Russian Runners

[sharecropper]

For the THIRD time in 2 weeks today I was in a Baht bus from Jomtien to Pattaya with a Russian couple (3 different couples) as fellow travellers. They got out in central Pattaya and walked off without paying, without batting an eyelid and without turning round to the feverish horn-honking from the asphyxiating driver.

On no occasion has the driver actually left his cab and chased after them, and everyone in the Baht bus rolls their eyes or laughs, and on he drives.

First time I laughed, second time I wondered, and today I am sure, it must be a scam. And no, they ddn't pre-pay either.

[SoCa9346]

Neither scam or stupidity, plain obnoxious a##holes

[Jingthing]

They may have been Russian speakers from the former USSR. Lets not jump to negative conclusions about any nationality.

[PoorSucker]

Maybe they have the "One month bahtbus pass".

Available to all Russian non English speaking tourists.

Only 799 baht/month.

[CHdiver]

Now that sounds like a good Business Idea. Put it on sale with 50% Barter Points, the other 50% payable in Vodka and I will be a Millionaire in 1 month.

[stingray]

The same problem had a friend of me who owns a restaurant. Some Russians eat there and just walked away. But i personally not think bad about russians as i have only good expirience with them. I guess this could happen with any nationalities.

[Lancelot]

If the OP is right that's one hel_l of a lucrative scam. Not.

I agree. The ruskies made out for a whopping 20 baht?!? Yeah, thats the sure way to fame and glory

[sharecropper]

The most charitable gloss I can put on it, besides naivety or amnesia, is that it is some sort of cultural misunderstanding, but I fail to see what it could be. Passengers think it's a free bus ride?

What about when they got it the day before, or when they go back later? Or for all three couples, was it their first bus ride? I discount that as they all knew where they wanted to get off.

And it is so brazen if it is a scam that I really cannot believe it is. To save 40 baht? Well maybe, for some (let's say Russian speakers to avoid upsetting the " don't describe it like it was" brigade) that's a lot, but certainly for the driver it is.

And yet on none of the three occasions has the driver chased after them.

Nor have I seen it happen in all my time here except for the past 2 weeks, except for dead drunken scumbags doing it, which one can kind of understand.

[basjke]

For sure they have such a TAG card like used on the tollway booths.

[raro]

Now that sounds like a good Business Idea. Put it on sale with 50% Barter Points, the other 50% payable in Vodka and I will be a Millionaire in 1 month.

asyou mention it, I actually wonder why nobody came up with that idea selling weekly passes for the Baht buses...if you change your location frequently it must quite lucrative indeed...

[sharecropper]

Now that sounds like a good Business Idea. Put it on sale with 50% Barter Points, the other 50% payable in Vodka and I will be a Millionaire in 1 month.

asyou mention it, I actually wonder why nobody came up with that idea selling weekly passes for the Baht buses...if you change your location frequently it must quite lucrative indeed...

Raro, are you trying to make Pattaya as dangerous and as badly publicised as Phuket?

Imagine the fights between a yaba'd up baht bus driver being told this pass thing he is having rudely shoved in his face is something that means he cannot collect his 10 or 20 baht fare.

BBD - "CANNOT. You pay me Mister. You pay me now, or you have big ploblem"

R - [silence from taciturn, uncomprehending and unconcerned Russian as he walks off]

....... to be continued at Soi 9, or Pattaya Memorial Hospital.

Mind you a 7:11/ Baht bus promotion might work! Peak and off peak rates, and by that I don't mean how hungover people are.

[britmaveric]

Pretty dumb, the baht bus drivers have long memories. I wouldnt be surprised if someone speaking russian ends up with a bashed head.

