Thai taxi fares to go up but taxi condition and driver behavior must also improve

[wabothai]

From Khao San to trainstation:

Metered taxi 57 baht.

Non metered taxis 200 and up.

Tuk tuks 300 baht and up.

[phil2803]

>> until it tops at the price of 27.85 baht per kilogramme from the current 22.63 baht per kilogramme. <<

Current is now 13.25... to 14.xx baht.

But how many litres in a kg of lpg?

[exalll]

Tip of the day. Taxis by law if flagged down and refuse to take you then just leave the back door open and walk away. Childish I know but hysterical particularly if it's raining and the driver has to get out of the cab to close the door.

20 years ago I did this on a regular basis, until I saw a farang chased and badly beaten by the driver when others chipped in. Older and rather wiser, I open the front door and ask, expecting to be refused, happy when I'm not.

In Hanoi years ago, an acquaintance had and argument with a Siclor drover over the equivalent of 50 cents, again, beaten up. He complained of back pain for a week, then disappeared. I saw him again a month later looking like hell. He'd been casevaced to Singapore, emergency surgery, ruptured spleen, all over 50 cents?! It simply isn't worth it.

That said, one man's meat.....

However, I have never been refused by a Hanoi taxi

[Shaunduhpostman]

They are not serious about getting the taxis to actually improve services. Seems you would have to get the upgrade in place and then afterwards allow the increase in fares, if they are just handed the fare increase without making the improvements, there is little to no reason to actually follow through and improve services.

[enuff said]

.

Tip of the day. Taxis by law if flagged down and refuse to take you then just leave the back door open and walk away. Childish I know but hysterical particularly if it's raining and the driver has to get out of the cab to close the door.

Taxi driver tip of the day. For farangs, lock all doors and only roll the window down 1 inch to listen. If the destination is too far because you must return the taxi to the depot in 1 hour, roll up window and go. Childish I know but only fair when they have a farang style temper tantrum because there are no more taxis for at least 50 feet away.

enuff said

~

Edited October 10, 2014 by enuff said

[DDbkh]

I think the main problem in Bangkok is that the 'flag fall' fare is too low, it has been THB35 for a long time. I suspect that a high percentage of taxi trips are less than 2km but the time taken can be half an hour or so. It is no wonder that taxi drivers are reluctant to go a kilometre if it almost inevitably means getting snarled in heavy traffic around a major intersection all for THB35.

I think the flag fall should be raised to THB50 which would give the many honest drivers a boost.

The Bloodhounds in Brown can then sort out the drivers that use the taxi mainly as a cover for other businesses.

It is an unfortunate fact of life here as in many undeveloped countries that the rewards for breaking rules far outweigh the rewards for obeying them and over time most succumb to the temptation because they see no alternative.

[exalll]

.

Tip of the day. Taxis by law if flagged down and refuse to take you then just leave the back door open and walk away. Childish I know but hysterical particularly if it's raining and the driver has to get out of the cab to close the door.

Taxi driver tip of the day. For farangs, lock all doors and only roll the window down 1 inch to listen. If the destination is too far because you must return the taxi to the depot in 1 hour, roll up window and go. Childish I know but only fair when they have a farang style temper tantrum because there are no more taxis for at least 50 feet away.

enuff said

~

Childish, yes. Illegal, yes.

Taxis in other major cities manage to deal with shift changes quite simply and without either stressing potential passengers or allowing drivers to get away with using it as a feeble excuse (I have heard the excuse used virtually every hour of day and night). In Singapore, for example, they put signs in the windscreen indicating where they are having to go to complete their shift - if a potential passenger is going in that direction, they can flag down the cab, if not, they know not to bother. In NYC the drivers will turn off their "For Hire" sign, but will (sometimes) stop to see if a potential passenger is heading the same way.

Not difficult if there is a desire to sort it out.

[samran]

Tip of the day. Taxis by law if flagged down and refuse to take you then just leave the back door open and walk away. Childish I know but hysterical particularly if it's raining and the driver has to get out of the cab to close the door.

My favourite ploy - pisses them off no end

A favourite if mine as well.

[harleyclarkey]

The service will improve if they raise the base flag rate to, say, 50 baht.

A fare of 35 baht for 2 kilometres is too low.

Yes...I know that the fare has to take account of locals however it is not the locals on the buses that take taxis.

[SiamRose]

I'v seen another taxi booking service advertised a lot in Bangkok recently,

called GrabTaxi. Has anyone tried this service?

[samran]

I'v seen another taxi booking service advertised a lot in Bangkok recently,

called GrabTaxi. Has anyone tried this service?

I have. One of the flaws/benefits of it it has a tip function.

Tried booking a taxi the other morning. Offered no tip and there were no takers.

Rebooked a minute later by putting a 50 baht tip in, had three takers.

Cancelled when I realised that it would take one hour for those taxis to get to me.

[raybal5]

>> until it tops at the price of 27.85 baht per kilogramme from the current 22.63 baht per kilogramme. <<

Current is now 13.25... to 14.xx baht.

But how many litres in a kg of lpg?

According to Elgas, 1 kg of liquid LPG is equivalent to 1.96 liters.

[drand11]

I think you put fulltime undercovers in a tourist area and simply check taxi drivers for compliance. Taxi denies you a ride, 1500b fine. 3rd fine & they lose their job. Big enough fines will solve this problem.

