Thai National Tv Stations News Are Reporting About Samui Taxis

[limbos]

Thai national TV stations news are reporting about Samui taxis because there seems to be many complaints about taxis not use their meters.

Anybody has heard or seen something about this yesterday and/or the previous days.

Interesting to know ho complained and where the complaints were sent to.

Got word from my wife about this, which pleased me to hear. Wonder what the effects will be though.

Whoever is in control on Samui is not really doing a proper job, or is this an understatement.

Nice to see that this hotly debated topic on this forum is getting some national exposure.

[Noodles]

My mums here at the moment and shes having a nightmare with them. She has stopped lots of taxis and none

would put their metre on. So she is songtheling [spelling] it part way and walking the rest of her journies.

They are also very rude aswell when she asked for the metre. We have one yellow cab driver now who is

droping her to her guesthouse from ours at a so so reasonable rate.

The airport taxis wanted 600 baht to take her to lamdein market! The 120 mini bus is pretty god value though.

[MSingh]

My mums here at the moment and shes having a nightmare with them. She has stopped lots of taxis and none

would put their metre on. So she is songtheling [spelling] it part way and walking the rest of her journies.

They are also very rude aswell when she asked for the metre. We have one yellow cab driver now who is

droping her to her guesthouse from ours at a so so reasonable rate.

The airport taxis wanted 600 baht to take her to lamdein market! The 120 mini bus is pretty god value though.

Daylight Robbery, they repulse me..

[Mark Wolfe]

As an old newsroom jockey, all I can say is it must have been a slow news day at the TV station.

Only a royal decree can alter the situation.

[game4shame]

So she is songtheling [spelling] it part way and walking the rest of her journies.

'songthaew' I believe.

good to see the pathetic samui taxi situation brought up. doubt anything will change though.

the ludicrous pricing results in drinkers taking their bikes. drinkers taking their bikes + samui roads = recipe for disaster.....

....but like many things in thailand - money comes before safety.

[meatgrowler]

Thai national TV stations news are reporting about Samui taxis because there seems to be many complaints about taxis not use their meters.

Anybody has heard or seen something about this yesterday and/or the previous days.

Interesting to know ho complained and where the complaints were sent to.

Got word from my wife about this, which pleased me to hear. Wonder what the effects will be though.

Whoever is in control on Samui is not really doing a proper job, or is this an understatement.

Nice to see that this hotly debated topic on this forum is getting some national exposure.

Scammin swines...the onlt taxi i ever is get is from our house to the airport 400 bht.....sometimes they quote a 1000 i have to laugh!

[funfun]

Thai national TV stations news are reporting about Samui taxis because there seems to be many complaints about taxis not use their meters.

Anybody has heard or seen something about this yesterday and/or the previous days.

Interesting to know ho complained and where the complaints were sent to.

Got word from my wife about this, which pleased me to hear. Wonder what the effects will be though.

Whoever is in control on Samui is not really doing a proper job, or is this an understatement.

Nice to see that this hotly debated topic on this forum is getting some national exposure.

Scammin swines...the onlt taxi i ever is get is from our house to the airport 400 bht.....sometimes they quote a 1000 i have to laugh!

I hate all taxi drivers around the world, they all think there very clever, and there not, samui ones also phucket are near the top of the list as in as much as they ask if you want one, you reply nice as pie, no thank you, then you here kineow or cheap charlie falang! always when theres a group of em spineless little pieces of shat, in fact im gonna have a cig ive worked myselfe up now!!

ere meatgrowler thats a nice scooter mate, yours?

chris

[breezein]

The taxi drivers in Samui easily make 9000bt per day and are still in the main part a bunch of miserable clowns. Getting a taxi in Bangkok is such a pleasure, it is so cheap its almost embarassing compared to samui, Even in Phuket i took a metered taxi from Airport to Patong (40km+) and paid 410bt

[limbos]

breezein,

On which indormation do you base the daily income of 9.000,-Baht for a Samui taxi driver.

That's 270.000,-Baht per month, I'm gonna change jobs instantly!

