Taxi drivers that refuse fares just don't think they are doing anything wrong, complain angry Thais on Facebook

[webfact]

Taxi drivers that refuse fares just don't think they are doing anything wrong, complain angry Thais on Facebook

 

video screenshot

 

BANGKOK: -- Thais have gone on Facebook to complain loudly about taxi drivers turning down fares saying their behavior is irritating in the extreme.

 

To back up their claims some ladies posted a video of a stream of cabs sailing by or offering the same tired excuses they have been trotting out to the public for years.

 

One was "we only pick up farangs" but as Tnews noted it is just as likely that the excuse would be "we only pick up Thais".

 

The story was a poke in the eye for Thaivisa posters who expected a good news story before Friday.

 

Tnews commented on the issue with a photo montage of some of the excuses for refusing fares that Bangkokians have become accustomed to.

 

They included:

 

"I've got to take the cab back to the garage"

 

"I need to fill up with gas"

 

"Oohoooo - that's too far"

 

"I only do trips to Thonburi"

 

"No meter - I just do contract trips"

 

"I only take women"

 

"Only Farangs"

 

"Only Thais"

 

"Take you to Ramkhamhaeng - you've gotta be kidding".

 

"Have you seen the traffic around there....no way!"

 

Picture: TNews

 

And there are so many more annoying excuses said Tnews.

 

The women in the video just wanted to go from Sukhumvit Soi 11 to Yaowarat a journey of less than ten kilometers.

 

But for many of the drivers that left them standing by the road you might have been asking to take them to Alpha Centauri such was the reaction.

 

Tnews said that Bangkok people have had enough with these annoying drivers.

 

Thaivisa editorial note that those posters who claimed on the forum that bad stories about taxis were always followed by ones about honest cabbies returning money may have to wait a little longer.

 

Source: TNews

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-06-30

[InMyShadow]

Move next to a bts and have as little to do as possible with those mongrels

 

 

[alfredthegreat]

Nothing new.

[tonray]

I think refusing fares should be a right of any taxi driver because with traffic patterns, one fare into an area might result in 2 hours of lost work fares to follow. BUT.....refusing to use the meter should immediately be grounds for revocation of license and fines. But you know the foreigners in Thailand are to blame...if everyone just walked away from cabbies who refuse to use the meter they would stop the practice pretty quickly. Thais don't pay off the meter and we should not either.

 

But having said all that, One can pretty well navigate Bangkok with minimal taxi usage. I used to only use taxis or motos when I was heading to school in the morning and then only a few kilometers after the bulk of the journey made by rail or boat. Outside of the tourist haunts I have NEVER faced a driver who refused to use the meter. When looking for apartments or condos I almost always place a priority on proximity to BTS/MRT/Boat station/pier. If it is not within 800 meters of the building I pass. I can only remember having to use a taxi once outside of getting to work and that was at 4 AM before rail was operating to get to the Visa Run Van service for an early morning run. 

 

The buses in Bangkok, when paired with rail and or boat journeys are very adequate but most farang don't take the time to become familiar with the system. The best thing you can do is just learn the 2 or 3 bus lines that go from near your residence to your most frequent destination. Learn to time the traffic as to the best times to get a seat and avoid delays. you save a bundle over a year.

[Orton Rd]

Counted 16 refusing a woman outside the Indra hotel the other week, we were waiting for a bus and she had not got a ride when we left. Loads of taxi's clogging up the roads driving around with no passengers!

[scorecard]

32 minutes ago, tonray said:

I think refusing fares should be a right of any taxi driver because with traffic patterns, one fare into an area might result in 2 hours of lost work fares to follow. BUT.....refusing to use the meter should immediately be grounds for revocation of license and fines. But you know the foreigners in Thailand are to blame...if everyone just walked away from cabbies who refuse to use the meter they would stop the practice pretty quickly. Thais don't pay off the meter and we should not either.

 

But having said all that, One can pretty well navigate Bangkok with minimal taxi usage. I used to only use taxis or motos when I was heading to school in the morning and then only a few kilometers after the bulk of the journey made by rail or boat. Outside of the tourist haunts I have NEVER faced a driver who refused to use the meter. When looking for apartments or condos I almost always place a priority on proximity to BTS/MRT/Boat station/pier. If it is not within 800 meters of the building I pass. I can only remember having to use a taxi once outside of getting to work and that was at 4 AM before rail was operating to get to the Visa Run Van service for an early morning run. 

 

The buses in Bangkok, when paired with rail and or boat journeys are very adequate but most farang don't take the time to become familiar with the system. The best thing you can do is just learn the 2 or 3 bus lines that go from near your residence to your most frequent destination. Learn to time the traffic as to the best times to get a seat and avoid delays. you save a bundle over a year.