[xen]

Sometimes i wonder how those baht bus drivers make a living without being ripped off like that, intentionally or not. I was talking to one who told me he has to pay 700 baht ( for a day shift the way i understood it) to the owner/company , plus pay for fuel before he starts to put money in his pocket. There is a lot of competition there and unless he is a owner / driver , he has to carry a lot of passengers just to get past break even point just to pay for hire and fuel. A very similar system to most cabs world wide - no wonder they get up to scams to survive. The end result is the more they get ripped off , the more they will feel justified in scaming us.

Edited February 12, 2010 by xen

[farangpattaya]

Well, next step is: pay the driver before you enter the back of a song taew.

[raro]

Well, next step is: pay the driver before you enter the back of a song taew.

I actually wonder why they haven't figures this one out yet. There are often two people on board, driver and his wife...why not let the wife sit in the back and do the money collection.

[stingray]

If the OP is right that's one hel_l of a lucrative scam. Not.

I agree. The ruskies made out for a whopping 20 baht?!? Yeah, thats the sure way to fame and glory

It's 10 Baht per person, not 20 Baht!

[raro]

If the OP is right that's one hel_l of a lucrative scam. Not.

I agree. The ruskies made out for a whopping 20 baht?!? Yeah, thats the sure way to fame and glory

It's 10 Baht per person, not 20 Baht!

depends on the length of your trip

[jeanpierre]

i know the guys they have altzheimer

[sharecropper]

Lucky we live in Peaceful Pattaya with our benign Baht buses, and not Punchy Phuket with their terrorising tuk tuks, or these incidents could cause the non-paying tourists serious medical complications.

[Lost in LOS]

They know they have to pay, just sitting on the baht bus you will see people pay when getting off. As for not being a lot of money, it is to the baht buss driver. It also makes the baht bus driver wary of all farangs and I cant blame them for being a bit rude sometimes, don't mess with their rice bowl. Mine either.

I hope these people that do this get whats coming to them........ When you play you must pay

[NADTATIDA1]

Well, next step is: pay the driver before you enter the back of a song taew.

I actually wonder why they haven't figures this one out yet. There are often two people on board, driver and his wife...why not let the wife sit in the back and do the money collection.

God forbid the wife having to do something,she only comes to sit & take the money! Thai men have the same problems as us foreigners you know

Thai culture is always pay after the service in mostly everything,i hope it remains that way.As for the Russians they are just rude obnoxious people and yes i am generalizing

[sharecropper]

They know they have to pay, just sitting on the baht bus you will see people pay when getting off. As for not being a lot of money, it is to the baht buss driver. It also makes the baht bus driver wary of all farangs and I cant blame them for being a bit rude sometimes, don't mess with their rice bowl. Mine either.

I hope these people that do this get whats coming to them........ When you play you must pay

I wonder if they have been warned not to have physical confrontations with customers. That could be the only plausible reason for none of them having gone after the disappearing couples.

In all cases when the couples got off, they walked back, away from the Baht bus, and never past the front of it, which did make me wonder, as it is much harder to attract someones attention walking away from the bus to the rear. And also makes an "oh sorry, we forgot" more plausible, if you haven't just walked past the outstetched hand and outraged or shocked faces of the driver in his cab.

[Langsuan Man]

Arrogance

[Phil Conners]

Sometimes i wonder how those baht bus drivers make a living without being ripped off like that, intentionally or not. I was talking to one who told me he has to pay 700 baht ( for a day shift the way i understood it) to the owner/company , plus pay for fuel before he starts to put money in his pocket. There is a lot of competition there and unless he is a owner / driver , he has to carry a lot of passengers just to get past break even point just to pay for hire and fuel. A very similar system to most cabs world wide - no wonder they get up to scams to survive. The end result is the more they get ripped off , the more they will feel justified in scaming us.

Nobody force them to do this job. They always have the option of going back to Issan and rice farming, spending their life standing in the dong holding a water buffalo while staring at the horizon.

[cup-O-coffee]

It's part and parcel with the territory; collateral damage; and it goes both ways in the ignorance department.

