Collusion of song taew drivers? Each and every one wants 100 B!

[uptheos]

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 "

No need to say anything in CM apart from stating your destination.

A simple nod or yes from the driver is all you need in order to pay twenty baht.

Anything higher he will say, or hold fingers up.......then up to you.

Edited April 22, 2014 by uptheos

[Thighlander]

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 "

No need to say anything in CM apart from stating your destination.

A simple nod or yes from the driver is all you need in order to pay twenty baht.

Anything higher he will say, or hold fingers up.......then up to you.

Kind of like the Karaoke Bars...just order a few drinks and let them tell you how much, when you're finished.

[muchogra]

Am I the only one who thinks the OP is pulling our legs?

B100 for a round trip between the Arcade and somewhere in the moat could hardly be called expensive especially when you were not hopping onto a songtael in its regular routes. You wanted it to wait and drive you back.

If it happened to me, I would gladly pay the B100. Although, if I were with my wife, my wife would probably insist on B80. And if I paid the B100 as asked, my wife would call me a sucker for rip off. Yeah, she sometimes likes to call me a sucker. Her real message is actually implying why some girls like me. To that, I sometimes tell my wife that: you think you are so dam_n Thai that even most Thai understand that people have to make a living. Now, hold on,... I don't think even my wife would complain in this case under the present circumstances; afterall, she's reasonable most of the time.

[Chiengmaijoe]

Am I the only one who thinks the OP is pulling our legs?

B100 for a round trip between the Arcade and somewhere in the moat could hardly be called expensive especially when you were not hopping onto a songtael in its regular routes. You wanted it to wait and drive you back.

If it happened to me, I would gladly pay the B100. Although, if I were with my wife, my wife would probably insist on B80. And if I paid the B100 as asked, my wife would call me a sucker for rip off. Yeah, she sometimes likes to call me a sucker. Her real message is actually implying why some girls like me. To that, I sometimes tell my wife that: you think you are so dam_n Thai that even most Thai understand that people have to make a living. Now, hold on,... I don't think even my wife would complain in this case under the present circumstances; afterall, she's reasonable most of the time.

If you're happy with it, the price is right. I think it's a good price. A bargain, in fact.

[chuang]

To most foreigners in CNX...they got the notion that paying 20 baht they can travel around the whole of CNX in a songtheaw...

[Konini]

When I was new to Chiang Mai I used to say where I was going then say yie sip baht and they mostly nodded, a couple tried it on but not many. Then I learnt sow instead of yie sip made me a local as they only use this in Chiang Mai and non tried it on; they were either going my way or not. Then I stopped asking but always had a twenty baht note in my hand and I leaned on the window so it was in obvious view. Now I don't ask any more unless going to the airport. From Nakornping bridge near Warrorat Market we've been quoted three hundred, lowered to two hundred and finally one hundred when we're walking away which I think is more than fair. You are a bit stuck when you're going to the airport as you really have to get there, and they know it. Around town, I try to get the yellow songtoews, only ten baht around town although I often pay twenty if I'm on a longer than 10 minutes trip for no other reason than they are honest (not because they are cheaper, because 20 baht is a very fair price for around town). I've had 2 actually get out of the songtoew and run after me to give me 10 baht change when I've handed over 20, which I am really embarrassed by - that's how honest they are. I know now if I'm doing this to give 20 and indicate that I don't want change, but I only do that on longer trips such as out to Makro on Hangdong Road. Coming back from Makro, Big C, Tesco or Airport Plaza, I always wait for a yellow one.

Does anyone know if the colours other than red are self employed/owners or employees? It just strikes me as odd about how honest they are, and I'm assuming the white, blue and green ones are also honest. I once got a yellow one from Chiang Mai Gate to Warrorat market, again I waited for a yellow one because they are honest and I'd rather give my money to them. The driver took me to some kind of transit point, not a bus station, just a lot of yellow ones on the side of the road, and I had to get out and into another one. The other passenger who was also going further than this transfer point knew to get off and onto the other one, so I figured it must be a usual thing. The drivers didn't speak English, but indicated that I only pay 10 baht once even though I'd got onto a second songtoew. It wasn't long after we arrived here so I don't know where it was, but it seemed to be an unofficial depot/changeover point of some kind. Perhaps close to the Chiang Rai bus station? I know some yellow ones go to San Sai and some yellow ones go to Hangdong, so perhaps they are linked in some way and this is the transfer point. I hope so, as I want to go to Makro without asking my husband to take me on the bike. It was easy doing from Chiang Mai Gate, now got to try it from the riverside. Seems that it would be impossible to get to the Makro on the Superhighway by myself, so crossing town and going to Hangdong is the only way.

Would really like to know if they are employees though, as I said they are so honest.

[amykat]

My Thai teacher at AUA taught us to say "Sao baht" - the only Northern Thai that I know.

Moi assui!! It works all over town!

