Thai Taxi Drivers Not So Bad

[bangkokrick]

I arrived at the airport in Beijing around lunchtime and make a 'B' line for the taxi rank. I had the address of a hotel written in Chinese to hand to the taxi driver, so I thought no problem. The taxi driver smiled and gestured that he knew where the hotel was, so i climbed in the back. He drove for about 10 mins and we were at our destination. So far so good he handed me my case and quickly got back in the car and drove away. You guessed it, wrong hotel. The bell boy at this hotel looked at my note and said that he would get me a another taxi to take me to the correct hotel. A 'black' taxi arrived and said that he knew where it was and gave me a fixed price. I got in the cab and I thought that all was fine, until he insisted that he took me to see the Olympic games. Pronounced 'Olympica'. I told that the Olympics had long gone, so there was no point, but he kept repeating the same thing for ages. At this point i completely lost my rag and made him aware that i was angry, so he said in very broken English that we could go to the 'Great wall' instead. Steam coning out of my ears now!

I am at the hotel now writing this post and I am reflecting on the times that I have been in a Thai taxi. Never too much of a problem and certainly not been asked to go to past events. Perhaps they are not so bad after all.

PS. I know that I should not have got in a 'black' taxi.

Cheers, Rick

[uberman]

Wow, looks like the chinese are taking the word "entrepreneur" to a new level!

Actually these kinds of scams are probably everywhere, just a matter of being in the wrong place at the right time.

I onced hailed a cab in Italy to take me to my hotel and when I got there he charged me 50 euros even though the meter said 17.

I asked him why and he said there was a fee for additional passengers and luggage. I smelled something fishy but was tired and wanted to check in so I didn't make a deal of it. The next day I felt kind of stupid for letting him off so easily.

Anyone know if I was scammed or just plain ignorant of the rules there?

Edited March 29, 2009 by uberman

[Underbelly]

lol, Yes I have been to China, the taxi drivers there are just a different breed of people.

You can NEVER trust a taxi driver in China, I mean alot of the times th taxi driver will tak you to your destination.

But if they dont know they will just drop ou off anywhere so they get the fare, also you have the ones who want to take your everywhere, to make them stop and take you to the correct place you need to give them some money and then they will listen.

Seems like you got all of the types in your first day. Good luck with th rest of your trip

[Travel2003]

Because something else is worse, will not automatically make the other good.

Guess its the same old, that all is relative.

[bangkokrick]

lol, Yes I have been to China, the taxi drivers there are just a different breed of people.

You can NEVER trust a taxi driver in China, I mean alot of the times th taxi driver will tak you to your destination.

But if they dont know they will just drop ou off anywhere so they get the fare, also you have the ones who want to take your everywhere, to make them stop and take you to the correct place you need to give them some money and then they will listen.

Seems like you got all of the types in your first day. Good luck with th rest of your trip

Thanks Underbelly. Mongolia today so that should be fun, maybe I will end up getting a Yak to work.

Cheers, Rick

[hanno]

I always thought that Thai taxi drovers were extremely good, especially after I had worked in Beijing for 2 years

[bendejo]

Sounds like Bangkok tuk-tuk drivers. I've had tourists tell me that whenever they got in a tuk-tuk the drivers would never take them to the place they told them.