[ClaudeFeller]

breezein,

On which indormation do you base the daily income of 9.000,-Baht for a Samui taxi driver.

That's 270.000,-Baht per month, I'm gonna change jobs instantly!

He means 900 THB minus 400 THB for gasoline. They are in fact crazy clowns. They cannot count to ten without a accident but they believe they are so smart...

[koheesti]

I've avoided taxis since I've been here except recently. I had friends in town this weekend and waiting for a songthaew wasn't always a good option. I'm not going to go into details here because we all know the stories. OK, ONE story. Taking a taxi from Lamai to Maenam, 500baht. It's gotten so bad I thought that was a deal. Anyway, I doze off and we stop and the driver announces we are at our destination. With bleary eyes I pay and we get out. Then I notice he dropped up off at the Bophut stoplight by Fisherman's Village. a few kms short of where we should have been. Had to pay another taxi to go the rest of the way. If I snap one day, Samui taxi drivers will be the first to know about it.

[breezein]

I've avoided taxis since I've been here except recently. I had friends in town this weekend and waiting for a songthaew wasn't always a good option. I'm not going to go into details here because we all know the stories. OK, ONE story. Taking a taxi from Lamai to Maenam, 500baht. It's gotten so bad I thought that was a deal. Anyway, I doze off and we stop and the driver announces we are at our destination. With bleary eyes I pay and we get out. Then I notice he dropped up off at the Bophut stoplight by Fisherman's Village. a few kms short of where we should have been. Had to pay another taxi to go the rest of the way. If I snap one day, Samui taxi drivers will be the first to know about it.

FROM A TAXI DRIVER, Lets say 3 fares an hour at 300bt (if your lucky) is 900bt say 10 hours a day 9000bt soon adds up.

[sbk]

That is assuming they even get 3 fares an hour. And if so, that would generally only be in high season as low season they'd be lucky to get anything even close to that.

[ClaudeFeller]

I've avoided taxis since I've been here except recently. I had friends in town this weekend and waiting for a songthaew wasn't always a good option. I'm not going to go into details here because we all know the stories. OK, ONE story. Taking a taxi from Lamai to Maenam, 500baht. It's gotten so bad I thought that was a deal. Anyway, I doze off and we stop and the driver announces we are at our destination. With bleary eyes I pay and we get out. Then I notice he dropped up off at the Bophut stoplight by Fisherman's Village. a few kms short of where we should have been. Had to pay another taxi to go the rest of the way. If I snap one day, Samui taxi drivers will be the first to know about it.

FROM A TAXI DRIVER, Lets say 3 fares an hour at 300bt (if your lucky) is 900bt say 10 hours a day 9000bt soon adds up.

Show me a Samui cab driver who can count without using his fingers and I believe you. They like to sit around, talking rubbish and drinking M150 - for hours and hours. Some of them might be nice and fair but I only met arrogant idiots until now.

[Prasert]

How much would it be to print t-shirts with the text

No meter

No taxi

and maybe the Thai translation in smallprint underneath it (one can't expect a taxi driver to read and understand English). A shirt like this would be very handy.....

[Lite Beer]

That is assuming they even get 3 fares an hour. And if so, that would generally only be in high season as low season they'd be lucky to get anything even close to that.

They would do if they charged the legal rate.

[koheesti]

I was walking someplace during the day and was only about 500m away from my destination when a taxi driver asked if I wanted a ride. He wanted 300 baht and when I said I wanted to pay 50 but only had 100 so I'd pay 100 he declined. 100 baht for a 1 minute drive wasn't worth it to him.

I think Thailand should pass a law giving Samui taxi drivers a legal status just below dogs. You know, so you can feed them rat poison and not get in trouble. After that's passed, them Samui can worry about city status.

[dominator]

Hey, maybe the visiting BKK cops can help out here, as it's obviously too hard for the local boys.

