UPDATE: 3,000 baht Phuket van fare for Australians tourists “all a misunderstanding”

By The Thaiger

 

 

As a follow up of the complaint about an overcharged van fare of 3,000 baht from Phuket International Airport to Kata by two Australians, a meeting was held yesterday between the driver, the tourists and a representative from the Phuket Land Transport Office.

 

They agreed, in the end, that it was all “a misunderstanding”.

 

The complaint about the expensive fare went viral an even got to the desk of the Thai PM. PM Prayut Chan O-cha ordered all departments involved to investigate and prevent the overcharging of taxi and van fares in the future.

 

(The Thaiger notes that Phuket’s expats and tourists have heard this rhetoric for decades with ZERO advances in the systemic problems)

 

Meanwhile, a meeting was held at the Karon Police Station, where the media were barred from attending. Following the discussions, the Phuket Vice Governor, Supot Rodruang Na Nongkhai, reported that after investigating the story from the two Australian tourists, it appears that they negotiated the taxi rate at the airport.

 

Naruemon Jampathong was the tout in the negotiations, who approached them in the arrivals hall and called the van driven by Poompat Chankaew to take the pair to Kata. The Vice Governor explained that the tourists and the taxi driver told police different stories regarding the price. The tourists said they were offered at 3,000 baht ride while the van driver said he agreed on 2,000 baht (which is still 400 baht above the advertised and signed price for a private van hire for the journey).

 

However, Naruemon was found guilty of entering the airport without a permit and the AoT has fined him 2,000 baht for this transgression.

 

Regarding the amount for the van fare, there were further investigation as the two sides have offered conflicting stories.

 

He noted that the PM emphasised to make justice for this case, especially to the Australian tourists and also to prevent these types of incidents in the future. The taxi driver told the media that, as soon as he was made aware of the controversy, he rushed to Karon Police Station to report in person to the police that he only charged them 2,000 baht, which was the negotiated price and the passengers were willing to pay as they didn’t want to wait for the van to be filled up (with other paying passengers – usually charged 200 baht each, as advertised and signed around the arrivals area).

 

He insisted there was no mention of a 3,000 baht fare. However, in the end, police called the tourists and the driver for another round of talks. This time, according to police, both sides agreed that they negotiated for a 2,000 baht fare and the complaint was “all a misunderstanding”.

 

The taxi driver was taken by police to the airport to pay the fine for picking up passengers at the airport without a permit.

 

Source: https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/update-3000-baht-phuket-van-fare-for-australians-tourists-all-a-misunderstanding

 

-- © Copyright The Thaiger 2019-07-19

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11 minutes ago, webfact said:

This time, according to police, both sides agreed that they negotiated for a 2,000 baht fare and the complaint was “all a misunderstanding”. 

how much did they pay? 3000 baht yes?

the girls never thought the PM would get involved and decided to backpedal rather than face more intimidation.

lets hope they get out of the country alive.

Even 2000b is extremely expensive... the advertised rate for a private taxi is around 1400, if negotiated can be cheaper... a precooked private car is around 600..

Seems like farangs are now being called in for behind closed doors "attitude adjustment" too ...

28 minutes ago, webfact said:

3,000 baht Phuket van fare for Australians tourists “all a misunderstanding”

555555,

555555555!,

555555555555!!!!

Somehow I cannot imagine our own UK prime minster being dragged into a tourist overpaying £20 on a taxi fare

Oh the Drama....thank god that's sorted ,I was losing sleep.!

Hope the girls read this and reply once back home with what was really said in the closed door meetings....

so bangkok > pattaya aircon van 1600 baht

and phuket airport > kata 1600 baht

 

some "misunderstanding" ????

A couple of off-topic posts about British politics have been removed.

I love haggling, but I hate it for tourists coming to the country for the first time, and as a result, they get taken for a ride, no pun intended, cause they have no clue what a "fair" price is or how things should be done. This story reminds me how police seem to always get the person they have in custody to admit to the crime, though I'm pretty sure they're right only 50% of the time. 

Narrator: "It was no misunderstanding at all. The taxi driver ripped them off and now everyone is trying to save face"

I will never take a Taxi in Phuket, it's a complete rip-off charging designer prices when tax is 7%, cost of living is cheaper, the cost of petrol is almost have the price of that of Europe, and yet they think they can charge the same as a first-world country. Learn to walk before you try to run!

4 hours ago, transam said:

Is that cos it's microwaved...?

