Tourist police chief acts to help Thai tourism: Tells cabbies to get professional and stop refusing fares

[swm59nj]

The drivers do it no matter what.  

[Sparktrader]

5 hours ago, ezzra said:

To be fair, in all my times of using cabs in BKK i have found most if not all cabbies doing their job properly and with courtesy...

Very cheap. Phuket is triple price.

[StayinThailand2much]

No kidding! Thailand's got to have the weirdest cabbies. Not easy to get a taxi if you're with luggage, and need one. Usually, 3 or 4 'free' ones will pass you by, till you, finally, manage to get one taking you from A to B. - But just stand at a corner, or leisurely walk somewhere (not carrying anything), and they are keen to get your attention. (And it's not like they would even lift a finger, helping you with your bags!)

[Sparktrader]

11 minutes ago, johnnyloda said:

To get a ride from a thai taxi driver, you have to be lucky enough that your destination coincides with where he wants to go ... 

Pick a girly bar

[JayClay]

1 hour ago, jaiyen said:

When I am at the airport I will always choose a young driver to take me into BKK

How exactly do you manage that?

[StayinThailand2much]

14 minutes ago, Sparktrader said:

Pick a girly bar

Or, you say: "Ae-port", then he's happy, as he only needs to find out which one. But tell him, 'Soi #%^*÷×', and oftentimes he'll expect you to guide him through in Thai...

[Aussieroaming]

Maybe the tourist police chief should issue all tourists with handcuffs when they arrive so that they can arrest the rogue taxi drivers for the RTP and thrn ask them to bring the taxi drivers to the closest police station.

[OneMoreFarang]

Maybe the police should talk with the police.

Why are so many taxi-no-meter in front of hotels and tourist attraction when officially nobody is allowed to park there?

And why does the police not write tickets and make sure they drive away?

There is basically only one possible answer. Someone pays someone to look the other way.

TiT

[Sparktrader]

54 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Or, you say: "Ae-port", then he's happy, as he only needs to find out which one. But tell him, 'Soi #%^*÷×', and oftentimes he'll expect you to guide him through in Thai...

Use google maps. I self drive.

[proton]

1 hour ago, Burma Bill said:

When I was a Tourist Police Volunteer, the complaints were about the overcharging of fares, not refusing them!

Our regional TP Office set up an operation to catch such taxi drivers. We farang volunteers, dressed in "civvies", were dropped off at certain locations all within a short 40 baht (official) distance from one city center hotel. My taxi driver and those of the other volunteers, wanted to charge us 80 baht. In one instance 100 baht was demanded. When the taxis arrived at the hotel they were met by the Tourist Police, local Police Officers and Department of Land & Transportation Officers. Us farangs were instructed to leave and not get involved when the meters were inspected. The fares seem a pittance, but the operation was the culmination of numerous "overcharging" complaints which markedly decreased.

If my post is "off topic" being overcharging rather than refusing fares, then please remove.

stood outside the Indra hotel in Bkk once waiting ages for a bus. There was a women with a suitcase trying to get a taxi but nobody would take her, I counted 16 cabs that stopped and drove off before the bus came. Round the corner ant Amari watergate Mrs tried to get a taxi for a very pregnant woman who needed to get to hospital urgently, nobody would take her. Makes me wonder what some of them are doing driving taxis, too far, no, too near no!

[chiman]

When they shake their head no... I like to leave their door open and walk away... 

[Bangkok Barry]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

matters about refusing fares are not dealt with by the tourist police

I needed to call the taxi complaint number on one occasion. They told me to call the tourist police. The tourist police told me to call the taxi complaint number. This is Thailand and it doesn't make the slightest difference what anyone says.

[Dont confuse me]

Almost every hotel I've stayed at in Bangkok has a few dedicated taxis serving "sorry" "ripping off" it's patrons!

I've watched them refuse countless fares waiting for someone to pay their inflated 'no meter' price!

It might be an idea to stop police corruption tarnishing LOS but we all know neither will happen.

[brucegoniners]

They used to have an app where you could report cabbies acting badly, like asking for flat fares or refusing to take you someplace. It didn't work.

 

[richard_smith237]

1 minute ago, brucegoniners said:

They used to have an app where you could report cabbies acting badly, like asking for flat fares or refusing to take you someplace. It didn't work.

 

Have you every tried using that App ????

 

There was an app about 7 or 8 years ago or so....... called ‘DLT Check In' or something like that.... 

 

 

It was reported with great fanfare how this would resolve the taxi issues in Bangkok. 

 

Unsurprisingly, the App didn’t work !... 

 

 

[Dogmatix]

Great idea. They can call 1155 after they they have been to the Emergency Room to get patched up after the traditional machete attack by a taxi driver, or perhaps from the morgue. 

