Airport Taxis On Strike

[selftaopath]

im all for the 50baht fee but for god's sake please stop blaming the 'rental companies' as if the small guy is preyd on.

Most taxis drivers are dumb enough to rent the new expensive model(600 to 1500 a day) instead of renting an ok taxi(95-2000) for 250baht a day

Quite a few Thai people who are near and dear to me work long hours for a very small salary TIT. I could reason how that might change but will not. Re: taxi driver/salary/ strike. Can someone explain the logic behind so many taxi drivers refusing people? I can watch person after person flag a taxi who refuses to take them to their destination. Now wouldn't it be reasonable to believe if they were in need of a fare they wouldn't refuse any?

Re: Strike - is that a Union thing? I wonder what it would look like if they refused/had a strike on the "big guys."

Humn, much to learn.

[bkkjames]

im all for the 50baht fee but for god's sake please stop blaming the 'rental companies' as if the small guy is preyd on.

Most taxis drivers are dumb enough to rent the new expensive model(600 to 1500 a day) instead of renting an ok taxi(95-2000) for 250baht a day

Quite a few Thai people who are near and dear to me work long hours for a very small salary TIT. I could reason how that might change but will not. Re: taxi driver/salary/ strike. Can someone explain the logic behind so many taxi drivers refusing people? I can watch person after person flag a taxi who refuses to take them to their destination. Now wouldn't it be reasonable to believe if they were in need of a fare they wouldn't refuse any?

Re: Strike - is that a Union thing? I wonder what it would look like if they refused/had a strike on the "big guys."

Humn, much to learn.

Regarding the refusals I will add:

1) They are nearing the end of their shift and not going in the direction of their return taxi depot

2) At certain hours traffic in some places is ridiculous - can't blame them for this one

3) Near closing hours they are looking for girls that they can wink at in their rear view mirrors / hoping for a few quick trips nearby wherein they can overcharge a farang or 5

4) Not to be overlooked, a great majority have no idea where you want to go. Case in point I flagged one down near the Landmark hotel and told him I wanted to go to Rajadamri (in Thai), he said to me I don't know where that is.

Needless to say when they say no to me 'I reply what the f did you stop for then'. Makes me feel a bit better.

[neverdie]

Case in point I flagged one down near the Landmark hotel and told him I wanted to go to Rajadamri (in Thai), he said to me I don't know where that is.

Might be your heavy itallian accent that confused him

[madmitch]

Scrapping the surcharge would make even more drivers refuse to use the meter.

Interesting that the authorities believe the surcharge is 'unfair to passengers' yet it is a practice common throughout the world.

Taxis refusing to use meters, tuk tuks charging extortionate rates, illegal taxis being allowed to operate; that's unfair to passengers.

50 baht plus the meter amount; no problem at all for me.

[TAWP]

There is no such thing as a 2-3h wait-time during normal hours of operations.

Every time I land at the airport from abroad I walk to the taxi-stand and see between 10 and 20 guys waiting and a line that is constantly moving. 30min I can believe...

Rubbish reply ,

seems you never went to the Transportation Center, next to it you would see the vast number of taxis waiting their turn to be allowed to get in line at arrivals. I have no idea how long drivers have to wait there, but I would not like to be part of them.

I stand corrected, you are correct that I have never been to any waiting area for taxis, I was mere talking about the waiting period that could be seen for arriving travelers when exiting the arrivals hall. If there is an additional huge pool of taxi's (someone mentioned 1000?) waiting, then one has to ask one-self why there are so many there...

Doesn't approximately the same amount of people that arrive also leave in taxi's? Which mean far from all the waiting cars are there to pickup return-trips, correct?

[shotover]

Do the taxi drivers have to pay anyone at the airport when they arrive to pick up passengers?

[wharfdaddy]

Let's not forget why most people come here...cheap food-hotels-women---------------workers are lucky to get 20 baht an hour....enjoy

Local minimum wage raised Bt1-Bt8

By The Nation

Thai workers across the country are enjoying a pay rise as official minimum wages have been increased by Bt1-Bt8 per day depending on the zones.

The Central Wage Committee today approved a rise in 71 provinces, having workers in Ayutthaya enjoying the biggest increase and workers in seven provinces receiving only Bt1.

After a 2-hour discussion, the committee at its third meeting based the decision on the different levels of costs of living across the country and the inflation rate of 5 per cent.

Workers in Ayutthaya where a large number of industrial plants are located will see their minimum daily wage raised from Bt173 to Bt181.

