Reality Does Not Add Up : Tuk Tuks

[fanciman]

I cannot understand this enigma: tuk tuks exist.

They are profit making ventures, going concerns, if you will. (At least, they should be going, which in this traffic is not easy.)

Since taxis are cheapest, and then tuk tuks, and then motorbikes, i try to fathom when the best time to use a tuk tuk is. There *is* no best time for a tuk tuk. Am i wrong? Thai people i have asked acknowledge this, and have said the only time to use one is when you can't find a taxi.

So, why do we see these things in existence today? Are they not endangered species? (surely i before e except after c doesn't apply with that word?!)

[sonthaya]

I cannot understand this enigma: tuk tuks exist.

They are profit making ventures, going concerns, if you will. (At least, they should be going, which in this traffic is not easy.)

Since taxis are cheapest, and then tuk tuks, and then motorbikes, i try to fathom when the best time to use a tuk tuk is. There *is* no best time for a tuk tuk. Am i wrong? Thai people i have asked acknowledge this, and have said the only time to use one is when you can't find a taxi.

So, why do we see these things in existence today? Are they not endangered species? (surely i before e except after c doesn't apply with that word?!)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think it all depends where you are in Thailand, I spend most of my time in Phuket on Patong beach, to find a Taxi there is almost impossible, there will be 50 Tuk Tuks for every taxi, and with the accident rate of motorbikes in Phuket I wouldn't try one of those, so not much choice.

[Gumballl]

I've never had a tuk tuk driver refuse to take me someplace... taxi drivers on the other hand...

Tuk tuks are convenient if you are shopping and have a lot of things to carry back home. I just wish that the tuk tuks would have a higher roof, so that I can see where I am going. Normally I have to scrunch down and bend my head to the side to look straight out.

P.S. Worst place for a tuk tuk-like vehicle... Vientienne... they are slow, and the drivers charge a fortune to tourists.

[AmeriThai]

Tuk-tuks (in Bangkok) seem to be a popular novelty attraction, especially for tourists. That may be one factor as to their popularity. You can cram two or three farangs into a tuk-tuk, which you can't do with a motorcycle taxi. I've seen locals with supplies loaded in tuk-tuks to make short runs that'd be too far to walk, and probably cheaper than grabbing a taxi. They can often squeeze past other vehicles in traffic that a regular taxi can't.

In the other hand, motorcycle taxis can squeeze between vehicles that you'd be hard pressed to fit a sheet of paper through. I agree with the accidental potential of motorcycle taxis. Some of those guys clip along a speeds that are better suited for amusement parks.

In many areas outside of BKK, tuk-tuks seem to be a more common way to get around than regular taxis. It really depends on where you are, your particular needs and where you need to go.

[Buff-horns]

its the novelty value ,drunken farangs like a tuktuks doing wheelies down the road

but a taxi is cheaper and has aircon, so its no contest really .a

few diehards like them still though

[Fast Eddie]

Tuk tuk's are cheaper than taxis to obtain and run/maintain, so it stands to reason there are plenty of them about, with drivers trying to scratch out a living. If i want to go a short distance and there is no taxi immediately waiting for me, but there is a tuk tuk, then i have no qualms about using the tuk tuk. For short distances it is rarely more expensive than a taxi anyway. I imagine that many people feel the same, hence a steady stream of business.

[kayo]

In BKK I´d go Taxi for any distance over a few hundred yards.

That´s the smog and cr(p though..

Outside, I´d love cruising in a tuk tuk... Here where I am now too... Fresh air, and you feel like you are out and about, not just watching the world through a window frame.

Oh, And they don´t mind if you smoke.

Countryside living... Just can´t beat it.

[ThaiPauly]

I read in the BK Post that most tuk Tuks are rented by their drivers.

Cost is around 400B a day, so they have to get that back before they make any money.

Just thought I would chuck this in

Happy Xmas

TP

Edited December 24, 2005 by ThaiPauly

[bangkapiboy]

Tuk tuks are such a rip off most of the time. I don't even bother talking to them, unless I know the price is enough under what a taxi would cost me.

[otherstuff1957]

I think that Tuk Tuks in BKK are like the Samlors. Their days are numbered and the ones here will probably end up being moved out to the provinces for use there in a few years.

I only use Tuk tuks as a last resort. I like Mocy's for short hops and taxi's for longer trips. Their both cheaper than Tuk tuks.

[ThaiPauly]

I HATE Tuk Tuks, give me a taxi any day, I only use them as a last resort, but now we are getting REAL TAXI's in CM .... they rip u off too!!

So drive everywhere, well my Wife does!!!!!

[fanciman]

I think that Tuk Tuks in BKK are like the Samlors.  Their days are numbered and the ones here will probably end up being moved out to the provinces for use there in a few years.

I only use Tuk tuks as a last resort.  I like Mocy's for short hops and taxi's for longer trips.  Their both cheaper than Tuk tuks.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What is a Mocy?

