Boycott The Pattaya Taxi Meter Mafia (please)

[Jingthing]

Thai taxi drivers are not thieves , most of them are honest.

SO they have no taxis using meters ok , still they have passengers like this one , paying maybe 200 Baht for a short drive. If its enough tourists that want to use this service then fine.

If they can survive overcharge tourists then everyones happy except the expats .

The system does not serve the public transportation needs of the city as a whole. To see a Thai city that is having its public transportation needs met, see Bangkok. The taxi meters there are obligated to use their meters in town, and most of them do. Pattaya, on the other hand, has taxi meters which do not use meters and are owned by the same mafia club that owns the infamous baht buses. Get the issue now?

Edited August 14, 2008 by Jingthing

[Mobi]

Thai taxi drivers are not thieves , most of them are honest.

SO they have no taxis using meters ok , still they have passengers like this one , paying maybe 200 Baht for a short drive. If its enough tourists that want to use this service then fine.

If they can survive overcharge tourists then everyones happy except the expats .

The system does not serve the public transportation needs of the city as a whole. To see a Thai city that is having its public transportation needs met, see Bangkok. The taxi meters there are obligated to use their meters in town, and most of them do. Pattaya, on the other hand, has taxi meters which do not use meters and are owned by the same mafia club that owns the infamous baht buses. Get the issue now?

To say nothing of the Incredible BTS and underground services which whisk the population to the far corners of the city in air-conditioned comfort. Then there are all the air conned buses, plus the soi Moto taxis who charge a standard, reasonable fares and do not mug you or rape you half way home.

I'm afraid Bangkok may still be a corrupt, third world city, but it is a million miles from the the rest of the country in terms of infrastructure and meeting the demands of the ever growing educated, middle class population. They even have such wonders as public hearings on new road planning, and often plans are cancelled due to local pressure, and the police actually warn you of forthcoming road works and suggest alternate routes. Then they even have safety rules on constructions site and everyone wears hard hats, and all the motorcyclists wear crash helmets - without exception....

I could go on and on.

Pattaya is run by a greedy, uncaring, venal Mafia co-operative; comprised of city officials, the criminal police, and just plain ordinary criminals, and nothing is going to get better any time soon - boycott or no boycott.

When the city is bled totally dry, and there is no more tourist money - that's the time when things might change, but there again it might end up like something out of Mad Max.

[NanLaew]

Took a look at that poll. A landslide.... with a 2% voter turnout.

[NanLaew]

Bangkok has metered taxis so why can't Pattaya?

What was the major mover that made Bangkok taxi operators finally start using them?

Bangkok is the very public 'face' of the nation. It's where most of the finance, technology and industrial base is and has the highest population density. It's home to the countries leading universities. It's where they have international conventions and meetings of heads of state and leaders of various international political and financial alliances. It is where foreign management of multinationals reside, close to their head offices. It is the seat of government and home of the Royal Family. It is the capital. It is also where first-time tourist spend most of their time.

Pattaya is not a commercial gold mine, industrial beehive or financial hot-spot; the dormitory towns way out east support the local migrant workers in the growing industrial complexes out that way. Pattaya is where, on average, the tourist spends 3 nights.

The whole of Thailand uses some form of songtaew or baht bus at some level of their local transportation infrastructure. Pattaya just is not big enough or important enough to warrant the government action of the type that made the Bangkok taxis turn their meters on. There never has been and never will be any significant local (and by local, I mean Thai resident) demand for any air-conditioned meter-taxi fleet here.

[Mobi]

Bangkok has metered taxis so why can't Pattaya?

What was the major mover that made Bangkok taxi operators finally start using them?

Bangkok is the very public 'face' of the nation. It's where most of the finance, technology and industrial base is and has the highest population density. It's home to the countries leading universities. It's where they have international conventions and meetings of heads of state and leaders of various international political and financial alliances. It is where foreign management of multinationals reside, close to their head offices. It is the seat of government and home of the Royal Family. It is the capital. It is also where first-time tourist spend most of their time.

Pattaya is not a commercial gold mine, industrial beehive or financial hot-spot; the dormitory towns way out east support the local migrant workers in the growing industrial complexes out that way. Pattaya is where, on average, the tourist spends 3 nights.

