Tuks Tuks No Good!

[BangTaoBoy]

Hear Hear!!!

I have lived and worked in Phuket for 5 years. IMO this place gets worse every year. What I cannot understand, is ex-pats that come on the forum defending the place. Are they blind, it is only getting worse. More violent robberies, burglaries, shootings, murders, crazy drivers on the roads every month, polluted beaches, garbage everywhere, drugs, whores etc... I could go on but I won't, open your eyes before you become just another statistic. This island is not paradise, but like everything else in Thailand it is only an illusion.

You obviously missed my answer to that post. I did do something about it, I left the place I hated and moved to the place I love. What's stopping you doing that?

You can't understand ex-pats defending the place?? Are you really that arrogant and stupid to say something like that. Thousands of people love Phuket and don't have any issues. They are smart enough to live in the right places and behave in the right ways to get the best from this place, and if they didn't because things had changed too much they would be smart enough to move on.

It's very sad when people who aren't happy with something, their immediate reaction is to try and drag others down with them. Get it in to your head, you have problems with Phuket, you don't like it anymore, you should move on, but trust me there are plenty of us having the time of our lives, try and accept that.

[pmgthailand]

You obviously missed my answer to that post. I did do something about it, I left the place I hated and moved to the place I love. What's stopping you doing that?

You can't understand ex-pats defending the place?? Are you really that arrogant and stupid to say something like that. Thousands of people love Phuket and don't have any issues. They are smart enough to live in the right places and behave in the right ways to get the best from this place, and if they didn't because things had changed too much they would be smart enough to move on.

It's very sad when people who aren't happy with something, their immediate reaction is to try and drag others down with them. Get it in to your head, you have problems with Phuket, you don't like it anymore, you should move on, but trust me there are plenty of us having the time of our lives, try and accept that.

Arrogant, maybe but I am not stupid. I see where this place in heading and it is not for the better. If you can't see that for yourself then you are the one that is ignorant. I know many people that have left, or will be leaving (myself included as soon as I wind up my business here), the only ones that I can see here having the times of their lives are the wh***mongers and the boozers.

[stevenl]

I see where this place in heading and it is not for the better.

Agree with you, but that is your opinion, not a fact.

I know many people that have left, or will be leaving (myself included as soon as I wind up my business here),

Yes, of course, that is always the case, even in an ideal place. After all you don't know the people that are coming new yet, do you.

[LivinLOS]

Myanmar is just a few miles away, yet there they keep democratically elected prime ministers under house arrest for decades on end. Makes a greedy group of taxi drivers look quite unoffensive really doesn't it.

And they pursue a booming tourist economy spending millions via tourist authorities ??

[LivinLOS]

I dont have access to a gazette but I just read they published the murder / crime stats.. Armed robberies up 133%.. Group muggings up a staggering 366%.. Murder 'only' up 18%..

As I say I cant get the physical paper to verify, but just posted elsewhere. Yet some would maintain its just the same..

[pmgthailand]

I dont have access to a gazette but I just read they published the murder / crime stats.. Armed robberies up 133%.. Group muggings up a staggering 366%.. Murder 'only' up 18%.. As I say I cant get the physical paper to verify, but just posted elsewhere. Yet some would maintain its just the same..

I'm just having a bad couple of days. Maybe when the there are more bad days than good, it is time to move?

[ESB7]

I did fix it. I fixed it by spending as little time there as possible, and spending as much time somewhere that makes me happy as possible. Job done.

As I said, I don't believe tourists are being ripped off. The price is about as high as it could possibly be granted, but still falls inside normal tourist prices as far as I'm concerned. The problem used to be no fixed prices, so nobody knew how much they should be, and had to pay what was being asked. These days the prices are for the best part fixed. If you think they are too dear, don't use them. If it ruins your holiday, go somewhere else next year, simple.

As 'BM' said, if you are a local and have an ounce of savvy, you can make other arrangements. I believe the vast majority of tourists don't have a problem, otherwise they wouldn't keep coming back year after year, which just leave a tiny minority of locals too stupid to make altenative transport arrangements.

I don't think things need to change urgently just to cater for that small group of people.

