Taxi Overcharging: A Thing Of The Past?

[Boater]

THE days of abusive taxi drivers charging exorbitant fees are over, the Tourism Authority of Thailand said.

Phanu Woramit, head of the TAT in the southern region, said that taxi drivers have agreed to use their meters when hired either by residents or tourists. Passengers, however, will have to shell out an additional Bt90 on top of the fare.

Please read article here.

http://news.samuiexpress.net/headline/450-...f-the-past.html"]Taxi[/url]

[H2oDunc]

Yeah right! I notice the 90 baht surcharge that was introduced when fuel was sky high, its not any more, is still in play with these bandits. You try to get a taxi to put his meter on. Lets have a pinned post for anyone that does manage to get one to

[churchill]

I know the Mayor and the Tesse Bahn are taking this problem very seriously and there have been several meetings and trips to Bangkok to meet government ministers to resolve the meter issue . I think any feedback from tourists who are using taxis would be very welcome .

[Rooo]

The 90 Bht surcharge, has been going on for months. Did it really work?

[H2oDunc]

No it never worked as 1 They never put the meter on so could never add 90 baht and 2 they all wanted to charge 90 baht extra for each customer. I have had people charged 600 baht to go from the airport to the Seatran ferry maybe a km or 2 at the most!

[churchill]

The 90 Bht surcharge, has been going on for months. Did it really work?

No because not all taxis agreed - But they are now trying ! to agree . Lets see .

[sevenhills]

Yeah right, I live on Samui and it will never change until the Mafia disappear off the Island Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa and Pigs might fly.

[Birdman]

Some weeks ago some taxis put a 90 Baht surcharge sticker on the front window. But that disappeared already.

It seems, that's the major drawback of a twice a month edited newspaper. All the "news" aren't news any more at the time of the publication.

[OriginalPoster]

90 baht plus the correct meter fare would be a heck of of lot cheaper than what any Samui taxi driver has ever quoted me to go anywhere. Are there really taxis in Samui that use their meter, even with the 90 baht surcharge?

[Lite Beer]

Why is a 90 Baht Surcharge considered to be fair. Why not just use the legally calibrated meter.

As said it will never work until their licenses are taken away if they overcharge.

[Boater]

Why is a 90 Baht Surcharge considered to be fair. Why not just use the legally calibrated meter.

its not fair,

but what these narrow minded taxi drivers fail to relise, is if they actually used there mtres like in bangkok, more people would use taxis, thus increasing there revenue! ....

[OriginalPoster]

Why is a 90 Baht Surcharge considered to be fair. Why not just use the legally calibrated meter.

As said it will never work until their licenses are taken away if they overcharge.

It's not that a 90 baht surcharge is fair, it's that when they don't use their meters they charge such a high multiple of the legal fare that 90 baht plus the meter fare sounds like a miracle.

[koheesti]

I know the Mayor and the Tesse Bahn are taking this problem very seriously and there have been several meetings and trips to Bangkok to meet government ministers to resolve the meter issue .

Unless the mayor and Tesse Bahn are behind the wheel of the taxis themselves it won't do any good.

[Rooo]

Also that news is over a year old. remember the official that came here & got overcharged? he vowed to fix it.

[PoorSucker]

Yes, It works.

90 Baht surcharge / person, minimum 4 customers.

[Chayaphum]

Why is a 90 Baht Surcharge considered to be fair. Why not just use the legally calibrated meter.

its not fair, but what these narrow minded taxi drivers fail to relise, is if they actually used there mtres like in bangkok, more people would use taxis, thus increasing there revenue! ....

the taxi drivers here do not have the understanding or the intelligence to do a normal business.

The people here thinking only short-term. (just make quick money)

....and someone must pay for these taxi drivers and their accessories on the car like

"alu wheels" "rear wing" "christmas tree lighting" "width sport tires" "strobo flashes" and many more.....

Please, have a little sympathy/compassion for these mafia in Samui....it is unique.

Uniqueness is always more expensive....so support them a little bit.

Bangkok Airways is a "Boutique-Airline", just think the Samui-taxis are "Boutique-taxis"

There are many things here "Boutique", like Buddy Boutique Resort and many more.

