118 taxi drivers fined for alleged passenger-cheating offences

[webfact]

118 taxi drivers fined for alleged passenger-cheating offences

By Kornkamon Aksorndech 
The Nation

 

 

A total of 118 taxi drivers around the Royal Grand Palace area in Bangkok have been arrested and fined up to Bt1,000 for allegedly cheating passengers, especially foreign tourists, police said on Friday.
 

Metropolitan Police Bureau's traffic police chief Pol Maj General Nithithorn Jintakanon told a press conference that 73 cabbies were charged with violating the Vehicle Act 1979.

 

 

Thirty were charged with refusing passengers, 17 for failing to use a taxi metre for fare, three using a wrong vehicle as a taxi while another 23 committed various other offences under the act. 

 

Forty-five cabbies were also arrested for violating the Road Traffic Act 1979.

 

Police also announced that the Department of Land Transport's hotline 1584 had received 43,804 complaints about taxi services in 2016, and 43,254 complaints in 2017, which soared to 48,223 complaints in 2018. 

 

The five top complaints were: taxis refusing to take passengers, drivers acting impolitely towards passengers, taxi driving recklessly and dangerously, driver failing to use the fare meter, and taxi failing to take passengers to agreed destinations.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30366775

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-03-29

[colinneil]

News flash........ Honest taxi driver gave back a tourist his bag containing 500.000 baht, gold watch, credit cards.

Photo taken outside the Grand Palace, sadly unavailable.

[Phuketshrew]

118 fines from nearly 50,000 complaints? Why bother?

[gunderhill]

11 minutes ago, Phuketshrew said:

118 fines from nearly 50,000 complaints? Why bother?

Ah, but did they get 118 actually paid?

[sammieuk1]

Taxi drivers kicking the living daylights out of customers came in at number 6 and is customary in some areas???? 

[isaantom]

Fine 1000 Baht!?

 

The next cheated tourist will compensate the loss.

[observer90210]

The Thai police could make a fortune for their tea money fines, in plainly posting some police officers at the taxi lanes on Suvarnabhumi Arrivals, who can immediately respond to a tourist having the run or the meter refused by a rogue taxi. If the cops are present 24/7, it will discourage the driver from cheating.

 

But act fast, as the Thai Taxi driver attitude  is giving a disastrous image of the kingdom and it's people.

 

And until this is done, I'm taking Grab or plainly refuse the cheat who refuses the meter and waive for the next one.

 

T

Edited March 29, 2019 by observer90210

[monkeycu]

4 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

Taxi drivers kicking the living daylights out of customers came in at number 6 and is customary in some areas???? 

With a little more effort from the drivers, this can grow to the number 1 complaint 

[Henrik Andersen]

You can't get a taxi meter they don't want turn meter on in jomtien area

why not do something about that  

[Just Weird]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Consider another angle...  I've never made a formal complain to the DLT regrind Taxi's here. Yet I reckon about 50% of the time I try and take a taxi I am repeatedly rejected and when I do get a taxi its not a pleasant encounter....   I imagine the experience is similar for others.... 

 

So, if most people don't make a complaint, how many issues are there really?

 

We can view this with balance - taxi's are cheap and everywhere, taxi's in Bangkok are at least better than in any other city in Thailand... Thats the positive...  but, a significant amount of people have unnecessary negative experiences.

 

118 fines for 48,223 complaints... thats 0.2% chance of receiving a minimal penalty - there is no deterrent whatsoever for stopping taxis from attempting their rip off's.

"So, if most people don't make a complaint, how many issues are there really?"

What's the use of irrelevant speculation?  The number of complaints may be the number of problems for all you know.  Just because you claim a 50% problem rate doesn't mean that's what it is in reality, I use Bangkok taxis every day, day time and late at night and I have very few problems, certainly nothing like 50%!

 

"...but, a significant amount of people have unnecessary negative experiences".

A significant number of people have perfectly normal positive experiences also, undoubtedly more than there are negative experiences.

 

"118 fines for 48,223 complaints... thats 0.2% chance of receiving a minimal penalty - there is no deterrent whatsoever for stopping taxis from attempting their rip off's."

No, it's not, it's a 0.2% chance of them being justifiable complaints, just because a certain number of complaints were made doesn't mean that there was good reason for them, it's not unlikely that some were spurious. And the 48,000 complaints were not rip-offs, as you describe them.  A driver refusing a fare is not a rip-off.

[richard_smith237]

23 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

"So, if most people don't make a complaint, how many issues are there really?"

What's the use of irrelevant speculation?  The number of complaints may be the number of problems for all you know.  Just because you claim a 50% problem rate doesn't mean that's what it is in reality, I use Bangkok taxis every day, day time and late at night and I have very few problems, certainly nothing like 50%!

