Improved and faster public taxi service promised at Suvarnabhumi by year's end

 

 

Authorities at Bangkok's main airport Suvarnabhumi have promised an improved and faster taxi service on the first floor of the airport. 

 

Refurbishment and replacement work will take place until December 29th between doors 4 and 7.

 

Twelve new machines will be installed to replace the ten old ones at what Thai media 77kaoded called the "Taxi Kiosk".

 

Under road sensors will also be replaced in batches of eight. This will mean some disruption in two shifts between the hours of 7 am and 3 pm and midnight and 7am. 

 

The sensors are used to automatically alert when cars leave the area so that a replacement can come forward. 

 

Director Sutherawat Suwannawat said that this will speed things up when the work is completed.

 

A sign says "sorry for the inconvenience" but notes that taxi service remains uninterrupted throughout the refurbishment period. 

 

Source: 77kaoded

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2019-11-15

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I would suggest that taxi drivers and taxi operators need to pre-qualify to serve the airports. A certain age and size and color of taxi authorized to operate to/from the airport. The drivers need to have a minimum experience level and some foreign language ability.

 

Right now there's the candy colored taxis with some being pretty shabby old cars with new paint jobs. There's also the new-hire cabby, fresh in from Burirum, cadging for tips and partial to the morning lao khao before going on shift.

 

Taxis and their drivers are the front line 'ambassadors' for tourists coming here. You can automate and speed up the selection and boarding procedures (especially at Don Meuang!) all you want but if there are still beat up cabs and dodgy drivers out there, the bad stories will still make headlines.

Robots driving the Taxi's would improve things as they would not indulge in so many rip offs and scams !

I say it again .......go up to the 4th floor,  departures.  Always get a nice, grateful for a return fare, driver.

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Refurbishment and replacement work will take place.....

If refurbishment and replacement refers to better/cleaner taxis and qualified drivers, they may be onto a winner.

Biggest improvement to taxi service at the airport is Airport Rail Link.

I got a taxi from Suvarnabhumi recently. Got my ticket and was directed to Lane 1 for my taxi. Problem with these self serve machines is that there isn't a record of which car picks up which passenger. 

 

My trip was to Bang Yai which is 63km away, and usually sub 500bht incl tollway fees. This cab on the same route had already clocked up 65km &  450bht and was still only on the motorway to BKK.. I said to the driver his meter was faulty and he abruptly pulled to the side and suggested I get out and find another taxi or minibus.. Fearing he'd dump me off and take off with my luggage still in the boot, I told him to continue.. 96km and 900bht on the meter I arrived in Bang Yai.. Too dark at night to note the taxi no or photo the meter and his reg card.. 

 

At least at DM the taxi rank is handled manually and the driver fills in his taxi details on a log book linked to your receipt.. If there is a problem your receipt no is linked to your driver details.. But no fallback on issues with the automated system at Swampy.. 

 

Most drivers are honest but occasionally you get a shark or one with a V8 supercharged meter who blatantly rips off new arrivals.. 

The problem has never been the kiosks or the availability of taxis.... Try fixing a real problem next time.... Like the quality of service of the drivers themselves.

5 hours ago, owenm said:

I got a taxi from Suvarnabhumi recently. Got my ticket and was directed to Lane 1 for my taxi. Problem with these self serve machines is that there isn't a record of which car picks up which passenger. 

 

My trip was to Bang Yai which is 63km away, and usually sub 500bht incl tollway fees. This cab on the same route had already clocked up 65km &  450bht and was still only on the motorway to BKK.. I said to the driver his meter was faulty and he abruptly pulled to the side and suggested I get out and find another taxi or minibus.. Fearing he'd dump me off and take off with my luggage still in the boot, I told him to continue.. 96km and 900bht on the meter I arrived in Bang Yai.. Too dark at night to note the taxi no or photo the meter and his reg card.. 

 

At least at DM the taxi rank is handled manually and the driver fills in his taxi details on a log book linked to your receipt.. If there is a problem your receipt no is linked to your driver details.. But no fallback on issues with the automated system at Swampy.. 

 

Most drivers are honest but occasionally you get a shark or one with a V8 supercharged meter who blatantly rips off new arrivals.. 

When you took the ticket (if you still have it) there should be taxi driver's name and license plate written on it. Please check it and report him to the number listed on the ticket.