[nicksal37]

฿100 for a taxi ride is really cheap,even if it is only a few kilometers.I take it the OP has never hired a taxi in the US,SYD or LHR etc! I know it is not a 5 star means of transport but it gets you there.Are we bitching about ฿100? Oh dear then maybe one cannot afford to live here !

[Sparkles]

฿100 for a taxi ride is really cheap,even if it is only a few kilometers.I take it the OP has never hired a taxi in the US,SYD or LHR etc! I know it is not a 5 star means of transport but it gets you there.Are we bitching about ฿100? Oh dear then maybe one cannot afford to live here !

Comparing prices of catching taxis in Thailand to cities like in the US ,Sydney etc is frankly ridiculous. A taxi driver in Sydney, for eg, is on $20 (600 baht) an hour minimum wage.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

When I was new to Chiang Mai I used to say where I was going then say yie sip baht and they mostly nodded, a couple tried it on but not many. Then I learnt sow instead of yie sip made me a local as they only use this in Chiang Mai and non tried it on; they were either going my way or not. Then I stopped asking but always had a twenty baht note in my hand and I leaned on the window so it was in obvious view. Now I don't ask any more unless going to the airport. From Nakornping bridge near Warrorat Market we've been quoted three hundred, lowered to two hundred and finally one hundred when we're walking away which I think is more than fair. You are a bit stuck when you're going to the airport as you really have to get there, and they know it. Around town, I try to get the yellow songtoews, only ten baht around town although I often pay twenty if I'm on a longer than 10 minutes trip for no other reason than they are honest (not because they are cheaper, because 20 baht is a very fair price for around town). I've had 2 actually get out of the songtoew and run after me to give me 10 baht change when I've handed over 20, which I am really embarrassed by - that's how honest they are. I know now if I'm doing this to give 20 and indicate that I don't want change, but I only do that on longer trips such as out to Makro on Hangdong Road. Coming back from Makro, Big C, Tesco or Airport Plaza, I always wait for a yellow one.

Does anyone know if the colours other than red are self employed/owners or employees? It just strikes me as odd about how honest they are, and I'm assuming the white, blue and green ones are also honest. I once got a yellow one from Chiang Mai Gate to Warrorat market, again I waited for a yellow one because they are honest and I'd rather give my money to them. The driver took me to some kind of transit point, not a bus station, just a lot of yellow ones on the side of the road, and I had to get out and into another one. The other passenger who was also going further than this transfer point knew to get off and onto the other one, so I figured it must be a usual thing. The drivers didn't speak English, but indicated that I only pay 10 baht once even though I'd got onto a second songtoew. It wasn't long after we arrived here so I don't know where it was, but it seemed to be an unofficial depot/changeover point of some kind. Perhaps close to the Chiang Rai bus station? I know some yellow ones go to San Sai and some yellow ones go to Hangdong, so perhaps they are linked in some way and this is the transfer point. I hope so, as I want to go to Makro without asking my husband to take me on the bike. It was easy doing from Chiang Mai Gate, now got to try it from the riverside. Seems that it would be impossible to get to the Makro on the Superhighway by myself, so crossing town and going to Hangdong is the only way.

Would really like to know if they are employees though, as I said they are so honest.

Yes.

(The non-red ones are on more or less fixed routes to destinations out of town, but can be very useful in town too, and of course to places that are a bit further out, such as Central Festival, Big C Hang Dong, etc.)

[muchogra]

I say, in general, public drivers in CM are much nicer and more honest.

I had an incident about 2 years ago when I came up to inspect my house. I lived in a guest house near the Irish Pub. I went to play snooker at Godzilla, behind PTT station on the west end of the moat. When I finished, I caught the red songtael at the PTT station and asked to be taken where I was. The guy had his little brother, Dick, taken him over. He asked if I wanted a girl and told me there was a beau standing outside a 7-11. I told him politely that I didn't want any. He drove pass the 7-11 and said repeatedly that she was there before and should have been there. I told him he could go fetch her himself after he sent me back. So, he drove me back and asked if I could pay B40 instead of B20. Of curse, I paid the B40 because he said, kor si sit dai mai! Always feel funny when someone letting his brother, Dick, take over! For me, I paid some extra and learned.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

^ I read that twice and still don't know what any of it means.

Do another attempt in the morning perhaps?

Edited April 23, 2014 by WinnieTheKhwai

[Diplomatico]

^ I read that twice and still don't know what any of it means.

Do another attempt in the morning perhaps?

Confused me too.

[northernjohn]

_{This thread was started as a troll with incomplete information and has run it's course.}

[muchogra]

^ I read that twice and still don't know what any of it means.

Do another attempt in the morning perhaps?

I thought that was in the morning when I made the post.

Sorry, got too much to drink and used the wrong word. The word "Beau" in my post should be beauty, the hooker beauty, that is.

The driver apparently wanted to make more money to visit her. That's why he lost his normal etiquette for asking more money from me. Every satang helps, you know!