Me Vs The Thuk-thuk Drivers

[BKKGuitar]

I hate those Thuk-Thuk drivers, I'm sorry. Instead of offering a reasonable fare and being busy providing a needed service, those a-holes sit and scam all day, waiting for the newcomer, the drunk, the neurologically-challenged... to make the big killing on one fare. I really don't get why they are allowed to continue operating. That goes as well for the "taxi" drivers who linger outside tourist points, for the foreigners who don't have the sense to go out on the sidewalk and get a meter taxi.

I've been experimenting with various one-liners, since i feel compelled to show them my feelings. Lately I've been saying "Yar go hok..." ("Don't lie.") in response to the usual ("20 baht one hour!") This seems to anger them. On Soi 11 recently, near Ambassador Hotel, i walked by the gang of taxi scuzzbags and responded "You not taxi driver." They shouted obscenities (including "You f#ck!") at me as i continued down the street. Is this good for tourism?

They are weeds in my garden. A pox on all Thuk-Thuk drivers and non-meter taxis!

[jdinasia]

ummmm you COULD try and get out of those neighborhoods!

[britmaveric]

Bit harsh isnt that and to be honest I think your behaviour might be a tad bit dangerous, you might end up on the wrong side of a bashing.

Never had an issue with a Tuk Tuk - pleasant/painless. Negotiate up front and if you don't like their price don't use them. Not hard is it?

[sbk]

I understand your point, its not about you but about everyone else they rip off, it does give Thailand a bad name (in addition to all the other ripoffs mind). There are numerous warnings on various travel forums about the tuk-tuk scams but I've known quite a few tourists who have gotten caught up in it. Fortunately they all realized what the scam was about and didn't seem to mind too much. Didnt buy anything and got a free tour of interesting spots in Bangkok.

Seems to me your personal crusade will just end up getting yourself hurt. May I suggest starting a write in petition to the transportation dept and the TAT instead? Start something that everyone can sign, send it in to both departments and maybe they'll start paying attention

Or not, but at least you would have given it a shot.

[Axel]

Oh well, they hang around the area where I live for the whole day.

I talk to them, in my broken Thai and their broken English. Just learned yesterday, the daughter of one is getting better and was discharged from hospital.

Only one thing is bad, I never use them but drive myself. Never get a bad feelingm still always friendly and cheerful.

Edited August 25, 2006 by Axel

[jimmy5L]

Hmm, I never had any problems with them, but, I’m a cool dude!

In Chiangmai (and KSR) they are a bit noisy,

anyway, it’s a tough job I don’t wanne do, lots off hours, “niknoi money”!

[kayo]

The way I see it, you can use a bit of these various posts, in order to try to ameliorate the situation.

No point in being offensive to them. You know the whole face issue thing. You won´t win a cutural trait that´s existed in these exotic people for three thousand years.

So what can ya do?

Get to know some of them. Ask after them, how they are doing, blah blah.. Get to know.

That way, they could turn you some big favours if you ever need them to. Late night safe drives, help getting the wife, girlfriend to hospital when she´s giving birth, etc etc... Probably even give you free rides from time to time, cos you´ll be a friend. As well as many other discretions.

As a traveler since birth, i find befriendin the local cabbies to be the best connections in any location.

And I should point out, I never become great friends with them. But we hang out, on the street corners, I buy the odd bottle of rum, as do they, a social friendship. Darn constructive too.

[TRIPxCORE]

I have never a problem with them either. When they all wave me over or whatever, I just smile and motion with my hand that I dont need a ride. Thats it, they never bother me. No big deal.

I tend to familiarize myself with the local motorcycle gangs over the Tuk Tuk drivers because they can get you where you want to go really fast because they can move through the traffic.

[The Coder]

At least in Bangkok I think tuk tuk's marry the disadvantages of a car with the disadvantages of a motorcycle. They can't snake their way through traffic like a motorcyle and so you are stuck waiting in fumes, but without any air conditioning.

The tuk tuk drivers that bother me are the ones hanging around the palace telling every tourist the place is closed so that they can bring them elsewhere. Those guys are the lowest of the low to disrespect their sacred place to get a fare. I really wish that was busted as it's been going on for years. Sometimes I bring people there and they are confused why I go past them after hearing it is closed and have to explain they are liars which is a real blow to their outlook on the rest of the day and impression of otherwise nice thai people I think.

But incidentally, what is the appropriate fare to get for a clear shot about a kilo? Is it extra for each person? I just don't know the reasonable fare structure and it would be nice to have a reference point.

[dantilley]

I use tuk tuks almost daily to get from my condo to the BTS station, takes about 5 minutes in the tuk tuk. It's always 20 Baht flat rate, no questions asked and never any problems. And, if you have 2 or more people, cheaper than getting a motorcycle taxi at 10 Baht each, but you get the luxury of a proper seat and a roof over yiour head!

