Since I live on Suk Soi 4, I am not always in need of a taxi for most of the things I do. I like to walk and generally when grabbing a bite, heading to Bar 1 or heading for the Skytrain I bypass taxis and use my legs. I don’t mind walking for the most part unless it is really freaking hot but the problem I have is that my apartment building is next to a hotel. Wherever a hotel is located on a main road one will inevitably encounter those parasite taxi drivers that make Tuk Tuk drivers seem cool. I had a run in with one recently and after I was done arguing with him I was picked up by a another, very cool driver, who explained some of the taxi economics to me.
The taxis outside my apartment building will never use the meter, always ask for some ridiculous price and seem to think it is their right to try and overcharge as many people as they can. I never even bother to ask them to go anywhere but yet every time I walk by they always ask where I am going expecting I might actually take them up on it. I ask if they will use the meter and the answer is always no and they pretty much always quote 200-300 baht no matter where I am going.
One day I was walking by and heard a tourist and his wife asking to go somewhere and asked if the taxi would use the meter. The taxi ass said his meter did not work but he would go for 250 baht. They couple wanted to go to Pantip which I know is about a 45-50 baht ride from where I live. It is one thing though to say that a taxi won’t use the meter versus saying the meter is broken. I hate lying. So as I walked by I told the couple he was lying, was overcharging and to walk with me and I would get them a taxi. They followed, I flagged down a ride and they were happy. It pisses me off when these taxi touts become the face of tourism in Thailand. Of course once I had finished getting the couple a cab I walked back and apologized to the taxi but I told him I was tired of seeing him lie to people each and everyday. He started to get pushy with me but I called over my 2 security guards from the building who also are sick of these assholes and they told them to shut up and get back to “work”. What I think is worse though is the hotels that let these guys rip off their clients. If a hotel cared they would make sure that their clients got a metered cab going to the right place. Lots of decent hotels do this.
I grabbed a cab from Suk Soi 4 to Silom today and had the pleasure of meeting a new cab driver. He was not young, in his 50’s I think, but had only been driving a cab for a few months. He was a retired business guy who had worked for a company that managed the clearing of American Express cards in Thailand. He told me his retirement was a 2.5 million lump sum payment but that he was too bored staying at home so he decided to buy a used taxi and stay busy.
I had a great time chatting with him and learned a few things about the system.
- Anyone with a driver’s license can apply to be a taxi driver. 100 baht a year for the permit
- New taxis cost about 1 million baht or higher and come with everything needed to start driving.
- Used cars are from 200,000 on up depending on condition and brand
- Most taxi drivers rent their taxis from large companies that manage many cars/drivers
- Taxi rentals run about 650 baht a day
- When a car is returned late it costs the driver 100 baht for every 15 minutes. Ouch.
- This is why taxis will pass you up many times or tell you they do not want to go your way
- Drivers are responsible for all the fuel and for returning a clean cab
- Most drivers doing the rental circuit only try for airport runs or try overcharging
So one can guess with those economics why you see so many pushy drivers focused on taking only lucrative airport runs where they can charge a fixed fee. My driver was telling me that he knows guys that can regularly get 700-1000 baht on airport runs. For comparison most people will pay only 200-300 baht from most locations in Bangkok to get to the airport when using the meter.
I talked to him about my Pattaya Taxi Mafia story and he concurred. He said providing you have a Bangkok taxi take you to Pattaya and back then you will have no issues. If a Bangkok taxi tries to pick up random people from Pattaya to take back to Bangkok then he said the mafia will intervene and threaten the driver. The mafia knows they can overcharge for the return trip versus what the customer might get charged by the BKK driver. I asked my driver if this was a licensing thing and he said that a basic taxi license allows you to pretty much drive anywhere but that the mafia controls many of the popular tourist regions. He said the worst places are Pattaya, Phukett and Samui. He went on to say that most drivers who own their own cars - either outright or by financing, work whenever they want, are less prone to try to rip people off and enjoy what they do. He went on to say that many of the drivers who rent cabs also have another job and are basically working 2 shifts a day so they are usually trying for the big hits rather than working the town on the meter.
