onlycw Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 I was just in town for a day. and each one of the 6 song taews I asked demanded 100 B. In the past, the same destination would be 40, 40 B and that was a year ago. Ended up with some Tuk Tuk @ 70 B. what is going on? Have they formed a cartel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuang Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 If six songtaews asked for the same 100 baht..i think nothing is wrong...5555 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thighlander Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 (edited) Depends on the trip. Maybe they didn't like your circus pants. I went from CMU to Airport Plaza twice last week; "Som-sip." We have a brand new covered bus stop with 6 nice seats by my condo. I haven't seen one bus pull up to it since it was completed a month ago. It does serve the Thais quite well, as they can set their garbage down without bending over. Edited April 20, 2014 by Thighlander 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyecatcher Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 So glad it was only for one day otherwise a longer stay would have been completely ruined. If you told us where your A to B was we could have really spoiled your holiday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masuk Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Collusion? Next you'll be suggesting that there's some connection in the total lack of public buses, or maybe even that this is the reason Chiang Mai has no Metro, as planned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuang Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Depends on the trip. Maybe they didn't like your circus pants. I went from CMU to Airport Plaza twice last week; "Som-sip." We have a brand new covered bus stop with 6 nice seats by my condo. I haven't seen one bus pull up to it since it was completed a month ago. It does serve the Thais quite well, as thye can set their garbage down without bending over. " yee sip " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BugJackBaron Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 As Spock would say "insufficient data"/ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotinsiam Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Depends on the trip. Maybe they didn't like your circus pants. I went from CMU to Airport Plaza twice last week; "Som-sip." We have a brand new covered bus stop with 6 nice seats by my condo. I haven't seen one bus pull up to it since it was completed a month ago. It does serve the Thais quite well, as thye can set their garbage down without bending over. " yee sip " he had me confused with Som sip - sounds like a really nice person 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elgordo38 Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Would not surprise me if they were banding together. The time for mass transit is long overdue here in Chiang Mai. The taxi's have way to much clout with municipal government. They constantly pull up alongside when I am walking and blow for their horns to solicit me for a fare. The odd time when I really need one 90% shake their head and say they are not going in that direction. When they catch you out by the ring road its 250 bahts back in to the city as they know taxi's are few and far between out that far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beetlejuice Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Does the OP speak any Thai? Otherwise the taxi drivers would have assumed the OP is a stupid, naive tourist with loads of holiday money to splash around. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taotoo Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Yes it's collusion. The solution is to offer one of the drivers 90 baht. Once he begrudgingly accepts,go and tell the others. End of problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mesquite Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 (edited) Does the OP speak any Thai? Otherwise the taxi drivers would have assumed the OP is a stupid, naive tourist with loads of holiday money to splash around. Yes, even a few words is better than nothing. When I interact with a Thai where I'm going to give them money, the *first* thing I do is speak a few words of Thai. I believe that puts me in a different category of farang, and greatly reduces my chances of getting screwed. Edited April 21, 2014 by mesquite 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eeeya Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Eeerr... no Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mousehound Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Depends on the trip. Maybe they didn't like your circus pants. I went from CMU to Airport Plaza twice last week; "Som-sip." We have a brand new covered bus stop with 6 nice seats by my condo. I haven't seen one bus pull up to it since it was completed a month ago. It does serve the Thais quite well, as thye can set their garbage down without bending over. " yee sip " I use yee sip in BKK. I use sao sip in CM. Seems to work fine and I get more consistent agreement from the drivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post WinnieTheKhwai Posted April 21, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted April 21, 2014 (edited) ^ I don't think you use 'sip' when using 'sao' for twenty. I think it's just 'sao baht' Edited April 21, 2014 by WinnieTheKhwai 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amexpat Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 (edited) "I use sao sip in CM. Seems to work fine and I get more consistent agreement from the drivers." Sao is 20, sip is 10. Sao baht is twenty baht. Maybe you get a chuckle from the drivers but they know what you mean. Edit: WTK is too quick for me. Edited April 21, 2014 by amexpat 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulysses G. Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 My Thai teacher at AUA taught us to say "Sao baht" - the only Northern Thai that I know. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mousehound Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 ^ I don't think you use 'sip' when using 'sao' for twenty. I think it's just 'sao baht' Correct - when I think about it, I do just say sao baht. