Boycott The Pattaya Taxi Meter Mafia (please)

[Naam]

This is a big city now, there is most definitely a demand.

please list those (besides you) who demand meter taxis in Pattaya, let them sign a petition and submit it to the relevant authorities. i'm sure if more than a dozen people sign immediate action will be taken

p.s. rumour has it that Pattaya has taxis with meters. rumour also has it that their drivers refuse to switch on their meters even though passengers might demand it. these drivers have a sound basis for their decision which is "Thailand is a free country and free thai taxi drivers are free to switch their meters on or off if and whenever they please to do so." moreover, the laws of Thailand leave it up to the individual -be he/she farang or thai citizen- to pay the fare taxi or bahtbus drivers ask.... or to walk. these are the facts, anything else is fiction or wishful thinking.

[Naam]

there is most definitely a demand.

there is a definite demand from Brits to devalue the Baht vs. the Pound, most Americans demand that the Dollar should buy 40 (or more Baht), some Europeans demand 60 Baht for their YEWRO and i demand a mia noi. does the Bank of Thailand, the authorities in Chonburi and Pattaya or my wife care about our demands?

[Jingthing]

I posted a poll here a long time ago. The vast majority of respondents were in favor a taxi METER system in Pattaya. The demand can't be tested until it is actually tried here by a company not in the control of the baht bus company.

"Thailand is a free country and free thai taxi drivers are free to switch their meters on or off if and whenever they please to do so."

That is not freedom. That is ANARCHY. How about variable pricing at restaurants and long distance buses then? How hungry are you? Very hungry? OK, 1000 baht for fried rice for you! Taxi systems are a PUBLIC SERVICE and regulated by rules all over the world, including in Thailand, in Bangkok. This may be wishful thinking, but impossible, no.

Edited September 8, 2008 by Jingthing

[moo9]

Who cares? Never used them, never plan to use them. However the city officials should do something about it, as they rip off tourists, much more than the Baht Bus Drivers.

I use my own vehicles, if I can't (having a few drinks more), I usually take a nearby motocyc taxi.

Cheers

[Jingthing]

Who cares? Never used them, never plan to use them. However the city officials should do something about it, as they rip off tourists, much more than the Baht Bus Drivers.

I use my own vehicles, if I can't (having a few drinks more), I usually take a nearby motocyc taxi.

Cheers

That's a fine public policy. Who cares. If it doesn't effect moi, the problem doesn't exist.

[Mobi]

In the good old days in Bangkok the taxis were pretty beat up, no air-conditioning and no meters. Every time you hailed one, you had to bargain a price. If you were a resident, you pretty much new the going rate for a journey, and the driver would always quote a slightly high price and you would beat him down. If he didn't agree, he drove off and you hailed another one. If the weather was bad and/or traffic was bad you would have to pay more.

It was quite an oddity that many farangs bargained lower fares than most Thais, as the Thais felt more empathy with the drivers.

Of course none of the drivers spoke English, so unless the farang spoke enough Thai to negotiate a fare, he was screwed.

However, there existed in those days, and still does a small extent, a second layer of taxis, known a "black taxis" which were normal cars, with drivers who spoke some English, and parked at the hotels, and would provide a service to the tourists. They charged more than the regular taxis, but you could hire one for the whole day for around 300 Baht, which for a well heeled tourist was nothing.

I wasn't there when the taxi meters came in and the taxis were upgraded to decent air-conditioned cars, but when I returned, I have to say I found the new system better, and today the taxis of Bangkok are probably amongst the best and cheapest in the world.

If you live within the greater Bangkok area, there is simply no need to use a car with the availability of the sky train, the underground, the air con buses and the plentiful supply of taxis, to say nothing of the motorcyle Soi taxis, who do not rip you off or mug you as they do in Pattaya.

At the end of the day it is supply and demand and market forces. I think NanLaew is right. Even without any imposed regulations, if there was enough demand by the local population, it would work itself out, as it used to in Bangkok, before the meter rules were enforced.

You could argue that all they need to do is halve the number of Songtows (Baht Buses) and the roads would be emptier and there might be more demand for meter taxis. But one way or another these Baht buses are making enough money to survive, and the locals aren't complaining. If they weren't ablee to survive they would find something else to do, and if the taxis parked at The Avenue do not get enough business. they will either reduce their prices, or give up.

I agree that in an ideal world, the local governement should probably step in and make some simple regulations. But face it - Pattaya is truly Deadwood. In a town where you get rival internet cable companies cutting each others cables and planting bombs outside their offices, you don't seriously expect anything to happen any time soon, do you?

Market forces will reign, and if and when the demand is there, there will be more taxis at a more acceptable price. Until that happens, be happy there is at least some form of public transport.

This so-called boycott is just a big joke.