Phuket Taxis Blockade Luxury Cruise Ship Passengers From Disembarking

[templedog]

I was a taxi driver in NYC for 5 years way back in the 80's, and let me tell

you.....we robbed tourists! I hate that I have ever done that, but....I was 18-23 years old

at the time. That's no excuse, but, I have since balanced my "karma".

I agree with what this post says, freedom of choice. If taxis are fair

then taxis can get business, if they are cheats, **** 'em. And **** the Thai mafia.

**** the Thai politicians too. Oh, **** the cruise ships too!! They are nothing but floating

polluting, tax evading, hotels anyway. Boring old farts.....like my parents! Sorry, mom.

It will sort out when they stop coming to PEWKET.

BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE!! :jap:

Business people minim ise risk, and maximise income potential. The sword is not entirely for Thailand Local Mafia to negiate between each other here. It is also the choice of the cruise ship, where and when they visit - meaning they do not have to stop again in Phuket.

This kind of publicioty (it happened before with a US Navy Vessel also), will discourage new business to Phuket.

Instead of treating the cuise-goers as cattle (half access to tourists) Thais must realise that tourists are a personal commodity, rather than an impersonal commodity, unlike a bag of rice they are used to generating income from.

These Tuk Tuk drivers should be arrested for restricting the freedom of choice and movement of the cruise-goers, as any person in Thailand is entitled to provided they have not broken the law and have no intention to break the law. This is where countries which do not negotiate with organised crime are ahead of the rest - enjoy your time in Penang guys, it is a lovely and relativly crime-free part of Malaysia

[davidA]

My sister and her husband and 3 other couples had planned a trip to "amazing" Thailand this year,they saved for nearly two years,they are people of around the ages of fifty and far from stupid,they read Thai visa and they are aware what goes on, because i live here i always keep her up to date with the weekly goings on and i often send her a "Pattaya People or Pattaya times or such"the idea of the trip was to have a last "time together" with one of their number whom is in the early stages of terminal breast cancer.The idea was to "do" Bangkok,Phuket,samui,Chang and if they had time,Pattaya.It was planned that my wife (Thai) and i were to meet up with them on Phuket.When one of the couples read about the drugs in Pattaya and what was'nt being done about it,the Phuket surf runner scams,reports of people being ripped off every where they go, chain snatching by thieves that are no more than thug kids,Marines having guns pulled on them, even non Thais hacking into peoples bank accounts(i was going to put some money in a savings account for her to use while she was here to avoid the percentage charge on travellers cheques(another rip off).To make it worse, a girl who works at my sisters company,having just returned from an island tour of Thailand couldnt wait to tell her how filthy,smelly,intimidating and downright disgusting(health and safety wise not sleeze) Pattaya was(and the revue of the islands wasnt much better)After a long conversation by email with my sister and my attempts to change her mind,th upshot of it is,that they are not,now coming to Thailand,my sister has decided that Disney world Florida is more deserving of her money and her sick friends peace of mind,the pity of it all is,that my sister is a big spender and with her friends(all in high paying employment)would have spent a small fortune here,once again Thailand loses because of its peoples behaviour. saying all this,i was very amused when it was stated that so many millions of tourists had visited Thailand last summer and so many billions of Baht had been made,a simple adding up on the calculator showed that each tourist had spent 37.5 baht...Welcome to Thailand,you sons and daughters of Russia and Iran

[silk]

I don't think the tourists on the ship will care 'bout what they have to pay on top of that... cos' they are for sure quite wealthy ...

but the problem is how many guys will have a 2nd chance to visit Puket again like the Brazilian guy in the story? .....

this might be their 1st and last time to come to Puket ... That was unforgettable welcome ...... Whatta shame for Taxis and TUk Tuks!

I think you misunderstood. Tour operators pre-sell packages and tourists pay in advance outside thailand, there must be a contract between the overseas tour operator and an agent in Thailand, to make sure the service is provided at a certain rate (the rate it was sold for and some profit).

What would you say, if you booked a trip to paris, transfer included, nobody there and you have to pay the transport AGAIN.

