Tuk tuk

[mccw]

Hello TVers

Do you know how much a driver pays the boss to lease his tuk tuk per month?

What kind of licensing is required to be a driver or vehicle provider?

I read a piece about the new "red Lanna" tuk tuks getting livenced; as if one investor bought a load and had them licenced, and would then lease / rent them out to drivers; but really light on details.

Cheers

[mccw]

Btw I ask because I have an idea for a social enterprise; similar concept to Lila massage but applied to Eco tuk tuks.

Help people; make a little money myself and provide a green and clean alternative to the stinky and noisy current technology.

If they drivers of the old vehicle loose biz then they be welcome to join us also.

As a customer. Would you like a fixed price for travel for certain areas/ zones?

I think 100bht for old city zone and 150 bht for any travel with in the main city/ ring roads.

Save a lot of bother haggling and put tourists more at ease and feel welcome- just show a laminated map with fares on it.

[amexpat]

I would fear for your personal safety.

[mccw]

I would fear for your personal safety.

Great reply ; thanks.

I would indeed not suggest such a biz for normal Falang retirees or other wise, and I did actually consider this as a first pop of worry in to my brain. But for me, fortunately my in laws have a solid car rental biz; are well connected and have staff and face etc to deal with all the ins and outs , day to day management, etc.

[mccw]

For an investors side thier money could be in the form of an auto loan; each unit of investment (say 300kbht) with the vehicle as collateral; returning a fixed 7% interest only basis, for example, with repayment in a lump sum after 15years.

((((To be clear- I am not soliciting for money here; just talking ideas; looking for constructive feed back. So many details and research to be done before I could possibly determine such offer rates etc.))))

If some one wants to steal my idea and do this themselves; go ahead! I would love to see a switch to green technology, improve air quality and a little help for people to have a job who otherwise might struggle and turn to crime or such.

If the old tuk tuk drivers don't like competition then they can leave the old tech and come to join us, the new tech company. Hopefully they will! More the better. From both a biz and environment point of view.

[FolkGuitar]

About 25 years ago, a Chinese-Thai from Surrat Thani decided to start a Scuba Diving Business on Koh Tao. He started with a small shack just large enough to hold rental equipment, and he worked hard. Very hard. In just a few years his business was good enough so that the built a small bungalow colony with a restaurant on the beach, and a dedicated Dive Shop, and hiring a dozen local folks. And he worked hard. In just a few more years he began tearing down his bamboo bungalows and replacing them with cinderblock and cement units, enlarged the restaurant into three levels, one of the covered, and hiring 15-20 local people . Then he started building a three-story hotel with a swimming pool. That's when someone walked up to him and shot him in the head at point blank range... and on an island 8k by 3k, that at the time was only serviced by two boats a day, oddly enough the police were never able to solve the crime. Ban made too much money too quickly, and took too much business away from other Thais. Ban was a friend of mine. He died because he had some good ideas and worked hard to make them happen.

This was on a tiny, remote island with just a handful of residents. And you want to take on the Tuk-tuk cartel in a major city?

[DaamNaam]

I would fear for your personal safety.

Great reply ; thanks.

I would indeed not suggest such a biz for normal Falang retirees or other wise, and I did actually consider this as a first pop of worry in to my brain. But for me, fortunately my in laws have a solid car rental biz; are well connected and have staff and face etc to deal with all the ins and outs , day to day management, etc.

Its not a joke. If you knew who owned most of the towns tuktuks you would reconsider. Just look into it a bit more. Just asking on here shows you know next to nothing on the matter.

[mccw]

Sad story folk guitar

Ban will have a good rebirth.

I get your point.

So the new "Red Lanna" tuk tuk company that was all over the press recently; getting praised for the bigger passenger space for head and leg room concerns of farangs. I don't know this guy; maybe he is a local red shirt politico linked guy. I don't know; but he has entered the market with 50 new vehicles.

The money involved for me is really not a major driver; more a social and environmental purpose. So I seriously consider if taking any risk with life is worth it- maybe not.

However; rather than start a war; maybe the other operators would find it easier to upgrade their old vehicles to electric ones to level the playing field. Actually they could sell the old ones to other provinces and use the money as deposits for auto loans on new electric models. Not be hard to implement. They have all drivers already after all.

So I would hope the E tuk biz to be a catalyst for positive change.

I would keep totally behind the sceen and let the Thais run the show/ face to minimise risk. If they thought it a non starter or exceptionally dangerous then no way I would do it.

I am still thinking about it. Very early days; only a spark popped in to my head.

I find it entertaining working out numbers for biz ideas even if I don't put them in to practice; so any one know the actual numbers I requested?

Also ; rather than lease- how about a daily rental like a motorbike / car rental company? Same laws?

Cheers

[mccw]

I would fear for your personal safety.

Great reply ; thanks.

I would indeed not suggest such a biz for normal Falang retirees or other wise, and I did actually consider this as a first pop of worry in to my brain. But for me, fortunately my in laws have a solid car rental biz; are well connected and have staff and face etc to deal with all the ins and outs , day to day management, etc.

Its not a joke. If you knew who owned most of the towns tuktuks you would reconsider. Just look into it a bit more. Just asking on here shows you know next to nothing on the matter.

I know nothing on the matter; that's right; that is indeed why I am asking on here.

Would you please enlighten me?

[mccw]

Just the numbers one of you knowledgable guys? If only for interests sake.

What is the drivers monthly lease amount?

[evenstevens]

mccw..what may i ask.. will u dream up next???

[mccw]

mccw..what may i ask.. will u dream up next???

