"Public Transportation" Question

[Yelly]

Sawasdee kaa

My husband and I are finally in Chiang Mai and we've been wandering around the past few days, simply figuring basics out (visits to Rimping & the Airport Plaza were the most of our excitement). We're starting to wonder how the transport works. I've always just hailed the red trucks, told them where I'm going and then they offer a price, which is usually absolutely ridiculous (one man tried to charge me 120 BAHT to ride the truck for five minutes, today...I passed him and settled with a tuktuk for 80 BAHT). Last year when we were here, we fell to the 100 BAHT to anywhere trap....no more!

What's the standard farang fare for the trucks and tuktuk? And how do you go about getting it? They usually highball at first, I understand, but only once every three times or so will they budge with it. The man offering 120 BAHT today would not budge. I don't understand.

Also, what would be the best method for us to get up Chiangmai-Lamphun Rd/Charoen Rajd to Kaewnawarat Road? We are living off Chiangmai-Lamphun rather far south (near the Holiday Inn and Rajavej Clinic) and our classes will be just off the same road (at the intersection of Charoen & Kaewnawarat)....but it's a long distance between the two points. We assume the easiest way is a red truck? Google Maps suggests it is a ten minute drive. What the heck is the standard fare for a trip like this?

I apologize for all the darned questioning. We've managed to figure most things out just fine, but remain perplexed by the varying pricing all across the board for the same trips!

Otherwise, everything is most excellent

[naboo]

Red buses: short distances are about 15-20B, I pay 20B. From the bus station to the old city, 30B. But from the bus station to where you live, you may struggle to find someone willing to take you. To get low prices, you need to be able to speak Thai and you don't negotiate up front, just pay at the end - I've never had a taxi driver complain about my estimation of the charge.

TukTuk: Where you live, there'll be no shortage of TukTuks. They all hang outside the Holiday Inn, and they hang out there for a reason. They can get good money. Unfortunately for you, this means going to/from where you are, you're going to encounter the special tourist TukTuk prices a lot. From Holiday Inn to the old city it should be 40-50B in my experience. To the bus station, you'll pay 20-30B more. Your place to Kaew Nawarat close to the river would be 50-60B in my opinion (2 people). Then at night, they get more expensive, roughly double the price if you've had one or two to drink. I have a regular driver now who I call if I need transport. He doesn't speak English and most of his business is locals going to the market.

Ultimately, you pay what you think it's worth. I often think its worth less than the driver thinks its worth, hence the reason I got myself a small motorbike in the first few weeks of living here. Transport in Chiang Mai is considerably more than it is in Bangkok, though we can thank our lucky charms the Phuket taxi mafia haven't branched out here.

[NancyL]

The typical fare for one of the red song thaews is 20 baht per person. You just flag them down, tell the driver where you want to go and see if he nods. Don't ask "how much". That will only get the price jacked up. If he wants more he'll be sure to ask for it prior to your getting into the back of the truck.

It helps if you know exactly where you want to go and can name the place in Thai. Most drivers won't know every little restaurant, but they sure seem to know the locations of all the wats. Just name a wat near your destination. They know big hotels and certainly the two malls and the major grocery stores like Rim Ping and Tops.

Sometimes they're reluctant to go places where they won't find another fare and will ask for a higher price. Your home may be in such a location. It's not really the distance that counts, but the availability of other customers along the way.

Since you live on Chiang Mai/Lamphun road, you might want to check out the blue song thaews which go to and from CM to Lamphun. They follow a fixed route and end up at Warorot market where it's easy to find a red song thaew to take you the rest of the way. I've used them just a couple times -- when I had to get out to the CM electric company office -- and found the fare ridiculously cheap. Something like 10 baht. Of course, the blue song thaew was totally packed. One of the other passengers spoke enough English to explain the fare to me.

I wouldn't advise getting a motorbike here unless you're experienced with them already and used to driving on the left side of the street. Everyone we know who drives a motorbike has had at least one "incident" with them. It's not a question of if you'll have an accident, but rather when and how bad.

