Taxi Driver 'no Speak English' ....oo(till His Cell Phone Rings)

[Slated]

I wanted to smack the guy as he tried make the 40bt ride into an 80bt, and kept saying he didn't understand where Ekkamai was....

Telling him soi 63 (since he said he didn't know Ekkamai), then trying to motion to him to keep going straight on Suk till I tell him to turn.....

Cell phone rings.....conversation in English....

uhg

[Thaipwriter]

40 baht ride?

you should walk you lazy b&^&%^%D

[Slated]

I pay for the A/C

[Phil Conners]

The price is whatever the meter says.

[thohts]

The price is whatever the meter says.

Sure, *if* there is a meter and *if* the driver doesn't ignore it.

[Donz]

The price is whatever the meter says.

Sure, *if* there is a meter and *if* the driver doesn't ignore it.

And *if* you get in a taxi and the meter isnt on and *if* you still accept him to take you to your destination then you deserve to get ripped off.

[Soju]

The price is whatever the meter says.

Sure, *if* there is a meter and *if* the driver doesn't ignore it.

And *if* you get in a taxi and the meter isnt on and *if* you still accept him to take you to your destination then you deserve to get ripped off.

If I get into a taxi and the driver refuses to turn on the meter, then my policy is that it's the driver who deserves to get "ripped off", not me. I politely inform him that I will only pay what's on the meter. If he continues after that statement without turning on the meter, I simply wait until we arrive at my destination and politely thank him for the free cab ride, with a smile, as I exit without paying him a single baht.

[Donz]

The price is whatever the meter says.

Sure, *if* there is a meter and *if* the driver doesn't ignore it.

And *if* you get in a taxi and the meter isnt on and *if* you still accept him to take you to your destination then you deserve to get ripped off.

If I get into a taxi and the driver refuses to turn on the meter, then my policy is that it's the driver who deserves to get "ripped off", not me. I politely inform him that I will only pay what's on the meter. If he continues after that statement without turning on the meter, I simply wait until we arrive at my destination and politely thank him for the free cab ride, with a smile, as I exit without paying him a single baht.

Good luck in your adventure, you will need it

[Vespa]

The price is whatever the meter says.

Sure, *if* there is a meter and *if* the driver doesn't ignore it.

And *if* you get in a taxi and the meter isnt on and *if* you still accept him to take you to your destination then you deserve to get ripped off.

If I get into a taxi and the driver refuses to turn on the meter, then my policy is that it's the driver who deserves to get "ripped off", not me. I politely inform him that I will only pay what's on the meter. If he continues after that statement without turning on the meter, I simply wait until we arrive at my destination and politely thank him for the free cab ride, with a smile, as I exit without paying him a single baht.

Good luck in your adventure, you will need it

LOL !

You gotta love comments like his

[Soju]

If I get into a taxi and the driver refuses to turn on the meter, then my policy is that it's the driver who deserves to get "ripped off", not me. I politely inform him that I will only pay what's on the meter. If he continues after that statement without turning on the meter, I simply wait until we arrive at my destination and politely thank him for the free cab ride, with a smile, as I exit without paying him a single baht.

Good luck in your adventure, you will need it

Why would I need good luck? I've done it on a few occasions and never had a problem. Usually the driver just looks at me, knows he's in the wrong and accepts it and drives off. My destination is always a safe place with plenty of people around, such as an airport, hotel, etc. If they get out and try to make a big stink about it, I simply repeat in a loud but friendly voice that I only agreed to pay the meter and being the meter wasn't turned on, the cab ride was free. I once had the cab driver enter the hotel and speak to the front desk, trying to convince them to get me to pay some outrageous fare. I simply repeated to the staff my story and said that if the cab driver didn't like it, that he was free to call the police. I asked the hotel staff to kindly look into the cab to verify that the meter was never turned on in case they were needed as witnesses. End of story. If all of us farangs used that same tactic, the dishonest taxi drivers would soon learn their lesson and stop trying to rip off every farang they see.