So apparently the average daily wage in Thiland is 300 baht and in London is 110 pounds, that therfor means that a London taxi driver should charge almost 150 pounds for a 5 minute journey if it is Ok as it is a tourist area???????????? get real, the tuk tuks are over charging!!!

[ilyelol]

Wow you guys realize that this whole thread could be shortened to 2 lines

Bangtao boy "If u dont like it, leave" (which is somewhat of a line people who are easly dominated use, also they tell their fat child that they're beautiful and they should keep eating cupcakes)

rest of people: "goddamn tuktuks"

Im pretty sure that no one actually LOVES phuket for what it is, anyone who likes the scenery/area would rather live in pang na or khao lak but would have no job or no good restaurants there. Where just stuck here so that we can have $/good food/good facilities.

It's still loads better than pattaya though.

Edited October 23, 2010 by ilyelol

[BangTaoBoy]

So apparently the average daily wage in Thiland is 300 baht and in London is 110 pounds, that therfor means that a London taxi driver should charge almost 150 pounds for a 5 minute journey if it is Ok as it is a tourist area???????????? get real, the tuk tuks are over charging!!!

That's not how things work is it! The price of a tuk tuk journey is very similar to that of the same length journey in a taxi where I'm from, except where I'm from isn't a world famous holiday destination. Phuket is. Using the daily wage of a Thai person as a point of reference makes no sense what so ever. Tuk tuks are for tourists to use while on holiday in a tourist destination, so it's the income of the tourists that's relevant not the locals. So paying the same price for a taxi here as any boring old town in the UK to me is a fair deal.

What's the difference in a restaurant charging the same price as the West, in a tourist destination and a taxi company. And before anyone mentions the corruption, I think you'll find all business have to pay their 'Taxes' to remain open, and foul play to rivals is probably just as prevalent, yet nobody seems to have issues with anything but tuk tuks.

[BangTaoBoy]

Myanmar is just a few miles away, yet there they keep democratically elected prime ministers under house arrest for decades on end. Makes a greedy group of taxi drivers look quite unoffensive really doesn't it.

And they pursue a booming tourist economy spending millions via tourist authorities ??

So all countries that have tourists have to model themselves on the UK or USA do they. Don't think so.

Tourists go to Russia and they're as corrupt as can be. Tourists go to the East coast of Africa and corruption is rife. The same goes for most of the world.

Do you really think if Myanmar was lucky enough to have phukets geographical beauty it would have developed in to a tourist destination

with any less corruption than Phuket? Of course it wouldn't, given their history I would guess it would be a lot worse.

Your expectations of this part of the world are unrealistic and naive. Feeling the way you do, you would be hard pushed to be happy in most, if not all countries outside the EU or USA.

Can you and others please give examples, of how the fact that things are getting worse here, affects you on a daily basis. So far I have got a slight problem parking and a load of stats from a news paper. Any other examples would be helpful. (you not your friends that is)

[ilyelol]

That's not how things work is it! The price of a tuk tuk journey is very similar to that of the same length journey in a taxi where I'm from, except where I'm from isn't a world famous holiday destination. Phuket is. Using the daily wage of a Thai person as a point of reference makes no sense what so ever. Tuk tuks are for tourists to use while on holiday in a tourist destination, so it's the income of the tourists that's relevant not the locals. So paying the same price for a taxi here as any boring old town in the UK to me is a fair deal.

What's the difference in a restaurant charging the same price as the West, in a tourist destination and a taxi company. And before anyone mentions the corruption, I think you'll find all business have to pay their 'Taxes' to remain open, and foul play to rivals is probably just as prevalent, yet nobody seems to have issues with anything but tuk tuks.

Thailand is a CHEAP tourist destination. It's not villas in belize, its not miami, it's not japan.

its THAILAND. People come here because its cheap, the 50 000usd a day villas are ALWAYS empty, they only need like 3-4 days of booking a year to make a profit.

Also your argument makes no sense, every single other beach in thailand is a lot cheaper.

