In praise of Bangkok taxi drivers

[Inspire]

In praise of Bangkok taxi drivers

 

 

Hardly a day goes by when there is not a story in the news about the latest rogue taxi drivers in Bangkok. They are vilified for turning down passengers, dumping people by the side of the road, not turning on the meter and swearing like troopers.

 

And that is just the good ones.

 

Others, we are told, keep a baseball bat under the dash for when the passengers’ complain, suggest all sorts of naughty things with female passengers and rob people at knifepoint so they can get their fix of drugs or next bottle of lao khao to kep them oiled on the road.

 

One this week even called a policeman relative on his phone to “arrest” a passenger for complaining about being refused a journey. The cop arrived on a bike but ended up detaining the driver after the passenger turned out to be an attorney.

 

There seems no end to the mischief that the Bangkok taxi driver seems to get up to.

 

Funny though, in 35 years of living in the city I can’t remember every really meeting a nasty one.

 

I often wonder why other people seem to have such terrible and negative experiences.

 

Sure I have met some moaners – especially in the pre-meter days when many used to spend the whole gridlocked journey muttering under their breath about this and that. But they did have a point.

 

And I suppose a few turn me down for various journeys, but not that many.

 

Maybe my rose-tinted specs need adjusting, but invariable I seem to come across decent people trying to earn a living. And they are almost always willing to engage in a cheery conversation that always makes me feel good.

 

In fact, I’ve had more free Thai lessons in cabs than I could possibly remember. Sure they sometimes don’t know exactly where they are going or the route – but that just means more Thai practice – win-win.

 

Full story: http://www.inspirepattaya.com/lifestyle/praise-bangkok-taxi-drivers/

 

 

-- © Copyright Inspire Pattaya 2017-02-19

[thai3]

35 years and never had a taxi problem, you should get out more, they did not have meters when you arrived, how did that go?

Edited February 19, 2017 by thai3

[pmarlin]

The OP has joined the "Fake News" gang. By the way isn't Inspire the magazine name for the  ISIS terror group.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inspire_(magazine)

[PremiumLane]

14 minutes ago, pmarlin said:

The OP has joined the "Fake News" gang. By the way isn't Inspire the magazine name for the  ISIS terror group.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inspire_(magazine)

Seriously? It is an opinion piece, not news. Is fake news going to be the new buzzword that is overused and misused by idiots? 

[impulse]

I couldn't do what they do.  

 

I've had very few problems with BKK taxis, other than the ones that pay big money to sit outside tourist hotels and have the staff funnel pigeons to them.  And even they offer a service the newcomers who don't know the city, speak the language, or want to spend hours of their holiday lost because of it.

[gdgbb]

1 hour ago, thai3 said:

35 years and never had a taxi problem, you should get out more, they did not have meters when you arrived, how did that go?

"35 years and never had a taxi problem, you should get out more..."

 

The writer didn't say that,  what he did say was, "funny though, in 35 years of living in the city I can’t remember every really meeting a nasty one.

I suppose a few turn me down for various journeys, but not that many."

 

He probably gets out more than enough.

[gdgbb]

1 hour ago, PremiumLane said:

Seriously? It is an opinion piece, not news. Is fake news going to be the new buzzword that is overused and misused by idiots? 

Excellent.

[gamini]

I've been living in Thailand on and off for the last 50 years. Bangkok taxi drivers are normally very nice and friendly. They keep their taxis  Clean and they do a wonderful job negotiating the very bad traffic. They are also very cheap. On the whole. I find them better than in a lot of countries that I've lived in. But then there will always be people on this forum who have nothing better to do than criticise everything . about Thailand.

[fishbrando]

I could write a book on all the bad taxi drivers I've met.  

 

My favorite situation was trying to catch a taxi at Siam after the BTS closed for the night.  Taxi drivers, who had their available lights on in the distance, would turn them off before they reached us and then drive right past us.  Eventually I called an Uber and got home without a problem.

 

When services such as Uber and Lyft end up decimating the taxi industry, I won't be shedding a tear for them.

[stevemac]

Been coming to Thailand since 2001. Go straight up country these days but always used to spend 2-3 days in Bangkok before. Only once had a problem, when a driver took us to the Holiday Inn Silom from kao sarn instead of Ploenchit, despite showing him the hotel card. Always been friendly and chatty.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thaivisa Connect mobile app

[smutcakes]

Big thumbs up from me on Thai taxi drivers. Had a very small handful of issues over the past 10 years, no less than you would get in any country. A nice disposition, a friendly hello go a long way in ensuring a pleasant trip.  General common sense dictates that you pick and choose where and when you take a taxi to and from, and for the price of them i can quite understand in certain circumstances why they turn down some clientele or desitnations.

