Being a long time resident and a frequent Pattaya visitor over the years, it never dawned on me how

greedy and heartless those taxi, vans and baht busses are, until I had to play a host to an overseas

family of five, who have been asked 300-400 baht for a 10 minutes ride, waiting outside tourist hotels

and shopping centres for hours at time waiting for the right pounce and over charge the tourist,

not even willing to accept a lesser offer telling the other taxi drivers not to touch you,

forget the jest ski scam, forget taxi meter, those dogs of a drivers have no qualms in gauging unsuspecting

tourist for every baht they can extract from them,

Thailand government and the TAT, take note, this is nothing but a Cartel/ monopoly and a strong arm's

fare pricing, this Hi-way robbery and is happening right under your noses and what I hear, there's lots

of complaints from tourist.......

,

Baht buses remain good value and a good alternative.

If you're worried about Pattaya don't even think about Patong Beach

Try Grab Taxi, they charge a small fee on top of the meter but it is worth the extra expense.

Metered Taxis in Pattaya are a joke and in Bangkok there are good and bad. Always flag down a taxi driving by and never use one that has been sitting waiting in front of hotel or on street as they generally ask crazy prices.

I have always found the baht buses fairly good value and willing to negotiate. "Metered" taxis are the rip off and best avoided at all costs.

We have had the taxi cartel in Phuket all the 13 years I have lived here. Several years ago there was a major commotion resulting in the cartel (most here call it a "mafia", which is an insult to the true mafia) so they nave posted a list of fares for common trips. In Patong it is 200-400 baht for about 10 minute ride, the top fare is 600 baht from the airport to Phuket town (about 30 minute ride). These tuk-tuks are the biggest source of complaints by tourists, even exceeding the 24-hour suit makers that pester the walkers in tourist areas.

Tourist traps like Pattaya are best avoided for a number of reasons... the taxis being one of the least of them.

Tourist traps like Pattaya are best avoided for a number of reasons... the taxis being one of the least of them.

What a boring life you must lead

Try Grab Taxi, they charge a small fee on top of the meter but it is worth the extra expense.

Metered Taxis in Pattaya are a joke and in Bangkok there are good and bad. Always flag down a taxi driving by and never use one that has been sitting waiting in front of hotel or on street as they generally ask crazy prices.

GrabTaxi in Pattaya has not been "small fee on top of the meter" for many months now. They provide a quote on the app that is based on some secret formula. I used GrabTaxi a lot when it first started and it was a great value. The prices for most of the same rides are now about double the previous price when it was "small fee on top of the meter." Even the trip distance indicated on the app is inaccurate.

So how much is fair for a 10 minute ride?

I have been coming to Pattaya for 20 years and I have never ever used a metered taxi in the Pattaya area. Just avoid them and use the baht bus for 10 baht which is much cheaper than a lot of other places in Thailand.

Try Grab Taxi, they charge a small fee on top of the meter but it is worth the extra expense.

Metered Taxis in Pattaya are a joke and in Bangkok there are good and bad. Always flag down a taxi driving by and never use one that has been sitting waiting in front of hotel or on street as they generally ask crazy prices.

+1 for Grab taxi I use them regularly in Bangkok never had a problem 35 baht plus meter fee

what's with all this BS referencing to Phuket on the pattaya forum now days.

If you want or like Phuket, stay there or go back there.

you been ripped for years.

get on with it.

Try Grab Taxi, they charge a small fee on top of the meter but it is worth the extra expense.

Metered Taxis in Pattaya are a joke and in Bangkok there are good and bad. Always flag down a taxi driving by and never use one that has been sitting waiting in front of hotel or on street as they generally ask crazy prices.

+1 for Grab taxi I use them regularly in Bangkok never had a problem 35 baht plus meter fee

I agree that GrabTaxi is great in Bangkok. But, this is not Bangkok, and the GrabTaxi is different here: They do not use the meter. The rate charged is determined by some proprietary formula that GrabTaxi-Pattaya has devised.

The arch in Jomtien that says "The Extreme City" should have a sister arch on Sukhumvit entering Pattaya from the north: "You're not in Kansas Bangkok any more."

Tourist traps like Pattaya are best avoided for a number of reasons... the taxis being one of the least of them.

What a boring life you must lead

really? If pointing out the obvious about avoiding a place is deemed to have a "boring life". Someone is rather warped!

Most taxis here wait a long time for a customer unlike bangkok where they can drive around and quickly get a fair. They need to make 1200baht a day before they make a profit. Not a fun life to have. Most of them are ex motorcycle taxi riders of have saved for years for an upgrade!

I remember when there were no metered taxis in Pattaya........Reality, There still don t seem to be.......I have never seen a meter turned on.

Off topic one line Pattaya bashing troll post and replies removed

Most taxis here wait a long time for a customer unlike bangkok where they can drive around and quickly get a fair. They need to make 1200baht a day before they make a profit. Not a fun life to have. Most of them are ex motorcycle taxi riders of have saved for years for an upgrade!

Every business in the world has a nut to crack each day before they are making a profit. How does being a Taxi driver in Thailand make it any different? There is a cost associated with running a business, even if you are a bar girl. I am just trying to understand your point.

I think his point is that the driver ought to be able to charge what they like.

They are selling a service, you can buy it or not. No one tells me what I have to work for.

I have been robbed three times in my life, and being charged more than I think is fair (yet agreed to) is not robbery, not even close.

Tourist traps like Pattaya are best avoided for a number of reasons... the taxis being one of the least of them.

What a boring life you must lead

really? If pointing out the obvious about avoiding a place is deemed to have a "boring life". Someone is rather warped!

Boring AND pontifical....

I compare these Pattaya taxi drivers to the real estate agents that are too proud to lower the price of a house or apartment for sale because they do not want to lose face or face peer pressure for lowering their prices. Just let the apartment set empty for years as the taxi driver (who rents the taxi for around 800 baht per day I think) and barely makes enough to make a profit. Heck, have you ever seen the string of taxis just sitting in front of Centara Grand Mirage along Wongamat Beach Rd? There about ten -twelve of those four wheel vultures waiting to find their prey. I can not imagine they get big pocket money from sitting there all day. Evidently the mafia does not care that there is an over supply of taxis sitting idle at some of the hotels; for it is not skin off their back.

Anyone used a London cab recently, if my memory serves me correctly some 10 years ago, "FlagDown" was £1-50.