Thai police to get tough on taxi drivers after flood of complaints

[Nobb]

I heard the same thing two years ago when the military junta took control of the government. If any thing it has gotten worst because the taxi driver do not fear the law. Another get tough on taxi drivers. A lot of promises but no action. This is why Thailand is no better than before.

[hbullinger]

The best reply I ever got from a taxi driver was "don't know" after I had asked him why he refused to take me on an easy ride from Sukhumvit 22 to Sukhumvit Hospital near BTS Ekamai.

[Basil B]

From a string of recent reports about taxi drivers still refusing fares, over charging and even raping customers, the get tough campaign did not work, maybe time to put the police on performance related pay, that should save the government a lot of money.

[JAG]

Currently in Bangkok for a couple of days , tried to take a taxi about half a dozen times yesterday, every time was turned down or quoted a silly price.

Do you know what chaps, I don't think this crackdown is working!

Discovered "Grabtaxi" this morning - really good.

[lvr181]

Another announcement, anther crackdown. Who are they kidding? Trying to convince world and tourists? What a joke. Any crackdown should be ongoing until effective and NOT reliant on complaints.

[cpofc]

In defence of the good cabbies. Remembering that cab prices here have remained static for about 20 years or so.

I can only speak from experience having lived in the same Moo baan in outer suburban Bangkok for around 13 years. I don't own a car. I have no need as I am only 100 yards from the main road and there are a myriad of taxis passing up and down 24/7. Driving a car would only create unnecessary stress for me when I can sit back and enjoy the ride and let someone else deal with the traffic chaos. I don't miss driving.

My personal experience is pretty damned good. I just don't have problems here. Admittedly the only problems I have is when on the rare occasion I go downtown to the tourist areas (nana usually to meet passing friends from Oz) is getting a cab to take me back home. Maybe a couple of refusals, which I expect, or even a non meter price gouge which I refuse. But I always manage to get a good bloke who turns the meter on and doesn't muck me about. The old adage of 'catching more flies with honey than with vinegar' is a true one. Usually by the time I arrive home, we have struck up a friendship and have engaged in some good hearted banter and I give the bloke a decent tip for being a decent bloke.

Had a good conversation with a cabbie just the other day. Talking about the 'old days'. He started out as a Bangkok Tuk Tuk driver as a teenager having come down from Khon Kaen looking to get a job around 30 years ago. He told me that in the space of just one year he had bought his parents a house in KK!

He then compared it to today driving a cab. Reckoned it was just getting harder and harder to make a decent living driving a taxi and is grateful he is not trying to buy his parents a house today.

So I refuse to throw a blanket over all Thai Cabbies. They are not all bastards. Many are just ordinary blokes trying to eke out an existence, which is getting more and more expensive every day.

Edited April 24, 2016 by cpofc

[bluesofa]

I would agree with cpofc post a few moments ago.

The difficulty for a lot of people is to differentiate between the goodies and the baddies.

I don't live in Bangkok thankfully, but the few occasions when I do go, I just refuse drivers who try to negotiate a fixed price in advance. I also get out of any taxi if the driver refuses to start the meter.

I've seen a few who put a towel over the meter, so any tourist not aware there is one, might be duped into a fixed price. One said the meter was broken when I asked him to switch it on. I just got out and found another taxi.

[JAG]

In defence of the good cabbies. Remembering that cab prices here have remained static for about 20 years or so.

I can only speak from experience having lived in the same Moo baan in outer suburban Bangkok for around 13 years. I don't own a car. I have no need as I am only 100 yards from the main road and there are a myriad of taxis passing up and down 24/7. Driving a car would only create unnecessary stress for me when I can sit back and enjoy the ride and let someone else deal with the traffic chaos. I don't miss driving.

My personal experience is pretty damned good. I just don't have problems here. Admittedly the only problems I have is when on the rare occasion I go downtown to the tourist areas (nana usually to meet passing friends from Oz) is getting a cab to take me back home. Maybe a couple of refusals, which I expect, or even a non meter price gouge which I refuse. But I always manage to get a good bloke who turns the meter on and doesn't muck me about. The old adage of 'catching more flies with honey than with vinegar' is a true one. Usually by the time I arrive home, we have struck up a friendship and have engaged in some good hearted banter and I give the bloke a decent tip for being a decent bloke.

Had a good conversation with a cabbie just the other day. Talking about the 'old days'. He started out as a Bangkok Tuk Tuk driver as a teenager having come down from Khon Kaen looking to get a job around 30 years ago. He told me that in the space of just one year he had bought his parents a house in KK!

He then compared it to today driving a cab. Reckoned it was just getting harder and harder to make a decent living driving a taxi and is grateful he is not trying to buy his parents a house today.

So I refuse to throw a blanket over all Thai Cabbies. They are not all bastards. Many are just ordinary blokes trying to eke out an existence, which is getting more and more expensive every day.

I agree on prices. they are ludicrously low . Perhaps a realistic fare structure would reduce the frequency of refusals, and give the drivers sufficient income to repair those broken meters!

I also imagine that the " broken meters"/ quoted silly fares game is far more prevalent in tourist areas. Given the importance that the system claims to attach to tourism it is surprising that no effort is made to focus the crackdown on these areas - no money in it I suppose...

Edited April 25, 2016 by JAG