Taxis, Tour Agencies Ink MoU To End Blockades At Phuket Deep Sea Port

[thaikahuna]

Throw these con artists in jail.

Indeed! Shared with a no more than 10% difference in usage? BULLSH**! Do you really think for one minute someone is going to disembark a luxury cruise ship and get in one of those POS tuk tuks? At some point these greedy bastards are going to keep this up until all they have left is a hope of a ship arrival while they hold their d_icks in their hands. Screw 'em! I have no need for that kind of greed. I have no qualms with someone wanting to make money but you don't do it by sticking your hand in my wallet as I try to take it out of my pocket.

[MUSHROOMHEADD]

Throw these con artists in jail.

Indeed! Shared with a no more than 10% difference in usage? BULLSH**! Do you really think for one minute someone is going to disembark a luxury cruise ship and get in one of those POS tuk tuks? At some point these greedy bastards are going to keep this up until all they have left is a hope of a ship arrival while they hold their d_icks in their hands. Screw 'em! I have no need for that kind of greed. I have no qualms with someone wanting to make money but you don't do it by sticking your hand in my wallet as I try to take it out of my pocket.

Now - THAT Sentiment, I agree with.

[WithMarco]

Anchor their ships in Patong !!! They just might anchor their ships in Langkawi or elsewhere !!!

I dont understand what all the fuss is about. BOYCOT PHUKET. Problem solved.

Surly there must be other destinations than the MAFIA ridden Phuket.

fully agree.

anyone having been in Phuket without rosy glasses knows very well what's going on

and that only masochists would go holidaying in Phuket.

[normac44]

A clear point was that no free bus transfer services will be allowed to serve tourists and crews arriving at the facility.

So who was representing the passengers point of view? As usual, tourists are just a means to extract as much money as possible in a sort a period as possible, something that will eventually come full circle. I have to wonder if someone did not table a plan to "leave the tourists on the ship, but still charge for the tour, and then split the proceeds without having done anything with everyone (but the tourists) happy" Problemo solved!

The problem with Phuket is there are far too many people arriving in Phuket trying to eek a living out of tourism at the tourists expense.

Agree with you 100 %. Cheaper to stay on the ship and eat and drink all of the goodies offered on board.

[normac44]

:lol:

we all know the dreadful situation in Phuket, i can reword it in "stay the f.. out of Phuket" if you like but

the concept remains the same.

it's also because of people like you still defending that degenerate island that people come to phuket

getting scammed as soon as they leave their boat.

my opinion ? they fully deserve to be scammed, it's well known since decades that phuket is thailand's nr.1

tourist trap, hope they learn the lesson and spread the word around.

Wowwww.... ermmm... Need to get something off your chest?? Did diddums get his arse kicked by a 5'2" bargirl in Phuket for acting like himself in a public place?

You know what we love? - We love guys that come to Phuket and act like degenerates, and then when their <deleted> are handed back to them in a Lunch Bag - go home compllaining that the locals are 'degenerates' - we love 'em...

Back to your mothers' skirts boy - and try not to go through life mistaking your own nasty Bile for Wisdom.

:lol: well said sir

[prism]

I've been on many cruises and we've anchored at many destinations. For most of our destinations, we book an excursion or tour from the cruise ship company. The tour always includes all transportation. Does this mean that we will have to pay these taxi guys on top of what you already paid for the tour if we went there? Forget about it, I'll stay on the ship. They'll be another friendlier destination tomorrow.

With this MoU, Phuket looses.

We have not seen the MOU wording. Nowhere in the article does it state that passengers will have to fork out themselves to pay for transport. It could be that a fee is agreed with the drivers upfront and paid directly by the cruise operators. OK, passengers may get taken on a tour of gem stores and tailor shops but they may actually like the novelty of a ride in a tuktuk rather than an aircon bus.

I do belive that the authorities should not have given into the demands but they have and now let's see how it works. We'll know it is fine if the subject is not brought up again.

Let's hope the MoU only applies to transfer services into town and not to tours booked from the cruise ship. That's the case in most ports anyway.

[Footloose1949]

I've never been on a cruise ship, or been to this place, but, two things strike me about this; first, I'll bet the reason why the tour operators on ships want to use a bus service rather than the local taxis and Tuk-Tuks, they want to quote passengers fixed prices and commission fee (back-hander) from those providing the transport .... and the places the passengers visit. If passengers are on a coach, they will all get back to the ship at the same time. As far as the drivers are concerned, they do NOT want a 'fixed charge' system, and of course the freedom to take passengers to the people they also get a fee from, which means shops like the tailors and gem sellers, rather than the big outlets in shopping malls etc.

I would have also thought that the passengers, much prefer the comfort of a coach and completely organised locations etc. Riding in a Tuk-Tuk, is probably deemed a short-term 'novelty', as is the 'mingling with the unwashed natives' experience, rather than a mode of transport to be used for the duration of their visit to the island. A coach, would also mean you have somewhere secure to place what you have bought, something definitely not available on a tuk-tuk.