My driver dropped me off in Silom and gave me back exact change. He told me that what bugs him most is that a lot of decent taxi people are given a bad rep due to all the bad drivers but he said that there is no one enforcing the rules on drivers and even the honest drivers can’t do anything about it. I tended to agree that there was not much to be done but that I would keep giving my local taxis a bad time.
Well enough taxi crap. Low season is here and Shark bar on cowboy was full of babes the other night. Tried Playboy hotel this last trip versus the Penthouse hotel. Both kings of the short time hotels on Suk Soi 11. Can’t really say they are much different but I was not looking around too much. 
Checked out the new Esplanade on Ratchada, saw the Transformers(Amazing) and will be checking out Inch Club tonight. Will write it all up soon.
…”there is no one enforcing the rules on drivers”
Amazing Thailand.
Invite millions of tourists to Thialand but do nothing to protect them.
View all comments by bingo
A good policy is never to hire a taxi that is not already moving. If they’ve got time to sit around and wait for customers, they’re running a scam.
View all comments by Mr Lucky
Better advise is not to take rice out of another person’s rice bowl.
View all comments by Jack Dawson
I have been too naive to realize there was a potential safety issue for me when dealing with the taxis in those areas you mentioned.
There are a lot of shady taxi drivers that are on the Soi Kasemson near MBK (referenced in Lonely Planet). I reluctantly hired one only because they spoke excellent english and I could convey to them where I wanted to go. At the end of the overpriced ride he was demanding more money. When I politely refused, he started yelling insults and screaming for me to get out of the car. If I was a newbie tourist and I encountered that, I would have probably paid more money and then never returned to Thailand ever again.
View all comments by Lonely Planet crowd
Do you find the motorcycle taxis any safer? I always assumed the motorcycle taxi drivers were a rough crowd. I do not feel safe being alone with one on a deserted soi at 2am.
I used to live towards the back of a long soi. I was always surprised that single girls were not willing to walk down the soi alone at night but would instead choose to ride with a motorcycle taxi.
View all comments by Mototaxi
I stopped a moving taxi from the street to go to the Christina Aguilera concert. The driver wanted 700 Baht including the 80 Baht highway toll for the ride to the Impact Stadium. I agreed since I was a bit late. I know he ripped me off… during the ride he was always trying to find out where I wanna go in the next days, if I need a massage later, blah-blah…and even wanted more money when we arrived cos of “traffic jam”. What an asshole.
Well compared to my homecountry the 700 Baht was still cheap for a one hour ride.. so I try not to be too angry.
But I also agree that those taxi drivers give Thailand a bad reputation and I will in the future surely not be paying such prizes again. This was my 4th stay in Thailand and the first time I was ripped off that bad… so seen from the statistical side it isnt a bad average for me. Still, those drivers are criminals in my eyes.
View all comments by Phoenix
I suggest the Farang comunity start fighting for tourist rights.
Please email the Tourist authority of Thailand if you see a Taxi / Tuk Tuk scam.
TAT assistance contact below:
Ms.Panitaa
thai-tac@hotmail.com
View all comments by bingo
JD - not sure I get your comment?
LP - i have never felt threatened or worried myself but I know they love to scam and seem to think it is their right.
MT - I tend to like the motorcycle taxi drivers. I have hired some to help me move, make deliveries, courier cash and help me find places. I think most of them are pretty decent and hard working but tend to hit the bottle a lot like a lot of poorer Thais but I will take a motorci driver over a taxi driver most days.
PH - How was the show? I must say I think the Manila taxi drivers are worse. Sure thai taxis are cheap but I don’t think getting ripped off is cool and sucks these guys are representing the front line of tourism.
Bingo - what is it u would tell them? Tuk tuks seem hard to ID but I guess with taxis u could give the taxi number but I think since it is the driver causing the issue, not the car, u would have to turn in the driver?
View all comments by smitty
Phoenix - Agree getting a taxi to a big event at Muang Thong Thani can be expensive, because there is always a traffic nightmare for the drivers (and their passengers during weekend events. Trying to catch a taxi after the event ends with the thousands of others can be worse. Might be cheaper to rent a car for 24 hours and drive yourself, or catch a bus or minivan from Victory Monument.
