Taxi Strike At Suvarnabhumi Airport

[Krub]

So how am I supposed to get from Suvarnabhumi to Don Muang if there are no taxis? I arrive at BKK after midnight and have to catch a flight out of DMK at 9:30. As far as I know the buses don't start until around seven in the morning. Will this be enought time to make my flight in Don Muang? Last time I just caught a taxi from BKK around 2 AM and waited and caught a few ZZZ's at DMK. It was a long wait but at least there was no worry about missing my flight. I don't remember if the taxi had a meter (or used it) but I think the fare was only about 500Baht. Does that sound about right? How long will this strike go on. Any ideas out there about alternative transportation?

All back to normal came in Saturday afternoon (4 Oct) and the taxis were neatly lined up on arrival floor

Edited October 5, 2008 by Krub

[dezeure]

Angry taxi drivers block roads to Suvarnabhumi Airport

However some taxi drivers reportedly did not follow the regulations and demanded for high fees from passengers particularly foreigners.

good. next time a cab driver comes to my restaurant I will charge him dubbel for a steak... Another case of TIT.

All those cabbies blocking the airport should be put in the monkeyhouse. They are really f... up the whole tourism. Patong beach until now is still dead and empty. I have not seen any mid season this year. only low season and lower season, and last month, rock bottom season. I could walk naked through the Bangla road and no one would notice it.

First the fuel prices, then PAD idiots, then airport blockages, now again airport blockages... great job. scare all the tourists away and make sure they will never come back to this country.

WHO WILL YOU CABBIES TAKE FROM THE AIRPORT THEN????????

[sjaak327]

"BANGKOK: -- Some 300 taxi drivers block roads to Suvarnbhumi Airport on Thursday to protest police who arrested them for not using meters when being hired to go out of Bangkok."

I support them 100%, as by law there are not required to switch on their meter for destinations outside the Bangkok city limits. The arrests as such are unlawfull.

I also think that the Bangkok taxi drivers are a great bunch of people, hard working for peanut pay. Recently there was a pittyfull increase in the fares, which had been the same for at least 10 years. In other cities, Phnom Penh for instance where the fare into town went from 7 USD to 9 USD, the fares have been increased at a more higher rate.

Of course there are some bad taxi drivers, mainly the ones that wait outside of hotels, or the ones that wait at the north side of Silom, and flatly refuse to turn on the meter. At Silom, I just go to the south side, and have a 100% successrate in getting the taxi driver to put on the meter (actually they do it without me asking...)

In other parts of the city, same result, I state destination, taxi drivers agrees, I get in, taxi driver puts on the meter. I agree that during shift change, it could get difficult to get a taxi, but for the rest they are just great.

Same at the airport, not ONCE was I quoted a flat fee.

Compare that to taxi drivers in KL, where even locals are calling them rip-off artists. These are sometimes a nasty bunch, not their Bangkok counterparts.

Edited October 5, 2008 by sjaak327

[MickGC]

I recently got a taxi from the center of Sydney to the international airport to fly back to BKK.  The driver bitched and complained the whole way because the fare was only 800 baht.  A similar distance in Bangkok would cost around 150 baht.  I agree with a previous poster who said most of the falungs with complaints here expect 1st world service at 3rd world prices.  That does happen often but when it dosen't - mai pen rai.  Life goes on.

[Spee]

So how am I supposed to get from Suvarnabhumi to Don Muang if there are no taxis? I arrive at BKK after midnight and have to catch a flight out of DMK at 9:30.

Who said you can't take a taxi? You can take a taxi. I did so last week, arriving late and leaving by train from DM station early the next day. Just go to the taxi stand as usual and tell them where you want to go and make sure they communicate it clearly to the driver.

One word of advice, make sure your driver is awake and coherent at that time of night. My taxi ride was quite an experience. First he didn't know how to get from Suv to DM easily, so we ended up going all the way into Sukhumvit and then back out. The driver appeared to start nodding off on the elevated tollway to DM, speeding up to like 100km then slowing down to 30km. Then on final approach to Asia Airport Hotel just the other side of DM, the driver nodded off during the turn and slammed into the curb, banging my head into the window and screwing up the front end of his car. Quite an adventure.

[siamiam]

My opinion of transport to and from Suvarnabhumi Airport is that it is excellent. I just flew in on EVA, 4 days ago from California, and took my usuall journey from the airport to my guesthouse near Lumphini Park. I cleared customs and retrieved my bag and set forth from the airport at just after 2am.

First, up to the fourth floor and exit to the front of the building. Then wait there for the free shuttle bus that takes me in 10 minutes to the nearby Transportation Center bus terminal. Then, because of my arrival in the wee hours of the morning, I had to wait 45 minutes for air-conditioned bus number 551, (a very comfortable wait at the Transportation Center, where there are comfortable chairs, a visible police presence, and food can be purchased at all hours). The 551 bus took me to Victory Monument, that fare being 35 Bhat. From there, after a wait of 10 minutes, I hoped on an air-conditioned bus number 77, (15 Baht), which took me to Lumphini Park, from where I had a short walk to my guesthouse, (who's name I never divulge). Just in time for an early breakfast and cup of tea.

Had I wanted to get to my guesthouse earlier, (and thus incur an extra nights charge), I could have done so easily by taking a taxi directly from the airpoirt, for a very reasonable fee.

Here is a website that people should find useful:

toandfromtheairport.com/bangkok

I feel that transport in Bangkok compares favorably with anywhere in the world. I have taken taxis numerous times in Bangkok, sometimes metered, somtimes not. I've never had a problem. I speak a smattering of Thai, (someday I intend to raise it to a conversational level), and find that if I respect the taxi drivers, they respect me. Tuk- Tuks can be a diferent story, but I'll save that for a different thread.