A Tuk Tuk is never cheaper than a taxi, is it?

[mrbojangles]

I like Mocy's for short hops and taxi's for longer trips.  Their both cheaper than Tuk tuks.

What is a Mocy?

Motor Cycle Taxi

[rexall]

Tuk-tuks! :D Clinking, clanking, clattering collection of caliginous junk!!! Noisy, smelly, dangerous, over-priced and the way the canopy is designed, won't let you look out, so no good even for sightseeing!

I live in Khon Kaen City and there are no automobile taxis, none, nada, zippo . . . and for whatever reason no motorcycle taxis either. Odd how each town has it's on conventions for transport. Tuk-tuks and song teaw are your only choice . . . and boy those tuk-tuk guys can sure get surly when you awaken them from a deep slumber to take you someplace!

Songteaws, on the other hand, are great in KKC. Different colors and numbers each designating a specific route. I have gone all over town and never paid more than 7 bahtski. That's up 2 baht recently due to fuel surcharge.

Aloha,

Rex

[samran]

In BKK they serve different markets.

There is the tourist on holiday market, who will be taken around BKK in one of them, spending most of the time behind the exhaust pipe of a blue or red bus. They tend to be a rip off.

Then there is the more 'local' usage for them. You'll see alot of them wizzing about places like Yommarat taking locals to and fro on short 30-40 baht trip. Usually much faster than a taxi.

There are also many places where Tuk Tuks are simple more 'up market' soi transportation than the motor bike taxi's. Where I used to work, most people caught the tuk tuk from the sky train up the soi to work. It cost 20 baht. Motor bike taxi's were on offer, but they tended to be less safe, and in the wet season, were of no use to anyone.

[Plus+]

My ex girlfriend used to take tuk-tuks to cross the big roads like Rama IV 'cos she was too scared to run across.

That was before 1997.

[sonthaya]

A Tuk Tuk in Patong from Soi Bangla back to your hotel, a 5 min. ride will cost you 100 bath, but on some evenings they try for 150 bath for the same ride, and they all agree on it, the Tuk Tuks are run by the mafia. that's the evenings I walk home.

[Rumpole]

In many areas outside of BKK, tuk-tuks seem to be a more common way to get around than regular taxis.

In most areas outside Bangkok, they are the only way to get around. Metered taxis have been known to be hounded out of existance by the tuk-tuk and songthiaw mafia in some cities. Yet another reason why Thailand is unlikely ever to attract the upmarket tourists which Thai Rak Thai so desperately craves.

[fanciman]

One other thing that i can't understand, is taxis. They drive around with nobody inside, then, when I flag one down, they refuse to take me somewhere. It is amazing. They probably think that they are being sensible and logical; i think they are being lunatics, however.

How are they going to make money without someone in their cab? Even if we are stuck in traffic, at least the meter will be running. If nobody is in the car they will be going nowhere, earning nothing.

I also think that this sort of thing would not be witnessed in europe. A taxi is a service for the city, not just a cash-cow for the driver. What are visitors to think when they are abandoned at the roadside by these people? When the driver asks where i want to go without letting me in, these days i just walk away without saying. He might have taken me, but i would rather not support that sort of driver.

I am glad that the tuk-tuk mafia haven't ridden them out of town, though.

As for the mocy boys, well, they are honest, i will give that to them.

I once read that a london taxi was even safer than flying.

What about bicycling on the main bangkok roads?

[DP25]

One other thing that i can't understand, is taxis. They drive around with nobody inside, then, when I flag one down, they refuse to take me somewhere. It is amazing. They probably think that they are being sensible and logical; i think they are being lunatics, however.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There are lots of reasons they might not want to go somewhere, and its not just them trying to scam a foriegner. If you notice, Thai people always ask the driver if they can go to the destination before they get it. It may be too far away for the driver or his shift may be ending soon and he wants a destination close to his station. Near the end of the shift, they are going to try to get fares that bring them closer to where they drop off their taxi, and they need to know where you are going first. They have to pay money if they are late. They have tough jobs, taxi drivers in general have my sympathy, and I always ask if they can take me before I get in a cab.

[dantilley]

There *is* no best time for a tuk tuk. Am i wrong?

Yes - there is one time when tuk tuks are unrivalled in their brilliance, during Songkran! Perfect for inter-tuk tuk water gun fights, and for being ambushed from the roadside. Loads of fun, much better than a boring, quiet, sheltered taxi!

[AmeriThai]

What about bicycling on the main bangkok roads?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Um, maybe not.

[Jersey_UK]

I also think that this sort of thing would not be witnessed in europe. A taxi is a service for the city, not just a cash-cow for the driver.

[ThaiPauly]

I hate to do this, but I have to agree with Buff-Horns.

It's the novelty value of them for tourists that keeps them on the roads of BK.

I mean have you ever seen a model of a yellow/green blue/red taxi for sale?

but models of Tuk Tuks seem to do a roaring (excuse the pun) trade, they are everywhere