Tipping Songteaw'S And Equality

[caf]

Sawasdee Khrup, TV CM Friends,

ioho we are, in this thread, discussing two sets of circumstances :

1. regularly scheduled songthaew's that run a fixed route such as the yellow ones from Wararot (Kad Luang) to Mae Rim, or the ones at Chiang Mai Gate running out to Hang Dong. for those: prices are well known, fixed, and no need to tip. to our minds these are the songthaews Khun SarahsBloke is discussing.

2. the "free roaming" red songthaews which you flag down. with those we always make sure we have a clear agreement on price with the driver: because we've had some attempted rip-offs in the past when we didn't.

But, in case #2, we take into account the following: the location, the time of day or night, the likelihood of the driver getting a return fare from the location you are going to, and whether or not the driver has been waiting in a queue (like at Airport Plaza or the Night Bazaar). These factors go into our evaluation of whether the driver's asking price, or the price we bargain them down to is reasonable. If it's not reasonable, we say thanks, and walk away.

And there are special circumstances in which we are willing to pay more: like we've locked up our bicycle at the train station, and we want to go Airport Plaza via the SuperHighway, and do not want to go through town at 5PM through heavy traffic. Or we (rarely) want the driver to take our bicycle in the truck with us.

We do tip, a small amount, when we feel we've been given some special sense of extra good service, or when some contingency has come along that has made the driver wait for us longer than agreed upon.

For short trips within town, between populous areas in daytime hours, we'd seldom pay more than twenty baht, but you always have to be willing to accept that the other people already in the van may take you way out of your way. And it's quite hard, even speaking fairly fluent 'daily conversational Thai,' to get the driver to tell you where the other five people in the van are going ... and you may not be able to gauge the delay anyway, since you may have no idea where Thanon Sirikmankarajan Soi #X is anyway.

In conclusion, this humble flea in the ear of a mangy soi dog dares to lay at your lotus feet the idea that red songthaews ain't taxis. And, they have every right not to take you if they don't like the "deal."

best, ~o:37;

Good post.

When you say "we thank you" to the driver does he immediately think there are two of you and charge you 40 baht.

[Soulwy]

Sawasdee Khrup, TV CM Friends,

ioho we are, in this thread, discussing two sets of circumstances :

1. regularly scheduled songthaew's that run a fixed route such as the yellow ones from Wararot (Kad Luang) to Mae Rim, or the ones at Chiang Mai Gate running out to Hang Dong. for those: prices are well known, fixed, and no need to tip. to our minds these are the songthaews Khun SarahsBloke is discussing.

2. the "free roaming" red songthaews which you flag down. with those we always make sure we have a clear agreement on price with the driver: because we've had some attempted rip-offs in the past when we didn't.

But, in case #2, we take into account the following: the location, the time of day or night, the likelihood of the driver getting a return fare from the location you are going to, and whether or not the driver has been waiting in a queue (like at Airport Plaza or the Night Bazaar). These factors go into our evaluation of whether the driver's asking price, or the price we bargain them down to is reasonable. If it's not reasonable, we say thanks, and walk away.

And there are special circumstances in which we are willing to pay more: like we've locked up our bicycle at the train station, and we want to go Airport Plaza via the SuperHighway, and do not want to go through town at 5PM through heavy traffic. Or we (rarely) want the driver to take our bicycle in the truck with us.

We do tip, a small amount, when we feel we've been given some special sense of extra good service, or when some contingency has come along that has made the driver wait for us longer than agreed upon.

For short trips within town, between populous areas in daytime hours, we'd seldom pay more than twenty baht, but you always have to be willing to accept that the other people already in the van may take you way out of your way. And it's quite hard, even speaking fairly fluent 'daily conversational Thai,' to get the driver to tell you where the other five people in the van are going ... and you may not be able to gauge the delay anyway, since you may have no idea where Thanon Sirikmankarajan Soi #X is anyway.

In conclusion, this humble flea in the ear of a mangy soi dog dares to lay at your lotus feet the idea that red songthaews ain't taxis. And, they have every right not to take you if they don't like the "deal."

best, ~o:37;

Thank you for this complete and (poetic ) answer, as always...

I try to avoid songthaews and tuktuks as much as possible. My bargaintalents are limited and the hassle makes me very tired. I am happier than happy to have a motorbike, now.

