Bangkok Hotel To Suvarnabhumi

[mijan24]

I have not mentioned hotel by name only because fault lies with Taxi operators.

Recently a well travelled friend visted Thailand for 2 days then off to Vietnam:

Hotel concierge arranged a city taxi to the airport for 400 baht. Driver agreed so we got in, went 50 metres when driver turned around and said his fare to the airport was 600 baht. A dual language discussion took place, settled on 500 baht ~ and then he demanded the 25 baht toll when we got to the toll gate.

Not as bad as Vietnam though! Every trip was an overcharged hassle!

Question who does the traveller approach in a case such as this? Lets not say its only a 100 or 200 baht it is robbery and tarnishes the already dull image of how Thais treat tourists. They want their (the tourist) dollars but are not prepared in a lot of cases to provide fair service which in my opinion stinks and is cutting off their nose to spite their face - There was no tip given and the friend left Thailand thinking this is not LOS but LOT&T.

Legend:

T =Thieves

T= Touts

[SaigonDaze]

"Every trip in Vietnam was an overcharge hassle".

You must be an easy mark. Never happens to me in HCMC.

[PattayaParent]

Never had a problem anywhere in Viet Nam.

Get in taxi and driver puts his meter on, no questions asked.

Your mate should have just got out of the taxi and got another one or made the driver turn around back to the hotel and reported him.

[toptuan]

Two rules:

1) Don't get a taxi at a fixed price through a hotel concierge

2) Get a taxi with a meter that's turned on

Following the above rules, I've never paid more than 200 baht from Bangkok Hotels (Chitlom area) to the airport. Sorry, it's just part of the tourist/newcomer to Thailand/Vietnam hassles. You'll get savy when your budget gets lower, hopefully.

[mgjackson69]

TTT (Thai Taxi Thief): baad roi baht

Me: meter

TTT: baad roi baht

Me: meter

TTT: jet roi

Me: meter

TTT: jet roi

Me: meter

TTT: haah roi baht

Me: meter meter

TTT: (resets meter) #$%@!! farang

Edited August 7, 2008 by mgjackson69

[mijan24]

TTT (Thai Taxi Thief): baad roi baht

Me: meter

TTT: baad roi baht

Me: meter

TTT: jet roi

Me: meter

TTT: jet roi

Me: meter

TTT: haah roi baht

Me: meter meter

TTT: (resets meter) #$%@!! farang

Yes correct he is normally travelling single this time with a girl friend probably wanted to be a little nice and not show the true Ozzie grit when being ripped off.

[chiang mai]

It's all part of the rich tapestry that is Thailand as viewed through the eyes of the unfamiliar tourist. The correct thing to do was to stick to the original agreement or to insist that the driver stop and let you get out, both approaches achieve the desired result.

[dotcom]

Two rules:

1) Don't get a taxi at a fixed price through a hotel concierge

2) Get a taxi with a meter that's turned on

Following the above rules, I've never paid more than 200 baht from Bangkok Hotels (Chitlom area) to the airport. Sorry, it's just part of the tourist/newcomer to Thailand/Vietnam hassles. You'll get savy when your budget gets lower, hopefully.

Bingo!!! We have a winner.

Flag down your own taxi & make sure he is ok with the meter.

[bendix]

Some people shouldnt be let in the country - they are so bloody hapless and witless it beggars belief.

Come on people - how freakin hard is it to get a taxi yourself? You can't spit in Bangkok without hitting four cabs. It's the perfect buyer's market and yet people STILL manage to be made fools of.

[ballbreaker]

Some people shouldnt be let in the country - they are so bloody hapless and witless it beggars belief.

Come on people - how freakin hard is it to get a taxi yourself? You can't spit in Bangkok without hitting four cabs. It's the perfect buyer's market and yet people STILL manage to be made fools of.

Could not agree more.

Your friend can not be a well seasoned traveler or he would not have been ripped off after already cutting the deal.

[ajarnmark]

Goto Vietnam (VN) and see by yourself how MUCH OVERCHARGED taxis are here, usually VND 11,500 per KM (nearly THB25), so if VN taxi drivers dont bargain, its not because they love you so much, but more because they are already getting more than what should have been the price. Also, every taxi company charges differently from other company.

