Phuket hotels veto taxi stands on their land

[webfact]

Phuket hotels veto taxi stands on their land
Anthika Muangrod


Maan Samran: No enthusiasm from the hotels.

PHUKET: -- Hotels in Surin, asked to give space on their premises for taxi stands, met the request with a ringing “No” yesterday (June 16).

They also expressed severe reservations about a taxi call centre run by the taxis.

Just 10 hotels, most from the Surin Beach area, but with a couple from Bang Tao, sent representatives to the meeting, called by the Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) to explain the plans for a new taxi call system.

OrBorTor Chief Executive Maan Samran asked for each of the hotels to set aside space for two taxis.

Some hotels turned down the request on practical grounds. Napapat Klommanee of the Ayara Hilltop Hotel said the hotel does not have enough space for its own staff to park, let alone a group of taxis.

But Rungparuhat Suwannabadee of The Chava Resort, was more forthright. “We agreed with the idea of a taxi call center in the area and we will use this service 100 per cent.

“But let taxi drivers set up on our property? I don’t think we could agree to this.”

Other hotels refused to have taxis parking at their hotels, but promised that they would not buy more cars to ferry their guests around.

“Our hotel already has a contract with a car company so we have five cars we can call on for service for our guests,” said Pakpoom Eameesarn of the Double Tree by Hilton at Surin Beach.

Wisarat Petchuthong from Twin Palms voiced the reservations about the call centre. She said the taxi drivers should not be allowed to run it themselves. “We want the authorities to find someone else to run it. Otherwise we will have the same problems again.”

Mr Maan asked three times for the hotels to give him a “clear, final decision”. None said yes.

Another meeting is expected to be held soon to try to find places for the taxis to set up stands.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-hotels-veto-taxi-stands-on-their-land-46898.php


-- Phuket News 2014-06-17

[BigC]

Can't the people veto the taxis but not getting knot them with signs all around the island

[Guest]

Maybe the hotels take control of the taxis and allow only metered taxis to their premises.

If they get complaints from their customers (no meter, bad behaviour etc), these individual taxis would be banned from all the hotels at once.

[phuketrichard]

why cant they just have a taxi call center number available for guests at the reception of each hotel?

why do they need to park there??

[Chang_paarp]

Mr Maan asked three times for the hotels to give him a “clear, final decision”. None said yes.

Did he really expect any other response?

In other places the reply would have been very colourful and succinct.

[steelepulse]

>>Mr Maan asked three times for the hotels to give him a “clear, final decision”. None said yes.

This guy has some cojones asking hotels to allow these clowns on their grounds. How about if Mr Maan allows them to stay on his property 24/7 and hassling all his house guests.

Clear, final decision should be a decisive, "NO, we don't want these guys or their services".

[BigC]

They have their private contracts win private cars which is the problem which means the people that have the contract shall have a problem

Don't know why they can't be on standby round the corner then if a customer wants a taxi the security guard calls one round

Like mentioned any complaints take taxi number and bar that taxi / tuk tuk

To open a taxi stand by they don't even need a taxi parked there just needs to be a taxi stand. The the operator calls one over when requested

If there is a strong of hotels all in a line then it would make sense that they clear the road as people who already have cars are not going to use taxis anyway so they need to park closer

Plus they can cover a whole strong. Of hotels when the hotel cars are full.

I see in koh samui all taxis park round the corner and they are in a cue system then they get a call on the radio and drown outside the hotel to pick them up. Normally then price is agreed over the radio before the taxi arrives. Process takes about 2 minutes

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[MK1]

Clearly the Phuket taxi-operators are reluctant to adopt technology by having a call centre because then they have to invest back into their business, share commissions and be held accountable. The game they play is not one of convenience but one of transferring the risk on to others and being back in a position of monopoly.

[Cuchulainn]

................Mr Maan asked three times for the hotels to give him a “clear, final decision”. None said yes...................

ONCE is enough. 'Eff off' is plain & simple.

[craigt3365]

Many larger hotels have a light that is on the entrance to their facility that let's taxis know a car is needed if it is lit. If the taxi drivers were smart, they'd negotiate with these places to provide the private car services at reasonable rates rather than trying to strong arm them into using their overpriced services.

[LivinginKata]

Many larger hotels have a light that is on the entrance to their facility that let's taxis know a car is needed if it is lit. If the taxi drivers were smart, they'd negotiate with these places to provide the private car services at reasonable rates rather than trying to strong arm them into using their overpriced services.

Ah - but there is your mistake Craig. The taxi driver are NOT SMART, they are just GREEDY. Maxium money extracted for the minium effort. And STRONG ARM is their preferred method.

