Taxi expected to improve service, what would you sugest?

[metaben]

Taxis will be allowed to raise their fare under certain conditions (smell, permit...), pretty basic I'd say, but...

What other improvements would you suggest?

In all fairness I find BKK taxis the cheapest and most abundant on earth and sometimes great.

And though I've rarely, if ever, been taken for a ride, there is so much they could improve (free).

I will start (this is not my major hang up):

- please please please give me a choice of what, or if, the radio is playing.

What is your your pet peeve, room for improvement, great experience nonetheless?

[mesquite]

Turn the meter on.

[Costas2008]

Yes, 1 improvement for me.

Take me where I want to go, don't let me hanging in the street.

[David48]

I really want one of these style stickers.

There are a number of different ones, so not the exact one shown above.

The Taxi driver could keep a folder with the different types and could flick though the different options as he drove like Nigel Mansell though the Bangkok Expressway, using only his knees.

Then, if the design wasn't available, he (they usually are male drivers) could phone a friend and he could drop me and my luggage on the side of the road until the new driver came by and offered me a special price because he didn't have to use the meter.

OK ... I would like one of the stickers ... and generally, I don't have problems with the average Bangkok Taxi Driver.

Pattaya ... now that's a different story ...

.

[metaben]

I really want one of these style stickers.

Good one, I want these too (the no farting one is a favorite). He could give them away, collect 10 and get a free ride.

[macca46]

I had to fly down from Udon Thani to DM last Thursday stood in the taxi Q had to go to the Aus. Embassy it was probably about 9.30am when I got a cab, fare on the meter was 189baht plus as he said 50baht surcharge I think at this time peak hour was well and truly gone I handed him 1000baht oh sorry I have not enough change he short changed me 100baht good scam I guess if he does this multiple time a day plus tips he gets good Hong thong money.

Going back it was about a furthe 3kms the fare 195baht, not a lot of money but i do think any one is going to make them honest 555

Add to injury he comes from Udon Thani, LOL caught nicely

[RolandRat]

Take a shower, we know you have been driving all night but at least look and smell fresh,even if you do nod off at the traffick lights occasionally.

Get off your ar*e and put the cases in the boot, and take then out again on arival, its called service and usually results in a tip,

[sipi]

Don't steer with your knees at 110kph along Vibhavadi Rangsit Rd whilst playing the flute. The wife enjoyed singing along in the front passenger seat. I was crapping myself in the back nursing our one year old baby.

[bkkjames]

As stated above, take us where we want to go - last night 830 ish, got in told him where I wanted to go and then came the long list of excuses.. rain, traffic and so on. I asked him in Thai - where do you want to go then? He replied, around this area, the current area where we were already.

[kannot]

Brain transplant

[mca]

Replacing slipping clutches would get my vote

[ljstanley54]

As many have already said they're generally pretty good here in BKK. Except on Soi 4 where using the meter becomes impossible for some reason.

Turn the radio off. I got one yesterday who actually had some kind of disco ball hanging from the roof.

Don't hide the seatbelts.

That's about it.

[Searat7]

Learn some basic English. When I say MRT they should know where to take me. Also the meter should be visible from the back seat, not blocked by flowers and other things

[Johnnie99]

What about simply doing their actual job?

[whiteman]

Put air in the tyers

[steven100]

kick em' all out and start again from scratch ......

only that way could you guarantee a better service.

[bud7]

Generally think they're great. If the radio is on I always ask if they will lower the volume. 95% of the time they shut it off. Still get the ones who don't want to go where I want to go. Hope the govt will work on that. ?

[toenail]

I have worked/ lived in Thailand for 8 years and use the taxis quite often when I visit Bangkok, I enjoy the freedom of being able to flag down a taxi anywhere along the street and hop in; where as in Singapore, you have to be lined up at a designated "cue" and make sure the taxi (color coded?) will go to that particular section of the city-also the time of day makes a difference. Maybe it has been luck, but most of the time when I do open the door and tell the Bangkok taxi driver what my destination is, there is no problem with him turning on the meter...or I instantly ask, "Does the meter work?" I do have difficulty during peak hours of a taxi taking me across town because of the grid lock. I could be asking 4-5 taxis before one will take me 3 or more kilometers away from where I am standing. Most of the time I am located close to a skytrain so no problem.

