak to him like he's a tool !!!!... 

 

It used to be such that when my Wife and I were in a taxi together in the night time I found it necessary that I speak to the Taxi driver - for some reason when my Wife spoke (directions) they considered me weaker or whatever, maybe they thought I couldn't speak Thai etc... however, when I spoke (in Thai), mostly in the 'Alpha male' voice (yes it does sound ridiculous when mentioning it here) it seemed to work...  for whatever reasons, Thai men of lower socio-economic status respond better to someone acting firm... (somewhat like a tool!).... Don't forget the khrap's and polite language etc, but just sound more firm... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

46 minutes ago, murrinman said:

so you want to cop a flogging for 100 bt pay up and move on poor comms isn't the drivers fault learn the lingo better and things like this don't happen  

 

I don't know the 'lingo' or speak a word of Japanese, yet I've never had one issue with a Taxi in Japan even when I'm uncertain of the location of my destination and how to pronounce it correctly.... 

 

So.. why is it that ???... 

 

Issues like this are the drivers fault... If the driver of the Taxi were not a complete and total a33h0!e the Op may have been posting a thread of how a Thai Taxi driver was polite ensured that he arrived safety at his destination... although that would be a boring thread !

 

 

 

[gppower]

1 hour ago, jvs said:

So you have been here for a long time and you get upset over a little thing like this?

Imo not really worth it,i do not let things like that ruin my day but i must admit somedays are better than others.

In the end you found the place?

You win some you loose some.

Looking it in retrospective, yes it is a little thing, especially with the amount of money involved as opposed to, say, a jet ski scam.

In that moment though I was fuming. Most probably what aggravated me was that he threatened to slap me like a dog.

I'll work on my self control....

For the record, yes, I found the place...

[muffy]

Kick his butt and pay the 500 fine .

 

[JaiLai]

So you have been here for a long time and you get upset over a little thing like this?
Imo not really worth it,i do not let things like that ruin my day but i must admit somedays are better than others.
In the end you found the place?
You win some you loose some.

So you get walked all over....... up to you


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[jvs]

6 hours ago, JaiLai said:

So you get walked all over....... up to you


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If you call that walked all over you have a lot to learn.At least the op walked away from it,win.

Of course there is a line for everyone but this is not it.

A few baht is not worth getting hurt over.

 

[madmen]

Rule number 1.

Always rent near a bts so you don't have to deal with taxi scum

[Will27]

You didn't help the situation by withholding 10 Baht, in your words "just to piss him off".

Why would you want to do that?

 

Then your night was ruined as your were upset about it.

You're still obviously pissed off/upset as you've made a post about it.

 

All of this for a minor amount of money.

Yeah yeah, it's the principle...…..

 

People saying he should be punished and sacked.

It's never going to happen.

What should happen and what does happen are an entirely different thing.

 

I remember a farang got stabbed to death over an argument about a taxi fare

in Bangkok a few years ago.

 

It's not worth it.

Save your time and energy and forget about it.

 

[Hayduke]

14 hours ago, gppower said:

...but it was a matter of principle.

 

Whenever you hear this...it’s usually describing a course of action that doesn’t otherwise make a lot of sense.

 

 

[JaiLai]

If you call that walked all over you have a lot to learn.At least the op walked away from it,win.
Of course there is a line for everyone but this is not it.
A few baht is not worth getting hurt over.
 

Do you decide where everyone’s line is?

This and many other instances are blatantly because they’re afraid to stand up for themselves.

They will continue to be walked over in their lives.

Up to them ( as they say )


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[snowgard]

Now I know why so much taxi drivers try to rip off farangs. Almost 70-80% of the replies wanna pay the rip off for not have problems, no waiting time, , .... WoW!!!
It's a almost perfect win win for the taxi driver!!!
 

[smileydude]

Pay him and just let it go.  I think everyone gains a few years of our life if we can lessen the stress and anger.

Any altercation with someone who has less to lose usually turns out bad for us especially being non-Thai.

 

Reporting it wouldn't do much good as it wasn't really a blatant offense but rather lack of communication skills (him in English, you in Thai).