The Cabinet will consider the new minimum wage, which will be effective on January 1 as a New Year gift to all workers.

Samart Angwarawong, honourary chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries Khon Kaen where the minimum wage is raised Bt3 to Bt157, opposed to the move, saying that it would hit the economy. He noted that though overall economic outlook is brighter, the bullishness is concentrated in some areas.

"Bangkok and peripheral provinces would be the first to feel the pinch from any crisis, but the impacts would be seen here in Khon Kaen a year later. Vice versa, when Bangkok and peripheral provinces see improvement, it would take a year for Khon Kaen. Right now, people here tighten their belt," he said.

He noted that some employers may affect employment in the province, and the wage increase may lead to layoffs.

What's the source for this? I fly in this evening

[crazygreg44]

"taxis go on strike to protest against the cancelling of a 50 surcharge passengers are required to pay" . . . I am scratching my head right now ! I always thought the taxi drivers had to pay this surcharge to the Airport Authority of Thailand ! Hitherto, the surcharge never was a part of their earnings. Now I feel as if a horse stomped my stomach ! Taxi drivers are hard working chaps, by no way it is easy money. Some pay a fortune for renting the cab, lucky those who are running their own. And still, they can t stand queue at lucrative spots - Taxi Mafia Area - so most of these chaps are forced to criss cross around. In some countires, taxis outside airport require no meter at all and are a complete ripoff ! So let's talk straight and give them the respect the earned - a fair income on a fair base. Why not do they invite their customers with a smile and help them with the suitcases, open them the doors and - smiling - " I would be glad if you honour my service with a tip , Sir ! " and then just maneuvering gently into the Bangkok traffic. I always tip them off because I know how hard they work for a living !

[TAWP]

As my daily trip how is 28-30km from the office i always tip a good driver 10-20 baht, while a bad driver receives none (same if they make no attempt of giving back change. Tip is earned, not taken.).

I wouldn't say that taxi-drivers are really that 'exploited', they seem to be pretty happy going around doing their job instead of doing other things. Yes, for you expats living on a western package the salaries and cost is ridiculously low - but not for all of us.

[karazyal]

My heart bleeds for them.

The 50 baht surcharge doesn't bother me that much. When I do fly my arrival time from America is around midnight, I don't mind having a taxi available at the meter taxi desk that has at least a cursory inspection and some sort of registration procedure. If I have to pay 50 baht for this service - so be it!

What I would like to see is the Airport Express bus run after midnight! I have even used the cheap city bus late at night but the route I want switches to vans late at night and big bags don't fit in too easy and it is jam-packed!

Now is a good time while taxi drivers are talking about strikes for the airport management to extend the Airport Express bus hours as an alternative.

The new rail service at the airport won't do any passengers arriving late at night any favors f it has the same hours as the present Skytrain!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

[tingtongfarang]

I travel often from bkk to hong kong and always wish arriving in bkk was as comfortable as hk, On the hk end its so simple...so many shuttle buses clearly marked in chinese and english directly outside the airport exit..never had to wait and dont even need hk$ as i can just use the octopus card and there are shuttle buses that take me to all destinations regardless of arrival times, The drivers even drive as bus drivers should and no changing of routes,

Arriving at swampy i,m always thinking it could be equally as simple, But alas it seems the powers that be dont want it this way, Luckily i have an agreement with a friend who lives close by...he drives me to and from the airport and like wise i do the same for him, We both hate bkk taxis with a passion and there are far too many,

Also i have the feeling this airport link could turn out to be a white elephant...shuttle buses should be the future.

[Furbie]

]

There is no such thing as a 2-3h wait-time during normal hours of operations.

Every time I land at the airport from abroad I walk to the taxi-stand and see between 10 and 20 guys waiting and a line that is constantly moving. 30min I can believe...

WRONG! Clearly you have never ever seen the HOLD-area, which is beside the busterminal. There are most of times 100s, if not well over a 1000 taxi's waiting for their turn. Their are flagged off (so cannot really go out) by blocks-so that at arrivals there should be steady flow to arriving passengers. This is so that they do not obstruct all of the ramps into the terminal building.One major point is that times for departures and main arrivals times do not at all parrallel.

At old Don Muang it was quite easy to pick up locals along the main road. At swampy thats not possible-and the nearest public main road is Lard Krabang-with not that many demand.

Also note that at BUSstations like Mochit and Ekamai there is an official 20 bt surcharge for taximeters, and I believe also at HuaLamPong main station.