 

"The buses in Bangkok, when paired with rail and or boat journeys are very adequate but most farang don't take the time to become familiar with the system. The best thing you can do is just learn the 2 or 3 bus lines that go from near your residence to your most frequent destination. Learn to time the traffic as to the best times to get a seat and avoid delays. you save a bundle over a year."

 

What's that got to do with this thread? Nothing, and I object to your lecture on how I should arrange my travel. 

 

"One can pretty well navigate Bangkok with minimal taxi usage." Again, it's not your place to lecture anybody on this subject.

 

Perhaps you might refresh the title of the thread.

 

Perhaps you would condone a doctor who sees a patient then rejects the patient outright because the matter is too complex or won't bring much income, perhaps the doctor only wants to deal with high profit simple cases. Is that OK?

 

"if everyone just walked away from cabbies who refuse to use the meter they would stop the practice pretty quickly." in my experience many farang do walk away from demands from outrageous fares, I certainly do.

 

Thai folks walk away in droves from outrageous demands from drivers, that doesn't stop the drivers from continuing this practice.

 

A twist of the above, if younger passengers (moreso female) alone or with a friend just open the rear door and get in they will often get a loud lecture from the driver for being impolite for not asking first whether the driver will go to their destination and/or not asking for a price. This happens all the time, and especially outside of universities, my students complain about it all the time. The students have asked me, and other foreign professors, If I have problems with taxi drivers. My reply is yes, and many times the students are shocked - they believe it's only Thai people who have these problems.

 

From the comments I have heard the passenger(s) then just get out because they are now frightened of this driver. 

 

There's also the case of tourists / visiting business people who don't know the city at all, they hail a cab, driver states his outrageous fare but passengers often don't know it's outrageous or don't know when meter must be used etc. Some visitors might do a quick calculation to convert to $ or Yen etc, and then think 'that's about the same as Chicago, so OK', etc.

 

Plus in some cases tourists / visiting business people may well think that the amount stated by the driver is in fact a standard fare for the locations involved, so they get in the cab. Not OK at all. 

 

There's also lots of very genuine drivers who provide good service and have no intent whatever to cheat anybody.

Edited June 30, 2017 by scorecard

[jonclark]

scorecard - Spot on

[tonray]

6 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

"The buses in Bangkok, when paired with rail and or boat journeys are very adequate but most farang don't take the time to become familiar with the system. The best thing you can do is just learn the 2 or 3 bus lines that go from near your residence to your most frequent destination. Learn to time the traffic as to the best times to get a seat and avoid delays. you save a bundle over a year."

 

What's that got to do with this thread? Nothing, and I object to your lecture on how I should arrange my travel. 

 

"One can pretty well navigate Bangkok with minimal taxi usage." Again, it's not your place to lecture anybody on this subject.

 

Perhaps you might refresh the title of the thread.

 

Perhaps you would condone a doctor who sees a patient then rejects the patient outright because the matter is too complex or won't bring much income, perhaps the doctor only wants to deal with high profit simple cases. Is that OK?

 

"if everyone just walked away from cabbies who refuse to use the meter they would stop the practice pretty quickly." in my experience many farang do walk away from demands from outrageous fares, I certainly do.

 

Thai folks walk away in droves from outrageous demands from drivers, that doesn't stop the drivers from continuing this practice.

 

There's also the case of tourists / visiting business people who don't know the city at all, they hail a cab, driver states his outrageous fare but passengers often don't know it's outrageous or don't know when meter must be used etc. Some visitors might do a quick calculation to convert to $ or Yen etc, and then think 'that's about the same as Chicago, so OK', etc.

 

Plus in some cases tourists / visiting business people may well think that the amount stated by the driver is in fact a standard fare for the locations involved, so they get in the cab. Not OK at all. 

Feel free to ignore me....I would not want to raise the ire of someone so obviously important to the world.

[Dave67]

I saw a bird with shopping outside Villa in Soi 11 get knocked back 4 times . She got one in the end when a Villa worker intervened

[scorecard]

4 minutes ago, tonray said:

Feel free to ignore me....I would not want to raise the ire of someone so obviously important to the world.

 

Silly comment -  how about structured response.

[robblok]

51 minutes ago, tonray said:

I think refusing fares should be a right of any taxi driver because with traffic patterns, one fare into an area might result in 2 hours of lost work fares to follow. BUT.....refusing to use the meter should immediately be grounds for revocation of license and fines. But you know the foreigners in Thailand are to blame...if everyone just walked away from cabbies who refuse to use the meter they would stop the practice pretty quickly. Thais don't pay off the meter and we should not either.