Smitty - Great insight on the Thai taxi business practices. Manila taxi drivers are uniformly bad (at least IME), they never use the meter when carrying foreigners and always try to pressure the foreigners into higher fares and ‘tours’. At least you can often get honest taxi drivers in Thailand, except in the tourist and nightlife areas.
The young lady I BF’d the other night reamed out the taxi driver for trying to charge us 100 baht to go to Soi 4 from Cowboy. When we arrived at Soi4, she insisted on paying the driver herself with exact change for the metered fare (37 baht), no tip.
View all comments by DJ
At Muang Thong Thani I have previously managed to get a lift in a pickup. Didn’t have to pay anything. They dropped me off not too far from where I was staying.
Recently got in a taxi and after a minute or so he asked “Meter?”. “No, no meter is okay. I’ll give you 20 baht.” For a 100 baht ride. Even the taxi driver had a laugh.
View all comments by vanillaface
Just get out if they don’t put on the meter. A brusque mai kao chai before popping in the iPod earplugs when they start bitching normally does the trick.
But overall, I think Bangkok taxi drivers are pretty good. Apart from the main hotel & tourist areas they generally put on the meter no probs. As a comparison, KL taxi drivers are utter cunts.
The motocycle taxi boys rock.
View all comments by Combover
My bird’s cousin recently bought a new cab. 200,000 down payment and a 3 or 5 year payment plan on the rest. Works 10 hours a day (daytimes) and takes about 30,000 baht a month before costs. Got LPG instead of petrol to keep down the costs. That’s a pretty decent living I reckon.
View all comments by Combover
Smitty: I agree that taxi drivers still should not ripp off their clients. Before they start this business they know their rent, creditm gasoline, etc. will consume how much money and what using the taxi-meter will earn them. If thats not enough for them, they shouldnt start this job in the first place.
It would be interesing for me to know if not using the taxi-meter is really against any law. SInce it at least seems to be legal if you take a metered taxi from the airport to downtown BKK. Any information on the legal side?
The concert was just soso. No special stage set-up, exactly 90 minutes of show and no more extra songs despite a cheering crowd. It seemed to me to Christina the show was like going a 9 to 5 job. Yes, she sang great and had great dancers. But for the prize I expected more. I assume such shows in Asia are not seen as important as those in the US or Europe by such artists…
DJ, I was lucky to catch a slightly cheaper taxi after the concert pretty quickly. But maybe renting a car is really a good option, concerning the stress, discussions, waiting, etc. you have with taxis to and from Muang Thong Thani.
View all comments by Phoenix
What cracks me up about taxi drivers in BKK is how some of them have genuinly no idea about where well-known establishments such as hotels are (even when pronounced in the Thai way), or are even able to relate to a map or an address provided in Thai. First time I’ve been in a major capital city and had to give an effin taxi driver directions, and that on more than one occasion.
View all comments by NotAnyBangkokRelatedWebsite.com
I had a Bangkok Taxi driver admit he was lost, first day on the job.
He actually let me drive the taxi back to my hotel.
View all comments by bradshaw
Many taxi drivers will let you drive if you ask nicely, whether you’re steaming drunk or otherwise. Scary.
View all comments by Bangkok Bad Boy
The taxi color scheme seems to be significant, with different color schemes run by different companies. A Thai friend refuses to take the solid orange ones now, as she always has trouble. She never has trouble with the solid blues though (and in hindsight, that seems true).
View all comments by Cabby
When I came to Bangkok for the first time in 1992, the rates of taxi meters were identical to now. I think it is time to raise it a bit, and that would solve a lot of problems.
Taxi rides in Beijing and Shanghai are now double compared to Bangkok, and the quality of taxis are still higher in Bangkok.
Do anyone know other cities where cab rides are as cheap as in Bangkok
Cambover - You say he makes 30.000B before costs. How much does he make after costs?