The whole of Thailand uses some form of songtaew or baht bus at some level of their local transportation infrastructure. Pattaya just is not big enough or important enough to warrant the government action of the type that made the Bangkok taxis turn their meters on. There never has been and never will be any significant local (and by local, I mean Thai resident) demand for any air-conditioned meter-taxi fleet here.

Agreed

[buckeroo2]

Bangkok has metered taxis so why can't Pattaya?

What was the major mover that made Bangkok taxi operators finally start using them?

Bangkok is the very public 'face' of the nation. It's where most of the finance, technology and industrial base is and has the highest population density. It's home to the countries leading universities. It's where they have international conventions and meetings of heads of state and leaders of various international political and financial alliances. It is where foreign management of multinationals reside, close to their head offices. It is the seat of government and home of the Royal Family. It is the capital. It is also where first-time tourist spend most of their time.

Pattaya is not a commercial gold mine, industrial beehive or financial hot-spot; the dormitory towns way out east support the local migrant workers in the growing industrial complexes out that way. Pattaya is where, on average, the tourist spends 3 nights.

The whole of Thailand uses some form of songtaew or baht bus at some level of their local transportation infrastructure. Pattaya just is not big enough or important enough to warrant the government action of the type that made the Bangkok taxis turn their meters on. There never has been and never will be any significant local (and by local, I mean Thai resident) demand for any air-conditioned meter-taxi fleet here.

Agreed

OK, here is what I witnessed yesterday - I am not going to try to interpret or guess what was happening - - just my eye witness account. On my way to WOW yesterday at 4 PM I was walking to the front entrance of The Avenue on 2nd Road and I saw a "Pattaya Traffic Police" truck parked in the street with its lights blinking atop the police truck alongside four taxis in front of The Avenue. Two police officers were talking to the driver of the 4th taxi - #13 - they had brought out a Denver boot - not sure what it is called here in Thailand - but it is a metal device attached to a wheel of a car to make it immobile. They brought it over to the front passenger wheel and started to attach it to the car. The one ploce officer was talking to the taxi driver and he then said something to the other police officer attaching the boot and that officer took the boot back to the police truck. The officer talking to the driver of taxi #13 then wrote up something that seemd to be a citation. There were 3 taxis in the queue in front of taxi #13 and all 3 drivers of these taxis seemed to be holding similar citations when I arrived.

The first 3 taxis were motioned to leave by the police. They all pulled away and left from in front of The Avenue. The officers continued to talk to the driver of the last cab - #13. This all took about 10 minutes - When I went to the gym they were still having a discussion with the driver of taxi # 13.

About 2 hours later I left the gym and walked to the front of The Avenue and 4 cabs were sitting in their usual location - including the second taxi in the queue - Taxi #13.

[Gary A]

I had already boycotted the motorcycle taxis because of safety and rip offs. Jingthing asked us to boycott the baht buses and now the taxis. The bus line is out of business so perhaps Jingthing will start a service so I don't have to walk.

[Kerryd]

I had already boycotted the motorcycle taxis because of safety and rip offs. Jingthing asked us to boycott the baht buses and now the taxis. The bus line is out of business so perhaps Jingthing will start a service so I don't have to walk.

Don't hold your breath !

Maybe if we can boycott the moto-taxis, metered taxis and baht buses long enough, the few baht they will lose will convince them to pack up and move out of town.

Then (and only then) could we possibly see the return of an (over priced) regular bus service, that will charge everyone the same fare, and eventually everyone will come to accept the higher fares, fixed routes and lack of convenience that such buses would offer.

Some of us are young enough that we may see that in our life times.

[thaiman]

If Pattaya is to improve as so many give lip service and nothing else to wanting, people here are going to have to get a lot less understanding of the local mafias.

Why does pattaya need to improve?

[thaiman]

Thai taxi drivers are not thieves , most of them are honest.

SO they have no taxis using meters ok , still they have passengers like this one , paying maybe 200 Baht for a short drive. If its enough tourists that want to use this service then fine.

If they can survive overcharge tourists then everyones happy except the expats .

Very well put.

