Taxi Touts Morchit

[WapiJohn]

Recently, I arrived at Morchit bus terminal, and was immediately hounded by taxi touts as I got off my bus.

They asked where are you going? The airport I replied, how much for a taxi?

Between 500 and 600 Baht was the reply! I did smile whilst I gave them the finger, and laughed as I told them to F..... Off.

The touts asked my Thai wife why I was not happy with them. She told them I knew the approximate price of a taxi to the airport, because I had checked on the Internet ( This Forum ).

They laughed and said I would not get a taxi for less than 500 Baht !

I went to the normal Taxi stand to get a metre cab, and I laughed when I paid 240 Baht plus tolls.

Another useful tip I nearly always used when I arrived at the old airport, was never get a taxi from the arrivals area.

Always go to the departures drop off point. There are NO Queues and the fare is normally cheaper.

I paid 210 Baht for my return taxi to Morchit.

Also if you wear the yellow shirt and wristband to show your respect for the King, most of the Touts will not bother you, and you will nearly always get a fair price ! ( nearly Thai price ).

This also seemed to work at passport control, as I definately went through very quickly this time.

Edited April 13, 2007 by WapiJohn

[lomatopo]

There are taxi touts everywhere at locations where large numbers of passengers transition from one for of transport to taxis. Unless you require special considerations (challenging destination) or help with large quantities of luggage, they are probably best ignored.

It sounds like this was your first time arriving on a bus at Mo Chit (Northern/Northeastern Bus Terminal in Bangkok)?

After exiting your bus, ignore the touts, and make your way to the official taxi stand. This stand is used for the bulk of the arriving passengers, and is on the west side (Khampaeng Phet Road which is proabably the same road your bus took) , Bang Sue RR station) of the terminal complex. Here you will find hundreds of cabs in ~ 4 lines. Be careful walking between the lines. The trip to Suvarnabhumi should be realtively easy as there is an entrance to the tollway exactly opposite the bus terminal (requires a U-turn slightly north of the terminal).

Alternatively one could make your way back into the main bus terminal building and catch a taxi on level 3 (Northeast) or level 1 (North) that are dropping departing passengers off.

[DirkGently]

Taxis drivers are bad the world over.

Rather than giving them the finger (thereby showing them that all the yellow shirts in the world don't make you a decent person) wouldn't it have been better to say, in Thai, as the yellow shirt shows you have lived here long enough to grasp the language, "I'll give you 250 baht and no more!"

Good to see you checked the internet to discover a price for a taxi. Instead of learning how to say that you want the meter turned on. Try learning "I'm not a tourist that wants to go to the moon, just a person that wants to go home with the meter on." This will save you a lot of dressing in yellow.

[khunmarc]

you dont seem to know anything about respect since your answer to them was waving your finger at folks that are trying to make a living

gonna take more then a yellow shirt to hide your rude ways

[torrenova]

No, they are not willing to make a living at a fair price rather they want to do less work and rip people off. That you somehow find that acceptable is appalling.

[cdnvic]

No, they are not willing to make a living at a fair price rather they want to do less work and rip people off. That you somehow find that acceptable is appalling.

Bull.

All over Thailand the price starts high, and even tourists learn after a couple days not to take the asking price. With taxis you have the meter, which is a guide you don't have for bargaining on anything else. If you can't deal with this without losing your cool and making rude gestures then maybe Thailand isn't for you. Insist on the meter on and nobody can rip you off (unless you consent to it).