[sfokevin]

Also realize that different color song thaews work different areas of the city and don't like to step on another colored song thaews territory... :jap:

[slapout]

Try the blue bus and give him the name of the intersection Kaeo wanawarat and he may take you to that intersection. Mention the bridge name if he has trouble understanding the street name. I think I have seen them go that far and then cross over the bride toward the west and drop off at the market on the other side of the river.

[Ginkas]

Just to give you my two satang's worth.

The red buses (song taews, siilor daengs) operate in two 'modes':

As a bus -

You wave one down, state your destination.

If it's in the area he is going to, and it's within the city area, he nods, you get in, press the bell when you want to get off, pay 20 baht.

If it's not in the area he's going to he shakes his head and drives off. You often see Thais having to stop three or four before they find a suitable one.

If it's not in the city area he will 'suggest' a price - here you can haggle. If, after haggling and failing to agree a fare with a number of drivers, reconsider your idea of a fair fare.

As a taxi -

You wave down an empty one and state your destination.

If you want exclusive use, especially if there are a few of you or it is well outside the normal area, he will state a fare, 100+ baht.

He drives you straight to your destination without picking up other passengers and diverting for them.

Suspect this is what your 120 baht quote was for. Particularly true at certain times of the day to areas where traffic is bad and he will lose out on other fares.

The advantage of the bus mode is you get to see parts of the city you never knew existed, although journey times are longer.

[Flatouthruthefog]

<br />The typical fare for one of the red song thaews is 20 baht per person.  You just flag them down, tell the driver where you want to go and see if he nods.  Don't ask "how much".  That will only get the price jacked up.  If he wants more he'll be sure to ask for it prior to your getting into the back of the truck.  <br /><br />It helps if you know exactly where you want to go and can name the place in Thai.  Most drivers won't know every little restaurant, but they sure seem to know the locations of all the wats.  Just name a wat near your destination.  They know big hotels and certainly the two malls and the major grocery stores like Rim Ping and Tops.  <br /><br />Sometimes they're reluctant to go places where they won't find another fare and will ask for a higher price.  Your home may be in such a location.  It's not really the distance that counts, but the availability of other customers along the way.<br /><br />Since you live on Chiang Mai/Lamphun road, you might want to check out the blue song thaews which go to and from CM to Lamphun.  They follow a fixed route and end up at Warorot market where it's easy to find a red song thaew to take you the rest of the way.  I've used them just a couple times -- when I had to get out to the CM electric company office -- and found the fare ridiculously cheap.  Something like 10 baht.  Of course, the blue song thaew was totally packed.  One of the other passengers spoke enough English to explain the fare to me. <br /><br />I wouldn't advise getting a motorbike here unless you're experienced with them already and used to driving on the left side of the street.  Everyone we know who drives a motorbike has had at least one "incident" with them.  It's not a question of if you'll have an accident, but rather when and how bad.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Generally, this is good advice

Three 1 hour lessons with a decent teacher of Thai should give you enough to cope with local transport, eating, drinking and polite greetings. I wish more alleged 'schools' would focus on these basics, which have kept me going here for 12 years.

Where I want to expand your horizons, over and above this good advice, is re renting small motorbikes. Eg a Honda Dream, the most popular rental bike in CM. They are NOT 'scooters'. Scooters have the engine at the back and a platform for your feet, no footpegs, no mirrors, no indicators and are LETHAL, ok? That term is as American and as wrong as calling a miniBUS (with windows) a 'van'. OK? Buses have windows, otherwise you wouldn't ride in them. Now we've got that out of the way, I'll continue.

Driving on the left (sorry, but while more nations in the world keep right, more DRIVERS in the world keep left!) is totally easy until you come to make a right turn. It's as difficult and complex (in traffic) as a left turn would be for a new driver where you Yanks come from. But until you master it, the answer is SO easy. Plan in advance where the turn is, pull in and stop on the LEFT, watch and wait for a clear road, indicate, then go over to the right. It needs a little time and a little patience. It is NOT rocket science.

And remember the properly fastened helmet on your head is for YOU, not the policeman, and your mirrors are to protect you from instant death behind you, not to help with nose picking, mascara and zits.

So then, you'll be fine. 'Cos there are NO jet skis in Chiang Mai!

