Welcome to Thailand 1st 3 taxi not want to use meter!!

[Elkski]

Going from thonglor to asiatique and 3 taxi say 300.  Refuse to use  meter.  One guy I explained I can turn his number into tourist police he say I not care. 

I will use only grab rest of 25 day trip.   May taxi drivers die poor. 

Grab price 227.  I will tip him 73 bgg aht.  Nice clean helix.  English good

 Guy took a shower today and not look like a crook.  

 

Very good looking mom and 2 kids across the street got turned down by 1st cab.  Seems like policing this would be a cash cow  like fishing in a barrel. 

Edited December 28, 2019 by Elkski

[moontang]

can't understand why Thong Lor is so popular...everything  is a ripoff and the worst cop shop in the country.

[lopburi3]

Were these parked taxi or did you flag them down?  The gamers normally park at busy/tourist locations and may ask extra.  Thai normally ask as drivers do have issues if not a private owned vehicle and have to return cars at a set time.  Very seldom have had any issues flagging down (although one or two may not want to travel to a distant destination another is normally only a few seconds wait).  Have been using taxi service here for more than 50 years and find almost all to be hard workers and honest.  Since taxi meter became law it is even better.  Yes perhaps would expect more if paying New York City prices - but at the low cost here consider it very good.

[moe666]

11 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

Were these parked taxi or did you flag them down?  The gamers normally park at busy/tourist locations and may ask extra.  Thai normally ask as drivers do have issues if not a private owned vehicle and have to return cars at a set time.  Very seldom have had any issues flagging down (although one or two may not want to travel to a distant destination another is normally only a few seconds wait).  Have been using taxi service here for more than 50 years and find almost all to be hard workers and honest.  Since taxi meter became law it is even better.  Yes perhaps would expect more if paying New York City prices - but at the low cost here consider it very good.

Yes, flag your ride down to walk up to a parked taxi will result with a no meter response at least 90 percent of the time

[CNXexpat]

52 minutes ago, Elkski said:

3 taxi say 300.  Refuse to use  meter

You had more bad luck in one single day than me in many years. I never made this experience at the airport. 2 times I entered a taxi in the city, the driver didn´t turn on the meter, I said "meter please" and he turned it on. 

[Elkski]

Flagged down all 3 taxis.  My thai friend  expects  70% rejection.   They dont even want to take her.  This has been my experience  7 trips  6 months  total.   

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, Elkski said:

Flagged down all 3 taxis.  My thai friend  expects  70% rejection.   They dont even want to take her.  This has been my experience  7 trips  6 months  total.   

Grab is the only sensible choice in Thailand.

 

Edited December 28, 2019 by BritManToo

[richard_smith237]

17 minutes ago, moe666 said:

30 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

Were these parked taxi or did you flag them down?  The gamers normally park at busy/tourist locations and may ask extra.  Thai normally ask as drivers do have issues if not a private owned vehicle and have to return cars at a set time.  Very seldom have had any issues flagging down (although one or two may not want to travel to a distant destination another is normally only a few seconds wait).  Have been using taxi service here for more than 50 years and find almost all to be hard workers and honest.  Since taxi meter became law it is even better.  Yes perhaps would expect more if paying New York City prices - but at the low cost here consider it very good.

Yes, flag your ride down to walk up to a parked taxi will result with a no meter response at least 90 percent of the time

Agreed... And even when flagging down a taxi, if they pull up with locked doors and just open the window to hear your destination I just ignore them and move on to the next taxi as a high percentage of these guys will refuse you. 

 

Outside of the central area's getting a taxi is ok. In the popular, busier areas getting a taxi can be a pain in the backside with repeated (i.e. 6 rejections) in a row before a taxi driver will agree to your destination. 

 

Grab is much much better and I'm happy to pay a little more for the knowledge that there is a level of mutual accountability as both accounts are digitally registered. 