D'ont forget, we are living on a VIP-Island.

Chayaphum

[BusyBee123]

it's the aggression if they realise you know the rough price of what it should be and move on to find a more reasonable driver and change of price mid route that pisses me off.

[UmpaLumpa]

taxi prices will not change for a simple rule: it is impossible to implement the new law if you cannot check and control that it is not violated.

so unless there will be police checks every km in samui we will have:

-taxi not using the meters

-drunk driving

-driving without a license

-scooters drivers without helmets

-8 year old driving scooters

-etc.. etc..

so lets not dream about changes that will never happen!

[BigC]

I know the Mayor and the Tesse Bahn are taking this problem very seriously and there have been several meetings and trips to Bangkok to meet government ministers to resolve the meter issue . I think any feedback from tourists who are using taxis would be very welcome .

thats interesting Mr Churchill but half the taxi's in bangkok don't use taxi meters.

i really don't know how they casn stop it.

[H2oDunc]

I have always got a taxi to put the meter on in BKK. Granted it may take a couple of taxis but never a big problem. As I said before the 90 baht surcharge as introduced when the price of oil was getting on for $150 a barrel and gas prices were going through the roof. There is no justification in still having it. I cannot see how this will ever change here on Samui. There is just not the will to do it!

[Rooo]

I have always got a taxi to put the meter on in BKK. Granted it may take a couple of taxis but never a big problem. As I said before the 90 baht surcharge as introduced when the price of oil was getting on for $150 a barrel and gas prices were going through the roof. There is no justification in still having it. I cannot see how this will ever change here on Samui. There is just not the will to do it!

You have to remember that at the time they introduced the Bht 90 surcharge, they also had approval to re-calibrate their meters for a higher flag fall & so much per Km.

It was on the forum some time back.

[islandguy]

Like many on this forum I consider the local taxi situation quite bad and especially bad for the tourism industry in general. Yesterday I called the complaint number listed in the article in the link above to see what would happen. I got a nice lady who did not speak English but was able to refer me to another number to call. No one picked up this call. It was the middle of a week day afternoon when I called.

When I used to take taxis here (now I am able to avoid them) I was much better off when I told them I lived here and politely said I thought the amount they were trying to get was too much. Sometimes I got a better deal, sometimes I walked away. There are some of them who are nice enough people but don't have much leeway in their actions as the pressure on them to conform to those controlling the trade is pretty severe.

[drappthailand]

taxi drivers in Samui are the biggest cons, In the past 2 years they stabbed several touists including women because they tourists put up a fuss about having to pay 700 baht for a 5 minutes ride. They are one of the biggest problems in Samui. It will never be solved.

[Mr lamai]

I know the Mayor and the Tesse Bahn are taking this problem very seriously and there have been several meetings and trips to Bangkok to meet government ministers to resolve the meter issue . I think any feedback from tourists who are using taxis would be very welcome .

thats interesting Mr Churchill but half the taxi's in bangkok don't use taxi meters.

i really don't know how they casn stop it.

99,99% of the taxis in bkk use meter. There is a strip of 300 meters at the beginning of sukhumvit soi 4 where its meet Sukhumvit rd and a strip of 50 meters on Sukhumvit rd soi 21 where its hard to get a cab willing to use meter. Avoid taking taxi on these places and there is absolutely no problem!!!

About samui we have to wait for reports before judging.

Mr Lamai

[OriginalPoster]

taxi prices will not change for a simple rule: it is impossible to implement the new law if you cannot check and control that it is not violated.

so unless there will be police checks every km in samui we will have:

-taxi not using the meters

-drunk driving

-driving without a license

-scooters drivers without helmets

-8 year old driving scooters

-etc.. etc..

so lets not dream about changes that will never happen!

How did they get the taxi drivers in Bangkok to use their meters? I know that not all do, but these days if you insist you can usually get them to turn it on.

Although I don't recall the taxi drivers in Bangkok ever having been as extortionate as the ones in Samui, at one time you had to negotiate the price at the start of each trip and you could count on substantially overpaying. Now only the tuk tuk drivers seem to operate that way (and I find that they usually want much more than what a regular taxi with a meter would cost).

