Bangkok Taxi's

[ianh68h]

Are you flagging down taxis in front of your hotel?

Taxis parked outside hotels are usually waiting for someone to take advantage of. They often don't want to do legit taxi work.

This is prime hunting grounds for them and controlled by a 'taxi mafia".

Honest taxi drivers are not allowed and intimidated.

About 2 nights ago at around 2100 I walked out of MBK with my wife, her brother and a friend from the states. She asked 16 different taxis and all refused....we wanted to go to Suan Phlu (near immigration) which is about 15 minutes tops....usually costs me about 70 baht to go there from Siam BTS area.

The funny thing is that they would usually ignore her and try to wave me over....I'd ask them to go to Suan Phlu in Thai and they'd say something like "300 baht" and I'd just laugh and slam their door.... I think I'm going to start tipping the legit guys 20 baht and tell them it's for not trying to screw the foreigner.

I try to make it a point to tell other foreigners who are getting in to the taxis to make sure the meters are running...my wife says that we should start writing down the ID numbers on the taxis when they refuse fares and call them in...but to who? and would they give a shit? Who knows....

One thing I've noticed is the taxi driver is not always the guy in the pic on the dash, I've had a few in the past month where the licensed driver of the taxi was "lending" the taxi to his "friend".... any one else get this?

An Army of taxi Cheats troll the Tourist areas. NOT INTERESTED IN TRANSPORTATION. ONLY lookng for victims to exploit.

You would think, a Taxi Company gets several complaints and the driver loses his job. Not in Thailand.

Complaints fall on deaf ears and the same criminal taxi drivers are out there, working over tourists, year after year.

Call the TAT and they tell you to call Tourist Police.

Call the Tourist Police and they tell you to go to a Police Station and file a report.

Call the Police say and they say "cannot do anything" unless "they catch him in the act".

NOBODY looks after the tourists, NOBODY.

Incident at Don Muang. Came back from Udon Thani Saturday night, pouring with rain. Went through the airport taxi procedure. I am with Thai fiancee and her 12 year old daughter. As we get in the taxi the driver makes a quip about going to Pattaya, obvious implication being that my fiancee is a bar girl. She has worked in a university for the last 20 years. She did not take kindly to this and an argument ensued. At one point I copied down the driver's ID (it was gloomy so I could't see the photo that clearly). When the driver noticed me he turned the taxi round and returned to Don Muang (we had been travelling 10 minutes). The inspector smoothed things over after a fashion but did not supply an alternative taxi. We ended up crossing over to the main highway to get a regular (non airport) taxi. This was in the pouring rain with a 12 year old (at least we only had hand luggage).

I want to complain but thought I'd come to ThaiVisa first. Now I'm thinking: 1) How do I complain and is it worth it? 2) Can I be sure the ID I copied down belonged to the driver? and 3) If the airport taxis operate as a gang what are the chances of reprisals if I do complain (involving submitting name and address)?

[farang555]

tip 20 baht ??????????? give em a dollar!

will u guys who have a good thai wife give it a break, with the misguided thais who think the missus is ex bargurl.

ya know most of them are! its not a myth! its fact!

Edited July 20, 2008 by farang555

[Ulysses G.]

will u guys who have a good thai wife give it a break, with the misguided thais who think the missus is ex bargurl.

ya know most of them are! its not a myth! its fact!

The taxi drivers think that most of them - even the "good" ones - would have married a Thai guy if they had 1/2 a chance.

[pampal]

10-15 percent of my taxi rides were with dishonest drivers, but I don't let it bother me, there are thousands of taxis in this city, I just find another one, or better still, I ride my mountain bike to most places.

[Andiamo]

I never open the door and ask them to take me to my destination...... I just get in, with my bags and tell them "Bai Loxley/Bai Emporium etc ka". 9.5 times out of 10 I don't have a problem.

Occasionally as others have said, if it is a shift change then I can understand them refusing a fare.

Or if it's night time and the cabs are loitering on and hanging around on Sukhumvit or outside MBK, forget it!!! They SO don't wanna use the meter. Better to move away from the crowds waiting for cabs and flag down a passing cab and just get in and TELL them where to go, don't ask!

And remember 'sabai sabai' this is THE land of Taxis AND, they are REALLY cheap compared to Europe:)

Edited July 20, 2008 by Andiamo

[gunnyd]

When I am going out by myself I use the BMTA, MRT, and BTS. What really annoys me is walking from the apartment to the Sukhumvit station is the taxi drivers sitting in front of the Queens Park hotel. "Ya wanna go ahopping?" "30 baht an hour." It's worse than dealing with the working girls.

But these days with the wife preggers I gotta use the taxis. I always flag them down in front of my apartment, not on a major street.

The main thing is if the taxi driver speaks good English, STAY AWAY! a scam will be coming soon.

And frankly I get refused a ride all the time. I just wait for the next one and get a ride. This is mostly due to my frequent trips between Bangkapi and Sukhumvit. As for tipping most drivers give me change for my fare and refuse being tipped.