So 20 baht around town is the usual price... good to know...

Tipping Songthaew or TukTuk... Why? The ones driving around town take care of themselves very well, and most of the time you (at least I...) pay more than locals...so why tip?

When a friend moved a couple of boxes to his new home (fm centre to Faham) the songthaew driver charged him 150 Baht... And like you said...they ain't taxis.

And tipping for being treated just like others...? Isn't this how it is supposed to be? Why tip...? It would be as petting the dog for good behaviour. Naaa...

So no tipping the Songs and Tuks.

Edited December 9, 2010 by Soulwy

[meadish_sweetball]

I tip gas station attendants because I figure they need every penny they can get - not much future prospects in that line of work, and if they keep up that profession their brains will turn to mush in old age.   I have tipped songthaew drivers on occasion, but I normally dont. Not so few of them make a decent buck compared to other low skilled labourers.

[jayjay0]

Sawasdee Khrup, TV CM Friends,

ioho we are, in this thread, discussing two sets of circumstances :

1. regularly scheduled songthaew's that run a fixed route such as the yellow ones from Wararot (Kad Luang) to Mae Rim, or the ones at Chiang Mai Gate running out to Hang Dong. for those: prices are well known, fixed, and no need to tip. to our minds these are the songthaews Khun SarahsBloke is discussing.

2. the "free roaming" red songthaews which you flag down. with those we always make sure we have a clear agreement on price with the driver: because we've had some attempted rip-offs in the past when we didn't.

But, in case #2, we take into account the following: the location, the time of day or night, the likelihood of the driver getting a return fare from the location you are going to, and whether or not the driver has been waiting in a queue (like at Airport Plaza or the Night Bazaar). These factors go into our evaluation of whether the driver's asking price, or the price we bargain them down to is reasonable. If it's not reasonable, we say thanks, and walk away.

And there are special circumstances in which we are willing to pay more: like we've locked up our bicycle at the train station, and we want to go Airport Plaza via the SuperHighway, and do not want to go through town at 5PM through heavy traffic. Or we (rarely) want the driver to take our bicycle in the truck with us.

We do tip, a small amount, when we feel we've been given some special sense of extra good service, or when some contingency has come along that has made the driver wait for us longer than agreed upon.

For short trips within town, between populous areas in daytime hours, we'd seldom pay more than twenty baht, but you always have to be willing to accept that the other people already in the van may take you way out of your way. And it's quite hard, even speaking fairly fluent 'daily conversational Thai,' to get the driver to tell you where the other five people in the van are going ... and you may not be able to gauge the delay anyway, since you may have no idea where Thanon Sirikmankarajan Soi #X is anyway.

In conclusion, this humble flea in the ear of a mangy soi dog dares to lay at your lotus feet the idea that red songthaews ain't taxis. And, they have every right not to take you if they don't like the "deal."

best, ~o:37;

Thank you for this complete and (poetic ) answer, as always...

I try to avoid songthaews and tuktuks as much as possible. My bargaintalents are limited and the hassle makes me very tired. I am happier than happy to have a motorbike, now.

So 20 baht around town is the usual price... good to know...

Tipping Songthaew or TukTuk... Why? The ones driving around town take care of themselves very well, and most of the time you (at least I...) pay more than locals...so why tip?

When a friend moved a couple of boxes to his new home (fm centre to Faham) the songthaew driver charged him 150 Baht... And like you said...they ain't taxis.

And tipping for being treated just like others...? Isn't this how it is supposed to be? Why tip...? It would be as petting the dog for good behaviour. Naaa...

So no tipping the Songs and Tuks.

When you pay 20 baht you are giving them a 3 baht tip I believe that is around a 12% tip. (not good with the math here) Correct me if I am wrong.

[caf]

Sawasdee Khrup, TV CM Friends,

ioho we are, in this thread, discussing two sets of circumstances :

1. regularly scheduled songthaew's that run a fixed route such as the yellow ones from Wararot (Kad Luang) to Mae Rim, or the ones at Chiang Mai Gate running out to Hang Dong. for those: prices are well known, fixed, and no need to tip. to our minds these are the songthaews Khun SarahsBloke is discussing.

2. the "free roaming" red songthaews which you flag down. with those we always make sure we have a clear agreement on price with the driver: because we've had some attempted rip-offs in the past when we didn't.