[BKKGuitar]

I use tuk tuks almost daily to get from my condo to the BTS station, takes about 5 minutes in the tuk tuk. It's always 20 Baht flat rate, no questions asked and never any problems. And, if you have 2 or more people, cheaper than getting a motorcycle taxi at 10 Baht each, but you get the luxury of a proper seat and a roof over yiour head!

20 Baht???!! Where is that? On Sukhumwit they'll charge B100 or more just to go down the block, and if noone is stupid enough to pay, they'll sit there all day waiting for the one guy who will pay, instead of being busy and giving people a fair deal. And while they're sitting there they'll look for tourists to scam. That's why I hate them. If I came across ones like you described, i'd have a completely different view of them! The ones on Sukh are the scum of the earth: lying and cheating tourists all day and night... It's a mystery to me why they're allowed to operate.

[dantilley]

20 Baht???!! Where is that?

It's near Ari BTS station.

[Donz]

Dont like them, dont use them.

Simple solution, buy a car, public transport or walk.

Screaming out things wont change much apart from you having to watch your back even more

[BKKGuitar]

Dont like them, dont use them.

Simple solution, buy a car, public transport or walk.

Screaming out things wont change much apart from you having to watch your back even more

I don't like them, and I don't use them. But who is "screaming out things"?? Jesus, you guys... I (like most other posters) did not post to ask for advice on how to deal with these guys--i know what my options are. We post to share experiences and thoughts on life here. So lighten up, and try to see what the poster is saying. Bangkok is an intense place to live, and we have intense experiences here, good and bad. This forum is wonderful for sharing, and for venting, too. When you and the first two responders to my post take this holy, professorial tone you ruin the whole process!

[jdinasia]

I hate those Thuk-Thuk drivers, I'm sorry. Instead of offering a reasonable fare and being busy providing a needed service, those a-holes sit and scam all day, waiting for the newcomer, the drunk, the neurologically-challenged... to make the big killing on one fare. I really don't get why they are allowed to continue operating. That goes as well for the "taxi" drivers who linger outside tourist points, for the foreigners who don't have the sense to go out on the sidewalk and get a meter taxi.

I've been experimenting with various one-liners, since i feel compelled to show them my feelings. Lately I've been saying "Yar go hok..." ("Don't lie.") in response to the usual ("20 baht one hour!") This seems to anger them. On Soi 11 recently, near Ambassador Hotel, i walked by the gang of taxi scuzzbags and responded "You not taxi driver." They shouted obscenities (including "You f#ck!") at me as i continued down the street. Is this good for tourism?

They are weeds in my garden. A pox on all Thuk-Thuk drivers and non-meter taxis!

Dont like them, dont use them.

Simple solution, buy a car, public transport or walk.

Screaming out things wont change much apart from you having to watch your back even more

I don't like them, and I don't use them. But who is "screaming out things"?? Jesus, you guys... I (like most other posters) did not post to ask for advice on how to deal with these guys--i know what my options are. We post to share experiences and thoughts on life here. So lighten up, and try to see what the poster is saying. Bangkok is an intense place to live, and we have intense experiences here, good and bad. This forum is wonderful for sharing, and for venting, too. When you and the first two responders to my post take this holy, professorial tone you ruin the whole process!

You are correct ...... you didn't say "screaming" in reference to yourself .... You just acted as badly as they <the tuk tuk drivers> do. However calling them liars and being insulting is just stupid! A really good way to catch a beating some time too!

There is a simple rule about non-fixed pricing in marketplaces and that is that if both the buyer and seller agree to the price and no misrepresentation is being made then it is a fair price. The 20 baht scam is silly and rife with misrepresentations. Not being willing to carry YOU for less than 100 baht however is a fair thing. Why work for 20 baht when you can wait and get 100?

That being said I stand by my first statement ... if you don't like it MOVE! Get a bit further out Suk ... or out of the tourist areas and you'll find that type of crap just doesn't happen! a Tuk tuk from Carre4 or Lotus to my last place in BKK was 30 baht <just under the taxi fare for turning on the meter> and yes that place was still just 400m from a skytrain station on Suk!

[MartinBKK]

JD i don't think you understand where the OP is coming from. He is making a general comment about tuk tuk's in BKK which i think is quite a valid one. They are damned annoying and tell blatant misleading lies to confused tourists.

Or maybe you do understand and are just trying to be annoying?

[britmaveric]

Martin - not all tuk tuk drivers are bad I think thats what JD's point is. I've yet to have a tuk tuk thats taken advantage... pretty convenient especially in bad traffic and if you negotiate price before you go what's the problem???