[Bonefish]

Uber has much cleaner cars, friendly drivers, they pick you up wherever you are for free, and most of the time they are 20-30 percent cheaper than a taxi. A non-brainer, really!

[impulse]

5 minutes ago, fishbrando said:

I could write a book on all the bad taxi drivers I've met.  

 

My favorite situation was trying to catch a taxi at Siam after the BTS closed for the night.  Taxi drivers, who had their available lights on in the distance, would turn them off before they reached us and then drive right past us.  Eventually I called an Uber and got home without a problem.

 

When services such as Uber and Lyft end up decimating the taxi industry, I won't be shedding a tear for them.

 

So, you don't figure those taxis with their lights on were actually going to meet someone that summoned them by Uber, Lyft or Grab?  And when your Uber came (if it was a legal taxi), how many people like you do you figure they passed, just like those guys passed you?

 

Enjoy Uber while it lasts.  And when the bad drivers figure out how to game the ride summoning apps, we'll be reading about the horrible Lyft and Grab drivers.  Uber, in the meantime, will have burned through their funding fighting legal battles and paying for market share at negative profits.

[gdgbb]

"I often wonder why other people seem to have such terrible and negative experiences."

 

Me too.   I think a lot of posters on this subject don't have the problems they claim to have, many are simply jumping on the bandwagon by regurgitating what they have heard from others and then embellish it a bit for effect.  I also think that many complainers are just that, complainers who have probably not had any issues apart from the occasional refusal.   Those people are frequently the types that complain about and try to mock everything relating to Thais, Thailand, or Bangkok specifically.

 

I don't suppose it is beyond the realms of possibility that some drivers decide that the potential passenger that has flagged him down is the sort that he really doesn't want in his taxi for any length of time!

[smutcakes]

2 minutes ago, gdgbb said:

"I often wonder why other people seem to have such terrible and negative experiences."

 

Me too.   I think a lot of posters on this subject don't have the problems they claim to have, many are simply jumping on the bandwagon by regurgitating what they have heard from others and then embellish it a bit for effect.  I also think that many complainers are just that, complainers who have probably not had any issues apart from the occasional refusal.   Those people are frequently the types that complain about and try to mock everything relating to Thais, Thailand, or Bangkok specifically.

 

I don't suppose it is beyond the realms of possibility that some drivers decide that the potential passenger that has flagged him down is the sort that he really doesn't want in his taxi for any length of time!

 

Its always the same people. You could literally list the people who have bad taxi experiences as they are the most miserable, arrogant and rude people on here. Taxi drivers probably see them and their attitude coming a mile off. I would not drive them either, or dump them in the middle of nowhere.

[gdgbb]

24 minutes ago, fishbrando said:

I could write a book on all the bad taxi drivers I've met.  

 

My favorite situation was trying to catch a taxi at Siam after the BTS closed for the night.  Taxi drivers, who had their available lights on in the distance, would turn them off before they reached us and then drive right past us.  Eventually I called an Uber and got home without a problem.

 

When services such as Uber and Lyft end up decimating the taxi industry, I won't be shedding a tear for them.

You are complaining that taxis without the "for hire' sign illuminated drove past you?  Really?  Those would be taxi drivers deciding that they were not available (which is their prerogative) and complying 100% with the law yet you complain? 

 

Even taxis with the sign lit are not compelled to stop for anyone if they don't want to, it's when they stop but refuse a journey that the problems begin.

 

Can't imagine that the book will be on any best seller list if that is typical of the incidents that you would recount in it.

 

Uber decimating the Thai taxi industry?  No, not going to happen, just has it hasn't happened anywhere else.

Edited February 19, 2017 by gdgbb

[robblok]

8 minutes ago, smutcakes said:

 

Its always the same people. You could literally list the people who have bad taxi experiences as they are the most miserable, arrogant and rude people on here. Taxi drivers probably see them and their attitude coming a mile off. I would not drive them either, or dump them in the middle of nowhere.

Most of the taxi drivers I met were good (once i got in). But faced a lot of rejections just like the Thais.. statistics prove it happens a lot so that is a fact. I have had one guy with a doggy meter and a few that drove crazy but far more good then bad drivers. 

[smutcakes]

Just now, robblok said:

Most of the taxi drivers I met were good (once i got in). But faced a lot of rejections just like the Thais.. statistics prove it happens a lot so that is a fact. I have had one guy with a doggy meter and a few that drove crazy but far more good then bad drivers. 

 

Yes like everywhere there are some difficult ones, but they are few and far between. There are areas where they are more prevalent. I know they should not, but i cannot begrudge taxi drivers turning down trips from time to time. Someone asking to go from Sathorn to Pathumthani on a wet Friday evening rush hour, no thanks. 

