Baht Bus Charter Charging Confusion Calamity

[syd barrett]

SOURCE: Pattaya Mail: Friday March 5th 2010 (Mailbag)

I’m a prisoner no more

Dear Editor,

It may seem to defy the bounds of logic that anyone could get trapped in Jomtien for 9 weeks, but it’s happened to me. Now I may be the dumbest farang on the Eastern Seaboard but for more years than I care to remember and am too embarrassed to state here, I’ve always thought that a two level price system operated on baht bus taxis: Thai price and farang price. I’d heard vague rumours that you could use them as hop on, hop off buses for 20 baht but I’d never seen it written in black and white. And I’d always been charged a minimum 100 baht to go between Jomtien and Pattaya even when other people were on the bus. Due to disabilities I can’t ride a motor bike.

Latterly it’s become a matter of principle for me not to pay ‘farang price’ on a baht bus to Pattaya (about 4 kilometres) and so I’ve been stuck in Jomtien for the last 9 weeks, getting almost suicidally depressed. Today (Sunday) I knew that if I didn’t break out of Jomtien I’d crack up, so resigned to my fate of being ripped off I went down to Beach Rd to hail a baht bus.

When one stopped I did what I usually do, I told the driver where I wanted to go and expected to hear ‘100 baht’ or even ‘150’. My mouth dropped open in amazement when he said ’20 baht’ (I was going to Mike’s Shopping Mall). There were other passengers on the bus.

Suddenly I felt elated that I was finally getting out of Jomtien and going off on a little adventure. I’ve been seeing a lot of news reports about shootings, stabbings and robberies in Pattaya lately, and items about prostitutes and other nuisances lurking behind every tree on Pattaya’s Beach Road just waiting to waylay unsuspecting tourists, so I was a bit disappointed that nobody bothered me today. In fact I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Pattaya today, the atmosphere felt okay and they actually have flower beds on the Beach Road!

I’d like to have stayed long enough to catch the advertised parade of dragon and lion dancers along Walking St at 6 p.m., as part of the Chinese New Year festivities, but I can’t see very well once the daylight begins to fade and getting across Pattaya’s busy roads is a daunting task even for able bodied people, so I missed out on that treat. I even got back to Jomtien for 20 baht.

The rule seems to be that if you don’t want to go to a specific offroad destination (like Tesco Lotus for instance), with you the only passenger, you can flag a baht bus down and ride for 20 baht. Is this what they’re legally supposed to do? But unscrupulous drivers still dupe gullible farangs like me when the opportunity arises? I’d willingly pay 30 baht each way as a standard fare if it would stop this kind of ‘Thai price, farang price’ carry on.

Luthor M. Kingsley

Edited March 5, 2010 by syd barrett

[Jingthing]

The price from Jomtien to Pattaya is

TEN BAHT!

[metisdead]

Read that today, the fellow states he's been here a few years and apparently hasn't asked anybody how the baht bus system works?

[Jingthing]

It's satire, yes?

Edited March 5, 2010 by Jingthing

[basjke]

Someone definitely had too much time on his hands to make up a story to fill some newspaper pages.By the way Kingsley was the actor that played Gandhi in the movie.

[syd barrett]

Someone definitely had too much time on his hands to make up a story to fill some newspaper pages.By the way Kingsley was the actor that played Gandhi in the movie.

^^ I think it was 'Ben' not Luthor.

Although I suspect that this letter does indeed display ironie du sort I can fully empathise with the minutia of the subject matter.

[sharecropper]

A total wind up, but enjoyable nonetheless.

[Basil B]

May be there was little content in the post room in tray?

Suppose the letter editor did not realise this was intended for the first of next month...

[sharecropper]

^ They're so hard up for copy they'd stick a condom in there and call it a French Letter.

[picnel]

From anyway in Jomtien the bath bus price(s) to Pattaya are :

10 bahts until Pattaya Klang

20 bahts if you go over Pattaya Klang

Those prices are same in the daytime or nightime. Is n't it ?

... maybe you should ask for you money back ... with interests ?

[somtampet]

Syd Barret profile says he is from Naklua,but he states he lives in Jomtien,maybe a wind up but hey,who gives a flying eff,live and let live,we all read it even though it was about baht buses for the millionth time.

[angiud]

Love your title

[aussiechick]

...and the rule is: the minute you tell the driver a destination the baht bus is now a taxi!!! Wave the baht bus down. don't speak. get in the back, ring the bell when you want to get out and it will cost you 10/20 baht. If you want off the route different matter!

BTW - slightly off topic but for the first time ever I was in a Pattaya taxi (no I wasn't paying and I had explained they just set a price and will not use the meter-see Jingthing I listen/read) and on my way home I asked why the meter wasn't used - here is the reason and it made sense - not saying it is right but is understandable:

"Pattaya is not like Bangkok - here have Mafia, hotels, shopping centers, cannot park to wait for customer the driver that already work there will tell us to move. and sometimes hit car. So sometime I have to wait 4 hour to get someone to use taxi and if I put meter maybe Baht 60 but if talk price OK better for me. I pay Baht 1000 for taxi every day so cannot do little job now, maybe it get better and we can park everywhere same same Bangkok. Yes , same as Pattaya baht bus, the blue one, but not the white one or red one, we cannot go to the other side of Sukhunvit we have more problem, they not want."

This driver actually told me which hotels they cannot park at - quite a few - and mostly the problem is from staff at Hotel who get commission for other driver to get customer.

Whether true or not I don't know ,but I believed him - and by the way he was a very good driver and the price for where we went was not much more than a baht bus "taxi" and airconditioned, clean and comfortable!

Edited March 6, 2010 by aussiechick

[angiud]

Better Behaviour By Berated Baht Bus Boys

[syd barrett]

Syd Barret profile says he is from Naklua,but he states he lives in Jomtien,maybe a wind up but hey,who gives a flying eff,live and let live,we all read it even though it was about baht buses for the millionth time.

I don't live in Jomtien (never have, never will).

I didn't write the letter, I just took it from the latest edition of the Pattaya Mail for TV comments and opinions.

[QED]

Syd Barret profile says he is from Naklua,but he states he lives in Jomtien,maybe a wind up but hey,who gives a flying eff,live and let live,we all read it even though it was about baht buses for the millionth time.

Do you actually read anything before you jump on your keyboard??

Syd Barret was quoting a letter from a local newspaper.

[loong]

Syd Barret profile says he is from Naklua,but he states he lives in Jomtien,maybe a wind up but hey,who gives a flying eff,live and let live,we all read it even though it was about baht buses for the millionth time.

Do you actually read anything before you jump on your keyboard??

Syd Barret was quoting a letter from a local newspaper.

Like SomTamPet, I actually thought that this was Syd's personal experience when I read his post. I think that my subconscious mistook the section where he quotes the source as one of those google advertisements and it just didn't register.