[Lite Beer]

I was walking someplace during the day and was only about 500m away from my destination when a taxi driver asked if I wanted a ride. He wanted 300 baht and when I said I wanted to pay 50 but only had 100 so I'd pay 100 he declined. 100 baht for a 1 minute drive wasn't worth it to him.

I think Thailand should pass a law giving Samui taxi drivers a legal status just below dogs. You know, so you can feed them rat poison and not get in trouble. After that's passed, them Samui can worry about city status.

That comment is very unfair to dogs.

I suggest you change it to Cockroaches.

[kevdulounge]

Before I moved to samui, and eventually bought a car of my own, I'd often come here as a turist... and as I care for my life, and am not really fond of motorbike, I was left with two options: songtha-ewwww or taxi "meter": This one time, I asked a cabby to drive me from Chaweng Noi to Starbuck Coffee (the farther one) in Chaweng where I was due to meet someone. I asked him to put his meter, and he said angryly: "This is not bangkok, no meter in Samui, meter dont work here." Ok. After negociating for a good half of the day, we agreed on the amusing rate of 400 bahts. He took us to the entrance of ban chaweng, and said: "Ok, I don't go Chaweng, too much trafic, ok 200 bahts!" He asked us for 200 extra bahts to take us to the destination we agreed on! As we were runing late we were left with no option than pay the poor bastard.

I hate it so much when they honk at me when I'm walking in the street... I just ignore them and they honk again. As if I'd suddenly feel the urge to get into a cab just because they honked at me!

Yup, that's one thing I miss about bangkok : Nice and cheap cabs

[limbos]

There is a Samui taxi association, s many Taxi meters have a sticker on their car with the logo, wonder what they discuss there.

[DCS]

Probably how to scam the next sucker!!!!!!

[koheesti]

I hate it so much when they honk at me when I'm walking in the street... I just ignore them and they honk again. As if I'd suddenly feel the urge to get into a cab just because they honked at me!

Maybe we should all agree to wave taxis over each time they honk and offer 40 baht. Ten of us doing it 10 times a week would be enough to drive them a little crazy. Maybe make a game out of it. Get 5 people walking along the road about 50 meters apart. Each one of us could wave over the same taxi and offer the same low price. There has to be a drinking game in here somewhere. Any ideas?

Yup, that's one thing I miss about bangkok : Nice and cheap cabs

Hong Kong taxis are even cheaper than Samui (and they come with electric doors which open and close for you). The meter starts at about the equiv of 65 baht for the first couple kms I think it was. The most we paid for a taxi was twice that - 130 baht. Imagine a taxi here taking that little.

Edited March 12, 2008 by koheesti

[ClaudeFeller]

Good idea, let us call it: "Go Airport 40 Baht?" Will try tomorrow...

[Khun Jean]

Better still wave a taxi open the door, ask if it is with a meter and if not 'forget' to close the door properly.

Did that a few times and they sure were pissed off.

Only thing is i don't know how long you will live.

[Noodles]

Better better still leave the door fully open so he has to get out and close

it himself! Then again he'll probably come and stab you!

[Briggsy]

Better still wave a taxi open the door, ask if it is with a meter and if not 'forget' to close the door properly.

Did that a few times and they sure were pissed off.

Only thing is i don't know how long you will live.

Nice one Very brave.

[Prasert]

Walked off the Seatran pier yesterday, with of course the inevitable taxidrivers.

-Hello taxi?

- Taxi meter?

-No meter on Samui.

- No meter, no taxi

..and walked straight on. My friend behind me heard him say in an angry tone to another taxi driver 'ba falang' freely translated as idiot foreigner.

So he got aggravated. My win

How much does TAT care that Samui is changing from paradise island into rip-off island according to the complaints at many European travel agencies?

Edited March 16, 2008 by Prasert

[koheesti]

I sure hope no one starts rumours that people are being robbed & raped by taxi drivers on Samui. If word of that got out to the foreign press the taxi drivers would have an even harder time making a living. What a shame that would be.

Edited March 17, 2008 by koheesti

[sbk]

Yes, and what a shame for the poster to find himself warned and suspended for spreading malicious inflammatory rumors.