[robblok]

Just now, smutcakes said:

 

Yes like everywhere there are some difficult ones, but they are few and far between. There are areas where they are more prevalent. I know they should not, but i cannot begrudge taxi drivers turning down trips from time to time. Someone asking to go from Sathorn to Pathumthani on a wet Friday evening rush hour, no thanks. 

They have to do so by law.. and yes i hold it against them. They get money for being in traffic and so on. Once you allow them to start cherry picking the whole service becomes unreliable. Rush hour travel is bad.. but its bad all over the city. 

[smutcakes]

Just now, robblok said:

They have to do so by law.. and yes i hold it against them. They get money for being in traffic and so on. Once you allow them to start cherry picking the whole service becomes unreliable. Rush hour travel is bad.. but its bad all over the city. 

You hold it against them, i can understand it. I presume its one of the negatives of living out of the way.

[gdgbb]

18 minutes ago, Bonefish said:

Uber has much cleaner cars, friendly drivers, they pick you up wherever you are for free, and most of the time they are 20-30 percent cheaper than a taxi. A non-brainer, really!

Uber charges a premium yet you claim that they are cheaper than taxis?  Every estimate, without exception, that I had from their app (before I uninstalled it) for a familiar journey was more expensive than a taxi would be.

 

The majority of newer taxis are as clean as anyone could expect (if you choose to take an old beaten up one, that's your problem),  the majority of taxi drivers are friendly, taxi drivers all, without exception, will pick you up wherever you are for free (how else would you ever get one if they didn't pick you up where you were?)

 

No-brainer?  I think you're right, there.

[robblok]

Just now, smutcakes said:

You hold it against them, i can understand it. I presume its one of the negatives of living out of the way.

 

Yes it is one of the negative things.. however my friend lives near ratchada yotin and gets refused just as much so I really understand why they crack down on taxi drivers not following the law. They make the whole system unreliable. Personally I would not dream of trying to do such a travel during rush hour (i can spend my time better than sitting in a taxi). I have fallen back to using my car and motorbike works much better than taxi's. I do use them now and again but far less then before. The trip was often too long.. too short or whatever (never a good trip for them). That is why cherry picking should not be allowed (and is not allowed by law)

 

I think the difference between you and me is that I understand how the whole system becomes unreliable when you let people choose who they pick up and you seem to fight for taxi drivers rights to let people stand and so sabotage the system. 

 

That said once you get a taxi driver its usually ok, but it gets boring trying to get a taxi and getting refused many times. Good thing is that at some shopping malls if a taxi driver is in the cue and refuses you he has to leave the cue empty. 

[gdgbb]

15 minutes ago, robblok said:

Most of the taxi drivers I met were good (once i got in). But faced a lot of rejections just like the Thais.. statistics prove it happens a lot so that is a fact. I have had one guy with a doggy meter and a few that drove crazy but far more good then bad drivers. 

I think that what statistics prove is that rejections do happen frequently but, in the light of the approximately 80-100,000 registered taxis in Bangkok, it is a very small proportion that spoil it for the rest. 

 

If anyone bothered to compile the statistics the other way around they would prove that the vast majority of drivers do not refuse fares but stories of uneventful journeys with a good driver and unmolested meters are, obviously,  never reported.

 

I can remember one taxi with an obviously rigged meter that I had the misfortune to use, maybe 15 years ago, never since and, over the last 22 years,  I have told perhaps four or five to stop so I could get another taxi .  To my mind that's a pretty good record.

[Bonefish]

20 minutes ago, gdgbb said:

Uber charges a premium yet you claim that they are cheaper than taxis?  Every estimate, without exception, that I had from their app (before I uninstalled it) for a familiar journey was more expensive than a taxi would be.

 

The majority of newer taxis are as clean as anyone could expect (if you choose to take an old beaten up one, that's your problem),  the majority of taxi drivers are friendly, taxi drivers all, without exception, will pick you up wherever you are for free (how else would you ever get one if they didn't pick you up where you were?)

 

No-brainer?  I think you're right, there.

I take Uber and I take taxis very often for exactly the same distance, and Uber is always 20-30 percent cheaper than the taxi during normal hours. Yes, when the demand is very high, Uber will charge a premium and they will inform you about that before you order them. It is your free choice to accept or decline it. 

 

No, the taxi will not pick you up wherever you are, they will pick you up where THEY are! Uber will come to pick you up at any location YOU chose, your home, your hotel, wherever you are, even and especially in areas with no taxis.  And they do this for FREE!

[robblok]

6 minutes ago, gdgbb said:

I think that what statistics prove is that rejections do happen frequently but, in the light of the approximately 80-100,000 registered taxis in Bangkok, it is a very small proportion that spoil it for the rest. 