Yesterday i had a drive to khao lak, i ate next to a 5star resort. Beach front restaurant. Western. Classy. Nice decor. i paid 200baht for a grilled squid in a marvelous olive oil and secret ingredient sauce. It was bigger than my torso, they didnt have the small squid. Yes 200baht.

In patong, or even a thai seafood restaurant with as a view, a street. i would have paid 400-500baht for it in phuket. It would of tasted far from as good as this one, it was the best grilled squid i ever had. I have had grilled squid in cheap to 5 star restaurant in more than 1 country, i know my squid.

The whole menu was dirt cheap, same price as small upcountry thai restaurant, and it the food is far from that quality.

Why would phuket be any different?

[BangTaoBoy]

Thailand is a CHEAP tourist destination. It's not villas in belize, its not miami, it's not japan.

its THAILAND. People come here because its cheap, the 50 000usd a day villas are ALWAYS empty, they only need like 3-4 days of booking a year to make a profit.

Also your argument makes no sense, every single other beach in thailand is a lot cheaper.

I never really understand your posts, except the ones where you are obviously trying to be rude and offensive to the people whose country you are staying in, and I'm afraid this one is no exception.

You're saying that in Phuket food is more expensive than every where else?? Well that was the exact point I was making. People don't seem to have any issues with the exorbitantly priced restaurants, but always harp on about how expensive the tuk tuks are. Surely they are both priced according to their location and the visitors who fly in from all over the world to use them.

This is why all tuk tuk issues should be discussed separately. When how expensive they are, gets mixed in with their monopoly and their control of parking spaces, with a very few violent attacks thrown in (I don't care what 'LivinLOS' says, incidents where drivers hit tourists with sticks and the like, are very rare) and then you end up with an illogical, irrational loathing of tuk tuks that every man and his dog wants to jump on. You have people who have never been to Phuket before coming on here and the first thing they'll mention is the tuk tuk mafia, when they are just regurgitating all the nonsense they've read on here.

Anyway, I'm look forward to hearing genuine accounts as to what happens to people on a daily basis which can be used as proof that this place is getting so bad. Maybe we can help those who are constantly having problems to identify where they are going wrong. There must be a simple explanation as to why some have so many problems and others don't.

[BIGTOE3]

I never really understand your posts, except the ones where you are obviously trying to be rude and offensive to the people whose country you are staying in, and I'm afraid this one is no exception.

You're saying that in Phuket food is more expensive than every where else?? Well that was the exact point I was making. People don't seem to have any issues with the exorbitantly priced restaurants, but always harp on about how expensive the tuk tuks are. Surely they are both priced according to their location and the visitors who fly in from all over the world to use them.

This is why all tuk tuk issues should be discussed separately. When how expensive they are, gets mixed in with their monopoly and their control of parking spaces, with a very few violent attacks thrown in (I don't care what 'LivinLOS' says, incidents where drivers hit tourists with sticks and the like, are very rare) and then you end up with an illogical, irrational loathing of tuk tuks that every man and his dog wants to jump on. You have people who have never been to Phuket before coming on here and the first thing they'll mention is the tuk tuk mafia, when they are just regurgitating all the nonsense they've read on here.

Anyway, I'm look forward to hearing genuine accounts as to what happens to people on a daily basis which can be used as proof that this place is getting so bad. Maybe we can help those who are constantly having problems to identify where they are going wrong. There must be a simple explanation as to why some have so many problems and others don't.

You are really weird and can't see what is really happening. I think as you own your own car you are blind and can't see that this problem will get WORSE.

Any way I have heard enough so I am out of this thread,

YOU ARE JUST WRONG PAL

[BangTaoBoy]

You are really weird and can't see what is really happening. I think as you own your own car you are blind and can't see that this problem will get WORSE.

Any way I have heard enough so I am out of this thread,

YOU ARE JUST WRONG PAL

Fair enough mate.

So obviously 'BIGTOE3' hasn't got any personal examples to give us, as I expected. Anybody else?

I'm not looking for the well documented cases we all know so well. I'm not looking for 'LivinLOS' to cut and paste stories from other forums as he so often does, nor any of his stories that start 'This friend of mine this' and 'This mate of mine that'. I'm looking for people who have expressed their deep loathing of tuk tuks in this thread, to share personal examples of why tuk tuks are such a big deal in their lives.

