Ayutthaya tuktuk drivers prey on farang tourists

[Thaivisa News]

Ayutthaya: Tuktuk drivers have been preying on farang tourists who visit the ancient capital by collaborating with passenger van drivers to force them to use tuktuk rides, Nation TV reported.

The TV station has conducted an investigative report and found that the tuktuk drivers had collaborated with passenger van drivers to force farang tourist to get out of the vans one stop before they reach the destination in Ayutthaya downtown.

The stop is on Rojana Raod near the entrance to Chao Mae Taptim Shrine and near the Pridi Bridge. The tuktuk drivers have their stand there waiting for foreign tourists.

A Nation TV reporter observed the tuktuk drivers Sunday morning and found that when a passenger van arrived, they rushed to the van and ushered farang passengers to leave it.

A tuktuk driver was then seen handing out something to the van driver. A source from the tuktuk driver stand told Nation TV that the tuktuk drivers paid the van driver Bt20 for each farang who left the van at the stop.

The farang tourists were then swarmed by tuktuk drivers who offered to drive them to their hotels or the Ayuthtaya tourist information center of the Tourism Authority of Thailand. No matter which choice, the tourists had to pay Bt200 for the tuktuk ride.

According to the TV station, many foreign tourists had filed complaint at the center that they took the van from the Victory Monument in Bangkok to Ayutthaya but they were left at the spot to force them to use the tuktuk services. Many tourists said they felt intimidated by the tuktuk drivers.

Deputy Ayutthaya traffic police chief Pol Lt Col Chanin Winin said he would consult other government agencies concerned how to deal with the issue.

[JetsetBkk]

Shocking!

[Just1Voice]

Deputy Ayutthaya traffic police chief Pol Lt Col Chanin Winin said he would consult other government agencies concerned how to deal with the issue.

Well, lets see. Start with a 5,000 baht fine, then confiscate the tuktuk for 30 days. I think that might help solve the problem.

[JetsetBkk]

Deputy Ayutthaya traffic police chief Pol Lt Col Chanin Winin said he would consult other government agencies concerned how to deal with the issue.

Well, lets see. Start with a 5,000 baht fine, then confiscate the tuktuk for 30 days. I think that might help solve the problem.

And then come to Phuket to see how they really screw the tourists.

[koo wallety tourist]

common issue through out the region.

[iReason]

Thainess.

Quaility Hosts.

[Lancashireman]

Nothing new, just cyclic news from old...

[petedk]

Same old story everywhere in Thailand.

[siam2007]

" Deputy Ayutthaya traffic police chief Pol Lt Col Chanin Winin said he would consult other government agencies concerned how to deal with the issue. "

Then a few minutes later Pol Chief Lt Col Chanin Winin called his wife and told her to cancel the order for the new TOYOTA AVANZA as he expects a sharp drop in his revenue in the next few weeks and month......

[sawati]

Now i understand why the van left me at that stop.TIT

[sweatalot]

"Deputy Ayutthaya traffic police chief Pol Lt Col Chanin Winin said he would consult other government agencies concerned how to deal with the issue"

Honestly?

He -the police - don't know what to do?

TIT

[thrilled]

Sounds normal.Many farangs have some money.If your A a working class Thai you only want some of it.It's normal for Thailand.

I don't see anything new.If I was A Thai I would feel the same way.

[Pattaya28]

Wonder how many tourist-scams pop-up throughout a year ?

Only reason why it's not acceptable, is when the media get hold of these scam-stories.

And yet again, the word Thai-Image comes to the forefront. Isn't the "Image" clear for all to see ? It's the definition of being in denial.

[bendejo]

I've seen this done in Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia. It gets especially creepy when it happens in the sticks -- no options, no witnesses. Could this be considered a form of kidnapping?

[BKKdreaming]

ummm thanks for posting it as it never happened to me

it does not say but could you stay on the minibus and get off at the correct stop ?

or do they throw everyone off ?

[chooka]

Isn't the Junta encouraging more rip offs and scams of foreigners, they have ordered that prices for foreigners be increased ten fold. Just another government plan to squeeze the last drops from the bread eaters as Prayuth calls them.

[Manbing]

This is not news.

A Tuk Tuk license is basically a license to prey on farang.

In the standard oath that all Tuk Tuk drivers must swear, right after stating they promise to ignore all the road laws that apply to other drivers, there is the line...