Edited August 26, 2006 by britmaveric

[MartinBKK]

I quite agree there is nothing wrong with tuk tuk's if they take you to your destination at the agreed price. More often than not this isn't the case though. What happens is they agree a price with a tourist and half way to the destination when they don't have a clue where they are, demand that they spend half a day visiting jewellery stores. If they decline this request they will then refuse to continue to the agreed destination at the agreed price leaving the tourist stuck in the middle of nowhere. Frequently they become quite aggressive at this point. Amazing Thailand indeed.

It is my experience that this happens all over BKK not just in Sukhumvit. Don't you think it would be a lot easier and fairer if they were all fitted with meters?

[jdinasia]

I quite agree there is nothing wrong with tuk tuk's if they take you to your destination at the agreed price. More often than not this isn't the case though. What happens is they agree a price with a tourist and half way to the destination when they don't have a clue where they are, demand that they spend half a day visiting jewellery stores. If they decline this request they will then refuse to continue to the agreed destination at the agreed price leaving the tourist stuck in the middle of nowhere. Frequently they become quite aggressive at this point. Amazing Thailand indeed.

It is my experience that this happens all over BKK not just in Sukhumvit. Don't you think it would be a lot easier and fairer if they were all fitted with meters?

Not my experience EVER Martin. Not once have me or ANY of my friends had the jewelry store tour tried on us!

My complaint about Tuk Tuks is limited to around 2 areas. Lower Suk/Silom and the Grand Palace. The ONLY complaint I have is that they charge as much as they think they can get away with. Frankly i don't see it as a major issueas the BKK experience is not complete without at least one ride in a tuk tuk!

My last three times I have taken a tuktuk outside of where I lived in BKK were to and from Thammasat/KSR and it was 40 baht each time without any argument from the drivers.

Now if you want to scream about tuktuks move to Phuket! If i walk to the places they hang out in Kamala and ask to go to Patong they want 300 baht, Simple to avoid by just walking to the main road and waiting 'til I see one heading that way empty. Never pay more than 150 <200 from patong coming back home> These guys have Phuket sewn up as there are FEW metered taxis on the island and no beach to beach bus service. <no local bus service at all at night!> However, I knew this and accepted it before I moved here and rarely use the tuktuks here unless I am going out drinking!

So Martin ------ maybe I DO understand but have a different experience! <<not to mention the OP's rather dangerous <imho> habit of talking back to people when he has no intention of using their service>>

[dantilley]

I quite agree there is nothing wrong with tuk tuk's if they take you to your destination at the agreed price. More often than not this isn't the case though. What happens is they agree a price with a tourist and half way to the destination when they don't have a clue where they are, demand that they spend half a day visiting jewellery stores. If they decline this request they will then refuse to continue to the agreed destination at the agreed price leaving the tourist stuck in the middle of nowhere. Frequently they become quite aggressive at this point. Amazing Thailand indeed.

This has never happened to me or anyone else I know either. However, this is partly down to using some common sense and not catching a tuk tuk in an obvious potential hunting ground for scam artists, i.e. Khao San Road, the Grand Palace, etc. A bit of small research, reading any guidebook at all, would warn you of these dangers and so you would know to get a taxi instead, of which there will be plenty around. For any long journey, getting a tuk tuk is a bad idea but they're great for the small condo-to-skytrain type backstreet journeys for which I use them regularly.

And as for getting dumped in the middle of nowhere, I've yet to find anywhere in Bangkok at any time of day where I could not get a meter taxi within minutes. So perhaps not quite such a disaster if this happens to a someone...

[opothai]

I quite agree there is nothing wrong with tuk tuk's if they take you to your destination at the agreed price. More often than not this isn't the case though. What happens is they agree a price with a tourist and half way to the destination when they don't have a clue where they are, demand that they spend half a day visiting jewellery stores. If they decline this request they will then refuse to continue to the agreed destination at the agreed price leaving the tourist stuck in the middle of nowhere. Frequently they become quite aggressive at this point. Amazing Thailand indeed.

It is my experience that this happens all over BKK not just in Sukhumvit. Don't you think it would be a lot easier and fairer if they were all fitted with meters?

my first three trips to bkk and utilizing the exceptional services of the tuk tuks

1st time

got in a tuk tuk asked for an english bteakfast type place at 9.30 am, we ended up goig to a place which looked ok but when we entered it was a massage parlour, mm english breakfast indeed

2nd time

wanted to go to patpong market at 8pm, after 30 minutes we end up at his 'cousins' tailors, and followed by arguments

3rd time

we told him we were meeting friend at soi cowboy so he takes us to his favourite haunt saying the women were cleaner and much sexy but we had to explain we were meeting real friends

any way not all tuk tuks are the same, but for me and a couple of the lads we have not got into a tuk tuk since 2001.

so as people point out don.t use them, as far as i'm concerned morons who ARE spoiling work for the real ones if thier are any.