[LJW]

I hear what you are saying; however, the tourist arrival numbers continue to increase so why would the taxi mafia be willing to open up its monoply on extorting tourists? Just too much money to be made and they seem to enjoy the protection of powerful patrons.

IMHO the only thing that would kill off Thailand's lucrative tourist industry is a Super Depression

that's exactly what makes me fuming... why the F... people still flock to shitholes like Phuket ?

You haven't been here very long, have you?

Your words are very typical of a TROLL

[Superpeis]

Anchor their ships in Patong !!! They just might anchor their ships in Langkawi or elsewhere !!!

Malaysia and Vietnam are attractive options. The tour ops invest in bringing ships to port. If the taxis want a piece of the pie they should shoulder a piece of the cost. This is unheard of, coercing tour ops to put groups into individual taxis to face indignant attempts to steer them away from tour op offerings. Why would tour ops agree to such counterproductive coercion? It's not an MOU, it's an MOE...................(extortion)

yeah right hahaha ...who in their right minds would go to Langkawi or Nha Trang instead of Phuket??? Nobody! Believe me...I have been to both places. So basically its worth paying the exorbitant price to the taxi mafia...and they know it!

[Phuket Stan]

Wowwww.... ermmm... Need to get something off your chest?? Did diddums get his arse kicked by a 5'2" bargirl in Phuket for acting like himself in a public place?

You know what we love? - We love guys that come to Phuket and act like degenerates, and then when their <deleted> are handed back to them in a Lunch Bag - go home compllaining that the locals are 'degenerates' - we love 'em...

Back to your mothers' skirts boy - and try not to go through life mistaking your own nasty Bile for Wisdom.

Nah Nah Nah....it was not a 5'2" bargirl that kicked his arse.....he missed out on scoring the ugliest katoey in the soi ....it shows his ignorance on how little he has travelled and how to handle himself away from the cocoon....there are many many worse places on the planet than Phuket to visit....it is all in your attitude and behaviour...I first visited Phuket 21 years ago came every year after that and have been living here fulltime for over 10 years...its what you sew is what you will reap

[blix99]

Wowwww.... ermmm... Need to get something off your chest?? Did diddums get his arse kicked by a 5'2" bargirl in Phuket for acting like himself in a public place?

You know what we love? - We love guys that come to Phuket and act like degenerates, and then when their <deleted> are handed back to them in a Lunch Bag - go home compllaining that the locals are 'degenerates' - we love 'em...

Back to your mothers' skirts boy - and try not to go through life mistaking your own nasty Bile for Wisdom.

Brilliant, funny post....almost had me spewing my morning coffee....

[techboy]

Disgraceful that these guys get their way on this. I do not know about the taxis but the tuk-tuks wait around tourist areas rejecting reasonable fares until they can nail someone for an exhorbitant rate. Then they go buy a bottle of booze and get drunk with their buddies.

[Gonsalviz]

I first went to Phuket 37 years ago. I have returned many times since and at the present have no desire to return. Too big and too ugly. People in Phuket are pimps or customers of the pimps.

[Gonsalviz]

yeah right hahaha ...who in their right minds would go to Langkawi or Nha Trang instead of Phuket??? Nobody! Believe me...I have been to both places. So basically its worth paying the exorbitant price to the taxi mafia...and they know it!

This I will not argue the point. I have been there too. But I changed hotels once in Karon. Moved all of 100 meters down the road. I had several bags so I wanted a tuk tuk. 200 baht or no go. Lovely place.

[stanley2550]

The Agreement they signed is about as worthless as the paper and people that signed it unfortunately. That boils down to continued harrassment of the tourists coupled with the scams that are perpitrated there. I have been to Puket several

in my stay in Thailand and now to be candid, its not on my places to go again.

[timinphuket]

Perhaps competing international hospitals will blockade respective entrances coercing patients to go elsewhere. Analogous situation.

But I believe that this is what happens in Bangkok already but in a different way? - i read 'Sleeping with the Dead' ?

[stevenl]

why the F... people still flock to shitholes like Phuket ?

Because in the eyes of many it is not a shithole but a lovely place for a vacation.

Oh, and take of those black coloured glasses.

[Kilgore Trout]

hahahaha ... but hey if you're fool enough to holiday in Phuket you deserve to be ripped off, serves you right.

Glad to see the construcitve comments still flowing thick and fast.......

Thats because the action taken is so DE-structive; glad to see Marco calls em like he sees em; you ought to do the same Somchai

[moe666]

It will be interesting to see if this cruise line comes back, the silver sea group is a very high end line there cruises are not cheap.

[lee68]

getting paid by the private persons,lol

private persons taking control of streets, where is the police ???

[lee68]

Anchor their ships in Patong !!! They just might anchor their ships in Langkawi or elsewhere !!!

I dont understand what all the fuss is about. BOYCOT PHUKET. Problem solved.

Surly there must be other destinations than the MAFIA ridden Phuket.

mafia ridden ko samui or pattaya?

[Penefattore]

private persons taking control of streets, where is the police ???

counting the tea money just paid by the "private persons"