Airport surcharges, taxi fares to rise soon

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Re: Airport surcharges, taxi fares to rise soon

Post by Big Boy »

oakdale160 wrote:The thing that grabs me is that a farang with a Thai wife could be ripped off. I thought that was one of the advantages of having a Thai lady, that you would be protected from this sort of thing
Who was ripped off?
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Re: Airport surcharges, taxi fares to rise soon

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None of those reasons ring true. He knew our destination before accepting the fare. If he was en-route somewhere, why was he trying to take us to Hua Hin? He'd have hit the only junction where there was any traffic delay, which was a few hundred yards from where we exchanged taxis. Besides, if he's afraid of traffic congestion, why is he a taxi driver working in central Bangkok.
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Re: Airport surcharges, taxi fares to rise soon

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There was a thread recently about Uber and Grab Taxi. My granddaughter is now old enough to at least return home from school by herself, in place of spending up to 2 hours in a school bus just to travel 3 Km.

Her mother was dead against it, but as I have to pay, she was overruled. The kid uses Grab Taxi each afternoon. Sometimes she has to wait 10 minutes, which at that time of the day is less than it would take to try and get one off the street. The driver is registered with the system, and she has his number before he arrives and can send it on to one of us if she wants to. 20 Baht booking fee is cheap insurance, no argument about using the meter.

In the several weeks that she has been using it there has not been one problem, and she now gets home in around 45 minutes. So I think that is the way to go. 100% secure and a driver that wants to do the job.
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Re: Airport surcharges, taxi fares to rise soon

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I did consider getting the app(s), but taxis in Bangkok are so plentiful, it just didn't seem necessary. Yes, we had an unusual experience, but I guess we'd got a mile for free while he tried to talk me into going to Hua Hin with him, and I'd guess changing taxis took less than 2 minutes.

[Edit] I do however fully support your reasons for using the service, and can see definite benefits.
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Re: Airport surcharges, taxi fares to rise soon

Post by STEVE G »

I think your taxi driver must have needed to go to Hua Hin, or somewhere near by, and was just trying to cover the cost. The reason I say that is because a Bangkok taxi used to charge 2,500bt to Hua Hin about ten years ago and I can't see why they would charge less now without a reason.
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Re: Airport surcharges, taxi fares to rise soon

Post by Pleng »

Pleng wrote:
Big Boy wrote:
What about the guy who simply refused the fare
- what was that all about - he was driving around looking for fares, if not why did he have his light on, and stop?
Well that's not exclusive to Thailand, drivers refusing fares is a big problem for private hire firms in England, too.

The reasons he might have refused the fare... maybe he's on his way somewhere and only wants to pick up customers who are heading to the same general area. Or maybe he's aware that traffic is particularly bad at the destination or en route, and doesn't want to deal with it.
Big Boy wrote:None of those reasons ring true. He knew our destination before accepting the fare.
He didn't
If he was en-route somewhere, why was he trying to take us to Hua Hin?
He wasn't
Besides, if he's afraid of traffic congestion, why is he a taxi driver working in central Bangkok.
I highly doubt that being a taxi driver was what he dreamed of when he was growing up
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Re: Airport surcharges, taxi fares to rise soon

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About 8 years ago I was with my wife to be in Bangkok and we needed to get to the bus station to get the bus back to HH, so we hailed a cab and asked him to take us to the bus station. He asked where we were going and when we told him, he said do you want me to take you to HH? I can't remember how much he charged, but in any case we agreed. To this day he's been our regular taxi driver whenever we need to go to/from BKK of have visitors coming to see us, he collects them from the airport and brings them to our house - he even came to our wedding!!
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Re: Airport surcharges, taxi fares to rise soon

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I hadn't been on a Thai train for a while, and because of the station's close proximity had decided it was that time again. I was pleasantly surprised - 255 baht for 2 people in 2nd class with a fan/reclining seats. Waiting area in Bangkok had soft seats and air conditioning. I was able to watch 5 episodes of Peaky Blinders on the way home.

Had I been in a taxi, I'd have been watching the road more than my tablet.

However, I agree, we have a regular driver that we trust for long journeys, and we use him quite regularly for ourselves and visitors alike.
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Re: Airport surcharges, taxi fares to rise soon

Post by Bluesky »

Nereus wrote:There was a thread recently about Uber and Grab Taxi.

In the several weeks that she has been using it there has not been one problem, and she now gets home in around 45 minutes. So I think that is the way to go. 100% secure and a driver that wants to do the job.
I do have to agree with you on this, my daughter is now working in Bangkok and it was a concerning issue regarding her personal safety whilst travelling to and from work, especially on occasions when she was finishing after dark. Her condo is fairly deep into the soi and she would either have to use a taxi, soi taxi, or walk from BTS, non of which were comfortable options. She has been using Grab taxi for some time now and it has been door to door from work to home. To date she has been quite happy with the service provided.
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Re: Airport surcharges, taxi fares to rise soon

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Big Boy wrote:I hadn't been on a Thai train for a while, and because of the station's close proximity had decided it was that time again. I was pleasantly surprised - 255 baht for 2 people in 2nd class with a fan/reclining seats. Waiting area in Bangkok had soft seats and air conditioning. I was able to watch 5 episodes of Peaky Blinders on the way home.
I haven't take a train from Bangkok in a while, so it's been a few years that I spent any time in Hualamphong Station. Where is the aircon area with soft seats? Is it on the main floor, or upstairs, or...?
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Re: Airport surcharges, taxi fares to rise soon

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It is the main ground floor waiting area. Ticket offices in the front and shops down either side - a huge area.
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Re: Airport surcharges, taxi fares to rise soon

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Big Boy wrote:It is the main ground floor waiting area. Ticket offices in the front and shops down either side - a huge area.
Well, they must of pulled the finger out on that one! I was there about 3 months ago and nothing had changed. Plastic seats and fans, all the doors open to the outside and the shops. It was stinking hot and that crowded many people were sitting on the floor. In fact, I went and sat out on the platform, as it was cooler out there. :?
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Re: Airport surcharges, taxi fares to rise soon

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The aircon units were huge portable (with a fork lift) units about every 5 yards, and the seats weren't sofa soft, but definitely well padded, Monk seats were still wooden benches,
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Re: Airport surcharges, taxi fares to rise soon

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I was in Bangkok a few nights ago, and it was the first time in years that I'd ventured more than walking distance from my hotel after dark. What a shock!!! :shock:

During daylight hours, the taxi service in Bangkok is excellent value for money (cheap). When the sun goes down, the taxi drivers need to wear a Dick Turpin mask. Many wouldn't accept a fare to our destination - reckoned we were stood on the wrong side of the road - FFS we were stood on a single carriageway road. None would use a meter, and every fare fare offered was double what we'd paid during daylight hours.

Not a good experience.
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Re: Airport surcharges, taxi fares to rise soon

Post by migrant »

We, also, just returned from BKK and found much the same thing. It would take 3-4 taxis before one would take us, and often they quoted a set fee. If they didn't want to use the meter I would say lets go find another taxi, and everyone of them then turned the meter on.
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