Farang passenger vs Thai cab driver: Who'll win?

[gemguy]

Once, a long time ago .....in a galaxy far, far away...just joking.... I had a 1000 baht note to pay a 76 baht taxi cab fare while the cabbie claimed he did not have change.

So I leave him waiting and parked on the street

So I go into the Family Mart and buy a 10 baht bottle of energy drink

I get to the counter and there are several other people there and the employees are taking their sweet time....slowly taking care of each customer.

I get to the counter and hand them the 1000 baht note but they do not have enough change in that till and have to get another employee to open the safe and give the counter employee enough smaller bills.

Finally after about 8 minutes or so, or possibly 10 minutes, I get back outside and the taxi is not there.

No where to be seen........

FREE...taxi ride that day......ha ha

Cheers

A similar thing happened to me but the numbers were much smaller, I felt very humble.

I surmised he had another fare come along and he decided to take the fare and not wait for me to pay him the fare he was waiting for.

I only had several 1000 baht notes in my wallet while the change I had in my pocket was not enough.

So I bought something for 10 baht at the nearby Family Mart ( does not matter if it is 10 baht or 500 baht ) to make change so I could pay the driver.

It took about 10 minutes to finally get out of the Family Mart ........and the taxi cab was no where to be seen.

So...on that day I had a free taxi ride.

Over the years I have made change for the Taxi drivers probably a hundred times or more while they waited for me to do so....

That one driver did not wait...for what ever reason...so I thought that was more or less humorous that I had a free cab ride that day after how many years of paying and nearly always tipping by way of saying Keep the change.

Cheers

[Johnny S]

When in Rome .... Cheat where ever you can just like the hosts !

[fitzcaraldo]

is it on bangkok airport yet §??

[Thaijack2014]

I get tired of this kind of behaviour. A farang strikes back. Did he get the taxi driver who always cheats on his customers or just a working taxi driver who tries to make ends meet at the end of the month?

What kind of satisfaction is there? The customer was a jerk, a cheap charly who wanted to cheat another person. For him it might not be much, but 360 Baht is for a Taxidriver a big amount.

I'm glad it worked out fine for the taxi driver!

Edited February 15, 2015 by Thaijack2014

[metisdead]

Inflammatory posts and replies have been removed.

[Nemesis7]

Hard to believe, but maybe it actually happened. Or simply maybe the farang made some mistake while paying .

[Baerboxer]

Well thats a first !!Farang trying to cheat a Bangkok taxi driver. !!

Well done mate.

"Farang trying to cheat a Bangkok taxi driver."

What self-absorbed nonsense. Farang regularly do runners, (attempt) to under pay taxi drivers etc. What would ever make you imagine this was a first.

You have the statistics and links to the reports do you?

That clearly say the farang customer either did or attempted to do a runner without paying.

Please post for us.

[pattayasnowman]

There are people like this that try and cheat Taxi drivers all over the world !!

Having driven a cab in the US for over 12 years I can attest that there are numerous arsholes that will try and cheat you out of a $5 fare. Its pathethic

Having said that the same goes for cab drivers all over the world - not the most scrupulous lot. But don't tar them all with the same brush.

A cab diver excepting a negotiated flat rate fare to the airport or any other location is common practice, again all over the world. But it requires the passenger to be honest and live up to their aggrement.

In the US failure to pay for a cab fare is considered 'Theft' and may be prosecuted as such.

[Jonmarleesco]

From one extreme of stupidity to the other. He puts the meter on, the passenger instead offers him B400, from Khaosan Road ... and he accepts it as genuine!

[Jonmarleesco]

There are people like this that try and cheat Taxi drivers all over the world !!

Having driven a cab in the US for over 12 years I can attest that there are numerous arsholes that will try and cheat you out of a $5 fare. Its pathethic

Having said that the same goes for cab drivers all over the world - not the most scrupulous lot. But don't tar them all with the same brush.

A cab diver excepting a negotiated flat rate fare to the airport or any other location is common practice, again all over the world. But it requires the passenger to be honest and live up to their aggrement.

In the US failure to pay for a cab fare is considered 'Theft' and may be prosecuted as such.