[bristolgeoff]

rent a bike then you will not get ripped off by public transport.100 baht a day is about right for a scooter

[Yelly]

First, thank you everyone for your help. We didn't know most of the info about the red trucks and it was all very informative. We're happy to know the ropes!

As far as motorbikes go, we're not ready for that juuuust yet! We need to get accustomed to Chiang Mai (the layout, flow, etc), first. Also, my husband has a broken arm (arrived with it - broke it in the US while snowboarding a week ago), and there is no way he would get on the back of a motorbike that I would be driving. He values his life too much! 555

We are a bit out of the way, but I noticed on a tourist map the blue trucks, and they reach just near our residence, so we may be attempting to try those out in the future. Our first day of classes are tomorrow, so we'll probably just stick to a red truck on the way there, then branch out to the blue on the way home. That seems a viable option.

Once again, TV has rescued me from confusion. I am so thankful I've found this forum, and I hope to be able to offer the same sort of advice to new arrivals in the future.

[sfokevin]

BTW Showing them a map or mentioning direction in terms of North (Nua) or South (Tai) is useless too

Edited April 24, 2011 by sfokevin

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Also realize that different color song thaews work different areas of the city and don't like to step on another colored song thaews territory... :jap:

Welcome to Chiang Mai.

When you stay a little longer you will likely find out that the non-red ones all have fixed routes out of town. The route tends to start at or very near the Big Market (Kad Luang / Talad Warorot) and they then proceed on their route out of town. Some start a bit further away, such as the blue ones that start on the East side of the river, near the Iron Bridge. Some also start at Chiang Mai gate. You could take one also for a shorter distance, say to reach Tesco on the Hang Dong Road or Big C Hang Dong.

But there are no conflicts of territory.

With the red ones, it helps greatly if you stand on the side of the road that's sensible relative to your destination. Also it works best if you provide destinations in terms of major landmarks. It takes some getting used to of course, but the Red Buses are the cheapest and most convenient form of public transport in the city. Don't even wait to negotiate a price, go for the standard fare. (Are we all sure it is 20 baht now? Thought it was 15.). Also, if you're a family with kids then kids are not expected to pay full fare (or any fare, for small kids?) it will pay to find out. If you're with a big group then renting one out may even be cheaper. Say for a family of four it may make sense to just agree on 50 baht to go somewhere.

[vagabond48]

Is there a easily readable online map of the public bus routes.

I did see this one but it didn't appear to have all the buses routes.

[Yelly]

We took a trip to Rimping this morning and took a red truck there for 20 BAHT each, following everyone's advice to a "T." No problems.

We noticed that the blue trucks run the length of our road to our regular destinations and home, so we were quite happy about that. We took a blue truck back home for 10 BAHT each. No problems....and quite enjoyable....very happy to get the "hang" of things. It would have probably taken us weeks to figure out without the help of everyone here. Really, MANY thanks!

We have a map in our condo that shows a "tentative" schedule of the colored trucks. It is published in the complimentary magazine/directory called "Chang Puak." This seems to be the January 2011 edition left by a previous renter. It lists the buses as:

BLUE (2) : Nong Hoi-700 Years Stadium

PURPLE (6) : Around Chiang Mai City (looking at the map, shows it starts on the left of the moat on Suthep Rd and runs out of the city, up and over and then down Thung Hotel Rd)

GREEN (11) : Arcade-Night Safari

ORANGE (13) : Railway Station - Night Safari

Now, I know this isn't 100% accurate, because this map shows the blue ending around Rat Uthit Rd on ChiangMai-Lamphun, but we live a few blocks past that and the blue truck dropped us and continued south. We just asked if they were passing our condo building, they nodded yes, and we hopped on, paying 20 BAHT for both at the end.

We are mainly getting around by landmarks (Wats, Bridges, major intersections, etc.) and this seems to be working well. We try to speak as much Thai as we can, but we're both still very beginner at it.

Ok, that's my report! 555

[elektrified]

We took a trip to Rimping this morning and took a red truck there for 20 BAHT each, following everyone's advice to a "T." No problems.

We noticed that the blue trucks run the length of our road to our regular destinations and home, so we were quite happy about that. We took a blue truck back home for 10 BAHT each. No problems....and quite enjoyable....very happy to get the "hang" of things. It would have probably taken us weeks to figure out without the help of everyone here. Really, MANY thanks!