Wealthy people do generally not book packages and I doubt if they would be happy with a tuk tuk and all the discussions about the price

[Just1Voice]

I don't think the tourists on the ship will care 'bout what they have to pay on top of that... cos' they are for sure quite wealthy ...

but the problem is how many guys will have a 2nd chance to visit Puket again like the Brazilian guy in the story? .....

this might be their 1st and last time to come to Puket ... That was unforgettable welcome ...... Whatta shame for Taxis and TUk Tuks!

I agree with most of what you say, except: "cos' they are for sure quite wealthy...". Actually, that's not true. People who are "quite wealthy" rarely take "group tours". The people who make up the tour groups such as this are middle income people, or those who are retired and on pensions, and who are looking for the best travel deal they can get on their budgets. Many of these people have saved their money for a year or more to be able to take a tour such as this, and everything has been carefully thought and planned out.

These are also, in many cases, people who have no qualms or hesitation about filing a suit against a tour company for failure to fulfill the contractual obligation of what the customer paid for and was supposed to get. Let a few of those happen and you can bet the tour companies are going to be taking a second, hard look at places like Phuket, and advising their customers to go somewhere else.

Then all the tuk tuk mafia can sit around on the docks all day waiting for nothing.

Serves them right.

What's funny, or perhaps sad, is that last summer I found myself in a position of where I was in Chiang Mai at the Kad Suan Kaew Mall and had to get home, which is 18 kilometers from the mall. 150 baht for a tuk tuk.

[backstairs]

Moral of the story: if you do not get what you want - block the road. Then people listen. Then you get at least half of what you want. It will surely tempt other groups to take up this direct action. Or some might say civil disobedience. Mind you I did this sort of thing at college when a student union man. It was called agit-prop or strike. Now it is called industrial action. Some might even see it as socialism. Cunard will have to get some amphibious landing craft then they can do it all themselves.

[dude007]

I cant wait for thai government to allow only meter taxi in phuket or something like that, most taxi and tuktuk in phuket are insanely unfriendly and overpriced and definitly a reason why tourist might not want to come back to phuket. They rather sit all day long doing nothing than lower their prices even in low season.

A full blow on the nailhead! Very correct statement Newbie: I fully agree with your views. The best way should be to abolish all these red and yellow tuk-tuk drivers (a real mafia) who are all damaging the Phuket tourism by their arrogance and the over priced unfriendly services.

Tuk-tuks: somnamna...

[blabla1]

We always hear about "the powers that be" seems to me, the powers that be, are the ones who take the bull by the horns,such as these taxi drivers,after all,who is going to stop them? ridiculous, beyond words, we have seen authority and government held to ransom in the street,because no bastard knows what to do about the problem or is payed off to disappear on that day...oh dear...getting frustrated again... :angry:

[bristolgeoff]

they are pissed off they don,t get too overcharge the tourist for a taxi tour or ride.the cruise company was doing them a service offering them tours at a fair price.now they are complaining they are poor and need the work.they must think the tourist are stupid too pay over inflated prices for transport.

[jsummer05]

3 things :

people who allow themselves to be ripped by tuk tuks are their own enemies - you have a mouth to ask prices/negotiate , forums to research prices , mopeds to rent , or legs to walk . always works for me in thailand ! when i encountered high prices [each day] quoted i laughed and kept on walking . 400bht for a 300m journey was my best quote lol .

people sounding off about thai being expensive and offering langkawi and penang as alternatives makes me laugh ! penang and langkawi is really expensive for drink . drink and hotels arent exactly cheap , and when comparing pen/lgk to thai beaches and thai oceans its no contest ... pen/lgk are a million miles away from thai standards . id pay double to go to thai over malaysia . £20 fora bottle of cheapest wine and £4 for a beer ... taxi to thailand please .

thai is well cheaper than back home tuk tuk price or not .

im not defending tuk tuks , but tourists give them the money . if they didnt they wouldnt charge that much .

[asiawatcher]

Funny isn't it? We all keep saying on the forums what a bunch of wanke_rs and thieving bastards the taxis/Tuk-Tuks are in Phuket but it always falls on deaf ears. Even looking at this logically - ship was here for a half day - of course the tour operators did not need or require the services of Taxis and Tuk-Tuks! What take them from the ship to ....? Then rip them off for Baht 300? Al I can say is get a life and everyone bar none should avoid that cesspool of mafia run businesses. Wake up Thailand - there are not too many reason people want to stop in - do you think the vessels will continue to put up with this heavy handed crap? And what about the Thai authorities? Oh never mind. Stupid question.