I definitely not saying that it's all good. I have had a few try not turning on the meter, or tell me 100 for a 40 trip, but that is the exception.

I have more of a problem with the drivers who have their TRD racing inspired taxis and drive like their in the Nextel Cup. Got off alive 2 days ago. Nothing gets the heart pumping like hitting 120kph on the surface streets.

Frankly I can't bitch too much. At home in Arizona, last time I took a cab from the airport home it cost $60 for a 20 mile ride and the driver definitely expected a tip.

[CarlBkk]

Incident at Don Muang. Came back from Udon Thani Saturday night, pouring with rain. Went through the airport taxi procedure. I am with Thai fiancee and her 12 year old daughter. As we get in the taxi the driver makes a quip about going to Pattaya, obvious implication being that my fiancee is a bar girl. She has worked in a university for the last 20 years. She did not take kindly to this and an argument ensued. At one point I copied down the driver's ID (it was gloomy so I could't see the photo that clearly). When the driver noticed me he turned the taxi round and returned to Don Muang (we had been travelling 10 minutes). The inspector smoothed things over after a fashion but did not supply an alternative taxi. We ended up crossing over to the main highway to get a regular (non airport) taxi. This was in the pouring rain with a 12 year old (at least we only had hand luggage).

I want to complain but thought I'd come to ThaiVisa first. Now I'm thinking: 1) How do I complain and is it worth it? 2) Can I be sure the ID I copied down belonged to the driver? and 3) If the airport taxis operate as a gang what are the chances of reprisals if I do complain (involving submitting name and address)?

It's the scum that open their mouths without thinking who say "where you you? Pattaya?". You could be the Ambassador with a female Thai associate and they'd still say it. These are the uneducated folks who lives incredibly simple lives and don't have the brain scope to work out a) who might be offended by that and why, that not all farangs with thais met in Pattaya or like Pattaya and c) that they don't look like a Pattaya-bound couple. There are hundreds of them, all you can do is pity them. Single Thai students get similar smarm and dodgy comments when they travel with them.

This has happened to myself and my wife dressed up for a wedding leaving a very good serviced apartment. We weren't impressed - my wife asked him why would we want to go to Pattaya? He was flumoxed and said "pood len". I replied in Thai that this is not the way to joke, and not funny. We got out quickly and slammed the doors, which security coming over. The driver lost face and got a bit mad and went off sounding his horn, having lost a fair. But we knew that it's not the majority of drivers that are like this. They think it's funny, they want a big fare, they think farangs love pattaya, they're thick and stupid to say it...when you give them a serious response they may well not do it a second time. That's it.

You can complain to the main taxi HQ like I have done before, and they DO follow it up and the taxi driver gets a warning strike.

[ianh68h]

Incident at Don Muang. Came back from Udon Thani Saturday night, pouring with rain. Went through the airport taxi procedure. I am with Thai fiancee and her 12 year old daughter. As we get in the taxi the driver makes a quip about going to Pattaya, obvious implication being that my fiancee is a bar girl. She has worked in a university for the last 20 years. She did not take kindly to this and an argument ensued. At one point I copied down the driver's ID (it was gloomy so I could't see the photo that clearly). When the driver noticed me he turned the taxi round and returned to Don Muang (we had been travelling 10 minutes). The inspector smoothed things over after a fashion but did not supply an alternative taxi. We ended up crossing over to the main highway to get a regular (non airport) taxi. This was in the pouring rain with a 12 year old (at least we only had hand luggage).

I want to complain but thought I'd come to ThaiVisa first. Now I'm thinking: 1) How do I complain and is it worth it? 2) Can I be sure the ID I copied down belonged to the driver? and 3) If the airport taxis operate as a gang what are the chances of reprisals if I do complain (involving submitting name and address)?

It's the scum that open their mouths without thinking who say "where you you? Pattaya?". You could be the Ambassador with a female Thai associate and they'd still say it. These are the uneducated folks who lives incredibly simple lives and don't have the brain scope to work out a) who might be offended by that and why, that not all farangs with thais met in Pattaya or like Pattaya and c) that they don't look like a Pattaya-bound couple. There are hundreds of them, all you can do is pity them. Single Thai students get similar smarm and dodgy comments when they travel with them.

This has happened to myself and my wife dressed up for a wedding leaving a very good serviced apartment. We weren't impressed - my wife asked him why would we want to go to Pattaya? He was flumoxed and said "pood len". I replied in Thai that this is not the way to joke, and not funny. We got out quickly and slammed the doors, which security coming over. The driver lost face and got a bit mad and went off sounding his horn, having lost a fair. But we knew that it's not the majority of drivers that are like this. They think it's funny, they want a big fare, they think farangs love pattaya, they're thick and stupid to say it...when you give them a serious response they may well not do it a second time. That's it.

You can complain to the main taxi HQ like I have done before, and they DO follow it up and the taxi driver gets a warning strike.

Thanks for this. How do I contact main taxi HQ?