 

But having said all that, One can pretty well navigate Bangkok with minimal taxi usage. I used to only use taxis or motos when I was heading to school in the morning and then only a few kilometers after the bulk of the journey made by rail or boat. Outside of the tourist haunts I have NEVER faced a driver who refused to use the meter. When looking for apartments or condos I almost always place a priority on proximity to BTS/MRT/Boat station/pier. If it is not within 800 meters of the building I pass. I can only remember having to use a taxi once outside of getting to work and that was at 4 AM before rail was operating to get to the Visa Run Van service for an early morning run. 

 

The buses in Bangkok, when paired with rail and or boat journeys are very adequate but most farang don't take the time to become familiar with the system. The best thing you can do is just learn the 2 or 3 bus lines that go from near your residence to your most frequent destination. Learn to time the traffic as to the best times to get a seat and avoid delays. you save a bundle over a year.

Your first paragraph has something to do with the topic the rest absolute nothing.. guess your one of those skint guys what hates it if others can afford more expensive travel arrangements. You might think that refusing fares is the right.. but it is not.. and should never be because then the whole system breaks down. If they allow Uber to operate then sure let taxi drivers refuse fares.. at least then there is an option. But taxi drivers just dont like any competition and only want easy trips. 

[bristolgeoff]

many times I have asked for a taxi,they say where give a expensive price.i refuse or the other way is where you are going is too far at this time of day.they want a no meter fare or pick and chose.does not matter Bangkok is murder for traffic at time of day so taxis have to take the good with the bad

[daboyz1]

Personally I don't mind them refusing a fare. The thing that drives me nuts is them not wanting to use the meter. When this happens I get out and leave the door open. My wife says one of these days they're gonna get violent over that.

[Ceruhe]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

The story was a poke in the eye for Thaivisa posters who expected a good news story before Friday.

A bit far fetched, ain't it? Why would we expect something which we know is the exception and not the rule? Unless of course you are referring to news about "cab driver returns ungodly amount of cash to passenger because it's normal to walk around with mass amounts of cash and not be paranoid to check it every time you move yo' azz", theeeeeen yes, we are expecting them alright.

[PeVee1st]

Also I think refusing a trip is the drivers right, but also refusing to use the meter should mean losing their licence.
Getting to either airport is most frustrating, the usual touted fare is 500 to 600 thb, plus tolls.
Also, now most cabs will not go to Don Muang unless the tollway is used.

[Bluespunk]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

 

Thaivisa editorial note that those posters who claimed on the forum that bad stories about taxis were always followed by ones about honest cabbies returning money may have to wait a little longer.

Give it time, it's coming... 

Edited June 30, 2017 by Bluespunk

[SiamBeast]

I don't let taxis refuse me that easily - I sit in, say hello, close the door, and announce where I'm going. At the same time, I take my bag off and sit comfortably. If they refuse, I remind them that they are not allowed to. Now if the driver becomes violent or pulls something "from under his seat", I'll just drop that and get out, but normally, I don't let them refuse.

[ben2talk]

Out of the thread topic... I love GrabTaxi for helping me get around the issue most of the time. However, in front of Central it's not so simple (especially in the rain) to find a pickup point... 

 

Perhaps there is a problem with the minimum fare rate, the element of time (in traffic) needs to be increased, or some other method used to balance the problem. Generally, though, I follow the idea that it's stupid to poke your head in the door. IF the car stops, then you get in and settle down - make it clear that a refusal will certainly waste more of their time than yours.

 

Difficult subject in a city where there are often more taxis than private cars on the road. There just isn't room for them - opposite Central Bangna there are often 10 taxis clogging up the road, forcing busses to queue up in the second lane waiting for a spot to stop and generally just cause gridlock (the exit from Bangna-Trad is clogged up often with 4 lanes of traffic trying to squeeze out the exit, and slow traffic backed up to Megabangna - but passing the 7-11 leads to empty roads.

 

Perhaps a good start would be to increase the minimum fare and make a rigid law that once a car stops, he must take a fare with a very few exceptions - if the car is rented and near the end of it's time perhaps.

 

The worst that could happen,  enforcing rules might lose 50% of the available taxis - and we could easily afford that I'm sure. When I go to work, I see literally hundreds permanently on standby - never less than a few hundred.

Edited June 30, 2017 by ben2talk

[MaxYakov]

I usually avoid taxis by riding public transportation or one of my bicycles. However, I can see that regulating fares by  relatively "dumb" meters that don't take into account the specific trip details could end up with many potentially unprofitable or minimally profitable taxi fares.

 

With the pervasiveness of networks and databases, it would be interesting to design a "smart" meter that would take multiple factors about the trip such as time of day and the specific route to dynamically determine (even if it's only ) an estimated fare.

 

It would not be easy/cheap to develop nor to be accepted nor is it going to happen anytime soon if ever.

[Bluespunk]

4 minutes ago, SiamBeast said:

I don't let taxis refuse me that easily - I sit in, say hello, close the door, and announce where I'm going. At the same time, I take my bag off and sit comfortably. If they refuse, I remind them that they are not allowed to. Now if the driver becomes violent or pulls something "from under his seat", I'll just drop that and get out, but normally, I don't let them refuse.