[lbjcb]

Cruise patrons have paid in advance for transportation and a Tour Package supplied by Thai Vendors.

Dha, No problem.

If I were on a cruise and wanted to go on a organized tour, it is my business.

If I want to pay the local Tuk Tuk's then I would visit on my own and not buy a package tour.

But sounds like Cruise operators may start avoiding Phuket if the local Government does not stop the tuk tuks from interferring in passengers and their pre paid tours thru thai operators.

[afx]

I wonder if anyone is pressing the TAT for an official statement from them regarding this -- I'd like to hear what they have to say about the toothless complicit Governor in all of this. Also presumably the Governor and senior police involved in this are answerable to someone in Bangkok ?? Have any of the Phuket rags got the gumption to press this ?? Unlikely and if they did unlikely anything would happen in a land where actions rarely have consequences.

[joboss]

Yes, true . . . but more importantly when it comes to Tourism now, Thailand is becoming the joke of the world and a place to avoid.

Wrong , Thailand is in love with its new tourists from the Middel East, Russia and Korea, all highly educated people with developed cultural sensibilities ( who will hopefully treat the Thais for what they are).

Good, Smart thinking.

[silk]

Cruise patrons have paid in advance for transportation and a Tour Package supplied by Thai Vendors.

Dha, No problem.

If I were on a cruise and wanted to go on a organized tour, it is my business.

If I want to pay the local Tuk Tuk's then I would visit on my own and not buy a package tour.

But sounds like Cruise operators may start avoiding Phuket if the local Government does not stop the tuk tuks from interferring in passengers and their pre paid tours thru thai operators.

Finally somebody understands the difference between paying in advance and expecting the paid service and not buying a package and to be on their own.

Congratulations!

[theanimaster]

Life will go on. The mafia will have their way, and you can all just continue to paint a rosy picture for us all. That we wish the scumbag taxi drivers' business will dry up due to a cease in ferries to stop over in Phuket... Yeah right.

Sometimes I think we farangs are all talk and no action. At least Thais come out wearing red shirts and burn shit down. All we do is jump on these boards and curse the shit out of the scum of Thailand.

But what do WE actually do about it?

Nothing.

Life will go on... Tha taxi mafia wins...

[IAMSOBAD]

Attention Farang...Stop bitching on TV and lets all start an email campaign to all of our friends...relatives...embassies...travel websites...tour websites...twitter...Facebook...Thai Government...TAT...AOT...and everywhere you can think of demanding punishment instead of rewards for scam morons of Thailand.

[alstaxi]

I wonder if anyone is pressing the TAT for an official statement from them regarding this -- I'd like to hear what they have to say about the toothless complicit Governor in all of this. Also presumably the Governor and senior police involved in this are answerable to someone in Bangkok ?? Have any of the Phuket rags got the gumption to press this ?? Unlikely and if they did unlikely anything would happen in a land where actions rarely have consequences.

An official statement????, that would be as meaningful as the Pattaya mayors official statement on the jet ski scam, he said he knew who was doing the scamming, they better look out , and that was that, absolutely *** all done . When everyone has their finger in the pie NOTHING can be done.

[midnightsun]

Attention Farang...Stop bitching on TV and lets all start an email campaign to all of our friends...relatives...embassies...travel websites...tour websites...twitter...Facebook...Thai Government...TAT...AOT...and everywhere you can think of demanding punishment instead of rewards for scam morons of Thailand.

do you have emails? governor, vice governor, news media, bkk, tat, ect?

[silk]

Life will go on. The mafia will have their way, and you can all just continue to paint a rosy picture for us all. That we wish the scumbag taxi drivers' business will dry up due to a cease in ferries to stop over in Phuket... Yeah right.

Sometimes I think we farangs are all talk and no action. At least Thais come out wearing red shirts and burn shit down. All we do is jump on these boards and curse the shit out of the scum of Thailand.

But what do WE actually do about it?

Nothing.

Life will go on... Tha taxi mafia wins...

I think you are right, the taxi mafia wins.