In BKK, on the contrary, taxis are not only cheap but also good coz all of them are charging same price. However, if you dont insist on meter, then you will be in trouble, like your friend is.

I used to work in BKK and now in VN and miss BKK a lot, especially taxis , coz they are so expensive here. Although I am earning 3x as compare to BKK, I still prefer and love Thailand, despite all the negative things.

A friend of mine, from USA, told me that there are 50,000 cabs on BKK roads, unlike HoChiMinh (HCMC) where it is very difficult to find a taxi and taxis are chargning WAY TOO MUCH.

Bottom line: Always insist on meter and if taxi driver refuses to start meter, wait for other.

[Spee]

Two rules:

1) Don't get a taxi at a fixed price through a hotel concierge

2) Get a taxi with a meter that's turned on

Following the above rules, I've never paid more than 200 baht from Bangkok Hotels (Chitlom area) to the airport. Sorry, it's just part of the tourist/newcomer to Thailand/Vietnam hassles. You'll get savy when your budget gets lower, hopefully.

Bingo!!! We have a winner.

Flag down your own taxi & make sure he is ok with the meter.

Ditto!

If anyone feels compelled to pay more than the going rate, then still go by the meter and throw the driver a nice tip if he is friendly and courteous. The driver will definitely appreciate it and you will have done your good deed to help Farangi-Thai relations.

And be thankful that Bkk taxi rates are as reasonable as they are. I suspect if you would compare normalized taxi rates for places like Thailand, Japan, US, UK, western Europe, etc., that you would find Thailand to be the least expensive by far.

[mijan24]

Some people shouldnt be let in the country - they are so bloody hapless and witless it beggars belief.

Come on people - how freakin hard is it to get a taxi yourself? You can't spit in Bangkok without hitting four cabs. It's the perfect buyer's market and yet people STILL manage to be made fools of.

Could not agree more.

Your friend can not be a well seasoned traveler or he would not have been ripped off after already cutting the deal.

Bendix maybe there is more than one who shouldn't be let in nor out of ?? present company included:rolleyes:

ballbreaker he is well seasoned as the saying goes those that haven't been ripped off haven't been there or are just lying?? where do you fit

[sjaak327]

HCMC has fairly good deals on taxi's as well, altough a bit more then BKK, but in my 5 days HCMC I have never witnessed any taxi driver not switching on the meter.

In Bangkok, it's simple really, don't let the hotel arrange a cab for you. Also don't get one that is waiting outside of the hotel, as they are almost certainly trying to get a flat rate.

Hail one yourself from the streets and almost always the driver will switch on the meter. I myself have been quoted a flat rate, maybe three years ago for the last time. Of course at some places (north side of Silom, around Patpong for instance) it would be hard to get a driver to switch on the meter. No problem either, at that particular spot, I just cross the road and take the long line of taxi's that are waiting at the corner of Silom and Convent, every taxi driver there uses the meter.

Funny, as yesterday a friend of mine got a mini bus for 1500 baht from the Nana to BKK, when I told him, that he could have taken two taxis for 500 baht total both using the meter, he was quite surprised

Edited August 8, 2008 by sjaak327

[tartempion]

TTT (Thai Taxi Thief): baad roi baht

xcuse me sir, but how much is "baad roi baht"?

[mijan24]

TTT (Thai Taxi Thief): baad roi baht

xcuse me sir, but how much is "baad roi baht"?

I read it as ฿๘๐๐๐ of course there will be some who will quibble that the b should be p.

แปด

bpàet

อัฏฐ

àdt-ฐ̀

In the first example Bpor Pla is often written as B(บ )or P (ป) by us the thai language amateurs its all in the perception of the receiver but as with any language as long as the message gets through.

As my Dad used to say "clear as mud in a beer bottle".

แปด bpaaetL noun, adjective eight; the number or quantity eight [*] ๘ bpaaetL Thai digit eight, 8

[*] ๘๐ noun eighty; 80

[*] กลอนเก้า glaawnM gaoF noun [a certain type of Thai poetry which has eight syllables per line]

[*] กลอนแปด glaawnM bpaaetL noun [a certain type of Thai poetry which has eight syllables per line]

Sorry to go thru all this if you only being a nerd

[mgjackson69]

Some people shouldnt be let in the country - they are so bloody hapless and witless it beggars belief.