I think the Russians simply did not know about paying due to my observations over several months of their behavior when walking across or down any thoroughfare; absolutely and totally unawares of anything about them. They walk down a street as if it were a footpath and stop and hold conversations right at the point where any passing vehicle must veer at the last moment to avoid impact. And the real kicker is watching them suddenly begin walking out into a busy street without so much as a glance either left or right; totally oblivious. It is a very curious thing to see and with most of the Russian speaking peoples I have overheard speaking and then observed.

As to the baht bus drivers, most of them have a partner riding shotgun. Either the partner should jump out at each stop and catch the people departing, or sit in the back when it is not full and collect while in transit; just like on the public bus. Issue resolved.

Edited February 13, 2010 by cup-O-coffee

[Lost in LOS]

saw three Russians last night at the soi 17 entrance to walking street. They were arguing with a bath bus driver and started walking away without paying. One of them, after looking around seeing all the Thais watching them, must have thought better about it and reached into his pocket and threw change into the cab. some of it fell onto the street and the other Russian picked it up and they all walked away. I watched this all happen since the bath bus was blocking my way for me to go and park. I dont know what this was about but that is what I saw, I would put my money on the taxi driver being right from all the body language

[sharecropper]

I too have a Russian/Baht Bus observation to make from last night.

Has anyone noticed the increasingly nightly phenomenon of crowds of people lining the route from Jomtien to Pattaya, waiting for Baht buses to take them into town, but they aren't stopping?

I saw the most people impatiently waiting, and not looking happy, that I have ever seen last night as I zipped past on a motorbike taxi, and when I got into Pattaya I realised why this is increasingly happening and that it might only get worse.

Simple reason - Russian couples, foursomes and small groups are private-hiring the baht buses on Jomtien Beach Road, and travelling in, past their hapless countrymen, in the luxury of private hire, "no stop" buses.

This is now happening so much that the general pickup taxis are much fewer and very overloaded by the time they reach town, meaning the waiting people cannot even get on them.

If it continues they really will have to restart the crappy Mafia-sabotaged bus service, as it seems to be getting out of hand.

[foxxx]

they are probably private hiring because they dont know how the whole baht bus system works, just get on and go straight, get off at the next intersection and get the next bus going in your direction.

they probably ask the driver can they goto X location, rather than taking his 10b per person he says yeah, i'll take you there, bills them 200b.

Edited February 14, 2010 by foxxx

[salty]

I find it ok getting a baht bus during the week. I do not go in at weekends because it appears to be far more hassle.

[Langsuan Man]

I too have a Russian/Baht Bus observation to make from last night.

Has anyone noticed the increasingly nightly phenomenon of crowds of people lining the route from Jomtien to Pattaya, waiting for Baht buses to take them into town, but they aren't stopping?

I saw the most people impatiently waiting, and not looking happy, that I have ever seen last night as I zipped past on a motorbike taxi, and when I got into Pattaya I realised why this is increasingly happening and that it might only get worse.

Simple reason - Russian couples, foursomes and small groups are private-hiring the baht buses on Jomtien Beach Road, and travelling in, past their hapless countrymen, in the luxury of private hire, "no stop" buses.

This is now happening so much that the general pickup taxis are much fewer and very overloaded by the time they reach town, meaning the waiting people cannot even get on them.

If it continues they really will have to restart the crappy Mafia-sabotaged bus service, as it seems to be getting out of hand.

I have noticed this also, every time I see one of the white Baht Buses on Pattaya Tai I know that there is one less on Sukumvit to service people who need to get in from Bang Sarey or Na Jomtien

Last night at around 7:30 three of the white Baht buses all unloaded their full loads at the barrier at Big C, up from Pattaya Tai, and the crowd spilled out into Sukumvit and it was a miracle that someone wasn't run over by the traffic trying to enter Pattaya Tai via the small side feeder soi

I cannot buy the explanation that they don't know how the system works, even with the language barrier, they can talk with each other and enough appear to know how the system works to teach those who supposedly don't