[belg]

should taxi drivers sign a paper ? better taxi fares and no more ripp-offs, rapes, murders ?

[RickyJB]

I have been lucky enough , when coming out of don muaeng, to have had the same driver 3 times...the first time i was driven by him from the airport to Surawongse road , patpong, we got stuck in traffic and ended up taking 3 hours to get to my hotel...The price was under 300 baht, the driver ,all the way, apologised, was the most polite person i had met in Thailand.. i gave him 400 baht, little extra tip.. and he was very happy ...the next time i got to don muaeng 6 months later , i got in taxi and when driving off he said.....i remember you... after about 15 minutes driving he stopped off at a 7-11 and came back with 2 beers for me, and said thank you for last time..he kept the same prices, and i was glad to give him a bit extra, just for the polite and friendly service...the third time, i had his number and told him when i was coming...he arrived to pick me up, and already had beers in his taxi for me... just a little happy old man that showed how real thai people are....i tried to contact him the last time i was up in bangkok but the number didnt exist...shame, an absolute gem of a bloke with top personality....

On another note though, too many times i have had drivers with bad hygeine problems, nothing worse than going all the way to the airport and sitting there ready to boke because of the bad sweaty stale smell, one of them never said a word, all the way to the airport, and after agreeing a 400 baht charge at the hotel, he demanded 700 baht when we got to don mueang... i shouted over to the security then he quickly disappeared...taking my 400 ... scum b@st@rds..

In Phuket, the lady working in the hotel at my apartments has an uncle who has his own taxi , fantastic fella , keeps the same price, even if i need to stop off somewhere for some last minute shopping , he never charges extra.....So there is plenty good guys out there...Just need to stop paying to these crooks out there...

[jack19201]

With the fair increase I hope that now taxi driver will stop embarrassing passenger ( just to get extra money) to and from Airports Oh you have too much luggage, even if you have 2 suitcases Because giantic LPG tank installed in the boot,so can only one suitcase can fit in it.or they should install smaller tank.

[2fishin2]

I have been lucky enough , when coming out of don muaeng, to have had the same driver 3 times...the first time i was driven by him from the airport to Surawongse road , patpong, we got stuck in traffic and ended up taking 3 hours to get to my hotel...The price was under 300 baht, the driver ,all the way, apologised, was the most polite person i had met in Thailand.. i gave him 400 baht, little extra tip.. and he was very happy ...the next time i got to don muaeng 6 months later , i got in taxi and when driving off he said.....i remember you... after about 15 minutes driving he stopped off at a 7-11 and came back with 2 beers for me, and said thank you for last time..he kept the same prices, and i was glad to give him a bit extra, just for the polite and friendly service...the third time, i had his number and told him when i was coming...he arrived to pick me up, and already had beers in his taxi for me... just a little happy old man that showed how real thai people are....i tried to contact him the last time i was up in bangkok but the number didnt exist...shame, an absolute gem of a bloke with top personality....

On another note though, too many times i have had drivers with bad hygeine problems, nothing worse than going all the way to the airport and sitting there ready to boke because of the bad sweaty stale smell, one of them never said a word, all the way to the airport, and after agreeing a 400 baht charge at the hotel, he demanded 700 baht when we got to don mueang... i shouted over to the security then he quickly disappeared...taking my 400 ... scum b@st@rds..

In Phuket, the lady working in the hotel at my apartments has an uncle who has his own taxi , fantastic fella , keeps the same price, even if i need to stop off somewhere for some last minute shopping , he never charges extra.....So there is plenty good guys out there...Just need to stop paying to these crooks out there...

Agree there are great drivers out there. Know a couple, and use them because of the reasons you mentioned. Current problem is that there are way too many of just the opposite drivers. They are the norm, the ripping off, pieces of shit.

[Grindting]

There are always exceptions to the rule but too many Thai taxi drivers in my experience have been horrible excuses for a human being. Far more bad than good. don't know what it is that attracts these people to this kind of profession.

Best cabs in the world: London black cab, Tokyo auto door cab, Singapore cabs. Always well behaved and professional.

In terms of price then Indonesian cabs would be good too. Even cheaper than thai cabs but without the thai attitude / arrogance

Edited October 11, 2014 by Grindting

[kurnell]

You blokes that claim that taxi drivers will beat/shoot you if you leave their door open must be either full of &lt;deleted&gt; or very unlucky. I've taken thousands of taxis over the last 20 year's and so have hundreds of friends and none of us have had any kind of physical altercation. So much utter nonsense on this forum.

[chiman]

I switched to Uber a few months ago, and never looked back. It's a few more dollars, but the drivers are polite, have a cold bottle of water waiting, you order it up on your smart phone and can see the car moving toward you so no waiting in the street flagging rude drivers down, and it's a nice clean black Camery with black windows.

just checked, according to the quote they give on the website its about 4-5 times the price of a normal taxi to get from Thonglor to the airport...

You are correct, just checked, about 4x more from Thong Lor... to the airport. That must be a flat fee, because I just checked from Thong Lor to Mega Bangna mall (which is around the same trip) and it's only 300BHT. Pattaya is 3,000BHT. So test a few more estimates so you can see the whole picture. Cheers...