Come on people - how freakin hard is it to get a taxi yourself? You can't spit in Bangkok without hitting four cabs. It's the perfect buyer's market and yet people STILL manage to be made fools of.

And then get on fora such as this and whine about it

[mgjackson69]

TTT (Thai Taxi Thief): baad roi baht

xcuse me sir, but how much is "baad roi baht"?

800

[mijan24]

Some people shouldnt be let in the country - they are so bloody hapless and witless it beggars belief.

Come on people - how freakin hard is it to get a taxi yourself? You can't spit in Bangkok without hitting four cabs. It's the perfect buyer's market and yet people STILL manage to be made fools of.

And then get on fora such as this and whine about it

mgjackson69 we know it was a typo fora instead of forum so no silly uneeded comment will be made, but isn't your post "the same as calling the kettle black' - you haven't addressed the original topic at all instead you have - in my opinion "whined just for the sake of it" and if you were to actually read the post that I posted not the person who caught the taxi - I asked a question? Why not pose an answer or attack the question not the hapless soul catching the taxi.

If we are talking about complaining maybe you could have thought of "whinge" which in some eyes the taxi catcher may be doing, definately not whining as you seem to be in the habit of doing.

Now before you take umbrage take a tour through your 360+ posts and count up how many are negative I think you may need to lighten up - life is too short to always have SOL. I would prescribe a course of laxettes but then again I am not a Doctor rather a Doctorate I am I am (borrowed from Henry The viii) so I must be careful not to put forward a false impression.

Off to the patio now for a real Wine red at doyen temperature.

whine

1. To utter a plaintive, high-pitched, protracted sound, as in pain, fear, supplication, or complaint.

2. To complain or protest in a childish fashion.

3. To produce a sustained noise of relatively high pitch: jet engines whining.

British : to complain fretfully : whine

— whinge noun British

NounSingular

whinge

Plural

whinges

whinge (plural whinges)

a cry

[b]a complaint [/b]

Edited August 11, 2008 by mijan24

[onzestan]

What many people here fail to understand, is that there are some persons that don't care to pay a little bit more just to have a smooth comfortable and hassle free ride to any destination.

Not everything is a scam certainly not the taxi's in Bangkok (most of the time). I can tell some real horror stories though about taxi's in Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris and many other places.

my 2 cents

onzestan

[tw25rw]

British : to complain fretfully : whine

— whinge noun British

Not sure what you are quoting there, but whinge is an Australian word. It may have crept into UK vernacular, but definitiely isn't native.

[mijan24]

British : to complain fretfully : whine

— whinge noun British

Not sure what you are quoting there, but whinge is an Australian word. It may have crept into UK vernacular, but definitiely isn't native.

From Google: Merriam- Webster on line dictionary

whinge

One entry found.

whinge

Main Entry: whinge

Pronunciation: \ˈhwinj, ˈwinj\

Function: intransitive verb

Inflected Form(s): whinged; whing·ing or whinge·ing

Etymology: Middle English *whingen, from Old English hwinsian; akin to Old High German winsōn to moan

Date: 12th century

British : to complain fretfully : whine

— whinge noun British

Google: Answers.com

intr.v. Chiefly British., whinged, whing·ing, whing·es.

To complain or protest, especially in an annoying or persistent manner.

[Dialectal alteration of Middle English whinsen, from Old English hwinsian.]

whinger whing'er n.

whingingly whing'ing·ly adv.

Google: free on line dictionary

whinge Brit, Austral & NZ informal

Verb

[whingeing, whinged]

to complain in a moaning manner

Noun

a complaint [Old English hwinsian to whine]

whinger n

Collins Essential English Dictionary 2nd Edition 2006 © HarperCollins Publishers 2004, 2006

ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms

[grannyfopes]

Mljan. Have to agree with you.

In my brief history here I've found that too many of these forums do go off on a tangent - some are wry, intelligent, witty and, if not enlightening, at least entertaining.

Others are written by Neanderthals - with dictionaries. There does seem to be an abundance of cage-rattling contributors ... but it's the odd, truly helpful or supportive reply that makes a whole world of difference.

Sorry - what was your question?