By Goongnang Suksawat

 

Patong, Phuket – Taxi drivers in front of a hotel in Patong have warned other taxi drivers about “stealing” customers in their area.

 

The issue has gone viral on Phuket’s social media today (August 11th). Taxi drivers who are stationed at a taxi stall in front of a hotel near Kalim Beach in Patong have posted papers on power poles nearby.

 

The message concluded, “To other taxi drivers, please avoid picking up customers in this area as you do not respect us.

 

Full story: https://thephuketexpress.com/2022/08/11/taxi-drivers-in-front-of-hotel-in-patong-warn-other-taxi-drivers-about-stealing-customers/

 

-- © Copyright The Phuket Express 2022-08-12

 

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The Taxi mob runs the place

2 hours ago, webfact said:

The message concluded, “To other taxi drivers, please avoid picking up customers in this area as you do not respect us.

Phuket taxi drivers back to their old tricks I see, surely what they are doing is against the law, in which case are the police frightened to challenge these taxi drivers ???

one reason i don't go to phuket any more at all....people whine about bkk taxis and pattaya baht buses but they don't hold a candle to the lawlessness and ripoffs of the  phuket taxi mafia

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The message concluded, “To other taxi drivers, please avoid picking up customers in this area as you do not respect us.

I think it's nice of them to have that warning out there. It's like military compounds with warning that if you enter without permission you get shot. Same same, not much different.

 

And obviously they get away with that because all the authorities are part of the food chain - since decades.

 

 

 

taxi mafia at it's best .....  just like the jet ski mafia .. and the motorbike taxi mafia ...  and the parasailing mafia ... and the motorbike rental mafia ...  and the speedboat mafia ...

 

Thailand -   the hub of mafia's 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

respect us.

hahahahahahahahahah

 

lets try that one more time 

 

hahahahh

15 minutes ago, steven100 said:

taxi mafia at it's best .....  just like the jet ski mafia .. and the motorbike taxi mafia ...  and the parasailing mafia ... and the motorbike rental mafia ...  and the speedboat mafia ...

 

Thailand -   the hub of mafia's 

Forgot the third biggest, the RTP mafia

" You have stolen our customers. This is unacceptable. We have warned you.”

Surely the wording of this notice is a threat to violence, or intimidation. An illegal act in any civilised society. I guess the taxi mafia are paying off the RTP mafia to turn the other way, until it erupts and some innocent person is injured or worse. Disgraceful behaviour.

Pandemics, calamities, and disasters comes and go in this country, but the ' the thai taxi driver's modus operandi' remain the same...

Oh, look at that. Phuket indeed is back to same old, same old.

Death to free competition. Hail, to deliverance of bad service as usual.

This way they can possibly steal from the customers themselves.  

What hope is there for this country given this sort of mob rule.

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I think it's nice of them to have that warning out there. It's like military compounds with warning that if you enter without permission you get shot. Same same, not much different.

 

And obviously they get away with that because all the authorities are part of the food chain - since decades.

 

 

 

Plus, if potential taxi travelers don't use the taxis 'stationed' outside the hotel they get punished also. Which also means if the customer doesn't want the next cab in the line then there's also punishment in some form. 

 

As said Bkk drivers not all that bad compared.

 

In Chiang Mai there's some taxis with meter but they all refuse to use the meter, must be by negotiation and of course far from cheap.  

In general, the taxis here in BKK are great value, and 99%+ good guys.

You have to be very unlucky or equally stupid to have a problem with one.

Ok, tourists do get the lion's share of the bad ones, but let's not tar all of them with the same brush.

Use Grab but don't do pickup in the front.

13 minutes ago, 2long said:

In general, the taxis here in BKK are great value, and 99%+ good guys.

You have to be very unlucky or equally stupid to have a problem with one.

Ok, tourists do get the lion's share of the bad ones, but let's not tar all of them with the same brush.

I think the biggest factor is the location. If you want a taxi outside of a hotel or Soi Cowboy chances are low that anybody wants to use the meter. Walk 200m away from those places and chances are much better.

4 hours ago, steven100 said:

taxi mafia at it's best .....  just like the jet ski mafia .. and the motorbike taxi mafia ...  and the parasailing mafia ... and the motorbike rental mafia ...  and the speedboat mafia ...

 

Thailand -   the hub of mafia's 

They aren't mafia. They're small time crooks. Why Thailand persists on calling these low-life mafia is beyond me.