I believe that 95% of all the anti tuk tuk hype is based on second, third, and fourth hand information. It's based on the same old unsubstantiated nonsense regurgitated time and time again on this forum. As I said before, it's got so out of hand that people who haven't even stepped foot on this island, come on to this forum and start bleating on about the tuk tuk mafia as if they have first hand experiences.

So, when did a tuk tuk driver last wrong you? Stories please.

[ESB7]

So apparently the average daily wage in Thiland is 300 baht and in London is 110 pounds, that therfor means that a London taxi driver should charge almost 150 pounds for a 5 minute journey if it is Ok as it is a tourist area???????????? get real, the tuk tuks are over charging!!!

That's not how things work is it! The price of a tuk tuk journey is very similar to that of the same length journey in a taxi where I'm from, except where I'm from isn't a world famous holiday destination. Phuket is. Using the daily wage of a Thai person as a point of reference makes no sense what so ever. Tuk tuks are for tourists to use while on holiday in a tourist destination, so it's the income of the tourists that's relevant not the locals. So paying the same price for a taxi here as any boring old town in the UK to me is a fair deal.

What's the difference in a restaurant charging the same price as the West, in a tourist destination and a taxi company. And before anyone mentions the corruption, I think you'll find all business have to pay their 'Taxes' to remain open, and foul play to rivals is probably just as prevalent, yet nobody seems to have issues with anything but tuk tuks.

London boring???..... :lol:

Edited October 23, 2010 by ESB7

[ilyelol]

an other guy who's never had friends trying to defend the poor thai touts just to get some attention?

Seems like livinglos just decided to give up on the attention seeker.

[petercallen]

No one makes anyone use a Tuk Tuk

You can rent a motorbike/scooter for 24 hours for the same price as one Tuk Tuk ride

When people go on about restaurant prices that's easily fixed.

Don't go to restaurants set up for the tourist trade, they are expensive anywhere in the world.

There are plenty of restaurants even some in Patong which have very reasonable prices.

[KarenBravo]

No one makes anyone use a Tuk Tuk

You can rent a motorbike/scooter for 24 hours for the same price as one Tuk Tuk ride

Not exactly very feasible if they are:-

1. Husband, wife and child.

2. Have never ridden a motorbike.

3. Are elderly.

4. Don't have a driving license and are law-abiding.

Bet the above makes up well over 50% of the tourists that come here.

It's very easy. A beach to beach bus service is needed on this world reknowned tourist destination.

Edited October 24, 2010 by KarenBravo

[LivinLOS]

Can you and others please give examples, of how the fact that things are getting worse here

And group / gang muggings at 366% rise isnt enough for you ???

I do give examples.. Then you say that 'my mates' are lies.. I then prove them.. And then the subject gets changed.

[petercallen]

No one makes anyone use a Tuk Tuk

You can rent a motorbike/scooter for 24 hours for the same price as one Tuk Tuk ride

Not exactly very feasible if they are:-

1. Husband, wife and child.

2. Have never ridden a motorbike.

3. Are elderly.

4. Don't have a driving license and are law-abiding.

Bet the above makes up well over 50% of the tourists that come here.

How many tourists have children with them, 95% would be singles or couples

How many expats who live here have an overseas motorcycle license or have a Thai bike license now

and have ridden a bike before coming to Asia

How many tourists are elderly

How many people are law abiding in Phuket as far as licenses go

[LivinLOS]

When how expensive they are, gets mixed in with their monopoly and their control of parking spaces, with a very few violent attacks thrown in (I don't care what 'LivinLOS' says, incidents where drivers hit tourists with sticks and the like, are very rare)

So I take it you don t believe the other forum member who had a gun pulled on him then ?? Or the other forum member whose car got trashed ?? Or the knife incident I posted details off ??

The reason they can charge those prices.. Is BECAUSE they use thuggery to control the market, enforce the cartel, stop alternative models which would help establish a more free market price. Its cause and effect not separate issues.