There is obviously demand for the taxis and people will pay inflated fees all day long. So Be it! There are many alternative forms of transportation in the city.

[Jingthing]

Thai taxi drivers are not thieves , most of them are honest.

SO they have no taxis using meters ok , still they have passengers like this one , paying maybe 200 Baht for a short drive. If its enough tourists that want to use this service then fine.

If they can survive overcharge tourists then everyones happy except the expats .

Very well put.

There is obviously demand for the taxis and people will pay inflated fees all day long. So Be it! There are many alternative forms of transportation in the city.

No, the taxis are obviously failing. The taxis at Avenue sit idly for hours. Look inside the taxis driving, most are empty. Word is out they are rip off FAKE taxi meters. Who said they were thieves? I didn't. I said they were part of a transport MAFIA.

[Jingthing]

If Pattaya is to improve as so many give lip service and nothing else to wanting, people here are going to have to get a lot less understanding of the local mafias.

Why does pattaya need to improve?

Pretty much anyone with eyes and a brain, mate.

[moo9]

When I go out, I am happy with the motocyc taxis, which I prefer. Songthaews are ok as well, however a bit more tricky to negotiate. Never needed a taxi and imho we do not need them downtown. If you live too far out, that's a problem....u better solve yourself. May arrange that mia picks u up

Edited August 25, 2008 by moo9

[catwho]

I replied to the other thread on the 300k returned by taxi driver,and scrolled down to see this thread,

i have looked into buying a bath bus and taxis with my wife,

just a few things people should know,if they dont already ,unless you are a multy here in thailand and can pay cash,you have to borrow from the bank or eslewhere,they can pay the bank back up to 1700 baht a month or more depending on how much they borrow,plus pay city hall and insurance etc.

,if you own one baht bus or taxi you can either drive yourself or lease it out at between 800 to 1000 baht a day shared or one out. which is done buy about 80% of baht bus drivers,so after they get that,, the rest is theirs ,less petrol.

Which in the the last 20yrs that i have been paying 10baht ... petrol has gone up considerably since,BUT i still pay 10 baht NOW....MAFIA is used by thais for every little thing,how many times have you heard you wife or TG say u mafia,

If anyone gets in a baht bus to go off route [only you] it is auto 100 baht up before u NEG,same with a bike taxis neg 1st.

the new taxis are only trying to keep pace with them, YES there are a couple of bad apples in the game,, all round.

Most of them are only trying to earn a quid,you see the baht bus drivers with wife and kids in the front,TRYING to get 10 baht from us poor old farang,

i have lived here fo 6 yrs and the only agruement i have had is when i did not neg.[twice] i give 200 baht for baht bus to take me home from pats m/bike 120.

Are we that hard up after spending maybe 1000 baht on drink to give a new taxis the same as a baht bus, and go home in comfort.

I am sorry for what happen to the dr and others,

I carnt wait to get back to OZ next week for a holiday so i can tell everyone in sydney not to get a taxis cause he took me the long way home,he must be in the mafia., I hate posting unless i can help someone or vise versa,cause too many people dont do their home work, and have nothing better to do than put pattaya down.i have 2 young kids here and love it.[Oh AND A WIFE]

cat

[buckeroo2]

I replied to the other thread on the 300k returned by taxi driver,and scrolled down to see this thread,

i have looked into buying a bath bus and taxis with my wife,

just a few things people should know,if they dont already ,unless you are a multy here in thailand and can pay cash,you have to borrow from the bank or eslewhere,they can pay the bank back up to 1700 baht a month or more depending on how much they borrow,plus pay city hall and insurance etc.

,if you own one baht bus or taxi you can either drive yourself or lease it out at between 800 to 1000 baht a day shared or one out. which is done buy about 80% of baht bus drivers,so after they get that,, the rest is theirs ,less petrol.

Which in the the last 20yrs that i have been paying 10baht ... petrol has gone up considerably since,BUT i still pay 10 baht NOW....MAFIA is used by thais for every little thing,how many times have you heard you wife or TG say u mafia,

If anyone gets in a baht bus to go off route [only you] it is auto 100 baht up before u NEG,same with a bike taxis neg 1st.

the new taxis are only trying to keep pace with them, YES there are a couple of bad apples in the game,, all round.