[clockman]

Thainess, personified.! Every where else the taxi service works. Why not here?

[wabothai]

Hotels can arrange for their own "trustworthy" taxis.

[craigt3365]

Taxi scams are a world wide problem. I'm a very seasoned traveler, and would hate to think of all the times I've been taken advantage of by taxis. Even in New York City where they had major crackdowns on this 20 years ago. They love to take the "long" way around because it is actually shorter due to traffic jams...right...I lived there, I knew better.

But from the airport, it's a fixed fee. No negotiating. Great for weary travelers.

[mok199]

if you give them one,they grow like a weed..i say..''if we need you,we will whistel''...the taxis always have the front row spots,which leaves no space for anyone else to wait for a p/u,i remeber waiting for my gal,who had a broken leg,i was in an area marked as ''parking''but the taxi losers took offence,it almost came to blows...they are such f#@ing lazy idiots....i say send them back to burriram and they can sit on the porch..

[CiaranO]

Firstly no resort wants these guys on their property or even near it for that matter. The mayor seems like a not to smart kinda guy. I also point out i she referring to the illegal taxi drivers? If so then he should be arrested trying to supply work to people who are not legal drivers. This guy is knee deep in it and i reckon as corrupt as they come.

[LivinginKata]

Hotels can arrange for their own "trustworthy" taxis.

You clearly have not read any of the taxi horror stories. External taxis are not tolerated by the on the door taxi mafia.

[NamKangMan]

Why do these guy still think Phuket owes them a living?

They can cruise around, hoping to be flagged down, or until a call comes through the call centre, and the closest taxi to the customer gets the job. Just like most places in the world.

They need to be told that their days of self entitlement have come to an end, and they need to work for a living, like everyone else, and not just sit and wait around all day just to rip off one tourist for a short journey and a day's salary.

[tingtongfarang]

Why do these guy still think Phuket owes them a living?

They can cruise around, hoping to be flagged down, or until a call comes through the call centre, and the closest taxi to the customer gets the job. Just like most places in the world.

They need to be told that their days of self entitlement have come to an end, and they need to work for a living, like everyone else, and not just sit and wait around all day just to rip off one tourist for a short journey and a day's salary.

Taxis cruising around hoping to be flagged down is a large part of bangkoks traffic problems, there are just too many of them.

[catweazle]

God given right enforced - B-R-A-V-O !!!

So happy to see that finally it is being cracked down on the folks who truly deserve it: Tuk Tuk, mini van, and taxi mafia. Perhaps Thailand gets that big long overdue cleanup after all. Nice to see that finally hotel owners make a stand, growing some spine...

[NamKangMan]

Why do these guy still think Phuket owes them a living?

They can cruise around, hoping to be flagged down, or until a call comes through the call centre, and the closest taxi to the customer gets the job. Just like most places in the world.

They need to be told that their days of self entitlement have come to an end, and they need to work for a living, like everyone else, and not just sit and wait around all day just to rip off one tourist for a short journey and a day's salary.

Taxis cruising around hoping to be flagged down is a large part of bangkoks traffic problems, there are just too many of them.

At the moment, pretty much every individual on Phuket needs access to a vehicle, or they are at the mercy of the transport cartels here. So, what do most do here, hire a motorbike, many times with tragic consequences.

Four people in one taxi is better than four people on four motorbikes.

I think Phuket is different to Bangkok. Proper public transport on Phuket would actually decrease traffic, noise and air polltion, accidents, injuries and death here.

[belg]

if hope the hotels can call on the good army general if they are hussled in the future ?

[tingtongfarang]

Why do these guy still think Phuket owes them a living?

They can cruise around, hoping to be flagged down, or until a call comes through the call centre, and the closest taxi to the customer gets the job. Just like most places in the world.

They need to be told that their days of self entitlement have come to an end, and they need to work for a living, like everyone else, and not just sit and wait around all day just to rip off one tourist for a short journey and a day's salary.

Taxis cruising around hoping to be flagged down is a large part of bangkoks traffic problems, there are just too many of them.

At the moment, pretty much every individual on Phuket needs access to a vehicle, or they are at the mercy of the transport cartels here. So, what do most do here, hire a motorbike, many times with tragic consequences.

Four people in one taxi is better than four people on four motorbikes.

I think Phuket is different to Bangkok. Proper public transport on Phuket would actually decrease traffic, noise and air polltion, accidents, injuries and death here.

I agree...its a different situation, it got to the point i dont use the car anymore to go around bkk...i got tired of sitting in empty taxi traffic jams, phuket is in dire need of a public transport system.

[chrisinth]

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Thainess, personified.! Every where else the taxi service works. Why not here?