Lol, no only the driver is usually precooked ????  bloody auto correct

I always rent a car for 1000 baht a day. Solves all the travel problems

Yes OF COURSE it Was! a pure and simple mis-understanding

Misunderstanding ? And the world is a disk... Anyhow, this will not safe the situation, as the whole island is run by the cartel. They all ( taxi & tuk tuk drivers ) would need to do some time in a Chinese reeducation camp to get on track. Or maybe just work for their money.

47 minutes ago, findlay13 said:

Yes OF COURSE it Was! a pure and simple mis-understanding

I hope you spend your bribe wisely ladies!

Have fun, Now if you are not bothered about a repeat visit to LO scams visit lets know what happened at meeting when you are outside the borders

They are just daylight robbery & the PM will do      squat

So to clarify normal price is 1600 but due to negotiations they paid 2000 and it’s “misunderstanding”

 

totally natural to negotiate the price up????????

I hope the Aussies will tell everybody about their experience when back home.

"Don't enter the country" Thailand got fairy prices but not fair prices.

6 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Somehow I cannot imagine our own UK prime minster being dragged into a tourist overpaying £20 on a taxi fare

Better ask Boris and Mr Hunt what they would do in this situation.

7 hours ago, Mickc said:

Even 2000b is extremely expensive... the advertised rate for a private taxi is around 1400, if negotiated can be cheaper... a precooked private car is around 600..

These girls are not to bright......the fares are posted inside the airport and outside quite prominently for the whole island. There is no need to negotiate. But I have watched groups of tourists pay inside the airport for a taxi, and then outside they start ripping them off by telling them there are no taxis and they should all get in a mini van which is way cheaper. When they point this out the scammers say, we'll go back inside and get your money back. 

I would watch this going on, and when the scammers were distracted I would walk over amongst them and tell them how they were being ripped off and just wait for the taxis they paid for.....they would thank me and agree to wait. Before the prices used to be posted it was a meat market with the guys gouging everybody. One taxi driver told me that Thai people from BKK are shocked at the prices on Phuket. Around eight years ago we got into a taxi after a flight from California and were pretty jet lagged. We asked the driver to turn on the a/c and he said it was an extra hundred baht. The art of the ripoff. Somebody recently said they should start using the meters, the taxi mafia voted it down. What would cost around 400. Baht in BKK is 1,000 baht in Phuket.

7 hours ago, Mickc said:

Even 2000b is extremely expensive... the advertised rate for a private taxi is around 1400, if negotiated can be cheaper... a precooked private car is around 600..

The girls negotiated with the driver to pay extra because they didn't want to wait for the van to fill up with passengers as it normally would at B200 per person.

There's a really simple solution to this mess: DON"T go to Phuket. I tell all my friends coming here not to go there and I refuse to join them if they do go. 

In 1981 I took a Tuk Tuk, with my wife. Seemingly the driver asked for twenty baht ( Yee Sip Baht). My wife wanted to know why I insisted on paying thirty baht (Sam Sip Baht). I was still learning Thai!!!

3 hours ago, Guitar God said:

I had a tuktuk driver in Bangkok this morning take me less than 2 km. The entire trip took less than 10 minutes. 

I asked for 2000฿. 

I gave him 200฿, he said no, no and reached for my wallet an I wound up, he cowered and I got the F out of there. 

 

I should have taken a photo of his license but I couldn’t get my phone out in time. Actually I should have thrown his damn keys in the klong.  It wouldn’t have been the first time. 

Why would you get a tuktuk without negotiating the fare first when that's the whole point of unmetered taxis?

1 hour ago, BestB said:

So to clarify normal price is 1600 but due to negotiations they paid 2000 and it’s “misunderstanding”

 

totally natural to negotiate the price up????????

No, that is not the correct clarification, the girls wanted the van to themselves, didn't want to wait for it to fill up, as is normal practice at B200 pp, so they negotiated the price for them only.

Well at least it got sorted out and may well serve as a warning to others to cut out the practice of overcharging.

Loved the 2000 baht fine going to ToT though ????

 

7 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Somehow I cannot imagine our own UK prime minster being dragged into a tourist overpaying £20 on a taxi fare

I guess if someone would be overcharged for a 3 days salary of someone with the minimum wage (approx. 220 GBP) for an hour trip and this goes viral, he would. And the 220 GBP is only the overcharging. They paid 440 GBP in the end.