If they don't want to take me, I just move on the next one. 

 

I don't like it and more often as not I am muttering, "<deleted> you, <deleted>" 

 

Life's too short to waste time arguing with those tossers. 

Edited June 30, 2017 by Bluespunk

[Thechook]

I guess they dont really need the money

[MaxYakov]

3 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

If they don't want to take me, I just move on the next one. 

 

I don't like it and more often as not an muttering  "<deleted> you, <deleted>" 

 

Life's too short to waste time arguing with those tossers. 

Not to mention the risk of having a confrontation that could ultimately be hazardous to one's health.

[Cadbury]

I have used taxis many times in and around the Ramkamhaeng area when living there and never had a problem. In fact I was the one to occasionly refuse when they showed they didn't know where I wanted to go.

But go to Sukhumvit area and a completely story. That is one place in BKK where the taxi mafia thrives.

I have learned some local bus routes and the buses are cheap and OK so long as you get a seat and not have to stand and be hurled around the cabin hanging on like grim death. A combo of BTS and bus saves a lot of taxi hassle.

[YetAnother]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

just don't think they are doing anything wrong

that is a moral argument; western morals , in particular, have no meaning here; eastern morals seem to evade human decency

[Nong Khai Man]

1 hour ago, daboyz1 said:

Personally I don't mind them refusing a fare. The thing that drives me nuts is them not wanting to use the meter. When this happens I get out and leave the door open. My wife says one of these days they're gonna get violent over that.

They WILL !!!! Get Violent....

[ben2talk]

2 hours ago, MaxYakov said:

I usually avoid taxis by riding public transportation or one of my bicycles. However, I can see that regulating fares by  relatively "dumb" meters that don't take into account the specific trip details could end up with many potentially unprofitable or minimally profitable taxi fares.

 

With the pervasiveness of networks and databases, it would be interesting to design a "smart" meter that would take multiple factors about the trip such as time of day and the specific route to dynamically determine (even if it's only ) an estimated fare.

 

It would not be easy/cheap to develop nor to be accepted nor is it going to happen anytime soon if ever.

Hardly necessary.

 

Simply a decent 'minute' rate when the cruising speed is too low along with a decent 'distance' rate when travelling over 30 or 40km/h.

 

Also perhaps a limit on the number of licences available for specific areas - there are 75 million taxis in Bangkok, starting by outlawing taxis over ten years old might wipe out a good 40% of them!

Edited June 30, 2017 by ben2talk

[ben2talk]

2 hours ago, Thechook said:

I guess they dont really need the money

Obviously there's an angle in this that we're not aware of.

 

There are two alternatives - the guys who accept all the fares might earn significantly less than the guys who tried cherry picking.

 

I'm guessing that the guys just spend a fair time waiting around thinking that after they've waited, they deserve a 'decent' payment and will refuse fares until they get a sweet 400 baht cruise.

 

It's not easy to actually judge without real figures and experiences.

[MaxYakov]

17 minutes ago, ben2talk said:

Hardly necessary.

 

Simply a decent 'minute' rate when the cruising speed is too low along with a decent 'distance' rate when travelling over 30 or 40km/h.

 

Also perhaps a limit on the number of licences available for specific areas - there are 75 million taxis in Bangkok, starting by outlawing taxis over ten years old might wipe out a good 40% of them!

Hardly even comprehensible even for an escaped Silicon Valley software developer a certified DBA/DBSA, such as myself. Death by "over-the-top-tech", like a computerized traffic-control system for Bangkok.

 

As far as the "75 million taxis" goes, try 70,000 (officially) or (unofficially) 200.000 plus Tuk Tuks (not sure if it includes motorbike taxis at what seems to be at least s trillion) according to:

 

Answers.com

Edited June 30, 2017 by MaxYakov

[thhMan]

And the blame for people wanting to use "APP related transport" is in the hands of these Taxi people.

 

the ... "we wont take you, but we will attack anyone who is not a taxi and takes you where you need to go" is just them having their cake and eating it too...

[Get Real]

This is an old story. It has been like this for eternity, or at least since they started with taxi´s in bkk.

The worst thing is that the switchboard and organisation that the taxi drivers are connected too, are allowing this to continue. 
Would be better they just sack the bad apples, because there are many. That will give a chance for many others that really want to work in this sector to earn more fares. Bastards is what they are!

Also the same with refusing to use the meter and creating their own prices for fares??? That is also something that should be clamped down on hard. It stands TaxiMeter on the roof of the car! Then they must use the meter. Quite simple for normal metality and an ordinary level of intelligence. Just as we all know, it´s been a sign up for intelligence here long time. Maybe it´s refused at the border!