Interview With Phuket Tuk-tuk Mafia Boss

[harleyclarkey]

Holy sh*t people! How many posters on this topic are 'tourists'? You know, work all year for a coupla weeks on a white sandy beach in Thailand or wherever. Who gives a sh*t that it costs 400bht to get to your final destination? (bet you'd pay more if it was part of a package deal to get picked up from airport) Get real. I've seen an asian 'tourist' get charged 4 quid for a can of coke in London. Welcome to us luvverly Londoners hospitality!

You're all sad, tight as*ed whingers IMHO. (OK, not all. Just the sad, tight as*ed whingers on here).

'Cos they're very rude, aggressive, price-gouging, have beaten up customers regularly for perceived slights and infractions, are above the law and would murder anybody who tried to set up a service in competition with them.

Enough reasons?

If you lived in or visited Phuket and had to deal with these people, you would come to the same conclusion as everybody else.

Briggsy....you haven't a clue what you are talking about. It's not the tourists who give a sh one T. It's us...who live there. It is not the 400 baht but the rip off by a mafia gang. 400 baht for 8 kms?? Swampy to Suckonit (sic) 250 baht for 30kms plus.

The Tuk tuk mafia are a bloody dangerous lot completely above the law. We are meat to them...a piece of foreing rubbish to be soaked and abused whenever they feel like it. Cross one, have an arguement with one and you are toast. The others drivers will join their collegue, will beat the crap out of you...even if you are in the right or have done nothing at all.

They take whatever car spaces are free....and will order you out of a legal sapce as "this is for tuk tuk". refuse and you will find your vehicle with a new paint job to be done. They drive on whatever side of the road suits them, at whatever speed and often having a phone stuck in their ear. If one crashes into you....get out fast. You haven't a chance.

They are mean, scheming, sometimes brutal, dishonest scammers.

Apart from that they are nice guys!!

[Datsun240Z]

Holy sh*t people! How many posters on this topic are 'tourists'? You know, work all year for a coupla weeks on a white sandy beach in Thailand or wherever. Who gives a sh*t that it costs 400bht to get to your final destination? (bet you'd pay more if it was part of a package deal to get picked up from airport) Get real. I've seen an asian 'tourist' get charged 4 quid for a can of coke in London. Welcome to us luvverly Londoners hospitality!

You're all sad, tight as*ed whingers IMHO. (OK, not all. Just the sad, tight as*ed whingers on here).

above the law

I love that movie

[rafval]

seems to me half the problem is fear of competition, whats happening is the 400b fare is paying for the return as well as the trip because competing tuktuks arent meant to pick up a return fare from the place they drop off, it should be 200b each way and they should make an agreement with the patong tuktuks to get return fares but I doubt they will see the rational in that

[Jingthing]

seems to me half the problem is fear of competition

Yeah and if they tried to pick up a return fare they would be violently assaulted. But no, its not a mafia, uh huh ...

[billp]

What's pictured isn't a tuktuk, it's a songthaew. Anywhere else in Thailand it would cost 15-20 baht per person for a ride. Maybe 30 baht for those 8 km. Only in Phuket can they price gouge that way.

[cdnvic]

I've seen an asian 'tourist' get charged 4 quid for a can of coke in London. Welcome to us luvverly Londoners hospitality!

You're all sad, tight as*ed whingers IMHO. (OK, not all. Just the sad, tight as*ed whingers on here).

Difference is that in London the person selling it to you is getting paid about 15,000 baht equivilant per week. The old "well back home I pay _____ for it so why shouldn't they charge it in Thailand?" literally doesn't add up.

[steelepulse]

For those that don't know, quite a few years back a bus service was launched between Patong and Kata Karon.  That lasted all of a few days with the driver being pulled out of his vehicle and given a beating along with a warning.  Is this not mafia behaviour?  This is why no new service has even attempted to run between some of the most popular areas in Phuket.

This guy  interviewed also says that he doesn't allow tuk-tuks from other areas to park and pick up passengers and alludes to their being violence if the competing offender repeatedly does this?  Isn't this mafia behaviour? 

If you park in these guys spots, they get really pissed off even though they love to park in non designated spots.  I just love to go looking for a parking spot on a sunday at kata with a lot of tuk tuks taking up regular parking while their spots are unoccupied.  

[harleyclarkey]

Holy sh*t people! How many posters on this topic are 'tourists'? You know, work all year for a coupla weeks on a white sandy beach in Thailand or wherever. Who gives a sh*t that it costs 400bht to get to your final destination? (bet you'd pay more if it was part of a package deal to get picked up from airport) Get real. I've seen an asian 'tourist' get charged 4 quid for a can of coke in London. Welcome to us luvverly Londoners hospitality!

You're all sad, tight as*ed whingers IMHO. (OK, not all. Just the sad, tight as*ed whingers on here).

Beerchang....NOT for Briggsy as before!!! (sorry Briggsy!)

You haven't a clue what you are talking about. It's not the tourists who give a sh one T. It's us...who live there. It is not the 400 baht but the rip off by a mafia gang. 400 baht for 8 kms?? Swampy to Suckonit (sic) 250 baht for 30kms plus.

The Tuk tuk mafia are a bloody dangerous lot completely above the law. We are meat to them...a piece of foreing rubbish to be soaked and abused whenever they feel like it. Cross one, have an arguement with one and you are toast. The others drivers will join their collegue, will beat the crap out of you...even if you are in the right or have done nothing at all.

They take whatever car spaces are free....and will order you out of a legal sapce as "this is for tuk tuk". refuse and you will find your vehicle with a new paint job to be done. They drive on whatever side of the road suits them, at whatever speed and often having a phone stuck in their ear. If one crashes into you....get out fast. You haven't a chance.

They are mean, scheming, sometimes brutal, dishonest scammers.

Apart from that they are nice guys!!