Throw the book at them - Thai public angry with rogue taxis

[chainarong]

The sooner Thais confront/rebel against poor service and corruption, the sooner standards will start to improve.

With all this so in-trenched in everyday life ,it just about rules out any standards for about another fifty years , or when TAT finds that there is a reduction of 33 million tourists .

[KIWIBATCH]

What happened to the "crackdown" on rogue taxis announced a few weeks back by yours truly...forgotten about already?....oh yes of course it has been.....

[Jonmarleesco]

Good to see the Thais getting het up over this issue. If enough of them raise enough hell, something practical and effective might just get done.

[Jonmarleesco]

It was only yesterday I was using taxis to get around bkk for my private affairs. It took me a total of 4 taxis before one would take me to the translation station. Then earlier, a motorcycle taxi drove me about 2 kilometers and when I got off he demanded 200 baht. I laughed at him and slapped 60 baht in his hand and ignored his yelling at me as I walked away. My previous trip a week before was even worse and attempt more demanding by them. Of course, I could have reported them all. But the hotlines they offer don't understand English. So what's the point. The way I see it, nothing has changed from 7 years ago when I first lived in bkk.

The standard practice with a mototaxi is to negotiate the fare before departure. Did you have an agreement before you took the moto taxi?

Why do you expect the hotlines to be staffed by personnel fluent in English? When I was in Italy, my taxi drivers spoke worse English than the taxi drivers at BKK. Same applies for Seoul, much of France, Russia, Spain, most of Latin America etc. If I were to call the taxi bureau in New York city and were to speak in French or German or Thai, do you think Shaneka who answers would be able to converse with me? How about if I call the bureau in Paris and start complaining in English? Same for Rome. You have lived in Bangkok for 7 years and you still can't speak some Thai? Nice.

You expect a scammed tourist to speak Thai on a hotline? Don't be stupid.

[thesetat2013]

It was only yesterday I was using taxis to get around bkk for my private affairs. It took me a total of 4 taxis before one would take me to the translation station. Then earlier, a motorcycle taxi drove me about 2 kilometers and when I got off he demanded 200 baht. I laughed at him and slapped 60 baht in his hand and ignored his yelling at me as I walked away. My previous trip a week before was even worse and attempt more demanding by them. Of course, I could have reported them all. But the hotlines they offer don't understand English. So what's the point. The way I see it, nothing has changed from 7 years ago when I first lived in bkk.

The standard practice with a mototaxi is to negotiate the fare before departure. Did you have an agreement before you took the moto taxi?

Why do you expect the hotlines to be staffed by personnel fluent in English? When I was in Italy, my taxi drivers spoke worse English than the taxi drivers at BKK. Same applies for Seoul, much of France, Russia, Spain, most of Latin America etc. If I were to call the taxi bureau in New York city and were to speak in French or German or Thai, do you think Shaneka who answers would be able to converse with me? How about if I call the bureau in Paris and start complaining in English? Same for Rome. You have lived in Bangkok for 7 years and you still can't speak some Thai? Nice.

The law states that their is no negotiation and that the drivers must not refuse any passengers. This includes motor taxis which have a rate they must follow per kilometer..... when you reply things you should at least show some sense of knowledge about the topic. Being that most passengers in taxi who are getting overcharge are foreigners, logic would dictate they would have at least one English speaker on thir hotlines. And you personal attack about my lack of Thai ability is uncalled for. I taught English and adhered to not speaking Thai in school as well as my off time in the mountains with just my English speaking wife and English speaking children. I can speak some Thai but not enough to make a report on a phone and surely not writing one. I am sure your time was spent ordering beers and bar girls to take and went to a Thai school to look smart in Thai. But you need to stop trying to show your intellectual ability as it is failing severely.

[Sunderland]

Better throw a tablet or phone at them. Nobody reads books.