Edited January 10, 2019 by smileydude

[melvinmelvin]

19 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

I don't know the 'lingo' or speak a word of Japanese, yet I've never had one issue with a Taxi in Japan even when I'm uncertain of the location of my destination and how to pronounce it correctly.... 

 

So.. why is it that ???... 

 

Issues like this are the drivers fault... If the driver of the Taxi were not a complete and total a33h0!e the Op may have been posting a thread of how a Thai Taxi driver was polite ensured that he arrived safety at his destination... although that would be a boring thread !

 

 

 

 

In the OPs case I would have just walked away without paying a satang.

Must say I very very rarely experience problems with taxi drivers in LoS.

 

Re Japan and taxis, a breeze really - very pleasant.

 

Here is an anecdote;

years and years ago I used to visit Tokyo frequently, much more difficult to get around then

little English spoken and on signs - very different today in Tokyo

Now,

in order to get a taxi back to the hotel after a night out on town one usually had the hotels biz card in the pocket

or this small map of matches.

friend, with map/flap of matches spent hours and yens getting pissed in Shinjuku

taxi ; pointed to map of matches - insisting there there there go go go

 

took some convincing to get the cabbie to agree,

at last driving driving driving for long long long time, cabbie stopping here and there asking for directions

finally the cabbie proudly stops at the address, gigant sum on the meter,

the gates of the match producing factory

 

dunno if its true, but a good story

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

7 hours ago, madmen said:

Rule number 1.

Always rent near a bts so you don't have to deal with taxi scum

 

????  ????  A great rule when you are taking a taxi cos you are nowhere near the BTS !!!... 

[NightSky]

It sounds like one of the typical 'frustrations' experienced by foreigners living in a country where they do not speak the local language. Although it did also sound as if you didn't know where you were heading, i.e. the name of the destination is usually helpful.

 

Yaek 3 doesn't mean much at all if it doesn't exist. Sukhumvit Soi 56 will have a sub soi yes but it wouldn't necessarily be called a 'yaek' as you described, hence the confusion.

 

Also didn't you have Google maps with you, it might have been useful?

 

In this instance pay the man and get a motorbike taxi to help you after locating the name of the location (or soi number even) that you want to travel to.

Edited January 10, 2019 by NightSky

[Suradit69]

21 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

There is option 4:

Say thank you and pay the amount on the meter, take a motorcycle taxi for maybe 20B, and enjoy the rest of the night.

And don't forget the most important thing is to post about it all on Thai Visa so that others sitting at home in their bedsits can tell you how, if it had been them, they would have thrown a major hissy fit and defended their macho image rather than deal with the excruciating loss of face ... all because of a small problem with a taxi driver.

 

 

 

Edited January 10, 2019 by Suradit69

[NightSky]

1 minute ago, Suradit69 said:

so that others sitting at home in their bedsits can tell you how..

Speak for yourself, I'm sat in my private villa.

[Naamblar2014]

20 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

When the taxi driver is being a tool, speak to him like he's a tool !!!!... 

Hey wrench,  turn left in 50 metres nah krup... You bloody wrench.. ????

[richard_smith237]

1 minute ago, Naamblar2014 said:

20 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

When the taxi driver is being a tool, speak to him like he's a tool !!!!... 

Hey wrench,  turn left in 50 metres nah krup... You bloody wrench.. ????

 

No need for the swearing... 

 

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Tool

 

 

 

[johnnybangkok]

A great deal of keyboard warriors on this subject advocating retaliation and “kicking ass”. 

Before you do you might want to cast your mind back to this https://tastythailand.com/american-killed-by-thai-taxi-driver-for-refusing-to-pay-53-cent-fare/

 

Most taxi drivers carry some sort of weapon in their car; anything from a machete to a gun, so before you get all brave and alpha on them, just ask yourself this - is my life worth 100 baht?

[1FinickyOne]

22 hours ago, gppower said:

I thought I would give him a bit of a hard time,

Sure, have some fun at the old man's expense... he tried... these things happen sometimes... 

 

22 hours ago, gppower said:

knocked off 10 baht, just to piss him off.

nice... great motivation... he is working a thankless job for little money, stuck in traffic and now he has a customer doing something to intentionally piss him off... 

 

sometimes in life we need to make the best of a bad situation...