[bkkjames]

It's actually quite easy. Inside the back of the taxi you will see a sign on the back of the driver's or passenger seat, it contains a number to call in case of complaints.

The tricky part is convincing the driver to let you write down the number so you can report him for not taking you anywhere. But do it quickly before he realises that you are only there to get the number and actually not go anywhere.

[pampal]

It's actually quite easy. Inside the back of the taxi you will see a sign on the back of the driver's or passenger seat, it contains a number to call in case of complaints.

The tricky part is convincing the driver to let you write down the number so you can report him for not taking you anywhere. But do it quickly before he realises that you are only there to get the number and actually not go anywhere.

the taxi number is written on the inside of the door as well

[huggybear]

I am getting fed up with hailing taxi's for them to refuse to take me where i want - usually cos it is too far from their usual route etc etc - isnt it time thailand sorted this out?

I find the blue/red are best but even they refuse sometimes.

Anyon else having this problem? i expect so as it happenes a few times a week!!

I think you have to go with the 90-10 rule here. 90% of the time things work out fine, 10% there is some B.S. that occurs.

My last unfortunate 10%, I was travelling with a girlfriend, the cue at DM was way long and a driver waved us over. He said 300thb. My Thai girlfriend even confirmed sam roy. We get to the Soi in Sukumvit and the guy says 800. He is telling us he told us 800thb. He started yelling and I threw the 300thb at him and got out, he proceeded to bull by me to the trunk and literally throw our suitcases out. At least he didn't take off with our stuff.........

Otherwise yeah, there will be times when they won't take you. As other posters have mentioned, the skytrain really is the way to go if you can.

[CarlBkk]

I am getting fed up with hailing taxi's for them to refuse to take me where i want - usually cos it is too far from their usual route etc etc - isnt it time thailand sorted this out?

I find the blue/red are best but even they refuse sometimes.

Anyon else having this problem? i expect so as it happenes a few times a week!!

I think you have to go with the 90-10 rule here. 90% of the time things work out fine, 10% there is some B.S. that occurs.

My last unfortunate 10%, I was travelling with a girlfriend, the cue at DM was way long and a driver waved us over. He said 300thb. My Thai girlfriend even confirmed sam roy. We get to the Soi in Sukumvit and the guy says 800. He is telling us he told us 800thb. He started yelling and I threw the 300thb at him and got out, he proceeded to bull by me to the trunk and literally throw our suitcases out. At least he didn't take off with our stuff.........

Otherwise yeah, there will be times when they won't take you. As other posters have mentioned, the skytrain really is the way to go if you can.

I'm not sure about the Skytrain but have you noticed that MRT staff sometimes try and stop you taking suitcases on? They say it's not meant for large bags and the turnstiles/gates prove that. Some jobsworths don't even open the gates for you. How stupid.

[girlx]

i am amazed that some people on here don't have this problem. about 7 out of 10 taxis refuse to go where i want them to. even when i go to a taxi stand (ie. siam paragon) most of the ones in line don't want to go. ie. the other day i wanted to go from siam paragon to rajaprarop road, not far at all. about 5 taxis refused, and the 5th one okayed it, but bitched about it the entire ride. ?!?! and that is just one example.

[p_brownstone]

i am amazed that some people on here don't have this problem. about 7 out of 10 taxis refuse to go where i want them to. even when i go to a taxi stand (ie. siam paragon) most of the ones in line don't want to go. ie. the other day i wanted to go from siam paragon to rajaprarop road, not far at all. about 5 taxis refused, and the 5th one okayed it, but bitched about it the entire ride. ?!?! and that is just one example.

The Taxis using the stand outside Siam Paragon do seem to refuse a lot of passengers I agree.

What particularly frustrates me there however is that if a Taxi refuses the first person in the queue, the "Security Guard" manning the stand will wave that Taxi off without a passenger, call the next Taxi and try again for that same person, the first in the queue. It would make far more sense, and move the line quicker, to give the 2nd person in the queue the opportunity to take the first Taxi.

Patrick

[ianh68h]

i am amazed that some people on here don't have this problem. about 7 out of 10 taxis refuse to go where i want them to. even when i go to a taxi stand (ie. siam paragon) most of the ones in line don't want to go. ie. the other day i wanted to go from siam paragon to rajaprarop road, not far at all. about 5 taxis refused, and the 5th one okayed it, but bitched about it the entire ride. ?!?! and that is just one example.

The Taxis using the stand outside Siam Paragon do seem to refuse a lot of passengers I agree.

What particularly frustrates me there however is that if a Taxi refuses the first person in the queue, the "Security Guard" manning the stand will wave that Taxi off without a passenger, call the next Taxi and try again for that same person, the first in the queue. It would make far more sense, and move the line quicker, to give the 2nd person in the queue the opportunity to take the first Taxi.

Patrick

Yes and No. The first person in the queue might not take kindly to what could be seen as queue jumping. (For all they know the second person could be going to the same place). It's also quite an effective punishment for the first taxi driver for being awkward.

Edited July 22, 2008 by ianh68h