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onlycw Posted April 21, 2014 Author Share Posted April 21, 2014 If six songtaews asked for the same 100 baht..i think nothing is wrong...5555 From ARCADE (near the 2 bus stations) to the moat surrounding the Old Town and back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masuk Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Last year after a visa run, I asked a driver how much back to Kad Suah Keow from the bus terminal. He asked for 200baht which I thought was more or less reasonable for a direct trip, one passenger only. No such luck. School was coming out, and so he stopped and picked up as many high school students as he could. Then eventually stopped at KSK. I pretended to write down his driver and plate number, and he immediately waved a few notes in my face. I told him to forget it - just stirring him up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post paulchiangmai Posted April 21, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted April 21, 2014 If six songtaews asked for the same 100 baht..i think nothing is wrong...5555 From ARCADE (near the 2 bus stations) to the moat surrounding the Old Town and back. What did you expect to pay? You are asking for the driver to take you to the moat and RETURN which means he cannot pick anyone else up on the way. Next time ask for a single journey at 20 baht and then get another driver to bring you back at 20 baht, this way the driver can get other passengers on the way. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northernjohn Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 "I use sao sip in CM. Seems to work fine and I get more consistent agreement from the drivers." Sao is 20, sip is 10. Sao baht is twenty baht. Maybe you get a chuckle from the drivers but they know what you mean. Edit: WTK is too quick for me. Not only do they know what you mean but they know you are a tourist. Depends where you are going. If they say see sip I will counter with yie sip and often come to an agreement on sam sip. Again it depends on where you are going. The bus station seems to have a higher price. I can't even imagine trying to get a songthaew on the ring roads. I also like to say sawdecup (hello not sure of the English spelling) to the driver before I state my destination. This lets him or her know I am not a tourist. Never never under any circumstances do I ask how much. Yie Sip is the standard price and if they want more they will say so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northernjohn Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 If six songtaews asked for the same 100 baht..i think nothing is wrong...5555 From ARCADE (near the 2 bus stations) to the moat surrounding the Old Town and back. Yes they will ask for more at the bus stations. But you failed to mention that you wanted a round trip. Did you expect them to wait for you also? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thighlander Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 (edited) Good luck getting from the back entrance to CMU to Airport Plaza for 20....Thapae Gate or KSK, yes, but keep in mind, they have to turn north at the moat, then U-turn, then turn east at the corner, then u turn again...And in fact the ones that have their wives "helping" them will say 60...20 from Maharaj Hospital; probably, but some just won't be going that way. Edited April 21, 2014 by Thighlander 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuang Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Depends on the trip. Maybe they didn't like your circus pants. I went from CMU to Airport Plaza twice last week; "Som-sip." We have a brand new covered bus stop with 6 nice seats by my condo. I haven't seen one bus pull up to it since it was completed a month ago. It does serve the Thais quite well, as thye can set their garbage down without bending over. " yee sip " I use yee sip in BKK. I use sao sip in CM. Seems to work fine and I get more consistent agreement from the drivers. " Sao baht " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art vandelay Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 they must have seen you coming because i've just returned from a long weekend in CM and found the song taew drivers to be refreshingly straight forward and i was never over charged - or at least i paid what the thai passengers were paying! maybe your attitude or attire marks you out as a target for over charging? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiengmaijoe Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 they must have seen you coming because i've just returned from a long weekend in CM and found the song taew drivers to be refreshingly straight forward and i was never over charged - or at least i paid what the thai passengers were paying! maybe your attitude or attire marks you out as a target for over charging? Just curious, what attire makes you a target for over-charging, and better still how should we dress to get the best price? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awk Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 (edited) they must have seen you coming because i've just returned from a long weekend in CM and found the song taew drivers to be refreshingly straight forward and i was never over charged - or at least i paid what the thai passengers were paying! maybe your attitude or attire marks you out as a target for over charging? Just curious, what attire makes you a target for over-charging, and better still how should we dress to get the best price? Looking like you: over-charge. Looking like amexpat: good price. Free if sitting in front. Edited April 21, 2014 by Awk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hml367 Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Foreigners (non-Thai) that try to speak Thai to song teaw drivers when the foreigner doesn't know Thai language as well as they think they do, probably gets scammed and doesn't even know it. The definition of "scam" as used in this thread is a pretty loose definition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Two off topic posts commenting on spelling errors have been removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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