Many Foreigners in Phuket Allegedly Renting Cars for Doing Illegal Taxi Services

[Krabi King]

"If anyone notices any suspected illegal foreign taxi drivers please call the 1584 hotline. A taxi driver in Thailand is one an occupation only for Thai citizens and not for foreigners."

 

Of course I will. I fully support the friendly and affordable legal services.

 

[Darksidedude]

Any wonder taxi fares from the taxi mafia at the airport are just ridiculous and have been for decades

 

[kwak250]

3 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Oh please. Such nonsense. Just rabid, fear mongering, uninformed xenophobia. How could someone pay daily rental rates and still generate a profit, and as a taxi driver? This is one of the dumbest accusations of the year. 

Have you not seen how much some taxi drivers can squeeze out of tourists?

[Woof999]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Phuket – Phuket officials are investigating after they have received many complaints that many foreigners are renting cars for doing illegal taxi services.

Are they investigating the real taxi drivers who are using real taxis for "doing illegal taxi services" ?

[BangkokHank]

3 hours ago, lanng khao said:

Grabski..

I wanted to laugh at your comment because it's funny. But the right to laugh at funny comments has been taken away from us just because one overly-sensitive forum member considers it to be trolling.

[BangkokHank]

23 minutes ago, Darksidedude said:

Any wonder taxi fares from the taxi mafia at the airport are just ridiculous and have been for decades

 

That's the main reason why I have only been to Phuket once in my 21 years in Thailand, and why I will not set foot in that place again. They think it's clever to cheat tourists. But they can't cheat me if I don't go there.

[d4dang]

4 hours ago, CrunchWrapSupreme said:

This right here. Everyone I've talked to says a rental is around 9-10k baht a month.

 

So I thought I was getting a deal financing our new car at 7800 a month. But then I gotta buy insurance, so then it's back up to the 9-10k, heh. But at least it's a new car.

 

300 baht a day? Then there's your gas. Nah, not much of a business opportunity.

It used to be 12 hour rentals for most taxi drivers....the owner pays by the month

[Cadan]

Interesting and very smart business model - need to be explored further in Bangkok… ???? - 

[Ctkong]

Maybe the rental car tourist just having some spare time to do some driving for spare change on a special understanding with some foreign owned resort. It happens in other countries too but with own car not rental. I used them to go to airport because they offer a competitive service and safe too as the hotel use them regularly. 

[Pinot]

2 hours ago, Hakuna Matata said:

And over there in the United States there are more than 20 Million illegal immigrants, mostly from Mexico and other Latin American countries. Double Standards as usual.

There are possibly half that figure of 20 million. 

[Olmate]

3 minutes ago, Ctkong said:

Maybe the rental car tourist just having some spare time to do some driving for spare change on a special understanding with some foreign owned resort. It happens in other countries too but with own car not rental. I used them to go to airport because they offer a competitive service and safe too as the hotel use them regularly. 

I lived in Patong precovid, a Russian couple above us had 2 cars on the go everyday Seemingly untroubled by local operators of cabs, tuk tuks etc.

[shackleton]

Proof is in  the pudding 

Let's see how many foreigners are arrested for driving taxis ???? ????

[FritsSikkink]

2 hours ago, AhFarangJa said:

The laughing emoji appears to have been censored off the choices........

I have started a thread to ask why.....

Because you should only like things, you would hurt peoples feelings if you disagree.

[DjSilver]

Come on, it's just a business for foreigners in Thailand. Anything is good.

[Grusa]

3 hours ago, bradiston said:

This marks a new low in journalism. Not a shred of evidence. Just rumours and the usual "allegedly" rubbish from Phuket News.

...not to mention the apalling grammar and bad proof reading.

[VocalNeal]

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

How could someone pay daily rental rates and still generate a profit, and as a taxi driver? This is one of the dumbest accusations of the year. 

Only the green and yellow taxis in Bangkok are owner operated. All the other colours are "fleet" taxis rented for the day by the driver. 

 

Foreigners in this case probably means citizens from neighboring Asian countries.

Edited February 9, 2023 by VocalNeal

[Venom]

4 hours ago, lanng khao said:

Grabski..

No that's the Polish one. 

[lanng khao]

16 minutes ago, Venom said:

No that's the Polish one. 

No,, that's uberoski..????

[FritsSikkink]

5 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Oh please. Such nonsense. Just rabid, fear mongering, uninformed xenophobia. How could someone pay daily rental rates and still generate a profit, and as a taxi driver? This is one of the dumbest accusations of the year. 

Quite easy as the Phuket taxi / tuk tuk rates are very high. 