 

 

In my experience: 

Taxi's in the Tourist areas: Mostly want a fixed fare

Taxi's in the Tourist areas: Most (6 out of 7) Reject the ride when I speak Thai

Taxi's outside the Tourist areas: Rarely want a fixed fare

Taxi's outside the Tourist areas: Rarely if ever Reject the ride when I speak Thai

 

[moontang]

The crooks are frequently allowed to park in front of government offices (maybe they are even on the clock).  I approached one in front of Nonthaburi immigration last week, I got in, told him meter, and I told him Nonthabuibul Pibul  2 Pier...he pointed to a decal on the windshield..mumbles something, but wouldn't do it...still baffled a bit, but traffic wasn't bad, and it would have been 100 or so On the meter...Surprising more taxi driver don't get the cra beat out of them more often.

[Elkski]

Welcome Thailand 4.0

[Elkski]

This was on Ekamai soi 12 .   Also an hour later near asiatique 2  taxi refused to go 20 soi's,  only wanted swampy pickup.   3rd said ok and used the meter. 

[Laughing Gravy]

2 hours ago, Elkski said:

Flagged down all 3 taxis.  My thai friend  expects  70% rejection.   They dont even want to take her.  This has been my experience  7 trips  6 months  total.   

This has been going on for over 10 years. 18 years ago it was a different story but don't expect it to get any better. The mafia (taxi crew) just will pay off anyone who can take their business.

 

In Thailand sadly little changes unless the TAT say it has????

Edited December 28, 2019 by Laughing Gravy

[klauskunkel]

22 hours ago, Elkski said:

Seems like policing this would be a cash cow  like fishing in a barrel. 

It is a cash cow and it is policed. Just not the way you think. Thonglor Police jurisdiction... 

[Isaanbiker]

Guy took a shower today and not look like a crook.  

 

   I've mostly had Isaan cabbies who were very polite to me and always used the meter.

 

   And all of them had taken a shower, none of them smelled bad. 

[lopburi3]

6 minutes ago, Isaanbiker said:

Guy took a shower today and not look like a crook.  

 

   I've mostly had Isaan cabbies who were very polite to me and always used the meter.

 

   And all of them had taken a shower, none of them smelled bad. 

In my experience about the only trips that smelled bad were those visa runs vans - and it was not the Thai driver.  Of course an exception might be a ripe durian shopper being a previous taxi customer.   

[murraynz]

22 hours ago, CNXexpat said:

You had more bad luck in one single day than me in many years. I never made this experience at the airport. 2 times I entered a taxi in the city, the driver didn´t turn on the meter, I said "meter please" and he turned it on. 

Same same, many times.. 

[tomauasia]

On 12/28/2019 at 1:02 PM, moontang said:

can't understand why Thong Lor is so popular...everything  is a ripoff and the worst cop shop in the country.

Yes bad police

[Bangkok Barry]

Refusing a fare is illegal - not that anything being illegal has any relevance in Thailand - and the authorities obviously are aware of the problem. It is equally obvious that they don't care. They do a token 'crackdown' for a few hours outside a Bangkok shopping centre once a year, and that's it.

 

If they were serious they would get dozens of soldiers out of a barracks where they do who-knows-what all day, all week, all year, and get then to go out in civvies and ask a taxi driver to do the job he is paid for - the only job he has to do - and take them somewhere. And if they refuse or won't use the meter then arrest them. And do it day after day, all over Bangkok, until the message gets out that every driver who breaks the law will not be driving anywhere.

 

Outside of Bangkok, especially at the resorts where every driver does their best to give out a negative impression to tourists who expect to receive the same kind of service they get at home and then discover Thailand isn't like back home, arrest them all. If the local police chief refuses, jail him too for dereliction of duty and at the same time examine his bank accounts and then charge him as well with corruption.

 

But none of this will happen, because those who would instigate such measures don't take taxis, so they don't care.

[Isaanbiker]

2 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

In my experience about the only trips that smelled bad were those visa runs vans - and it was not the Thai driver.  Of course an exception might be a ripe durian shopper being a previous taxi customer.   

I know through experience that Isaan people are usually very clean.

 

   I can't say that about some foreigners I have met here before.

 

   Only a shower every two or three days in the heat can cause an ugly smell. 