 

"...but, a significant amount of people have unnecessary negative experiences".

A significant number of people have perfectly normal positive experiences also, undoubtedly more than there are negative experiences.

 

"118 fines for 48,223 complaints... thats 0.2% chance of receiving a minimal penalty - there is no deterrent whatsoever for stopping taxis from attempting their rip off's."

No, it's not, it's a 0.2% chance of them being justifiable complaints, just because a certain number of complaints were made doesn't mean that there was good reason for them, it's not unlikely that some were spurious. And the 48,000 complaints were not rip-offs, as you describe them.  A driver refusing a fare is not a rip-off.

Rather a pedantic response... I'll reply for the fun of it... 

 

[The number of complaints may be the number of problems for all you know] - Erm... Don't be daft...  You really believe Bangkokians have only ever encountered 48,233 problems with a taxi and each one of those made a complaint - no more issues beyond that?... And, that the suggestion that more issues go unreported is irrelevant speculation? - our opinions differ, I consider that point a relevant probability. 

 

[A significant number of people have perfectly normal positive experiences also, undoubtedly more than there are negative experiences.]  Agreed.

 

[No, it's not, it's a 0.2% chance of them being justifiable complaints] which by your implication 99.8% of complains are not justifiable?  I very much doubt that of the 48,223 complaints 48105 were investigated and considered unjustifiable... there isn't the man power for that. 

More realistically... more realistically - they were ignored. You may also consider this useless speculation, again, I consider this a probability. 

 

[And the 48,000 complaints were not rip-offs, as you describe them.  A driver refusing a fare is not a rip-off] - Pedantic - A driver refusing a fare is not a rip off, but its illegal and downright annoying 8 times in a row... especially when they refuse because you didn't accept their 300 baht request for a 100 baht journey.

 

 

In the interests of Balance... I don't have many issues with taxis because I try not to use them. 

Thus, when I do, maybe once per week... so on average I have taxi driver who attempts to over charge me or encounter repeated rejections when attempting to hail a ride at least once every 2 weeks. 

 

When rejected or facing an attempted fleecing I'm sure it has a lot to do with the time and area of town I'm in (i.e. Sukhumvit Rd anywhere from Soi 11 to Soi 63 after 10pm) - the drivers working those areas at that time are more likely of questionable character than guys working at the times people are going to and from work. 

 

 

 

[Scott]

An inflammatory post and replies removed.   Continue and face a suspension.

 

[Just Weird]

8 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Rather a pedantic response... I'll reply for the fun of it... 

 

[The number of complaints may be the number of problems for all you know] - Erm... Don't be daft...  You really believe Bangkokians have only ever encountered 48,233 problems with a taxi and each one of those made a complaint - no more issues beyond that?... And, that the suggestion that more issues go unreported is irrelevant speculation? - our opinions differ, I consider that point a relevant probability. 

 

[A significant number of people have perfectly normal positive experiences also, undoubtedly more than there are negative experiences.]  Agreed.

 

[No, it's not, it's a 0.2% chance of them being justifiable complaints] which by your implication 99.8% of complains are not justifiable?  I very much doubt that of the 48,223 complaints 48105 were investigated and considered unjustifiable... there isn't the man power for that. 

More realistically... more realistically - they were ignored. You may also consider this useless speculation, again, I consider this a probability. 

 

[And the 48,000 complaints were not rip-offs, as you describe them.  A driver refusing a fare is not a rip-off] - Pedantic - A driver refusing a fare is not a rip off, but its illegal and downright annoying 8 times in a row... especially when they refuse because you didn't accept their 300 baht request for a 100 baht journey.

 

 

In the interests of Balance... I don't have many issues with taxis because I try not to use them. 

Thus, when I do, maybe once per week... so on average I have taxi driver who attempts to over charge me or encounter repeated rejections when attempting to hail a ride at least once every 2 weeks. 

 

When rejected or facing an attempted fleecing I'm sure it has a lot to do with the time and area of town I'm in (i.e. Sukhumvit Rd anywhere from Soi 11 to Soi 63 after 10pm) - the drivers working those areas at that time are more likely of questionable character than guys working at the times people are going to and from work. 

My comments were not pedanticism.   A "probability" without evidence is nothing more than speculation.

 

"...more realistically - they were ignored".

Perhaps they haven't finished investigating yet and those 118 were just the first batch?  That's much more likely than them all being ignored.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

3 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

118 fines for 48,223 complaints... thats 0.2% chance of receiving a minimal penalty - there is no deterrent whatsoever for stopping taxis from attempting their rip off's.

 

As much as I'd like to equate those two numbers above, I don't think anyone should or can.

 

The 48,000 complaints number mentioned was described as the complaints received for all of 2018 in Bangkok.