View all comments by Christoffer Larsson
CL - I would agree that with inflation, price of fuel and so on that they need to raise them. If not the initial drop but at least the price as the meter starts rolling. At the same time I think they need to monitor the taxis more and maybe set the bar a little higher for getting a license.
View all comments by smitty
Classic taxi ride from Dule to the Mango. Found a Mickey Mouse cuddly toy in the back of the taxi with boz-eyes & a fag burn near his left ear. Paid 100 Baht for him & renamed him Mickey Mao (Mickey Drunk). Now living on Soi Song(2), to be re-housed & looked after on Soi 14. Anything to look after a poor american icon!!!!
View all comments by z
CL, I’m not sure exactly, but his finance charges are the major element. I would estimate 10-15,000 baht a month. LPG is a third of the price of petrol and it’s a new car so maintenance costs are low. He seems to be doing OK. Well enough to support his wife and two kids in Bangkok and send a bit of money back home.
View all comments by Combover
Generally I find taxi drivers cool as long as they are moving and not standing waiting for customers. The touts who stand and try to solicit rides are leeches. If a driver won’t use the meter, just get out of the taxi and get the next one. I find that many enjoy practicing English if they know any.
Tuk tuk drivers are the scum of the earth.
I always enjoy the motocycle guys… they’re sometimes a little drunk or high, and are a pretty mellow bunch for the most part. (Safety is another issue entirely)
I’ve always found them helpful if I’m walking looking for a place and can’t find it — just ask the motorcy guys and they’re happy to give directions. They’ll tell you honestly if its too far to walk, and offer a ride.
One of the best nights I have ever enjoyed in THailand was on Soi 22, coming out of Titanium around midnight. The all girl band was doing whiskey shots at the little Thai whiskey stand in the alley. I went over to chat to the girls in the band. After the girls left, I hung around with three Thai guys who were all motorcycle drivers. One of them owned the whiskey stand, which had the usual assortment of whiskey, including one with a Tiger penis inside.
Shots were 10 baht each, and I dropped about 200 baht buying shots for the guys and talking with them in Thai until 2 am. One of the security guys from Titanium joined us for a few shots, and then came back with a cold Heineken from the club for me.
I reckon it’s always a good idea to get to know the motorcy drivers near my condo… they are generally helpful, and if you speak to them every day, they will help keep you informed about what’s up in the neighborhood.
I lived for many years in Washington DC where most taxi drivers are from India, Pakistan, Russia, Africa or South America, usually know NOTHING about streets or locations in DC or surrounds, and invariably don’t speak English. By comparison, the Issaan boys driving Bangkok taxis who are learning their way around town seem to be a dream come true. At least they can speak the language of the coutry.
View all comments by werewolf
Oddly, on all my trips to Bangkok (probably a year total time), I never had a taxi driver refuse to use a meter or pull any other scam. The worst that ever happened is that they didn’t want to go where I needed to (I always ask before getting in the car).
Normally, the cabbies are very professional and patient with my crappy Thai when going to visit a new TGF on her small soi (”leo sai, oh no, it’s the second one to leo hwa, ah, I have no idea, it’s somewhere off PrachaSongKroh… yah, near the 7-11″).
On two occasions, taxi drivers have given me a lower fare off the meter. Both times, I had only a 1k note (and 20-40 baht in small coins), and they had not change. I insisted on going to a 7-11 to exchange the money, but they just took whatever change I had (about half the meter fare), and said “mai bpen rai”. Once I changed the 1k and then ran after a taxi to give him the correct fare
View all comments by Crocodile
I remember when taxi metres were first introduced. Before that it was a real nightmare. I rarely have a hassle with them these days but if i did would just get out and talk about the ‘tourist police’ in a loud voice. However Phuket is a nightmare for taxis and tuk tuks who charge hundreds or more for a journey that would cost you ten baht in Pattaya and of the reasons I hate Phuket and will not go there again……..I use the motor bike boys in BKK but ask them to drive slowly but with the new sky train I do not need to use them as much. I have never had a problem with them but do not use them in wet weather.
View all comments by The sandman
Oh I forgot to add I think the motor bike boys (and women too) might use speed but generally are organised and regulated in some way.
View all comments by The sandman