[Dogmatix]

I recall the fitness manager at the British Club, a personable Kiwi or Aussie (I forget which), having an altercation with a taxi driver who declined to take him to his appartment after a night out. He was leaving his job to go home to get married and had a big night on the Pong combining leaving party with stag night. He did the usual dumb thing of leaving the rear door open so the driver had to get out in the rain to shut it.  As a result of this decision he went home to his wedding almost unrecognisable to his fiancee, his face was slashed so badly by the taxi driver and made into a patchwork of stitches in nearby Bangkok Christian Hospital. 

 

Needless to say the tourist and regular police who hang out at the Pong didn't see anything and the taxi drivers who pay them to be allowed to wait in the queue night after night didn't see anything either and no one had any idea which driver might have been involved. So no one was prosecuted.  

 

 

[Artisi]

8 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

Well, that should frighten the cab drivers. (Not!)

Quaking in their boots, ????

[richard_smith237]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

He has told tourists that they should call his men with pictures of licence plates and they will do something about it. 

Next up in the news....  Tourist gets beaten up by taxi driver after being refused a fare and taking a photo of the numberplate !!! 

[bristolgeoff]

I know it will happen,the drivers will say no meter or whatever.you say no and he drives off.will the  tourist remember to take a pic or report this.By the time this happens he has left and the tourist is looking for another cab or another one stops.NIce idea to scare them but i think probadly not unless they are caught

[paulikens]

Why do they refuse fares?    I've never understood it.   the same people who will be moaning they got no money.

[Bangkok Barry]

8 hours ago, arithai12 said:

There are times when the refusal is justified. Especially in a megacity like Bangkok at strange hours with very far destinations that will make the driver waste gas and time with an empty return trip.

And does this happen in other countries, I wonder? I've never experienced it. Not once.

[Bangkok Barry]

How does sending a photo of a registration number prove the driver refused a fare? More Thai 'logic' which makes no sense at all.

[Bangkok Barry]

11 minutes ago, paulikens said:

Why do they refuse fares?    I've never understood it.   the same people who will be moaning they got no money.

It's the inability to join two dots - do the job they are there to do and people give them money. If they refuse they get no money. That is obviously too difficult for some drivers to understand.

[Bangkok Barry]

4 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Thailand's got to have the weirdest cabbies.

Yep. In Bangkok some show red lights and some show green lights. Both mean the taxi is available, but it doesn't mean the driver will take you where to go. Try explaining that to a tourist.

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

My first GF in BKK was a loud ladyboy, especially when drunk. After the Skytrain had stopped running and we were too wasted to go for a long walk down Suk, she tried hailing a few cabs. As per the custom, you first lean in and give your destination for permission. They refused as apparently the distance wasn't enough to be worth their while. Often several times in a row, she then gave them a few choice words before slamming the door. Hah! Was a sight to see, especially shortly after having arrived. Knowing what I do now about those cabbies, she was damn lucky nothing came of it.

[condo62]

Taxis and Tuk Tuks have always let Thailand down.....????

[Harveyboy]

9 hours ago, arithai12 said:

There are times when the refusal is justified. Especially in a megacity like Bangkok at strange hours with very far destinations that will make the driver waste gas and time with an empty return trip.

If they want to enforce no-refusals, then they should revise the fare system and the number of licences.

There are also times when the refusal is justified on the basis of the customer being unruly or perceived as a threat or having oversized baggage and so on.

So.... it requires a little more than just asking the public to report, in the era of social media some people tend to make a fuss over nothing.

ok this problem ain't going away..Good cabs..Bad cabs ..no worse than Paris obnoxious taxi drivers there make bkk drivers look good ..i recently took a cab from swampy to mo chit      60 kilo of luggage no extra charge..   can't Paint em all with the same brush eh

[StayinThailand2much]

1 hour ago, paulikens said:

Why do they refuse fares?    I've never understood it.   the same people who will be moaning they got no money.

1. Trying to get more money, driving by a few times, waiting till person is so desperate, that he/she will pay moon prices while meter is off.

 

2. 'Too far', 'too much traffic', cannot use "highway".

 

3. Short tours bring in more (10× 35 baht short-distance base-fare, say, total of 1.5hrs.) than 2 long-distance tours a 45min. (dunno, let's say 2× 130 baht). - In the first example, much less driving (incl. return trip), and no 'having to guess where places are', and 90 baht more (not incl. multiple tips). And, of course, they get away with it!

[unblocktheplanet]

Okay, yeah, yeah. It can be a PITA. But there are often legitimate reasons why a cabby won't go. He has a set time to get the cab back or he gets fined. Traffic is so horrendous, he's losing money on your fare. Lastly, your own safety. When you reach for that phone, your smiling Thai is reaching for that tire iron or machete from under his seat! Use your common sense.