[Nong Khai Man]

2 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

No, it´s not! A car, you can rent from 9 000 - 12 000 baht per month. That would only be 300 - 400 per day. As a taxi driver you can easily make trips for 1 500 per day. Let´s say that 900 goes away including rent and gasoline. I would assume it is most India and other Asian nationalities that are doing this. They will be quite satisfied to have 600 baht or more per day.

They will be quite satisfied to have 600 baht or more per day....So Would I on my Current FROZEN Pittance of a " So Called " Pension....Plus I WAS A REAL ( PROFESSIONAL ) Taxi Driver in The U.K.For more than 40 Years.....

[Nong Khai Man]

1 hour ago, BangkokHank said:

That's the main reason why I have only been to Phuket once in my 21 years in Thailand, and why I will not set foot in that place again. They think it's clever to cheat tourists. But they can't cheat me if I don't go there.

I Agree M8, I've only been ONCE to Phuket that after CUMMING To Thailand Since 1976 Wow That's 47 Years ( Yeah I'm an Oldie Now.....So NO Desire to ever go there Again !!

[Keep Right]

I believe this story! A number of years ago I sold my Audi to a Russian. Somehow he did not register the  car properly and I started to receive speeding tickets in my mail under my name. It took me months to track down this Russian. I found out he was using my car for a taxi service for Russians coming into the airport. I reported this to the police and we finally got it all figured out but it cost me thousands of BAHT in fees and attorney costs.

[hidbehindthesofa]

3 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

No, it´s not! A car, you can rent from 9 000 - 12 000 baht per month. That would only be 300 - 400 per day. As a taxi driver you can easily make trips for 1 500 per day. Let´s say that 900 goes away including rent and gasoline. I would assume it is most India and other Asian nationalities that are doing this. They will be quite satisfied to have 600 baht or more per day.

Indeed - it is 700 or 800 baht for a single trip to or from the airport - so clearly there is money to be made . . .

[stevenl]

3 hours ago, jesimps said:

I should imagine that these foreigners are fellow Asians ie Myanmarese, Cambodian or Loatian. A westerner would find it difficult to pull it off.

 

3 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

No, it´s not! A car, you can rent from 9 000 - 12 000 baht per month. That would only be 300 - 400 per day. As a taxi driver you can easily make trips for 1 500 per day. Let´s say that 900 goes away including rent and gasoline. I would assume it is most India and other Asian nationalities that are doing this. They will be quite satisfied to have 600 baht or more per day.

Russians. A Laotian can not pull of the 'just picking up a friend from the airport ' trick 

[racket]

Pure <deleted>!! Haha these “legit” taxi drivers just want another reason to rip off tourists with overinflated fares.

[pmhmaster]

8 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Oh please. Such nonsense. Just rabid, fear mongering, uninformed xenophobia. How could someone pay daily rental rates and still generate a profit, and as a taxi driver? This is one of the dumbest accusations of the year. 

This

[LivinginKata]

2 hours ago, Keep Right said:

I believe this story! A number of years ago I sold my Audi to a Russian. Somehow he did not register the  car properly and I started to receive speeding tickets in my mail under my name. It took me months to track down this Russian. I found out he was using my car for a taxi service for Russians coming into the airport. I reported this to the police and we finally got it all figured out but it cost me thousands of BAHT in fees and attorney costs.

 More fool you. You should have supervised the document transfer.

[bradiston]

2 hours ago, Nong Khai Man said:

They will be quite satisfied to have 600 baht or more per day....So Would I on my Current FROZEN Pittance of a " So Called " Pension....Plus I WAS A REAL ( PROFESSIONAL ) Taxi Driver in The U.K.For more than 40 Years.....

Move to Philippines and unfreeze it.

[Hockeybik]

8 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Oh please. Such nonsense. Just rabid, fear mongering, uninformed xenophobia. How could someone pay daily rental rates and still generate a profit, and as a taxi driver? This is one of the dumbest accusations of the year. 

You would have to run a bigger scam than the "legit" taxi scammers run to make a profit.

[bradiston]

4 hours ago, Lemsta69 said:

Thank Buddha that Thailand isn't going down the European route. They're right to be 'scared' of foreigners and they should do everything they can to not become a basket case like the rest of the Western world.

I drove a black cab for 12 years in London. My best mates, all cabbies, were, amongst others, Indian, Malay Chinese, and Hong Kong Chinese. The cabbies' real resentment was reserved for the illegal minicab (aka private hire) drivers. If you could survive 3 years doing the Knowledge, you were worthy of your badge. That's all that mattered.