Works fine up here in Phitsanulok.

So maybe not a Thai problem?

[MMarlow]

I see in koh samui all taxis park round the corner and they are in a cue system then they get a call on the radio and drown outside the hotel to pick them up. Normally then price is agreed over the radio before the taxi arrives. Process takes about 2 minutes

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

"...they get a call on the radio and drown outside the hotel..."

Sounds like a good idea.

[hawker9000]

Taxi scams are a world wide problem. I'm a very seasoned traveler, and would hate to think of all the times I've been taken advantage of by taxis. Even in New York City where they had major crackdowns on this 20 years ago. They love to take the "long" way around because it is actually shorter due to traffic jams...right...I lived there, I knew better.

But from the airport, it's a fixed fee. No negotiating. Great for weary travelers.

A great & exorbitant (for Thailand) fee, yes! Using your logic, a fee of B10,000 would be great for weary travelers as long as "it's a fixed fee". And not all trips are from the airport! If they don't use their meters (with the meters regularly inspected & tagged), then fine them, run them out of, and ban them from, the business. Simple.

Stop comparing Phuket with NYC. That's just ridiculous. How can you claim to be so well travelled and understand so little?

[ChoakMyDee]

This is awesome news. This just makes my day. Next they need to get rid of the Tuk Tuk mafia...double the price of a taxi for an un-air-conditioned ride in a cramped tin can that you can't even sit up in it is so small. Years ago you could go clear across Patong for 20 Baht in a Tuk Tuk...now they want 400 Baht just to go 1 block!

I must admit I am very surprised the the army was able to achieve so much in so little time. This has been a huge problem for so many years...I had thought it would never get solved. I will be hugging and kissing any army guys I see.

[Chalongian]

I think most hotels and resorts would welcome having a taxi or 2 parked on the premises if they were taxis with meters waiting for the next fare. I'm talking about sitting waiting in the car...not setting up a sala and watching tv in the car park. I was in Vegas 2 weeks ago, when I checked out of the hotel I walked out of the lobby to an on site taxi stand where a cab immediately pulled up, a Canadian couple stopped me as we were pulling away asking if I was going to the airport and if i'd like to share. Taxi driver straight away said cool that'll half your fare so I told them to jump in. In Phuket all u get is 'how many people? 4 people pay more' U can't drop someone off on the way even if it's directly en route to your destination without paying 2 separate fares. Completely wrong. Change the outdated village rules. Pick up and drop off anywhere for taxi drivers and meters on all cabs, If fares are per duration of journey and not per passenger and metered it will work fine...as much of Thailand and the rest of the world. Unless the pick up drop off rules are changed it will still be just a giant rip off, only you'll be getting ripped from a taxi sent from a call centre instead of from one who sits waiting outside your hotel!

[craigt3365]

Taxi scams are a world wide problem. I'm a very seasoned traveler, and would hate to think of all the times I've been taken advantage of by taxis. Even in New York City where they had major crackdowns on this 20 years ago. They love to take the "long" way around because it is actually shorter due to traffic jams...right...I lived there, I knew better.

But from the airport, it's a fixed fee. No negotiating. Great for weary travelers.

A great & exorbitant (for Thailand) fee, yes! Using your logic, a fee of B10,000 would be great for weary travelers as long as "it's a fixed fee". And not all trips are from the airport! If they don't use their meters (with the meters regularly inspected & tagged), then fine them, run them out of, and ban them from, the business. Simple.

Stop comparing Phuket with NYC. That's just ridiculous. How can you claim to be so well travelled and understand so little?

I haven't taken a taxi from JFK lately, but last time the fixed fee to mid-town was $35 or so. A bit over 1,000 Baht. I'm sure it's a lot more now, that was 10 years ago. It's a pretty long trip also.

You're missing the point. Taxi scams are common world wide. It was a big problem in NYC (a place with good laws and pretty good enforcement). But they fixed it. And can do so here if they have the political will.

[virtualtraveller]

As always there's a big mafia agenda behind any taxi problem. Mafia operate by monopolising the market so that rich tourists are forced to pay 3 or 5 times what they should which the mafia pockets. The taxi drivers, for their part, get to sit around all day doing very little, then earn 400 baht for 30 minutes work.

Efficiency and organisation are the enemy of these mafia, they thrive on numbers, the more members they have 'sitting around' the more power to boycott etc. So, their model is to have two taxis parked outside every hotel all day waiting, rather than a few taxis on call, always busy.

Hotels breaking this monopoly by using private services or their own cars is unacceptable to the mafia. I feel sorry for Phuket hotels, this must be a real headache to them.