[jdinasia]

The only time I have been dropped short of my destination was one time on Onnut in a TAXI with the meter running! . I insisted on making the turns at Sri Nakarin under the bridge to get home << the driver wanted to do the backroads but that would have made him take a 4km U-Turn>> The total fare I paid? 0 yes 0 baht! The cab was illegal ,expired tags and driver not in uniform! and would not drive in front of the police box on the corner at Sri Nakarin. I called my partner and asked <in Thai so the driver would get it> how much I should pay. was told pay nothing!

So getting dropped elsewhere CAN happen ... for which you owe nothing.

[sbk]

Well, since the vast majority of people who take tuk-tuk are tourists looking for an "authentic" bangkok trip, I am with martin on this one. The fact that these tourists will leave Thailand with a bad experience to report back home does Thailand no good.

[jdinasia]

Well, since the vast majority of people who take tuk-tuk are tourists looking for an "authentic" bangkok trip, I am with martin on this one. The fact that these tourists will leave Thailand with a bad experience to report back home does Thailand no good.

SBK

I don't think the vast majority of people that take tuktuks ARE tourists. Though I do think that the majority are probably tourists close to the areas I mentioned above (Suk/Silom and the Grand Palace/KSR). I don't think that MOST get scammed either with the exception of paying a bit too much (say 100 baht when the fare should have been around 40 baht)

In the areas I lived in BKK the VAST majority of the people riding in tuktuks were Thais ... and doing grocery runs or school children getting to/from school!

Granted I am working from My PERSONAL experience.

SBK--- Maybe you could do a poll and ask people's PERSONAL experience with TukTuks in BKK?

<I did my poll for the day already!>

[sbk]

I stand corrected, but I have to add, that the majority of people who have come through our place and have been first time visitors have suffered through the tuk-tuk Bangkok "tour".

When you hire a taxi or tuk tuk to take you someplace and then get taken to every place but the one you wanted to go to, that is still a rip off/scam.

[jdinasia]

and I admit I very well could be wrong! My experience has always been a bit different than many other people's experiences in Thailand

That is why I suggested a poll!

reading through this thread the "it has not happened to ME" slightly outweighs the "It HAS happened to ME"

Edited August 27, 2006 by jdinasia

[dantilley]

Well, since the vast majority of people who take tuk-tuk are tourists looking for an "authentic" bangkok trip, I am with martin on this one. The fact that these tourists will leave Thailand with a bad experience to report back home does Thailand no good.

SBK

I don't think the vast majority of people that take tuktuks ARE tourists. Though I do think that the majority are probably tourists close to the areas I mentioned above (Suk/Silom and the Grand Palace/KSR). I don't think that MOST get scammed either with the exception of paying a bit too much (say 100 baht when the fare should have been around 40 baht)

In the areas I lived in BKK the VAST majority of the people riding in tuktuks were Thais ... and doing grocery runs or school children getting to/from school!

Granted I am working from My PERSONAL experience.

SBK--- Maybe you could do a poll and ask people's PERSONAL experience with TukTuks in BKK?

<I did my poll for the day already!>

I concur with this, certainly seeing a farrang in a tuk tuk is the exception, rather than the norm, in my own experience.

I was beginning to think the jewellery shop excursions were just an urban myth, or had been stamped out. From reading this thread, though, it appears that isn't the case but I still think it's a rare occurrance that applies to only the small minority of tuk tuk drivers.

[Mossfinn]

The only time I had a bad experience in a Tuk-Tuk was my first time to Thailand and I had read up on some of the scams.

But this one seemed to be a double act between the driver and an official?? uniformed guard outside of Robinsons, who told me there was a Craft Fair on that day and yes I fell for it, 20 mins later in the middle of some dodgy soi I was being toured round a jewelry store.

I then get out and we hit the obvious traffic and the driver starts to get aggressive and wants me to get a motor cycle taxi, so I had to get assertive back, aggression isn't going to work to well with me!

Yes I know I should have known better, but it was my first time and into my first few days and I had at that time never heard of the official? guard man being an actual tout.

The point I make is, it hasn't turned me into a black cloud regarding Thailand and its touts but turned it into a positive and hammed up the experience into a good experience.

Moss

[britmaveric]

Perhaps tuk tuk drivers only pull the scam on those they think they can get away with it on???

[Mossfinn]

Perhaps tuk tuk drivers only pull the scam on those they think they can get away with it on???

Oi, What are you trying to say then

Moss

It only happened once