Organic, safe and healthy baby food products for overland export to China.

Is that a mafia ridden sector too? Will nestle or CP send hit men to kill me?

[eyecatcher]

Just the numbers one of you knowledgable guys? If only for interests sake.

What is the drivers monthly lease amount?

Last time i asked a couple of drivers they were paying 250bt a day to rent a tuk tuk; hence the generally higher price for customers.

[Frank James]

I must say, those new Lanna tuks are a BIG improvement over the old fleet. Cleaner, larger, quieter, and you can sit upright and actually see out. I have a soft spot in my heart for the tuk tuk guys, and use them fairly often, but the writing is on the wall for the old beaters. I do wonder who is behind that new fleet. I thought that tuk tuk licenses were limited, as in the West. The addition of a whole new fleet must have seriously affected the economics of the trade.

mccw, good luck.

[mccw]

Just the numbers one of you knowledgable guys? If only for interests sake.

What is the drivers monthly lease amount?

Last time i asked a couple of drivers they were paying 250bt a day to rent a tuk tuk; hence the generally higher price for customers.

Thanks eye catcher.

For fun; here are some numbers:

300,000 bht investment / vehicle cost.

200bht a day rental. Or say 6000bht per month on a years contract.

= 72k per year gross.

Say 12k allowance for a maintenance.

= 60k

Return 50% net profit to investor for a projected 30k return = 10% return on the 300k cash.

The other 30k go to the management company.

[mccw]

The cost per charge of E tuk tuk is only 30bht.

Compared to what for a full tank of gas?

Problem is 12 hours to recharge ; unless purchasing / installing main quick charge station. Then 3 hours to recharge. I don't know the cost of this yet. But would enable 2 shifts in a day.

Also the E tuk range per charge is only 80km.

So might need to be parking/ pick up zones; rather than wondering around all day looking for fares.

[sustento]

To rent a tuk tuk costs 200bt a day and you have to buy your own fuel. The tuk tuk owner is responsible for maintenance and breakdowns. You don't have to pay any deposit. You don't have to have any insurance but are responsible for the cost of any damage.

[mccw]

To rent a tuk tuk costs 200bt a day and you have to buy your own fuel. The tuk tuk owner is responsible for maintenance and breakdowns. You don't have to pay any deposit. You don't have to have any insurance but are responsible for the cost of any damage.

Thanks

Do you know if it's literally by the day or a weekly or monthly or longer contracts?

I ask because I often see them parked up as if kept by the driver and used for personal to and from work transport; rather than there being a yard somewhere that drivers arrive at by bike to pick up the vehicle and pay on the day.

Needing a potentially for up to 12 hours would change this personal use aspect and require a large enough place to store them.

Or a charge station.

Extra costs either way.

But lower fuel costs for the driver. So swings and roundabouts.

A fleet of 50 making around 1 to 1.5 million bht profit would warrant the investment probably I imagine.

Not worth the bother for just a few vehicles.

200 bht for driver + 30 bht for single shift or 60for a double shift.

So the driver needs to make 5 rides a day to make say 2to 300bht cash for himself. More the better obviously. 10 rides and he's got 800 to maybe a bit over 1000bht. That's decent money. Could average 15k pm

Beats most unskilled work and quite easy too.

[sustento]

They usually pay the rent once a week. If you rent one for a day you get it for the whole 24 hours. You don't have to return to a yard it at the end of the day. It's not like taxis where they have multiple drivers using the same car.

[NancyL]

Our regular tuk-tuk driver has one of these new red tuk-tuks and was very proud to be one of the first outside the Old City to get one. It's probably a reflection of our tipping practices. We were his first customers (but he didn't tell us that) and he was thrilled when he showed up at our condo, without any fanfare that he was bringing his new tuk-tuk, and I promptly took off my shoes before I got into the new vehicle. He was delighted. I consider it quite an honor that we were his first customers and that he was taking us to a CM Expats Club meeting where he proudly pulled up to the front entrance of Le Meridien, like a limo.

At that point, on the first day, he didn't have any seat covers or floor mats, or other protective gear. Since then, the tuk-tuk has been outfitted with seat covers, floor mats and major rain protection -- at driver expense from the way he acts. Also, he uses his horn much more than before -- leading me to believe he has to pay for repairs.

We've been tickled to watch how our tuk-tuk driver has real pride of ownership in this new unit. He talks it up to other tuk-tuk drivers at stop lights. He uses a feather duster to keep it clean. He's very careful with it in tight spaces. This is his new baby! I feel like a queen when I'm riding with him.

I love the larger size of the red tuk-tuks. We did a condo remodeling project and I used it to haul items from Home Pro when they couldn't get their act together about home delivery.

It's much quieter and smoother ride than the old style tuk-tuk.

The only disadvantage is that it's a little more difficult to exit. Don't know why exactly. Those of us with less-than-perfect hip and knee joints find it more difficult just to slide out. But, it's easier to for us to enter into this style of tuk-tuk.

Overall, I think they're a big improvement for Chiang Mai.

Edited September 5, 2014 by NancyL

[fcgprg]

Just the numbers one of you knowledgable guys? If only for interests sake.

What is the drivers monthly lease amount?

160 baht a day 28 days per month ,the owner pays for repairs.

The old Tuk Tuks are valuable due to the Plate they have.Without the plate they are worth very little.

The drivers who you have will be very reliable and mostly no problem with getting your monthly rental.

[sfokevin]

I think they should open up ownership of Tuk Tuks to farrangs and then start a Tuk Tuk Uber...