 

If anyone bothered to compile the statistics the other way around they would prove that the vast majority of drivers do not refuse fares but stories of uneventful journeys with a good driver and unmolested meters are, obviously,  never reported.

 

I can remember one taxi with an obviously rigged meter that I had the misfortune to use, maybe 15 years ago, never since and, over the last 22 years,  I have told perhaps four or five to stop so I could get another taxi .  To my mind that's a pretty good record.

I also just had one with a rigged meter, doubt it happens a lot, as said once I am in its usually good. Having to ask 2 taxis before getting accepted is not a problem but have had it going up to 5-6 then it starts to become boring.. too far.. to close.. whatever. Then you got the ones that don't want to turn on the meter.. usually the ones in tourist area's, never had a problem around this area. 

 

But at a point the drivers near the local Big C started to refuse me because the trip was to short (60bt trip) So after that we bought a car and did not have that trouble anymore. I really do prefer my motorbike (in rush hour) or car (if I need to take a lot) but when I go out drinking or hopping all around BKK i prefer a taxi. 

 

 

[smutcakes]

3 minutes ago, robblok said:

I also just had one with a rigged meter, doubt it happens a lot, as said once I am in its usually good. Having to ask 2 taxis before getting accepted is not a problem but have had it going up to 5-6 then it starts to become boring.. too far.. to close.. whatever. Then you got the ones that don't want to turn on the meter.. usually the ones in tourist area's, never had a problem around this area. 

 

But at a point the drivers near the local Big C started to refuse me because the trip was to short (60bt trip) So after that we bought a car and did not have that trouble anymore. I really do prefer my motorbike (in rush hour) or car (if I need to take a lot) but when I go out drinking or hopping all around BKK i prefer a taxi. 

 

 

In ten years i have never had a taxi not turn on the meter. 

[robblok]

Just now, smutcakes said:

In ten years i have never had a taxi not turn on the meter. 

Happens to me quite often try going to Khao sarn and then back home (always a problem there). The few times i go out drinking with mates around soi 4 its always a problem to get a taxi back. But these are known tourist spots with taxi maffia. Have never had it happen anywhere else. 

 

 

[zoza]

22 minutes ago, smutcakes said:

 

Its always the same people. You could literally list the people who have bad taxi experiences as they are the most miserable, arrogant and rude people on here. Taxi drivers probably see them and their attitude coming a mile off. I would not drive them either, or dump them in the middle of nowhere.

I do not use taxi's in Bangkok on a regular basis but mine and my wifes treatment by some

taxi drivers on the rare occasions we use them has been a lot worse than any other taxi's in Pattaya/Udon Thani and several other cities in Thailand.

it might be  because of the time or maybe the journey but we had a driver that told us the

office for the M.O.F.A in Laski had moved, I had pointed out that he was going the wrong way, and it was there the day before but he would not have it and dropped us miles from this

building, on our subsequent attempt to get a taxi to take us to the british embassy was met

with 4 or 5 taxi's stopping but refusing the fare, the last charmer had his eyes rolling back

as the foam was running down his Yabba affected chin ,which caused my wife to shout out  get out.

And after the American passenger got attacked and killed with a samurai sword by a drug

addicted taxi driver I decided I would try really hard not to get into any arguments with Bangkok taxi drivers in case they thought I was arrogant or rude, and I wish I had the vision

to spot these people a mile away as even my wife was terrified and we now use the trains or buses and try and dodge the excitement of Bangkok taxi's.   

[NoshowJones]

53 minutes ago, smutcakes said:

You hold it against them, i can understand it. I presume its one of the negatives of living out of the way.

There are positives and negatives in any job, we would all have wanted jobs with only positives, but things just do not work that way, it is not right that anyone in any job just does the one he wants to.

 

[gdgbb]

16 minutes ago, Bonefish said:

I take Uber and I take taxis very often for exactly the same distance, and Uber is always 20-30 percent cheaper than the taxi during normal hours. Yes, when the demand is very high, Uber will charge a premium and they will inform you about that before you order them. It is your free choice to accept or decline it. 

 

No, the taxi will not pick you up wherever you are, they will pick you up where THEY are! Uber will come to pick you up at any location YOU chose, your home, your hotel, wherever you are, even and especially in areas with no taxis.  And they do this for FREE!

Yes, a taxi has to pick you up where you are!  How can you get a taxi where they are but you are not?  Every taxi that picks you up does so where you are, by definition!  And the taxi does that for NO CHARGE also!

 

Just had another estimate on another tab while typing this; On Nut 17 to Sukhumvit 13, Sunday afternoon (obviously) therefore relatively traffic free, B114-146.  A taxi will be around B90-110.  How do you manage to always get a 20/30% discount?