There are bad people everywhere, but I seem to run into fewer of them in Thailand than I do eslewhere.

There is truth to the saying that 'knowledge is king'. Preparing yourself and knowing what costs are and what to expect before you show up will go a long way in making your transport experiences good. This is true for me wherever I go.

Cheers, Kevin

[martin81]

Have any of You noticed that many meters are rigged to running too fast ?

Last I paid ca. 280 B meter fare from Moochit to new airport.

But same trip last year cost me ca. 400 b meter fare from airport to Mochit plus the 50 B surchage.

When You realise that the meter is rigged it is often too late to do anything about it.

[mahtin]

All back to normal came in Saturday afternoon (4 Oct) and the taxis were neatly lined up on arrival floor

Thank you

[richm7]

BKK taxi drivers get a bad rap. They are largely a bunch of honest, straightforward, courteous blokes. Of course they have their fair share of <deleted>, what industry doesn't. The meter fare from Suk to the airport runs about 180 baht. I pay the toll and I generally give them 300 baht, because you know what? Six dollars or four quid for that journey is a bloody insult and I cannot in all good conscience pay only that amount. Ask yourself what it would cost elsewhere in the World and stop being cheap Charlies. On the rare occasion they've asked to go off meter, I ask "how much". Generally, they ask for 300 baht, so I tell them O.K. you pay toll, to which they usually agree. So, little do they know they shot themselves in the foot because they'd have been better off on the meter. I'll tell you something else about the taxi drivers. If you drive yourself in BKK, you will quickly find that the most courteous and safe drivers are Taxi's. Yes, again I know it is a generalization, but for the vast majority of them it is a fact. Give them a break guys, they are in reality bloody good. Finally, I agree with those who say that they'll still use the taxi when the rail ling opens. Me too. Why? Convenience and cost. How much do you think the train will end up costing? It won't even be much of a time saver, because it will dump you right where the worst of the traffic is. Taxi's rule. They are the second best thing about BKK.

[TAWP]

Six dollars or four quid for that journey is a bloody insult and I cannot in all good conscience pay only that amount. Ask yourself what it would cost elsewhere in the World and stop being cheap Charlies.

It must be nice to be so ignorant as to how economy works.

Here is a hint: Many of us living here don't earn dollar salaries from abroad. So it doesn't matter if the fare is less that you spend on toilet paper pr day if it is 10 times the price for our lunch per day. See the point?

[dumball]

Six dollars or four quid for that journey is a bloody insult and I cannot in all good conscience pay only that amount. Ask yourself what it would cost elsewhere in the World and stop being cheap Charlies.

It must be nice to be so ignorant as to how economy works.

Here is a hint: Many of us living here don't earn dollar salaries from abroad. So it doesn't matter if the fare is less that you spend on toilet paper pr day if it is 10 times the price for our lunch per day. See the point?

Very well put , this is not Aus , Gb , Can etc , this is thailand .

[tig28]

Six dollars or four quid for that journey is a bloody insult and I cannot in all good conscience pay only that amount. Ask yourself what it would cost elsewhere in the World and stop being cheap Charlies.

It must be nice to be so ignorant as to how economy works.

Here is a hint: Many of us living here don't earn dollar salaries from abroad. So it doesn't matter if the fare is less that you spend on toilet paper pr day if it is 10 times the price for our lunch per day. See the point?

Very well put , this is not Aus , Gb , Can etc , this is thailand .

"ignorant" ------ ---- well someone certainly is!!! Making the perfectly correct comparison between taxi fares here and in overseas countries illistrates a very valid point. The fact that some here do not receive money from aboard has little--if anything-- to do with the fact that taxi fares in Bkk are amongst the cheapest in the world. Why should it???

"this is not Aus , Gb , Can etc , this is thailand" Well.... you are right of course--- but cars here cost more ----gas is only marginally less expensive----only wages are vastly lower------but does this justify the fact that taxi fares are only about 10% of the countries you mention? Any fair assessment of Bkk taxi fares would seem to indicate a very significant increase in fares is justified. Not just this recent marginal increase.

"how economy works" --- you have to be kidding!! The economic basics are not terribly concerned with the fact that certain overseas visitors might find it too expensive to pay more than 100Bt to travel in an a/c taxi half way across the city.

[TAWP]

You fail to grasp the point, how cute.

Compare the cost for a taxi ride against the cost for living, food and salary for low income families here and in other countries.

And the amount the taxi drives themselves receive from the fare.

[animatic]

repeated post glitch

mods delete please

Edited October 21, 2008 by animatic

[animatic]

You fail to grasp the point, how cute.

Compare the cost for a taxi ride against the cost for living, food and salary for low income families here and in other countries.

And the amount the taxi drives themselves receive from the fare.

A pound of sugar is a pound of sugar,

But if it's RELATIVE costs vs the cost of a pound of butter,

or a bottle of water or a hamburger is what is relevant.

It's relative cost vs dinner for the family each night is what counts.

IMPORTED cars are more expensive, and those sold to farangs more so again,

but Thailand made cars get a steep discount in comparison for being made or assembled here.

And fleet bought cars are even cheaper if a taxi co-op bought a hundred cars collectively for members.

What can you trade that $10 pound of sugar for here is what counts.

In the states that would be a 6 pack of beer,

here it could feed the family for the weekend.

It's relative VALUE that has meaning.

Edited October 21, 2008 by animatic