"I promise faithfully to squeeze every every last satang from the guileless foreigners that cross my path"

[yellowboat]

Never met an honorable tuk tuk driver anywhere in Thailand. Also avoid vans. If you follow middle class Thais, as you travel, they will guide you past those who lie and cheat for a living.

[jacko45k]

Deputy Ayutthaya traffic police chief Pol Lt Col Chanin Winin said he would consult other government agencies concerned how to deal with the issue.

Well, lets see. Start with a 5,000 baht fine, then confiscate the tuktuk for 30 days. I think that might help solve the problem.

And then come to Phuket to see how they really screw the tourists.

Yes, I have even had this done to me in Pattaya.

Land of scams seems apt.

[KIWIBATCH]

Thai National sport/pastime...ripping off tourists

[DoctorG]

Deputy Ayutthaya traffic police chief Pol Lt Col Chanin Winin said he would consult other government agencies concerned how to deal with the issue.

Well, lets see. Start with a 5,000 baht fine, then confiscate the tuktuk for 30 days. I think that might help solve the problem.

And then come to Phuket to see how they really screw the tourists.

Yes, I have even had this done to me in Pattaya.

Land of scams seems apt.

Where do tuktuks operate in Pattaya? I have never seen one there.

[maidee]

where is the police when you need them

so they literally kidnapped & hostaged the passengers out of the vans ...

the van drivers should also lose their licence and go to jail

[ggt]

This is just normal business in Thailand...everyone want to profit from the easy target foreigners...

[camerata]

Previously the vans stopped at Naresuan Soi 2, near the guesthouses. In January they dropped me off near the bridge and the tuk tuk drivers wouldn't budge from 150 baht to go to my guesthouse, which they assured me (since I speak Thai) was the Thai price. In February it was the same thing. Tuk tuk drivers come to the van and insist it is the last stop, as does the van driver. They insisted on 100 baht to a guesthouse within walking distance. Normally, prices are around 60 baht around town.

What's worse is the vans do all kinds of detours - to Wang Noi etc - for Thai passengers but stop short of the centre of the old town where the foreigners are going. I saw two farang who wanted to go to the bus station. We passed the bus station and they then had to get a tuk tuk back over the bridge.

In many tourist destinations in the North, the bus station has a board with tuk tuk prices to popular destinations displayed. Also in Nong Khai. But what can you do when the van doesn't stop at a bus station?

[yogavnture]

tuk tuks pollute big time. Its such a contradiction when I see a tuk tuk spewing out smoke and noise. yet the driver has on a pollution mask. they should be banned unless using nat gas. they rip off tourists. but tourists love them. I would never take a tuk tuk in bkk unless for a very short distance with luggage to avoid the taxi start up fee

[yankee99]

maybe the thai tourism authority needs to educate thais howbto respect tourists

[wabothai]

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"Deputy Ayutthaya traffic police chief Pol Lt Col Chanin Winin said he would consult other government agencies concerned how to deal with the issue"

Honestly?

He -the police - don't know what to do? alt=cheesy.gif width=32 height=20> alt=cheesy.gif width=32 height=20> alt=cheesy.gif width=32 height=20>

TIT

Another Ï hate Thailand" movie by madame TAT.

[Time Traveller]

Sounds normal.Many farangs have some money.If your A a working class Thai you only want some of it.It's normal for Thailand.

I don't see anything new.If I was A Thai I would feel the same way.

I don't think it's nornal. Most people don't pursue money by conning and tricking people in a desperate need to get it. Maybe in your world that's normal behaviour of the people you meet.

Do you work in a sideshow carnival perhaps?

[KhnomKhnom]

These easy, superficial reports forget the very nature of capitalism is to take advantage of markets, to use monopolies whenever possible, to get biz thrown their way, and all the other modes of capitalism at work on Wall Street and elsewhere.

Tuktuk drivers are just good capitalists.

[klauskunkel]

Deputy Ayutthaya traffic police chief Pol Lt Col Chanin Winin said he would consult other government agencies concerned how to deal with the issue.

Which other government agency you wanna consult? The Agency for Thainess? The Agency for I Don't Know What To Do? The Agency for Judicious Application of a Digit to a Nasal Cavity? The Agency for Scratch my Butt?

No, none of the above. The Agency of How Can I Get In On This!