The forum is mixed by

- people living and working here on local salaries, who have a thai partner negotiating the prices for them

- people living and working here on local salaries, who have no thai partner to negotiate prices (they will learn with the time)

- tourists coming here for several months with income from a country with higher salaries or pension, for them everything is cheaper

- tourists coming the first time, who have salaries form their home country, they might not even know the difference what is cheap and expensive here

How can there ever be a honest discussion, if the basic situation of the individual, participating in this forum, is so different. I think "cheap" and "expensive" are terms defined by the individual, based on his/her situation.

Nothing will change here and the taxi mafia wins.

[happyrobert]

Simple case of supply and demand.

We demand you supply us customers.

[blabla1]

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

Yes, true . . . but more importantly when it comes to Tourism now, Thailand is becoming the joke of the world and a place to avoid.

Wrong , Thailand is in love with its new tourists from the Middel East, Russia and Korea, all highly educated people with developed cultural sensibilities ( who will hopefully treat the Thais for what they are).

Good, Smart thinking.

[dunkin2012]

he is bein' ironic .... i know

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

Yes, true . . . but more importantly when it comes to Tourism now, Thailand is becoming the joke of the world and a place to avoid.

Wrong , Thailand is in love with its new tourists from the Middel East, Russia and Korea, all highly educated people with developed cultural sensibilities ( who will hopefully treat the Thais for what they are).

Good, Smart thinking.

I think you are right, the taxi mafia wins.

The forum is mixed by

- people living and working here on local salaries, who have a thai partner negotiating the prices for them

- people living and working here on local salaries, who have no thai partner to negotiate prices (they will learn with the time)

- tourists coming here for several months with income from a country with higher salaries or pension, for them everything is cheaper

- tourists coming the first time, who have salaries form their home country, they might not even know the difference what is cheap and expensive here

How can there ever be a honest discussion, if the basic situation of the individual, participating in this forum, is so different. I think "cheap" and "expensive" are terms defined by the individual, based on his/her situation.

Nothing will change here and the taxi mafia wins.

as you said it's correct... if they haven't been here b4 they might not get the idea of how to deal with it.....

they just pay whatever these tuktuks ask them... they might end up paying many times more .. than usual....

Me would say not cheap or expensive.. let's make it reasonable for the time bein' and make sense.... to me....it's enough....

Edited April 6, 2011 by dunkin2012

[Mobi]

A few years back I took two separate luxury cruises out of Singapore with my Thai wife. These cruises lasted around 10 days and toured the South East Asian region; Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore etc.

On the first cruise, we stopped at Phuket for a day, much in the same manner as the cruise in this news item did. The cruise organised mini buses for those going on trips of the Island, but my wife and I elected to 'do our own thing'. We, along with all those electing to do likewise, were warned in advance by the cruise staff to avoid using the Thai taxis and tuk tuks that parked in the harbour as they charge extortionate prices. we were advised to take a ten minute walk outside the harbour where we would be able to obtain transport at a more reasonable price.

This we did, but I noticed that very few other tourists bothered as it was quite a long walk in the hot sun. On our way out of the port we were shouted at and abused by all the parked taxi and tuk tuk drivers. This was despite the fact that my wife was Thai and we could both speak Thai and we did try to negotiate with one or two but they wanted silly money.

On the second cruise we stopped at Koh Samui for the day and had a very similar experience.

Thailand was the only country on either cruise where we had anything but the most tourist-friendly, hassle-free and scam-free treatment. In all our other stop-offs, the locals were wonderful and did not rip us off. Even my wife, who is a passionate Thai patriot, was ashamed of her country and the way they treated these tourists.

But at the end of the day it will make no difference to the number of tourists coming to Thailand, by cruises or any other means.The behaviour of Thais towards tourists will not change. They have been getting away with it for decades and will continue to do so because for every tourist who becomes disillusioned with Thailand, there are probably ten new ones to take their place and the locals know this. They don't care.

[Udox]

This is just the tip of the iceberg that managed to make it into the press.

It doesn't mention the Tuk Tuk mafia controlling which tour companies are allowed into which hotels, which van drivers are allowed to which areas, how much the tour company has to pay the local 'co-operative' (each time) for the 'privelige' of being able to pick up or drop off his client at certain hotels, which 'co-operative' has to be informed who the tour company will pick up and where they are going to - and then hope 'the co-operative' allow it.

Local boys -in- brown, forget it - they are part of the whole scene, and here in Phuket - the son of the mayor is the leader of the 'co-operative - so what hope is there?