As there are taxi driving con artists all over the world, with Thailand having a disproportionate share.

[fitzcaraldo]

Could be the same driver who i gave 500 b thinking to give 50 b . My excuse being i was stressed because very late for an appointement at central 12 years ago with the lady that became my wife. I just numped out of the cab with a big kop kun khap

Other wise i have about no complaint with the bangkok cab drivers

[techboy]

Well thats a first !!Farang trying to cheat a Bangkok taxi driver. !!

Well done mate.

Another geriatric who lived a sheltered life before retiring to Thailand. This one thinks that there is something unique to finding that a large city like Bangkok has some sleazy taxi drivers. They all do gramps and Bangkok is not particularly bad. Furthermore we have learned something about you. You applaud the fact that an apparently innocent and honest man, the driver, was victimized.

[breezer]

Utter BS this is a typical taxi driver trick

[breezer]

If you don't speak in a taxi the meter doesn't go in and they make it up as they go along if he had the meter running as he should this wouldn't be a issue the law states meter taxis must use the meter it's to protect both sides !!

[Tomtomtom69]

Once, a long time ago .....in a galaxy far, far away...just joking.... I had a 1000 baht note to pay a 76 baht taxi cab fare while the cabbie claimed he did not have change.

So I leave him waiting and parked on the street

So I go into the Family Mart and buy a 10 baht bottle of energy drink

I get to the counter and there are several other people there and the employees are taking their sweet time....slowly taking care of each customer.

I get to the counter and hand them the 1000 baht note but they do not have enough change in that till and have to get another employee to open the safe and give the counter employee enough smaller bills.

Finally after about 8 minutes or so, or possibly 10 minutes, I get back outside and the taxi is not there.

No where to be seen........

FREE...taxi ride that day......ha ha

Cheers

Although I rarely catch taxis since I drive, last year on my way to work I decided to park my car at Mega Bang Na and take a taxi the last relatively short distance to my workplace. After a 15 min, 12-13km ride and an 80 Baht fare, I presented a 500 Baht note I think it was (that's all I had) which the driver couldn't give me change for. In the end, I gave him the equivalent in Lao Kip (20000 Kip), which I told him to exchange at any Bangkok Bank branch that does foreign exchange. I think I even tried to give him a 20 Baht tip, which he refused.

Nice guy.

[Fatty123]

This is news? Bad, bad falang again.

Good job they don't print the stories about the taxi drivers ripping off the foreign passengers.You would need about 800 pages a day. It's happened to me when I gave the driver a 1,000 baht note for a 90 baht fare. He gave me change for a hundred baht! I went nuts and he did give me my money in the end. The fact that I'd had about 8 Singhas that night may have helped me, but looking back I was lucky he didn't have a machete. I refused to leave his cab and punching my fist into an open hand while shouting 'Me, you...outside...NOW!'' Bloody stupid.

Where's my story in the papers? Not to mention that 'quick' meter you see now and again (500 baht from Don Meung to Rangsit once when it's usually about 250 baht).

[gemguy]

Once, a long time ago .....in a galaxy far, far away...just joking.... I had a 1000 baht note to pay a 76 baht taxi cab fare while the cabbie claimed he did not have change.

So I leave him waiting and parked on the street

So I go into the Family Mart and buy a 10 baht bottle of energy drink

I get to the counter and there are several other people there and the employees are taking their sweet time....slowly taking care of each customer.

I get to the counter and hand them the 1000 baht note but they do not have enough change in that till and have to get another employee to open the safe and give the counter employee enough smaller bills.

Finally after about 8 minutes or so, or possibly 10 minutes, I get back outside and the taxi is not there.

No where to be seen........

FREE...taxi ride that day......ha ha

Cheers

Although I rarely catch taxis since I drive, last year on my way to work I decided to park my car at Mega Bang Na and take a taxi the last relatively short distance to my workplace. After a 15 min, 12-13km ride and an 80 Baht fare, I presented a 500 Baht note I think it was (that's all I had) which the driver couldn't give me change for. In the end, I gave him the equivalent in Lao Kip (20000 Kip), which I told him to exchange at any Bangkok Bank branch that does foreign exchange. I think I even tried to give him a 20 Baht tip, which he refused.