It makes no sense for a 100m ride in Patong to be one days min wage. No amount of saying its for tourists covers that.. KFC is for tourists and they pay 200 baht a day.. Tuktuk driving is not a highly skilled job with aq shortage of applicants, but the chain of corruption that ends at the mayor and senior policemans wallets, are why the thuggery and enforced cartel pricing is tolerated. the price we pay, is to make Pian rich, the losses to brand Thailand, are to make Pain rich, the multi millions baht spent by the TAT, which is then invalidated (or at least lessoned in effectiveness) by every news item of a tuktuk problem, is lossed to make Pian rich.

And just accepting it as 'how it is' (when it wasnt always like that) continues to allow Pian and Co to pull in >5 mil a month (based on 580 registered tuktuks in Patong at 10k a head).

Edited October 24, 2010 by LivinLOS

[LivinLOS]

No one makes anyone use a Tuk Tuk

You can rent a motorbike/scooter for 24 hours for the same price as one Tuk Tuk ride

When people go on about restaurant prices that's easily fixed.

Don't go to restaurants set up for the tourist trade, they are expensive anywhere in the world.

There are plenty of restaurants even some in Patong which have very reasonable prices.

Drink and ride.. You know it makes sense..

[geriatrickid]

Some of the comments are bised because the people live in an area cut off from the rest of the island.

When I first visited Phuket, it was in the early 90's. I stayed at the Dusit Laguna in Bang Tao. Affordable luxury and the beach was free of touts. No one bothered anyone and the beach wasn't destroyed by jetskis, paragliders and chairs crammed 4 deep. I thought, wow, this is fantastic.

I've been using Patong as a base over the past 4 years. Ok sure it's a hole but it is tourist center. The area between Karon and Kamala with Patong in the center is the no.1 tourist drop off point on Phuket. It is no strange coincidence that almost all of the tourist ripoffs occur in this area. I have seen more violence, fights, and ripoffs then I have seen anywhere else I have been and it gets worse every year. That's the reality. When I first visited Bangla back in 92, no need to fear the pickpockets, aggressive touts or nasty kathoeys. Today, it's a gauntlet of despair.

The K2K strip as a tourist cluster zone has been completely neglected. TAT as a promoter says it wants families to come and there has been a change in tourist demographics. In Patong, it is not uncommon to see families with kids or young couples. The sex tourists were getting squeezed out or are migrating to Pattaya where they belong. The reason the GDP in Phuket is 2-3X greater than other areas of Thailand is because the Hiltons, Marriotts, Novotels, and Laguna complexes generate hundreds of millions of baht in revenue for the island coffers. These resorts cater to regular people. Some are families and yes some may be single, but to call these singles sex tourists is not an accurate description. The hotels and restaraunts in the k2k strip generate almost 20% of the island's GDP and employ 15% of the Thais on the island. And yet, the uncontrolled tuk tuks hold the prosperity of the region back. It is unheard of in any major tourist destination that a select group of corrupt thugs would be allowed to rob the general population and impede general prosperity. That's the issue.

Edited October 24, 2010 by geriatrickid

[bunta71]

If they had a road code.proper tuition.lights that worked and on and on there might be a great leap to more safety on Phuket's roads.

I think its a lot more the sporadic implementation of law.. Police work isnt police work as we think of it.. Its random fine collecting, mixed in with being paid to allow law breaking (bar openings, bar noise, nudity, prostitution, etc).. So theres no problem with a policeman standing there watching 3 up 14 year olds on an uninsured scooter with no license or helmets speeding off, as long as hes not in fine collecting mode on the 15th or 30th of the month. Sure it would save lives, but where the policemans upside in enforcing that law.

The same goes for all other rules, the tessabaan is not in the business of controlling building codes, hes in the business of being paid to tolerate the breaking of those codes, with the cost to break them depending on their severity and the 'juice' of the applicant.

When this is the basic fabric of society, things stop being about right and wrong, and start being about power and connections. And all rules be they traffic, building, or any other social construct become grey and opaque.

