"Everyone is happy if you agree on a price"
Because I live here, I'm not happy about it. Because of it, taxis now forsake locals and Thais to hunt down lame tourists.
"if you insist on the meter, they will often just take the long long way home"
No driver is going to cruise around, simply to run up a meter. They want you out of the car, ASAP, so they can score another 35 baht flag drop.
Octobersix I beg to differ, the long long way home running up the meter has happened to me a few times, one even going so far as to drive around the same block a few times! I'd rather know they're going to take the most direct route & how much I'll be paying at the end.
Interesting thread as we also had a near bad experience.
We negotiated a taxi fare for to Amphawa floating market at 1100 bhat round trip. Once we reached close to Aphawa the cab driver took us to a tour hub for organized boat tours that charges 2000 bhat pp.
We refused, of course. The tour operator told us you their boat was the only entry point to Aphawa. I knew that not to be true as I had seen pics and read you could arrange a 100-200 bhat boat rides to the market at the river.
Instead we called the hotel and made them tell the tour operator in Thai where exactly we wanted to go. At first our driver pretended not to understand anything and refused. But after the tour operator spoke to our hotel and told him to take us to the right place he finally agreed.
Considering the cab fare cost us 1100 bhat round trip from Four Points Sheraton (Soi 15,Sukhumvit) to floating market and that we kept the cab for almost a full day ( almost 7 hrs) it was not a bad deal. It took us 1- 11/2 hr on the way and about 2 hrs on way back (with traffic).
But, always better to keep your calm. Be friendly and polite (but firm).
This driver's name is Narin Viangoine. Cab:118173. I have seen him waiting outside Four Points more than once. Apparently, submitting a complaint does not work so sharing my story.
Communication is going to be hard so maybe a good idea to print a map from travel web sites and highlight exact location.
I agree with Octobersix, they want you in and out. The quicker the better as they make money on the 35b flagfall. A driver confirmed this recently when I was talking to him. If they are running you around it's more than likely the driver has no idea where he is going.
taxi jokers, I catch them five days a week and two times during those days. its ilegal for them to negotiate a rate unless driving outside of Bangkok. so never do it unless your leaving town.
theres no rules here that get applied. law is they have to take you to your destination and not wave you off if they dont like it. they just had a bust at ratchadamri and the next day their back to the same games. this is right outside Centralworld where it happens nonstop through the day and night.
the 35 baht flag drop means nothing unless they could really work it. this would be ideal on a long stretch where it could happen with the right customers but it wont. the long route may be a problem but if there wasting their time on this its probably due to boredom. on a positive with all the bad driving, negotiating, the famous I dont have change and refusal to take you where you want to go, taxi's are still cheap here. dont feel u have to tip and carry small bills. if you wanna tip just round up to the next 5 or 10. not all are bad and you will see how happy a 7 baht tip makes them.
#4 Never use taxis lurking outside hotels. They're all vultures. That being said, your driver got you there and back didn't he? And waited around for hours? It's possible he was after a kickback but it's also possible he thought he was doing you a favour.
I NEVER negotiate a flat fare unless it's a trip out of town. If a driver even attempts to strike a bargain I wave him on. I do know my way around Bangkok and I'm pretty sure in over 10 years of frequent taxi use, I've never had a driver go out of his way to run up the meter. I have had a couple occasions when the driver turned off the meter and then got out of the taxi to ask the local motorcycle taxi guys for directions. And only wanted the amount on the meter when we arrived.
Referring to the OP, many Thais can't read maps. They just don't conceptualize them. And many taxi drivers can hardly READ Thai at all let alone English. A lot of drivers are from the provinces and don't know Bangkok very well. By and large most of them are just working guys trying to feed their families.
LOL for sure 'the long way round' is not always to run up the bill I have many times needed to direct a taxi driver to where I needed to be because he had no idear. Obviously when you get in and ask if he knows where it is he will say yes because he wants the fare and he doesn't want to lose face by not knowing. When it becomes obvious they don't know I just ask them if they would mind going 'my route' and directing them so they do not lose face.
I never negotiate a fare and if they decline to use the meter I just get out and wave them goodbye (there is no shortage of cabs in Bangkok).
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