1 hour ago, 2long said:

In general, the taxis here in BKK are great value, and 99%+ good guys.

You have to be very unlucky or equally stupid to have a problem with one.

Ok, tourists do get the lion's share of the bad ones, but let's not tar all of them with the same brush.

I remember years ago when hailing taxis on Sukhumvit to go to Ramkamhueng around 7-8pm ......

95% of them would not accept the ride because of traffic congestion,  and some would make up a stupid excuse that they are finishing shift or no fuel or whatever .....

I thought taxis are suppose to accept all  passengers ....  I know in other countries they are required to.

 

 

4 hours ago, steven100 said:

taxi mafia at it's best .....  just like the jet ski mafia .. and the motorbike taxi mafia ...  and the parasailing mafia ... and the motorbike rental mafia ...  and the speedboat mafia ...

 

Thailand -   the hub of mafia's 

Yes, it's about time the unelected PM and his junta did something about this. Can't he instruct the police Maj/Gens, and Lt/Cols to get their men off their backsides and do something about this? OH! Wait! Brown envelopes spring to mind again.

33 minutes ago, steven100 said:

I remember years ago when hailing taxis on Sukhumvit to go to Ramkamhueng around 7-8pm ......

95% of them would not accept the ride because of traffic congestion,  and some would make up a stupid excuse that they are finishing shift or no fuel or whatever .....

I thought taxis are suppose to accept all  passengers ....  I know in other countries they are required to.

 

 

They are required to, by law, here in Thailand now. This includes greater Bangkok. But a month or so ago there was a modification to places like Pathum Thani, allowing for drivers and passengers to negotiate (no meter).

I think that tourists will always get ripped off here, but once 'you know how to do it' it's usually quite painless.

nice work boys ????

  Lol. All the usual anti Phuket Karens at it again. You.should get your Mums to get a cab for.you!!! 

I read about an incident in Phuket some years ago. A farang had some friends visit him and he drove his car to the airport to collect his friends, a week later he drove his friends back to the airport. A week or so later he had some other friends visit, so he again drove to the airport to collect his friends. But the taxi mafia had remembered him and this time he got a thumping.

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

They aren't mafia. They're small time crooks. Why Thailand persists on calling these low-life mafia is beyond me.

You must be joking.

They are organized crime. And most people use the word mafia to describe that.

Let's look at the Phuket situation. Do you really think a couple of taxi drivers in front of one hotel are just a couple of friends working together? And how about the next hotel and in front of this and that bar and this soi and that soi?

Groups of friends and groups of friends and more groups of friends?

Are those groups of friends all independent from each other? Do they have their territories and boundaries? Do they have rules? Do they make sure outsiders know those rules and the consequences if they don't respect the people who make those rules?

And how about the police and the local politicians? Do they have nothing to do with those groups of friends? What a hilarious idea.

 

Anybody who likes to get an idea how this works should read this book. It was published a long time ago and it describes pretty much in detail what is going on. I bought it in a Thai bookshop, I guess they still sell it.

 

 

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

They aren't mafia. They're small time crooks. Why Thailand persists on calling these low-life mafia is beyond me.

Agreed. It is an insult to the real Mafia

20 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

You must be joking.

They are organized crime. And most people use the word mafia to describe that.

Let's look at the Phuket situation. Do you really think a couple of taxi drivers in front of one hotel are just a couple of friends working together? And how about the next hotel and in front of this and that bar and this soi and that soi?

Groups of friends and groups of friends and more groups of friends?

Are those groups of friends all independent from each other? Do they have their territories and boundaries? Do they have rules? Do they make sure outsiders know those rules and the consequences if they don't respect the people who make those rules?

And how about the police and the local politicians? Do they have nothing to do with those groups of friends? What a hilarious idea.

 

Anybody who likes to get an idea how this works should read this book. It was published a long time ago and it describes pretty much in detail what is going on. I bought it in a Thai bookshop, I guess they still sell it.

 

 

I see the mafia as those who deal in millions of dollars.

Haven't been in Phuket for a while: are Grab/Bolt commonplace there and "reasonable" prices? 

What is the name of the Hotel this Taxi stand has set up? What's going to happen if these thugs start harassing and threatening guests when there leave the hotel? will they witness assaults right outside their Hotel? Get a squad round to remove the posters and dismantle the Taxi stand. If they set up again at another Hotel arrest them.