But, in case #2, we take into account the following: the location, the time of day or night, the likelihood of the driver getting a return fare from the location you are going to, and whether or not the driver has been waiting in a queue (like at Airport Plaza or the Night Bazaar). These factors go into our evaluation of whether the driver's asking price, or the price we bargain them down to is reasonable. If it's not reasonable, we say thanks, and walk away.

And there are special circumstances in which we are willing to pay more: like we've locked up our bicycle at the train station, and we want to go Airport Plaza via the SuperHighway, and do not want to go through town at 5PM through heavy traffic. Or we (rarely) want the driver to take our bicycle in the truck with us.

We do tip, a small amount, when we feel we've been given some special sense of extra good service, or when some contingency has come along that has made the driver wait for us longer than agreed upon.

For short trips within town, between populous areas in daytime hours, we'd seldom pay more than twenty baht, but you always have to be willing to accept that the other people already in the van may take you way out of your way. And it's quite hard, even speaking fairly fluent 'daily conversational Thai,' to get the driver to tell you where the other five people in the van are going ... and you may not be able to gauge the delay anyway, since you may have no idea where Thanon Sirikmankarajan Soi #X is anyway.

In conclusion, this humble flea in the ear of a mangy soi dog dares to lay at your lotus feet the idea that red songthaews ain't taxis. And, they have every right not to take you if they don't like the "deal."

best, ~o:37;

Thank you for this complete and (poetic ) answer, as always...

I try to avoid songthaews and tuktuks as much as possible. My bargaintalents are limited and the hassle makes me very tired. I am happier than happy to have a motorbike, now.

So 20 baht around town is the usual price... good to know...

Tipping Songthaew or TukTuk... Why? The ones driving around town take care of themselves very well, and most of the time you (at least I...) pay more than locals...so why tip?

When a friend moved a couple of boxes to his new home (fm centre to Faham) the songthaew driver charged him 150 Baht... And like you said...they ain't taxis.

And tipping for being treated just like others...? Isn't this how it is supposed to be? Why tip...? It would be as petting the dog for good behaviour. Naaa...

So no tipping the Songs and Tuks.

When you pay 20 baht you are giving them a 3 baht tip I believe that is around a 12% tip. (not good with the math here) Correct me if I am wrong.

If the ride is 17 baht then 10% is 1.7 baht, 15% is 50% more again so 2.6 baht so by inspection it's roughly just over 15%. Using a calculator would get it exact ( 3/17= 17.6% )

[elektrified]

I pay the same fare as everyone else

18km from the CM fruit market up the 118 = 17 bht

20km from the CM fruit market to Papong = 15 bht

20km from CM gate to San Glan past Hang Dong = 17 bht

And so you should.

Not exactly honest here are we.

Many is the time I have seen a Thai pay 20baht. Iride them often as I do not have any other means of transoport than my two feet and have lots of experience with them. And yes some of thm wait for change but most don't

Don't understand Thai so if they are saying we are stupid with are money I don't here it for that matter I don't hear them talking at all.

I often see Thais pay 20 Baht for a songtaew as well. I often see Thais give 100 Baht for the flowers you hang on the rear-view mirror. The kids that stand at the intersections sell them for 20 Baht. So you can't really generalize what you think all the locals pay for something.

[gymboxgirl]

I know this threat is about catching a Songteaw out on the street. But what if you call one (like you would a cab) to come and pick you up from your house?

How much would you expect to pay from say, SanSai Noi to town?

I have one Songteaw driver, who I have the number for, charge me 200 B. Is that unreasonable?

[sarahsbloke]

CM centre to Doi Saket = 300bht when I moved house

Just for me and all my worldly....... I didn't think that was unreasonable

[Nienke]

Airport --> 2nd Ringroad/LuckyDogs/Doi Saket = 300 baht for red taxi aka songteaw

Reasonable or unreasonable? Dunno, just wanna get home after a long flight ....

[Nienke]

There is no equality in Thailand and this is fundamental to the mores of Thai society. When 2 Thais meet they must establish seniority and the junior partner wais first to show he/she knows their place in the food chain. Telling Thais that you want to be seen as an equal to a songtaew driver is naive.

Well, there you go ... lots of truth in that.