[MJo]

taxi prices will not change for a simple rule: it is impossible to implement the new law if you cannot check and control that it is not violated.

so unless there will be police checks every km in samui we will have:

-taxi not using the meters

-drunk driving

-driving without a license

-scooters drivers without helmets

-8 year old driving scooters

-etc.. etc..

so lets not dream about changes that will never happen!

How did they get the taxi drivers in Bangkok to use their meters? I know that not all do, but these days if you insist you can usually get them to turn it on.

Although I don't recall the taxi drivers in Bangkok ever having been as extortionate as the ones in Samui, at one time you had to negotiate the price at the start of each trip and you could count on substantially overpaying. Now only the tuk tuk drivers seem to operate that way (and I find that they usually want much more than what a regular taxi with a meter would cost).

Simple, when taxi meters were introduced in BKK thais voted with their feet and stopped using taxis without meters. That forced all of them to install meter and use them to get any business. In principle Samui is the same. You just need one "mafia" company to start driving with meter and rest must follow to stay in business.

Yes i know you can get killed for less but that's what it takes. Until someone does it you are stuck with the mafia prices.

99.99% of taxis in BKK put meter on automatickly. Fixed fees are asked only on rush hour if it is raining hard. And sure there is "taxis" hanging around in the road side in Nana, Cowboy, Patpong and in front of some hotels asking high fares but they are easy to spot. Just avoid the taxi sir touts and just stop first taxi driving by with the red light on. You will get always meter without asking. Sometimes in rush hour they might not want to go far or certain areas so in that case take the next one.

[churchill]

In Bangkok you can take the sky train from Nana To Central World for 40 Baht , I think - The taxi fare used to be about the same which never seemed right to me - I think one should expect to pay a little more for a taxi - the rate was raised and is now around 60 baht for a taxi , probably about right but still not on the high side .

In Samui the argument has always been that the petrol prices here are much higher than elsewhere , which is true - They tried to get their meter rates raised to take this into account but it needs an act of Parliment , apparently - which is why the 90 baht surcharge was proposed - Now it is a question of trying to get the taxi drivers to agree to abide by this rule .

[Boater]

but it needs an act of Parliment

more like an act of god

[OriginalPoster]

How did they get the taxi drivers in Bangkok to use their meters? I know that not all do, but these days if you insist you can usually get them to turn it on.

Although I don't recall the taxi drivers in Bangkok ever having been as extortionate as the ones in Samui, at one time you had to negotiate the price at the start of each trip and you could count on substantially overpaying. Now only the tuk tuk drivers seem to operate that way (and I find that they usually want much more than what a regular taxi with a meter would cost).

Simple, when taxi meters were introduced in BKK thais voted with their feet and stopped using taxis without meters. That forced all of them to install meter and use them to get any business. In principle Samui is the same. You just need one "mafia" company to start driving with meter and rest must follow to stay in business.

Yes i know you can get killed for less but that's what it takes. Until someone does it you are stuck with the mafia prices.

99.99% of taxis in BKK put meter on automatickly. Fixed fees are asked only on rush hour if it is raining hard. And sure there is "taxis" hanging around in the road side in Nana, Cowboy, Patpong and in front of some hotels asking high fares but they are easy to spot. Just avoid the taxi sir touts and just stop first taxi driving by with the red light on. You will get always meter without asking. Sometimes in rush hour they might not want to go far or certain areas so in that case take the next one.

I guess that makes sense. In Bangkok the taxi drivers would be more dependent upon Thai customers and you have to figure that eventually there would be a rebellion against a taxi cartel. In Samui it's probably almost exclusively tourists who use the taxis, many of whom are people who will never be back to Samui again regardless of how much the taxis cost.

Edited May 22, 2009 by OriginalPoster

[Oliver Reed]

It would be more sensible for these taxi drivers to wear a black and white striped top and a lone ranger mask, because theyre out and out robbers who have no intention of reducing their extortionate fares...The airport fare from USM to my home (2km) 400bt if i am alone...i refuse to pay it and walk out of the airport and hail a freelance taxi...theyre all waiting outside the gate, and the fee is a more realistic 250 baht

Just a tip for anybody who like me is fed up with these con men