Most of them are only trying to earn a quid,you see the baht bus drivers with wife and kids in the front,TRYING to get 10 baht from us poor old farang,

i have lived here fo 6 yrs and the only agruement i have had is when i did not neg.[twice] i give 200 baht for baht bus to take me home from pats m/bike 120.

Are we that hard up after spending maybe 1000 baht on drink to give a new taxis the same as a baht bus, and go home in comfort.

I am sorry for what happen to the dr and others,

I carnt wait to get back to OZ next week for a holiday so i can tell everyone in sydney not to get a taxis cause he took me the long way home,he must be in the mafia., I hate posting unless i can help someone or vise versa,cause too many people dont do their home work, and have nothing better to do than put pattaya down.i have 2 young kids here and love it.[Oh AND A WIFE]

cat

You certainly went in a round about way to make your point - what are you trying to say ? - maybe a little more clarity and succinctness would help

[innovator]

Better to pay a high priced fake taxi meter than get run over by a time share condo tout on a motorbike.

[Thaifan2]

Fair play to the Thai Taxi guys who charge a set fare to rich Farangs who shop at The Avenue .The Farang has just maybe spent 5,ooo baht at Villa Market for a few groceries and then gets the hump about spending 200 baht for a taxi home .Get real .

[Jingthing]

Fair play to the Thai Taxi guys who charge a set fare to rich Farangs who shop at The Avenue .The Farang has just maybe spent 5,ooo baht at Villa Market for a few groceries and then gets the hump about spending 200 baht for a taxi home .Get real .

So if the European descent person didn't buy anything he should get a free ride? I don't follow your logic. Sounds kind of commie (as well as "racial"). Should the Thai or the Arab tourist get a metered ride then? You see with your model only a shopper who is loaded down with groceries and no car would need a taxi. If they played fairly, and used meters, as they do in Bangkok, as they suggest they do with their signs and car placards, they would GREATLY expand their potential market base.

Edited September 7, 2008 by Jingthing

[Thaifan2]

Fair play to the Thai Taxi guys who charge a set fare to rich Farangs who shop at The Avenue .The Farang has just maybe spent 5,ooo baht at Villa Market for a few groceries and then gets the hump about spending 200 baht for a taxi home .Get real .

So if the European descent person didn't buy anything he should get a free ride? I don't follow your logic. Sounds kind of commie (as well as "racial"). Should the Thai or the Arab tourist get a metered ride then? You see with your model only a shopper who is loaded down with groceries and no car would need a taxi. If they played fairly, and used meters, as they do in Bangkok, as they suggest they do with their signs and car placards, they would GREATLY expand their potential market base.

<snip> Metered Taxis have a very limited market in Pattaya /Jomtien because of the great value baht bus .

I have never taken a taxi myself in Pattaya except to go to the Airport for 800 baht .( fantastic value ) I use my motorcycle and the baht bus .

Edited September 7, 2008 by Crow Boy
removal of personal insult

[Jingthing]

Well, we don't have metered taxis in Pattaya. So the extent of the REAL market has yet to be tested.

[mgjackson69]

Better to pay a high priced fake taxi meter than get run over by a time share condo tout on a motorbike.

Now I see how the conspiracy comes together....

The fake taximeters make the farangs angry, so the they will walk rather than take a taxi.

This makes them more susceptible to the timeshare scam touts on the motorbikes.

[Jingthing]

It isn't a conspiracy but it isn't a FREE MARKET either. How do you think the health of a taxi "meter" driver would fare if he was brave enough to defy the local transport mafia and word got out he was regularly using his meter?

I would be willing to wager quite a sum that a driver who put a big sign on his car I USE THE METER! and was driving around places where people might need a ride that this driver would make ALOT MORE MONEY than the lazy bugger parasites who sit at the Avenue. As the cars are owned by the same "company" that owns the baht buses, they cannot allow real FREE MARKET competition to the buses which are also of course used as rip off taxi charters on demand.

BTW, I did confirm these cars do indeed have new working meters. They are just not used. I don't believe it is really the driver's choice to use them or not. I think this policy is enforced by threat of violence like just about everything else in this town.