Nice guy.

Most of them are nice guys just trying to make a living.

Commonly I have long chats with them ( practicing my Thai ) about the Taxi business and how it has evolved....amongst other subjects such as politics.....they like Thaksin and the Red shirts......as you may well know.

When it comes time to pay if the meter says 92 baht or even 85 baht I will give them a 100 baht note and tell them to keep the change.

I would surmise most people, mostly Thai people passengers wait to receive the correct change given back to them and do not tip at all.

Just yesterday my fare was 43 baht and I had a 20 baht note and 6 baht in coins and a 500 bath note.

The driver did not have change for 500 baht so he said never mind ..just pay me the 26 baht.

I told him I could make change at the near by 7 / 11 at the corner and he repeated: "26 bath was good enough"...My Bah Lie, Yip Hock Baht...Paw Dee

A young guy with a good attitude while most of them do have a good attitude ...but sometimes you get the taxi cab driver from hell...with hemorrhoids...

Cheers

[The manic]

Sometimes I think Thailand attracts naive people who have never experienced travelling in Asia before. The majority of Thai taxi drivers I get are OK, honest, doing a really difficult, badly paid job. If you as a visitor do not like taxi in Bangkok then take the bus. Or better still return to your sad over regulated western dump and use taxis there.

[DaveE13]

This happens in all major citys around the world. Ive read lots of aricles in papers over the years about cabs from Heathrow trying to over charge tourists. ive never had a problem with bkk taxis. It does happen but if they dont want to use the meter get another one.

[falangjim]

"In what seen as a rare case of striking back by foreign passengers against notorious Thai taxi drivers, an unidentified farang passenger nearly caused a driver to lose the promised fare of Bt400."

As an opening sentence, this is a convoluted rendering of the story.

Why not just say, "A foreign passenger attempted, and failed, to cheat a taxi driver of a 400 baht fare"?

No one at TVF can write a coherent article. I also found the headline, the actual writing of the story, and the content of the story bewildering.

1. There was no 'striking back' in either the literal or figurative meaning of the expression. No one was beat or physically hurt. No one got cheated or was trying to cheat anyone out of revenge.

2. It's obvious the foreign passenger did not know the difference between 40 and 400 baht. He we wasn't out to get anyone. And how does a taxi driver claim he was cheated out of promised money, when he should have been using the meter in the first place?

3. This must be my lucky day? Eh? Lucky I don't have to swindle a foreign traveller, he's doing it for me! Nice driver, (a-hole)

Now see? I've wasted 5 minutes of my life trying to educate TVF readers because TVF writers can't write their way out of a sticky rice basket. That was said figuratively, by the way.

Edited April 7, 2015 by falangjim

[hawker9000]

Sometimes I think Thailand attracts naive people who have never experienced travelling in Asia before. The majority of Thai taxi drivers I get are OK, honest, doing a really difficult, badly paid job. If you as a visitor do not like taxi in Bangkok then take the bus. Or better still return to your sad over regulated western dump and use taxis there.

Or even better still, if the taxi driver doesn't like driving taxis in Bangkok then find another job. (Sometimes I think TV attracts naïve people who can't handle anything but their own 1st-person experiences. That's a tough learning curve ...) You obviously wouldn't accept a "thai-basher's" story at face value; so why accept this taxi driver's?

[mr chow]

Thainess

[cgcgcg]

Well done for trying!!

So many taxi drivers do cheat us, we should do the same to them!

[Rod Wallop]

Sometimes I think Thailand attracts naive people who have never experienced travelling in Asia before. The majority of Thai taxi drivers I get are OK, honest, doing a really difficult, badly paid job. If you as a visitor do not like taxi in Bangkok then take the bus. Or better still return to your sad over regulated western dump and use taxis there.

Or even better still, if the taxi driver doesn't like driving taxis in Bangkok then find another job. (Sometimes I think TV attracts naïve people who can't handle anything but their own 1st-person experiences. That's a tough learning curve ...) You obviously wouldn't accept a "thai-basher's" story at face value; so why accept this taxi driver's?

