i just got back to changmai after a years absence... anyway, i jumped on a saungtaew on moonmaung rd. and took it to Central, i used to pay ten baht every time for this trip in the past, yet this driver called me back and insisted i pay 15 baht.. is this now the norm?

This is the norm now, even for Thais around town. Some will try to get 20 or 40 or whatever out of you if they think you are a tourist. Oddly though it is still only 10 baht when coming into town on one of the longer distance runs (or 12 or 13 if coming from further out).

A lot of bad information gets passed around and leads to us farangs accusing our hosts of being thieves out of our own ignorance.

15 baht is the normal fare on RED songteows to someplace fairly common in the city, but drivers will ask more if a fare is inconvienient, far away or not enough passengers. They do the same to Thais, including locals.

Some songteows that are NOT red (white, yellow, blue, etc.) that go out of the city and their prices are different and sometimes cheaper.

Seconded. 15 baht for the red ones now.

i never accused him of being a theive... was happy to pay the 15 baht, just wanted to check for sure that the fairs went up... thanks for the info

i never accused him of being a theive...

I wasn't refering to your post. You asked for information, rather than offering it.

Sankampaeng to Chaing Mai

I pay 10 Baht only

White taxi to Sahakorn is also 10 Baht