Normally it never comes to this. The taxi driver will usually realize quickly that I'm serious about only paying the meter and either accept to turn it on or stop and let me out. I should add that when forced to use this tactic, I normally take out a pen and paper and jot down the taxi number, in clear view of the driver, perhaps repeating the taxi number out loud so that he knows I will make a complaint if necessary. On exiting the cab after not paying, I'll also purposely look at the license plate at the front/rear of the cab and purposely again jot it down in plain view of the driver.

Edited September 25, 2006 by Soju

[Tywais]

If I get into a taxi and the driver refuses to turn on the meter, then my policy is that it's the driver who deserves to get "ripped off", not me. I politely inform him that I will only pay what's on the meter. If he continues after that statement without turning on the meter, I simply wait until we arrive at my destination and politely thank him for the free cab ride, with a smile, as I exit without paying him a single baht.

Good luck in your adventure, you will need it

Why would I need good luck?

I would say you are pushing it though, your luck that is (just takes one driver who doesn't take it well). Pretty simple really, get in the cab, tell him where you want to go (though I usually do that before getting into the cab), if he doesn't turn the meter on - remind him, if he still doesn't - just get out and get another taxi.

[Soju]

If I get into a taxi and the driver refuses to turn on the meter, then my policy is that it's the driver who deserves to get "ripped off", not me. I politely inform him that I will only pay what's on the meter. If he continues after that statement without turning on the meter, I simply wait until we arrive at my destination and politely thank him for the free cab ride, with a smile, as I exit without paying him a single baht.

Good luck in your adventure, you will need it

Why would I need good luck?

I would say you are pushing it though, your luck that is (just takes one driver who doesn't take it well). Pretty simple really, get in the cab, tell him where you want to go (though I usually do that before getting into the cab), if he doesn't turn the meter on - remind him, if he still doesn't - just get out and get another taxi.

It's really a very rare occasion for me that I get the free ride. In travelling throughout Asia for 20 years, I've had hundreds and hundreds of taxi drivers try to not use the meter. Most of the time they won't even start off before trying to negotiate a fare. The other times, they'll drive off and then try to negotiate a fare but either stop and let me out or agree to use the meter. It's extremely rare for them to continue. I've had less than 10 free rides in all my experiences and out of those only 2 where the driver did more than get out of his taxi. If I needed to use a taxi to get to my home or place of work, where the taxi driver could come back at will and try to cause me a problem, I'd probably consider demanding that he stop the cab and get out. But going to a hotel where I normally just stay for one night, or to an airport I don't feel at all unsafe about doing this, especially given the rarity of it's necessity.

[Donz]

When I open the door I say meter if they say no sir blah blah i close the dor and move onto the next one.

Yes you need luck, do it to the wrong taxi driver then you will be in trouble. You think its worth risking your life to get a free taxi ride???

[Soju]

When I open the door I say meter if they say no sir blah blah i close the dor and move onto the next one.

I do exactly the same thing. But the thing is that often the driver will say "yes", but then refuse to turn on the meter after I get in and the taxi is rolling. If the taxi is moving, you'd obviously be pretty stupid to just jump out. The taxi may have travelled some distance before the driver is willing to stop and let you out. If so, some things to consider in these cases...

If you're travelling with luggage, you'll have to retrieve your luggage from the trunk, possibly with the needed assistance of the taxi driver. Is this really safe to do considering that you're not going to pay him anything for whatever distance he's just travelled?

What is the area of town like that you are now in? Is is safe here for you to just get out? Is it well lit? Are there even any other cabs around that you can catch from this new location?

What's the weather like? You may have entered the cab from a protected place, but outside it's raining.

[Donz]

When I open the door I say meter if they say no sir blah blah i close the dor and move onto the next one.

I do exactly the same thing. But the thing is that often the driver will say "yes", but then refuse to turn on the meter after I get in and the taxi is rolling. If the taxi is moving, you'd obviously be pretty stupid to just jump out. The taxi may have travelled some distance before the driver is willing to stop and let you out. If so, some things to consider in these cases...

If you're travelling with luggage, you'll have to retrieve your luggage from the trunk, possibly with the needed assistance of the taxi driver. Is this really safe to do considering that you're not going to pay him anything for whatever distance he's just travelled?

What is the area of town like that you are now in? Is is safe here for you to just get out? Is it well lit? Are there even any other cabs around that you can catch from this new location?

What's the weather like? You may have entered the cab from a protected place, but outside it's raining.