Please dot not post blatant incorrect opinions as facts before making sure how the situation is. This is really too much of a TV fenomenon giving the genral imprersion its a forum for nitwits and ill-informed fictional facts.

Granted, I have not taken a bus in Thailand in about 3 years, but I don’t recall every paying a taxi surcharge at Ekamai – did I miss something. Regardless, you could just walk to the street, since the bus station is at a major intersection, and grab a cab from there.

I don’t begrudge the 50 THB surcharge at the airport, it makes sense and is cheap. The issue there is cheating taxi drivers who refuse to turn on the meter or who get you on the highway and demand more money – which has happened to be on two occasions. And the scams are still going on. Leaving the airport at about 4am last week the counter staff were ripping off an Indian family trying to charge them a 2,000 THB flat fee to get down town. Luckily, the guy was having none of it and knew how much it really cost to get to town by the meter.

[webfact]

]

There is no such thing as a 2-3h wait-time during normal hours of operations.

Every time I land at the airport from abroad I walk to the taxi-stand and see between 10 and 20 guys waiting and a line that is constantly moving. 30min I can believe...

WRONG! Clearly you have never ever seen the HOLD-area, which is beside the busterminal. There are most of times 100s, if not well over a 1000 taxi's waiting for their turn. Their are flagged off (so cannot really go out) by blocks-so that at arrivals there should be steady flow to arriving passengers. This is so that they do not obstruct all of the ramps into the terminal building.One major point is that times for departures and main arrivals times do not at all parrallel.

At old Don Muang it was quite easy to pick up locals along the main road. At swampy thats not possible-and the nearest public main road is Lard Krabang-with not that many demand.

Also note that at BUSstations like Mochit and Ekamai there is an official 20 bt surcharge for taximeters, and I believe also at HuaLamPong main station.

Please dot not post blatant incorrect opinions as facts before making sure how the situation is. This is really too much of a TV fenomenon giving the genral imprersion its a forum for nitwits and ill-informed fictional facts.

Also note that at BUSstations like Mochit and Ekamai there is an official 20 bt surcharge for taximeters, and I believe also at HuaLamPong main station.

if you walk a few meters out of the compound to a main road that charge will not apply. I admit its difficult if you are stuffed with a lot of luggage

BTW I never was charged a surcharge except swampy. At the other locations it may depend on how you state your destination. In Thai or English...

Edited December 28, 2009 by webfact

[sabaijai]

As I am flying, at least twice a month -in & out- I am always taking my taxi -back to Nonthaburi- from the departure level.

No hassle...

Same convenience, than several years ago at Don Muang

Lately there have been barricades up that don't allow drivers to cruise the departure area after dropping passengers off. Police usually shoo the taxis away before you can grab one. I gave up on a recent trip and had to walk back down to arrival level.

[Alwaysright]

Please tell me why they should need extra money for driving 'far' to the airport as oppose to driving the exact same distance [with me] if I go from the office and home. The meter already covers their 'hardship' of having to work.

It does not cover 2-3 hours wait time at the airport. They are not allowed to pick up passengers at drop off although some do. To avoid waiting in the queue and missing on work, some simply storm back empty.

Singapore has that surcharge too. To ensure that public is not left without taxis and avoid bad name for otherwise world'd best airport.

There is no such thing as a 2-3h wait-time during normal hours of operations.

Every time I land at the airport from abroad I walk to the taxi-stand and see between 10 and 20 guys waiting and a line that is constantly moving. 30min I can believe...

There are 100s of taxis that you don't see (neither did I).

Over years, several taxi drivers (maybe 10) told me about that waiting time after drop off. One, still at Don Muang, told me that an official records their numbers as they come in to check if they have stormed empty without passengers (they can tell by time seen at exit, if shorter than 2 hours or whatever then they do something to them, can't remember what).

Someone could approximate what is 50 baht worth of net earning . 1 hour? 2 hours?

It should be meter plus 200 baht.

[MrHammer]

50 baht can't make that much of a difference when a drive to the center is worth at least 250 up to 350 for going to Kaosan. I don't mind paying that fee as it means I will in most cases not have to deal with a driver trying on a no-meter talk.

Let's not forget that many of the drivers hang around the airport hoping to pick up the golden goose i.e. the single male going to Pattaya. Even if it's only one in ten or one in twenty, that makes for some very good earnings when it does happen including tips, possibility for a second pickup to go back, friends hotel and kickbacks.