Then you have the rules that are allowed to be broken, because they are just poor Thais.. The cop who grew up being carted about 3 up helmetless on a scooter isnt likely to see much reason to stop the practice, no matter what the law says. Hence we have the ridiculous amount of road death, I was chatting with a nice Thai fella the other day and he said in his gang of mates 9 died in their teens on the roads !! 9 of his close circle.. 3 in one day !! Start thinking about the numbers and it just boggles the mind.

All we can do is drive defensively, own a safe vehicle and be fully insured (tho they often refuse to pay the blood money) cos they wont be changing in the near term, and it requires a radical change is the whole thinking and policing, a huge leap.

Extremely well put

[ilyelol]

No one makes anyone use a Tuk Tuk

You can rent a motorbike/scooter for 24 hours for the same price as one Tuk Tuk ride

Not exactly very feasible if they are:-

1. Husband, wife and child.

2. Have never ridden a motorbike.

3. Are elderly.

4. Don't have a driving license and are law-abiding.

Bet the above makes up well over 50% of the tourists that come here.

How many tourists have children with them, 95% would be singles or couples

How many expats who live here have an overseas motorcycle license or have a Thai bike license now

and have ridden a bike before coming to Asia

How many tourists are elderly

How many people are law abiding in Phuket as far as licenses go

there is a lot of tourist that come with their kids, they just dont hang around bangla at 10pm

[petercallen]

No one makes anyone use a Tuk Tuk

You can rent a motorbike/scooter for 24 hours for the same price as one Tuk Tuk ride

When people go on about restaurant prices that's easily fixed.

Don't go to restaurants set up for the tourist trade, they are expensive anywhere in the world.

There are plenty of restaurants even some in Patong which have very reasonable prices.

Drink and ride.. You know it makes sense..

What percentage of people drink alcohol and then ride a bike.

I am not one of them are you

I would rather use a Tuk Tuk

But there again i do not need to

[petercallen]

How many tourists have children with them, 95% would be singles or couples

How many expats who live here have an overseas motorcycle license or have a Thai bike license now

and have ridden a bike before coming to Asia

How many tourists are elderly

How many people are law abiding in Phuket as far as licenses go

there is a lot of tourist that come with their kids, they just dont hang around bangla at 10pm

I do not hang around bangla road ever now, The last time we were in Patong in the evening was new years eve for the fireworks

We go in the day time, 5% of tourists with children accompanying them is right in my opinion

[ilyelol]

How many tourists have children with them, 95% would be singles or couples

How many expats who live here have an overseas motorcycle license or have a Thai bike license now

and have ridden a bike before coming to Asia

How many tourists are elderly

How many people are law abiding in Phuket as far as licenses go

there is a lot of tourist that come with their kids, they just dont hang around bangla at 10pm

I do not hang around bangla road ever now, The last time we were in Patong in the evening was new years eve for the fireworks

We go in the day time, 5% of tourists with children accompanying them is right in my opinion

The vast majority of people with kids, hang out in their cheap hotel room in the middle of nowhere or at tesco phuket's mcdonalds.. those who are on jetstar flights.

They rarely go outside, but the cheap "shopping" centers are full of them

[madmitch]

Why do threads get so far from the original topic on this forum? It's like a game of Chinese whispers.

For information, thousands of families with children come to Phuket. If you look in the more chid-friendly hotels there are dozens of them playing in the pool. Even in Patong there are many hotels with kids' clubs.

They don't just frequent the cheaper hotels in the middle of nowhere and hang around at Tesco Lotus (Ilyelol does come up with some of the most ridiculous statements at times) and I would say the majority are not on the Jetstar flights but on one of the numerous package tours from Europe, particularly Scandinavia. They also tend to spend a lot of their time in or around the hotel, including in the evenings. It's much easier for parents. That's why you don't see so many on the streets, in the bars or even restaurants.

It's a much bigger market than some seem to think.

And to get back close to the original topic, to get anywhere these families have to use the tuktuks as they won't fit on a bike (unless they are Thai that is!).

[steelepulse]

>>We go in the day time, 5% of tourists with children accompanying them is right in my opinion

Most of the families during the daytime would actually be on the beach, not on bangla. I go to Kata/Karon and the percentage of families with kids on the beach during the day is much higher than 5%, but I'm heading O/T now.