Lets just hope you dont get a really hot headed taxi driver who has lots of friends

[Soju]

When I open the door I say meter if they say no sir blah blah i close the dor and move onto the next one.

I do exactly the same thing. But the thing is that often the driver will say "yes", but then refuse to turn on the meter after I get in and the taxi is rolling. If the taxi is moving, you'd obviously be pretty stupid to just jump out. The taxi may have travelled some distance before the driver is willing to stop and let you out. If so, some things to consider in these cases...

If you're travelling with luggage, you'll have to retrieve your luggage from the trunk, possibly with the needed assistance of the taxi driver. Is this really safe to do considering that you're not going to pay him anything for whatever distance he's just travelled?

What is the area of town like that you are now in? Is is safe here for you to just get out? Is it well lit? Are there even any other cabs around that you can catch from this new location?

What's the weather like? You may have entered the cab from a protected place, but outside it's raining.

Lets just hope you dont get a really hot headed taxi driver who has lots of friends

So answer me this, what do you do if the driver agrees to use the meter but then refuses to turn it on after you're rolling? I've never run across any particularly seedy areas of Bangkok that I'd feel unsafe in, but certainly have been in places outside of Thailand that I would have felt unsafe to have just gotten out of a cab. If the surroundings where you were driving through looked to be unsafe, would you just tell the driver to stop and exit the cab? Would you tell him to take you back to where he picked you up at? If he's hot-headed, with lots of friends, any option other than agreeing to pay what he demands could be considered to be dangerous. I'd feel much safer being dropped off at a hotel and "stiffing" him there, than doing it in some unknown part of town or risk having him drive into some neighborhood where his friends are residing and then exit the cab there. The point is, once you enter a cab and the driver refuses to turn on the meter, you have already entered into a potentially dangerous situation. My way of dealing with it might not be the safest, but neither is just getting out of the cab. I estimate the level of danger to not be very high, so I choose not to do the safest thing (that being pay the driver some outrageous amount) because I'd rather take a slight risk than give into such extortionist tactics.

Edited September 25, 2006 by Soju

[Donz]

Well if they dont turn it on I will tell them "hey you meter isnt on, can you turn in on " if he refuses I will tell him to let me out and I will catch another cab.

But I wont try and just let him take me to the place and walk out and not pay him any money.

[Soju]

Well if they dont turn it on I will tell them "hey you meter isnt on, can you turn in on " if he refuses I will tell him to let me out and I will catch another cab.

But I wont try and just let him take me to the place and walk out and not pay him any money.

Ok, so take one of my cases I had in Thailand where I didn't pay the driver. I was a relative newbie to Thailand, and arrived at Don Muang and waited in the taxi queue to catch a cab. There was a large sign there clearly stating passengers to only pay the meter, plus 50 THB, plus tollway charges. The driver loaded my luggage into the trunk, and I told the driver the name of the hotel where I was going and to use the tollway. He takes off without turning on the meter. I say, "hey, turn on the meter", but he refuses and tries to get me to agree to 500 THB for the trip. I say, "no way, I'm only going to pay whatever is on the meter, plus 50 TBH, plus the tollway charges like the sign said." He tries to bargain down the price but I refuse, stating several times that I pay what it said on the sign. By this time he's already entering the tollway. You would have told him to stop and let you out right in the middle of the tollway, with all your luggage to walk back to terminal to catch another cab? IMHO, that would have been much, much, more dangerous than any chance of having the driver try to do something to me after reaching our hotel. My opinion of this is that the taxi driver who agrees to turn on the meter but doesn't is nothing short of a crook and deserves to not get paid anything. I will not be inconvenienced due to a crooked taxi driver if I can help it, and I won't put myself into any situation I'd consider extremely dangerous (getting out of a cab on a busy expressway, or in some very dark and dangerous part of town). And in no circumstances will I reward a crooked taxi driver by paying his extortionist demands unless I really have no other choice. By all means, just get out of the taxi if you consider doing so is safe and convenient for you. My point is that doing so may not always be the safest thing to do.

Some people feel bad about allowing the "poor" taxi driver to take them all the way to their destination and then "stiff" the driver. I have absolutely no qualms about doing so because the driver has already proven himself to me to be a crook.