Having spent days at sea and with the prospect of a nice tour of Phuket in an air conditioned minibus - these visitors to Phuket are threatened - that unless they use a pissy red 2 stroke open air toy car driven by a maniac - they will not be allowed to go on their tour.

And the police (god bless them) agree on the compromise and that tour operators must now in effect request 'permission' from 'the co-operative' to go about their business (providing tours).

God help the tour vans if they ever sat by the roadside touting for local business as the tuk tuk taxis do.

Heres a thought for them - sell your pissy tuk tuk, buy an air conditioned vehicle and get licensed and enjoy the apparent rich pickings of the tour companies - theres enough to go round - instead of spending all day watching TV sleeping and harassing the very people who you should be treating with respect - your customers.

[sunjunkie56]

These bandits always get it their own way, 'Mafia'? No just organised scum.

I thought the new Governor was going to clean this sort of shit up... obviously not.

I will not be recommending any of mtyfamily of friends visit Phuket. It is not good for your wealth or your health.

Calling these ignorant toss-pots Mafia is a total insult to the real Mafia

[Lannatyne]

It's pretty obvious in all of this that some of the more respectable mini-van tour operators / larger tour operators (maybe the likes of ARS Tours, Pegas, Hello Phuket etc) have missed out big-time today. Being unable to fulfill their pre-existing contracts with Silver Spirit likely means that they won't get paid.

Well guys, it's over to you. You 'biggies' have proper business heads on, so get this mess sorted out in YOUR backyard, or your buses / mini-vans are going to be increasingly empty in the coming years.

[Boatman]

After traveling to Thailand from the USA for 4 of the past 5 years, I am DONE with the scams.

No more Thailand for me! On my last trip a hotel manager told me I owed him an extra 2000 baht because I "broke" a drawer in the night stand. (it was jammed shut and I never used it)

I refused to pay, and insisted he call the police to settle the dispute. The police arrived, took in the story, then issued the verdict....yes I broke the drawer. I owe the manager 2000 baht, plus I owe the police another 2000 for settling the dispute! When I refused I was threatened with going to "monkey house" to calm down. I gave the police 1000 baht for his trouble and made up my mind to NEVER return. I will miss the scams, and especially the raw sewage smell in the streets. World-class tourist destination???

Give me a break

[BuckarooBanzai]

The individuals responsible for the extortion of foreigners love the word MAFIA. It leads one to believe it is an underground family or syndicate controlling the illegitimate money making schemes that are so prevalent in Thailand. The taxi mafia, the jet ski mafia, the umbrella mafia etc. etc. etc. are not controlled by the imaginary "Mafia". They are controlled by those who have real power. Three guesses who that may be! There is an old saying "When the fox guards the chicken house the mafia is always at fault".

[gemguy56]

Yep..amazing Thailand...don't you just love to loath some of the exciting local characters having such charming personalities and all.

Let's just muscle our way into the business and intimidate the locals and the foriengners alike.

We are Thai..we do it the Thai way...we are so clever.....we know the local Police Chief so we are immune from any ramifications anyhow.

Foriegners can afford to be ripped off..... errrr I mean pay far more...I mean look at the size of the ship they arrive on.... that just screams "pockets full of money " to share with us...right? I mean they are just stupid tourists anyhow so we should get some of thier money and we should get it right at the source .....so why are we waiting...lets just go down there in force and block them all from leaving the ship until they aggree to share the tourists with us and then we can over charge them.....like a lot. What can they do about it anyhow.

Lets drink a few more beer and make our move. Remember to bring some steel bars and big sticks if anyone disagrees with us.

This intimidation stuff is profitable...absolutely brilliant how the mind works on big bottles of Singha Beer.

[djlest]

so... they won 50/50 of the share???

Not if the high class cruise passengers refuse to get in some shoddy taxi with some shady monkey who just loiters around shouting at passers by.

If im on a cruise and have a substantial amount of money - i think getting in a mini van with a tour guide and some other passengers is just going to appeal so much more...

What these pathetic lazy taxi mob really want to do - is get the rich farangs to stumble into their path

And what is happening is - the farangs are just not going to step off a cruise ship into a dodgy taxi

they should go after backpackers and realise they are not in the cruise league..