We have a map in our condo that shows a "tentative" schedule of the colored trucks. It is published in the complimentary magazine/directory called "Chang Puak." This seems to be the January 2011 edition left by a previous renter. It lists the buses as:

BLUE (2) : Nong Hoi-700 Years Stadium

PURPLE (6) : Around Chiang Mai City (looking at the map, shows it starts on the left of the moat on Suthep Rd and runs out of the city, up and over and then down Thung Hotel Rd)

GREEN (11) : Arcade-Night Safari

ORANGE (13) : Railway Station - Night Safari

Now, I know this isn't 100% accurate, because this map shows the blue ending around Rat Uthit Rd on ChiangMai-Lamphun, but we live a few blocks past that and the blue truck dropped us and continued south. We just asked if they were passing our condo building, they nodded yes, and we hopped on, paying 20 BAHT for both at the end.

We are mainly getting around by landmarks (Wats, Bridges, major intersections, etc.) and this seems to be working well. We try to speak as much Thai as we can, but we're both still very beginner at it.

Ok, that's my report! 555

The information given by NancyL, Ginkas and WTK are all good.

Regarding the information you read in Chang Phueak Magazine, I would not count on that as valid. Blue is Iron Bridge to Lamphun and back. Purple?? Dunno about that. Green - there are 2 shades of green and one goes from Kad Luang to Mae Jo and back. I forget where the other goes. Yellow is usually Pratu C.M. to Hang Dong and back. There are other colors too; white, etc. Some go to Borsang, San Kamphaeng, Saraphi and so forth. I was at Night Safari last night for about 2 1/2 hours and didn't notice a songtaew there - although there were 4 Lamborghini's, 2 Porsche's and a Bentley Continental GT parked out front!

Edited April 24, 2011 by elektrified

[Yelly]

The information given by NancyL, Ginkas and WTK are all good.

Regarding the information you read in Chang Phueak Magazine, I would not count on that as valid. Blue is Iron Bridge to Lamphun and back. Purple?? Dunno about that. Green - there are 2 shades of green and one goes from Kad Luang to Mae Jo and back. I forget where the other goes. Yellow is usually Pratu C.M. to Hang Dong and back. There are other colors too; white, etc. Some go to Borsang, San Kamphaeng, Saraphi and so forth. I was at Night Safari last night for about 2 1/2 hours and didn't notice a songtaew there - although there were 4 Lamborghini's, 2 Porsche's and a Bentley Continental GT parked out front!

All good to know. For now, the blue trucks fulfill our needs entirely, and we can always hop on a red one if need be. Once we start to branch out a bit more...well, we'll cross that bridge when it comes.

[Beetlejuice]

Firstly, yelly, do you understand or speak any Thai?

If you don`t then in Thailand you are ripoffs and scam victims waiting to happen.

Forget all the standard prices, at least double these or even treble them if you appear like a gullible tourist.

[el jefe]

Firstly, yelly, do you understand or speak any Thai?

If you don`t then in Thailand you are ripoffs and scam victims waiting to happen.

Forget all the standard prices, at least double these or even treble them if you appear like a gullible tourist.

That's not always true. My wife speaks less than 50 words of Thai but rarely gets ripped off, and never on public transportation. Most posts on this thread have said they give 20 baht for a local ride on a red songthiew. The official fare is still 15. If she winds up with a private ride she'll often give 20 baht but if it's a shared ride and has exact change she gives 15 baht and has never gotten an argument.

Basically, if you already know the price of something, whether it's a songthiew, food, or whatever, don't ask what it costs.

[Yelly]

Firstly, yelly, do you understand or speak any Thai?

If you don`t then in Thailand you are ripoffs and scam victims waiting to happen.

Forget all the standard prices, at least double these or even treble them if you appear like a gullible tourist.

I know very very basic Thai, but enough to get around, and I am attempting to learn more. Sorry you seem to assume I'm just another farang un-willing to try and live comfortably and peacefully in a foreign country. I'm not here to party or hang out with bar girls.

To everyone else, thank you for all of the positive help. We've learned a lot from the post and we managed to get all over the city yesterday with absolutely no problem.