 

The 118 cited drivers was just from one enforcement effort of unstated duration that involved just the area around the Grand Palace. Certainly not all of BKK, and certainly not for the entire year.

 

However, in the real world, the proportion implied above between the numbers of violators actually cited vs all the taxi driver abuses that occur (whether the subject of a formal complaint or not) probably is at least in the ballpark representative!!! 

 

 

 

 

[Prairieboy]

16 hours ago, Just Weird said:

118 fines out of 48,223 complaints.  Perhaps some of the complaints weren't justified or do you automatically accept that every driver was guilty?  Perhaps some of the complaints didn't relate to actual offences, just being considered a t_wat, for example, isn't an offence.

But how many people who were ripped off, refused and otherwise cheated didn't bother to complain knowing full-well that nothing would be done.

[Lupatria]

16 hours ago, gunderhill said:

Ah, but did they get 118 actually paid?

...and does it mean 48.105 complaints were solved in special negotiations with the cops?

[Redline]

1000 baht is one ripoff ???? go back to your time and whiskey-another waste of time 

[Fred31]

17 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

Taxi drivers kicking the living daylights out of customers came in at number 6 and is customary in some areas???? 

Probably Brutus refusing to pay, cheap little guys

[atyclb]

8 hours ago, Just Weird said:

My comments were not pedanticism.   A "probability" without evidence is nothing more than speculation.

 

"...more realistically - they were ignored".

Perhaps they haven't finished investigating yet and those 118 were just the first batch?  That's much more likely than them all being ignored.

 

 

what makes your speculation more accurate than that of others?

[rwill]

now they will have to rip more people off to make up for the fine.  I doubt such a low fine is much of a deterrence.

[malibukid]

1000 Baht. OMG.

[les Dennis]

We know that Thailand tops the list of worlds highest road traffic deaths and the highest pollution for a city  (Chaing Mai), I wonder where it stands on the ranks (no pun) of worlds worst taxi service.

[owenm]

Let's get real here. A 1000bht fine for refusing a ride, no meter etc. is a joke.. Drop litter anywhere or smoke in an undesignated area attracts a 2000-5000bht fine.. A paltry 1000bht fine for taxis should start at 10k Bht first offence and then to 50k for repeat offenders with cancellation of taxi license.. 

[wazzupnow]

20 hours ago, Phuketshrew said:

118 fines from nearly 50,000 complaints? Why bother?

118 x 1000= 118.000 for police whisky foundation, keep it up guys

[mserror]

Friends visited Bangkok recently, it was almost impossible to get taxis that would use the meter. Another reason tourists are going elsewhere.

[Bangkok Barry]

Now repeat, today and tomorrow and the day after that, and every day until they get the message. But we know it was a one-day token effort by the authorities to pretend they are doing something, and things will soon be back to normal.

And as others have said, now set upon those in Jomtien and Pattaya who never use their meter. Take the whole lot off the road if necessary and close down the companies they work for. There ARE alternatives.

[hotchilli]

21 hours ago, webfact said:

The five top complaints were: taxis refusing to take passengers, drivers acting impolitely towards passengers, taxi driving recklessly and dangerously, driver failing to use the fare meter, and taxi failing to take passengers to agreed destinations.

Just about covers all the bases, but nothing ever changes as they retain their licences & go straight back out onto the road.

[moe666]

18 hours ago, observer90210 said:

The Thai police could make a fortune for their tea money fines, in plainly posting some police officers at the taxi lanes on Suvarnabhumi Arrivals, who can immediately respond to a tourist having the run or the meter refused by a rogue taxi. If the cops are present 24/7, it will discourage the driver from cheating.

 

But act fast, as the Thai Taxi driver attitude  is giving a disastrous image of the kingdom and it's people.

 

And until this is done, I'm taking Grab or plainly refuse the cheat who refuses the meter and waive for the next one.

 

T

There is your answer if no meter ask another untill you find one who will use the meter. Who cares if they do not want your fare someone else does. The bad boys are easy to spot parked at the end waitng for a mark, just walk up to someone who has just dropped off passengers

[Just Weird]

5 hours ago, Prairieboy said:

But how many people who were ripped off, refused and otherwise cheated didn't bother to complain knowing full-well that nothing would be done.

You're just speculating about something that is hypothetical, maybe none for all you know, maybe some.  

 

"...knowing full-well that nothing would be done".

What?  Did you not notice that something has been done?  That's the point of the thread!

[Just Weird]

3 hours ago, Curmudgeon1 said:

I disagree. Taxi drivers are an ambassador. There is "supposed" to be a standard to that end or you don't maintain your license. Yes that's the theory, that's where you start the turn around, by going back to the origin. 

You disagree about what?