Tuk-tuk (taxi) Operators On Phuket Island

[bapak]

A story in the Sydney Morning Herald travel section today..

"You've got to hand it to the tuk-tuk (taxi) operators on Phuket island in Thailand. They've taken a leaf out of the big-business book on how to operate a cartel: forget competition; if everyone agrees to jack up the fare to the same level, the punters will have no choice but to pay it and we'll all be making a nice living.

Not suggesting that the way to get rich is to drive a tuk-tuk in Phuket. But, relative to the local cost of living, the hire rates for tuk-tuks on Phuket are astronomical - 10 times the going rate in Bangkok, for example.

Nice work if you can get it for a rough, unairconditioned ride in a glorified tricycle."

[ESB7]

Domino effect with farmer mentality as a catalyst. Bad harvest, charge more for the crop...no tourists, charge more for your service...charge more,less customers....less customers charge more...and so on and so on....

[surangw]

"the punters will have no choice"

lots of choice, walking around patong is fun, hiring a car for longer trips is easya

and ESB7 hit it on the head with Domino effect, its a self extinguishing problem in the long run

[GucciLittlePiggy]

"the punters will have no choice"

lots of choice, walking around patong is fun, hiring a car for longer trips is easya

and ESB7 hit it on the head with Domino effect, its a self extinguishing problem in the long run

Eh? There's absolutely nothing fun about walking around patong. The place is a complete pain in the arse to walk around.

[jackr]

There's nothing 'fun' about Patong, period.

[thornybird]

The taxi/tuk tuk mafia is a major thorn in the side of tourists all over Phuket. Vote with your feet and catch shank's pony.