[Peter Denis]

A somewhat alternative opinion.

Always tell destination you want to go and request 'meter please' before stepping in the cab.

Actually a good thing when the taxi-driver turns you down, as you are dealing with a non-honest one.

So just turn him down and ask the next one.

When the cab-driver looks OK and quotes a fare (instead of using the meter), that's OK for me too when I am knowledgeable about the regular meter-fare for the trip and it's approx same.  Additional advantage would be that they will take shortest route in that case.

 

[johng]

9 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

And if they refuse or won't use the meter then arrest them.

I agree with harassing them for not using the meter..but not for refusal to go to certain destinations..it should be up to them

( the driver) if they want to accept a customer or not..lots of reasons not to want certain destinations or certain people in the back of your car !!

 

[BritManToo]

3 minutes ago, Isaanbiker said:

I know through experience that Isaan people are usually very clean.

Showering often doesn't mean a person is clean.

They usually live in squalor and don't wash their hands after taking a poop.

 

If I were to shake hands with someone, or have them cook my food, I'd prefer they showered less, and washed their hands more. I know, it's a personal preference.

Edited December 29, 2019 by BritManToo

[shy coconut]

On 12/28/2019 at 5:59 AM, BritManToo said:

Grab is the only sensible choice in Thailand.

 

You don't seem to be the man to ask about sensible choices!

[BritManToo]

1 minute ago, shy coconut said:

You don't seem to be the man to ask about sensible choices!

My next sensible choice is to place you on ignore.

[Mas4568]

No meter = a free ride. Everytime.

[richard_smith237]

50 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

A somewhat alternative opinion.

Always tell destination you want to go and request 'meter please' before stepping in the cab.

Actually a good thing when the taxi-driver turns you down, as you are dealing with a non-honest one.

So just turn him down and ask the next one.

When the cab-driver looks OK and quotes a fare (instead of using the meter), that's OK for me too when I am knowledgeable about the regular meter-fare for the trip and it's approx same.  Additional advantage would be that they will take shortest route in that case.

 

It gets tiresome asking 6 taxis in a row, just to be told No.  (Example: Sukhimvit 22 to Ekammai, 2pm in the afternoon).

 

 

[Just Weird]

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

...ask a taxi driver to do the job he is paid for

No taxi drivers are "paid to do the job", they are all self-employed and choose where their pay comes from.

Edited December 29, 2019 by Just Weird

[richard_smith237]

55 minutes ago, johng said:

I agree with harassing them for not using the meter..but not for refusal to go to certain destinations..it should be up to them

( the driver) if they want to accept a customer or not..lots of reasons not to want certain destinations or certain people in the back of your car !!

 

 

The whole concept is to provide a 'public service' - the taxi companies have paid a license to operate to provide this service under specific conditions and regulations, drivers have also agreed to this. 

 

If the drivers could cherry pick their destinations, avoid busy areas or areas where there is less opportunity for a return journey the taxi system would fail some people and as a consequence the borderline 'driver' would choose to drive instead. 

I am one of these borderline people who either drives everywhere or rides my motorcycle because I can't be bothered dealing with the Taxi's, as a consequence I only use Taxi's when I have to, which is when I don't have buy car or motorcycle with me, or in the evenings when I know I'll be having a beer, and then I stick to Grab as much as possible - its just less irritating that way.

Edited December 29, 2019 by richard_smith237

[richard_smith237]

1 minute ago, Just Weird said:

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

ask a taxi driver to do the job he is paid for

No taxi drivers are "paid to do the job", they are all self-employed and choose where their pay comes from.

 

They are (supposed to be) licensed taxi drivers - the licensing part is them agreeing to provide a service to the public within set guidelines. 

 

 

[CNXexpat]

On 12/28/2019 at 11:56 AM, Elkski said:

Guy took a shower today

I guess ALL taxi drivers take a shower every day. But after a 8 or 10 hours shift in hot Bangkok nobody smells well. They don´t sit all the time in the air conditioned car, they also have to carry heavy stuff, have a meal and so on.