[Donz]

should of just turned it on yourself, if he tries to stop you maybe a backhand will help your causes

[Neeranam]

Soju, I used to do similar things to you, but stopped. It was almost like I was hoping the driver didn't turn it on so I'd get a free ride. Play the foolish farang, then say something in Thai at the end to rub it in that I'd conned him. You can't blame them for trying to rip off the newly arrived people, can you? If you could get a days wages from one fare in your homecountry, would you consider it?

Most of these guys aren't criminals, they're just confused. Some guy gives them a 500 baht tip, the next agrees to a fare of 500 baht for a 200 baht ride. Do you think they're at places like the airport out of the goodness of their hearts, and to help the foreign visitors? The last time I came from the airport, I was talking to the driver who was really pissed off that he picked us up. He said he had been waiting ages and had not actually made any money coming to the airport from downtown and picking me up. I did something I very rarely do and gave the guy a 100 baht tip. He was a honest, hard-working grandfather.

When I lived in Bkk, there were many times i was in a cab and the driver forgot to turn it on. I used to know that city better than some of the drivers, and they always agreed to the fare I suggested.

I used to go to work in Samut Songram, a fare of 310 baht. Often, the meter was tampered with and the the fare showed something ridiculous. They always gave for the corrected fare.

In suggest you stop playing these silly games - one day you'll be hurt. Most of these drivers carry weapons under their seats. What happens if you jump in a cab one night and it's the same guy who has come looking for you, but you don't recognise him. He takes you down a side street, whips out his weapon and you're ######ed. If he refuses to put on the meter, get out quickly and get another one.

[meadish_sweetball]

You can't blame them for trying to rip off the newly arrived people, can you? If you could get a days wages from one fare in your homecountry, would you consider it?

No, I wouldnt. The poor get a crap deal and have my sympathy, but poor is not a sufficient excuse for being dishonest.

I always tip honest drivers, without exception, and I tell them why too. I have tipped some who hadnt a clue where they were going because I felt sorry for them too, but that is different to deliberately trying to scam somebody.

[lannarebirth]

I'd say your luck will one day run out using the "no fare" option. If ever in this situation again, you should at the very least pay the minimum fare which would be on any meter.

[Donz]

Yes I agree, you should atleast pay what you thin is fair.

And I have to agree with neeranam, not often I agree with his posts but im 100% behind him on that one

[chuchok]

I always used to find if I said "jak baht"...We would get a reasonable price.

[Donz]

whats jak baht?? does that mean "grow up"

[Ulysses G.]

So answer me this, what do you do if the driver agrees to use the meter but then refuses to turn it on after you're rolling?

I've had this happen when I was carring a bunch of paper boxes to a shipping company during the Songkran water fight. If I got the guy to stop - because he refused to use the meter - and let me out, the boxes would have all been ruined!

Edited September 26, 2006 by Ulysses G.

[thohts]

When I open the door I say meter if they say no sir blah blah i close the dor and move onto the next one.

If you're travelling with luggage, you'll have to retrieve your luggage from the trunk, possibly with the needed assistance of the taxi driver. Is this really safe to do considering that you're not going to pay him anything for whatever distance he's just travelled?

I *never* put luggage in their trunk. It puts you in a bad position in case you have to get out quickly. (Meter/no meter switch, for example)

[AlexLah]

Oh yes taxi meters.

OK, basically I agree what the OP is doing but!!!!

The first time I arrived at Shanghai I took a taxi and told the guy meter!!!!

He start driving but did not turn on the meter.

I kept yelling: Meter, meter!!!!!

After some time I found out that there is a restricted sort of area where they not charge and switch on the meter as soon as they pass it.

Alex

[Donz]

Oh yes taxi meters.

OK, basically I agree what the OP is doing but!!!!

The first time I arrived at Shanghai I took a taxi and told the guy meter!!!!

He start driving but did not turn on the meter.

I kept yelling: Meter, meter!!!!!

After some time I found out that there is a restricted sort of area where they not charge and switch on the meter as soon as they pass it.

Alex

hahaha thats a good one

[kayo]

So Soju, Do you rip off people everywhere you go?

You should become a taxi driver maybe?