Can anyone who lives here who has observed how the transport mafia works here seriously refute my points? I doubt it.

Edited September 7, 2008 by Jingthing

[innovator]

The point here is that these guys are lazy. The business model is to take higher fares so that they don't have to work very hard.

These guys prefer to sit idle most of the time and do nothing and to take large fees to make their daily targets.

So, if they can get 2 or 3 customers per day at 2-300 baht each, then they can still eat the 20 baht bugs on the streets and a bowl of noodle soup....and still have enough for whiskey after work.

So, they are happy. They are not there for customer service or to take care of you. They are there for themselves. And, if they wish to be lazy, then, they will make their survival money and that is it. If they had ambition, then they would get off their asses and do something different to make money or they would offer the meter. But, they don't care.

[Jingthing]

I don't blame the drivers. I blame the structure behind the drivers.

[JSixpack]

I don't blame the drivers. I blame the structure behind the drivers.

Yep, it's the structure. Same old Pattaya structure.

[innovator]

If you don't like the structure or the system, then don't use the fake taxi meters.

Some of us would rather pay 300 baht for a 5 minute ride across town as a way to avoid the dangerous and crazy lunatics selling condos on motorbikes and other drunk drivers.

So, 300 baht for a short time drive is suitable and acceptable. I am perfectly happy to pay them these prices. They are well worth the money considering the other options are to walk and get run over by lunatics or to hop a blue truck and get robbed by a ladyboy or fall out of the back as the driver slams on the gas or the breaks for no reason.

Edited September 8, 2008 by innovator

[NotNew2You]

Jing...I don't think your boycott is going very well as I see that they have just added a nice spanking new Toyota Inova van to their ranks So I guess business must be pretty good.

Like I and others, including you I believe have said, it's a free market (though information imperfect with their deceptive marketing) and people are free to use the service or not.

[Jingthing]

No, it is NOT a free market. If it was a free market, a COMPETING COMPANY that DOES USE METERS would be allowed to operate, one that is NOT owned by the very SAME COMPANY that owns the baht buses. Call if mafia, call it monopoly, call it your Aunt Hilda, this is NOT A FREE MARKET!

[NanLaew]

Bangkok has metered taxis so why can't Pattaya?

What was the major mover that made Bangkok taxi operators finally start using them?

Bangkok is the very public 'face' of the nation. It's where most of the finance, technology and industrial base is and has the highest population density. It's home to the countries leading universities. It's where they have international conventions and meetings of heads of state and leaders of various international political and financial alliances. It is where foreign management of multinationals reside, close to their head offices. It is the seat of government and home of the Royal Family. It is the capital. It is also where first-time tourist spend most of their time.

Pattaya is not a commercial gold mine, industrial beehive or financial hot-spot; the dormitory towns way out east support the local migrant workers in the growing industrial complexes out that way. Pattaya is where, on average, the tourist spends 3 nights.

The whole of Thailand uses some form of songtaew or baht bus at some level of their local transportation infrastructure. Pattaya just is not big enough or important enough to warrant the government action of the type that made the Bangkok taxis turn their meters on. There never has been and never will be any significant local (and by local, I mean Thai resident) demand for any air-conditioned meter-taxi fleet here.

And Mobi agrees too so there's no more debate. End of!

Edited September 8, 2008 by NanLaew

[Jingthing]

This is a chicken and egg thing. There will always be fatalists and pessimists and people who think getting taxi meters in a big resort city is an impossibility of the magnitude of solving global warming.

1) A taxi meter system has never been tried here

2) Most residents who aren't on the bb routes do have motos or cars

3) There are lots of foreigner residents living here full time now, and growing

You see there is no decent public transport system here now for people not on the direct bb routes. So long term residents buy cars and motos. Use your noodle, Mr. Nan, if a decent more comprehensive public transport did exist, over time, more and more residents would not feel the need to run their private vehicles anymore.

City planners are talking about trams and other science fiction projects but they can't even get a real taxi meter test going here. I agree reform in these matters isn't likely, but I reject 100 percent that there is no demand. This is a big city now, there is most definitely a demand.