If I owned one of the red, yellow, white, blue, green & yellow, pink... taxi companies, I would try to be a bit difffernt than the others. All I would require is that my drivers do not eat in the taxi (the aroma of some of the food that lingers in the taxi is repulsive ) and to wear something as simple as a clean white shirt (can be with jeans or shorts...just make sure you, the driver, looks clean and has 2-3 white clean white shirts handy for when you a driving the rented taxi) to give more of a professional look. Also, give all my drivers a "customer skill class" in understanding how to handle farangs and have the drivers all have access to the taxi office of someone that can speak English so if the passenger cannot communicate with the driver, the driver can hand over his cell phone to the passenger in the car and speak to the main office so the "translator" can explain to the Thai taxi driver what the passenger is requesting.

I am always surprised how the local competition never tries to be "different" but seem to follow the same format of their competition. Maybe that is why foreign businesses in the service industry are so popular in Thailand, because they can think outside the box.

[CNXTim]

I would suggest (not sugest) they all be replaced by London taxis and their drivers at the new BKK rates - perfect!

[1FinickyOne]

During years of living in Bkk, I had very very few bad experiences and many enjoyable ones… and at as reasonable a price as I have seen anywhere...

pet peeve: I hate when the whole taxi smells like the inside of their mouth after eating som tam bplah-la

[iamariva1957]

Personally I have no problem with BKK taxi drivers. Over the past 5 years I have never been taken for a ride and always had a driver just this side of insane. Besides I have survived years in Paris taxis and the ones in Rome so I am vetted.

But the way, why is it that every time I get into a BKK taxi or one in Phuket I have to listen to "Hotel California"? I mean... do I have a sign that says that I am actually from Los Angeles or is that they are just good guessers?

[bra]

^{Seat belts in the back. If I cant find there I sit in the front and its normally easier to get in and out. Drive at a reasonable speed especially when shocks are almost completely worn, and steering or wheel alignment is out and brakes????}

[richusa]

Do random weapons checks and drug testing

[EdWilliams]

Seat belts in the back and for every passenger. Very easy to enforce, small cost (so many of them are simply hidden behind the seat) and a basic safety standard for a licensed vehicle. No idea why it isn't already standard as it's a cheap, easy and quick way to increase road safety. Cops would also love the little bonuses from un-compliant cars.

[jamiesilver]

How would i improve them?

Simple i would get rid of 70% of all Taxi in Bangkok - there is simply way too many and they are the major cause of congestion in Bangkok.
By doing this they can earn more money so there would be no need to raise Taxi fares.

why is it so difficult to use a brain here?

[Keesters]

Make them all Benzs like they were in Paris in the 70s when I lived there.

[David48]

Seat belts in the back and for every passenger. Very easy to enforce, small cost (so many of them are simply hidden behind the seat) and a basic safety standard for a licensed vehicle. No idea why it isn't already standard as it's a cheap, easy and quick way to increase road safety. Cops would also love the little bonuses from un-compliant cars.

'Seat belts in the back' ... not for me thanks.

Plus you are making the assumption that the rear passenger is obliged, under Thai Law to wear the Seatbelt.

Can you prove this?

[mgjackson69]

Train them to drive in a single lane, not using half of the curb lane and half of the next lane to the right

[David48]

Train them to drive in a single lane, not using half of the curb lane and half of the next lane to the right

tisk tisk ... they do that so they know they are driving straight.

White line down the middle of the Bonnet (Hood for the Stateside Boys).

Straight line then ... simples ...

[YeaBiGgiEs]

1) Be required to take and pass a test of tourist attractions, points of interest, popular hotels, malls, hospitals, closest MRT/BTS etc.

2) Road knowledge, alternate routes, high traffic areas/times of day.

3) Increase enforcement for those refusing service, no meters, flat rates (within Bangkok)

4) Take pride in your job, have a personality, think ahead and start your day with small denominations of change which may require going to the bank

5) Get out of the drivers seat, open a door, assist with bags/luggage

I've been in hundreds of taxis in the last 8 years here and have heard every possible story/excuse.

If you don't like TRAFFIC why did you choose the one career choice where TRAFFIC is an obvious and daily battle? Perhaps you could have been a doctor