I've been here longer than you and am basing my comments on the 100+ people I know and regularly talk with. I've taken more than a thousand taxi rides in Thailand so feel I have a good grip on things. If you are a rude, arrogant idiot when in a taxi, then you are just looking for a bad experience

[The manic]

Sometimes I think Thailand attracts naive people who have never experienced travelling in Asia before. The majority of Thai taxi drivers I get are OK, honest, doing a really difficult, badly paid job. If you as a visitor do not like taxi in Bangkok then take the bus. Or better still return to your sad over regulated western dump and use taxis there.

Or even better still, if the taxi driver doesn't like driving taxis in Bangkok then find another job. (Sometimes I think TV attracts naïve people who can't handle anything but their own 1st-person experiences. That's a tough learning curve ...) You obviously wouldn't accept a "thai-basher's" story at face value; so why accept this taxi driver's?

Some of them are poor and can not find another job. 99.9% are honest. As for your insensitive comment about getting another job I am afraid it is as ignorant as the infamous: " If the poor cannot get bread then why don't they cake? " Made by Marie Antoinette. She was a spoilt brat who knew no better. I am tired of spoilt brat tourists who should know better insulting the Thais. So you have a choice: Aisle or window?

[hawker9000]

Sometimes I think Thailand attracts naive people who have never experienced travelling in Asia before. The majority of Thai taxi drivers I get are OK, honest, doing a really difficult, badly paid job. If you as a visitor do not like taxi in Bangkok then take the bus. Or better still return to your sad over regulated western dump and use taxis there.

Or even better still, if the taxi driver doesn't like driving taxis in Bangkok then find another job. (Sometimes I think TV attracts naïve people who can't handle anything but their own 1st-person experiences. That's a tough learning curve ...) You obviously wouldn't accept a "thai-basher's" story at face value; so why accept this taxi driver's?

Some of them are poor and can not find another job. 99.9% are honest. As for your insensitive comment about getting another job I am afraid it is as ignorant as the infamous: " If the poor cannot get bread then why don't they cake? " Made by Marie Antoinette. She was a spoilt brat who knew no better. I am tired of spoilt brat tourists who should know better insulting the Thais. So you have a choice: Aisle or window?

...and all that beer makes you think you are dictating choices to me?

It's soooo entertaining to hear the wannabees with arrogance born from nothing save a wee bit of comic book education telling & retelling, quoting & misquoting, as if they have any idea what they're babbling about. The Marie-Antoinette let-them-eat-cake myth - a great example. Here. Educate yourself (for a change; you'll probably need aspirin).

I don't care how long or how often someone says they've been in Thailand (and even less how long or how often they might think I've been in Thailand...). One person's experience in a country of over 67 million is a drop in the ocean. 'And no automatic reason to accept a taxi driver's story over that of a foreigner, simply because the foreigner is a foreigner, that is, except for pure prejudice, of course ...

I am tired of self-righteous, preachy, know-it-all, Horatius-at-the-bridge expats who you would think would know better than to presume to lecture everybody else on thai purity ...

[NeverSure]

No one at TVF can write a coherent article.

Well, I guess that settles that then. Shut it down, LOL.

[The manic]

In my case, in my defence, I base my comments on my experience, my positive experiences of Thailand and Thai people including Thai taxi drivers. I factor in my experience of taxis in about 50 other countries and compare them. Why should I base my views on spoilt whiners who seem to have little experience of life, travel, or driving for a living? These people always quick to hate all things Thai and denigrate and find fault with the hard working Thai people. You can travel by bus or leave Thailand. Choose an aisle or window seat to take you back to your white western paradise. You have a lot more choices than many thais have cattle moment. Be grateful for that and just stop whinging!

[The manic]

In my case, in my defence, I base my comments on my experience, my positive experiences of Thailand and Thai people including Thai taxi drivers. I factor in my experience of taxis in about 50 other countries and compare them. Why should I base my views on spoilt whiners who seem to have little experience of life, travel, or driving for a living? These people always quick to hate all things Thai and denigrate and find fault with the hard working Thai people. You can travel by bus or leave Thailand. Choose an aisle or window seat to take you back to your white western paradise. You have a lot more choices than many thais have at the moment. Be grateful for that and just stop whinging!

[Rhys]

why are there no female taxi drivers....