News Forum - Getting a motorcycle taxi in Bangkok, or anywhere in Thailand

[Thaiger]

We’ll start off by stating that there is nothing quicker and more efficient than getting a motorcycle taxi around Bangkok, compared to just about any other form of transport. We’ll also admit that there are dangers involved with riding on a motorcycle or motorbike around Thailand, especially if you’re not wearing a helmet (which you can ask the rider for). In practice, the riders always wear a helmet – passengers, rarely. And we’ll admit that there is a difference between what’s practical, common-practice and ’normal’ regarding getting a motorcycle taxi in Thailand when compared to rules and laws in other […]

The story Getting a motorcycle taxi in Bangkok, or anywhere in Thailand as seen on Thaiger News.

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[DoUKnowWhoIAm]

9 minutes ago, Thaiger said:

In practice, the riders always wear a helmet – passengers, rarely.

In the rare instances they do wear a helmet, it's never strapped and thus useless.

[Guest1]

Not useless, it is protecting the valuable things, the wallet

[JJJ]

A nice article. Why go to an expensive theme park for a thrill ride when for 20, 40, 60 baht you can take win at 6pm on Friday on Sukhumvit and have a real thrill! 

Btw would have been nice to note the Thai word for the Moto taxi — one of the best Thai words out there. 
 

[riclag]

The art of Weaving in and out of those small narrow spots while in traffic!

Yikes ,makes me think of messing my knickers!

[Smiler]

I saw one yesterday with a plastic toy Uk policeman helmet on instead of a satiety helmet, wish I had taken a photo now, 

[Pinetree]

There are a few things never to do in Thailand, in my view.  One is never use a motorbike taxi, another, never use a metre taxi in Pattaya. There a quite a few more that would be off topic, such as never piss off a ladyboy.  

[MarvW]

It was several weeks before I took the plunge and hopped on the back of my first taxi bike. Being a 100kg athlete, (ppl in Asia think I’m The Rock ), my frame definitely suits the 125cc better than the 110’s! But it’s a game-changer for any BKK expat - and I gotta admit, for a knuckle-head like me, there’s nothing quite like the thrill of it. 
Great article. And thanks for the tips! 

[MarvW]

4 hours ago, Pinetree said:

There are a few things never to do in Thailand, in my view.  One is never use a motorbike taxi, another, never use a metre taxi in Pattaya. There a quite a few more that would be off topic, such as never piss off a ladyboy.  

4 hours ago, Pinetree said:

There are a few things never to do in Thailand, in my view.  One is never use a motorbike taxi, another, never use a metre taxi in Pattaya. There a quite a few more that would be off topic, such as never piss off a ladyboy.  
 

I pissed off a ladyboy once. She tore me to shreds One mistake I’ll never make again, ever

[Pinetree]

2 hours ago, MarvW said:

 

He Sir, he. 

[Marc26]

11 hours ago, Pinetree said:

There are a few things never to do in Thailand, in my view.  One is never use a motorbike taxi, another, never use a metre taxi in Pattaya. There a quite a few more that would be off topic, such as never piss off a ladyboy.  

I think it's one of the best aspects of Thailand........just hop on a MB taxi

[Pinetree]

13 hours ago, Marc26 said:

I think it's one of the best aspects of Thailand........just hop on a MB taxi

hop on, thrown off, or knocked off and ripped off.  No thanks. 80 Baht from Big C Central to Memorial Hospital, I'd rather walk .

[Poolie]

27 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

hop on, thrown off, or knocked off and ripped off.  No thanks. 80 Baht from Big C Central to Memorial Hospital, I'd rather walk .

Phew, that's almost two quid. Penury here I come.

[Pinetree]

52 minutes ago, Poolie said:

Phew, that's almost two quid. Penury here I come.

Well I recon its no more than 400 yards, So to use your  view, that's paying  8.8 pounds per mile. That's equivalent to the London Black Cab taxi rate, which is one of the highest rates in any major city in the world?   

[Poolie]

I was talking about BigC to Memorial Hospital.

[Pinetree]

3 minutes ago, Poolie said:

I was talking about BigC to Memorial Hospital.

 

3 minutes ago, Poolie said:

I was talking about BigC to Memorial Hospital.

so was I 

[AdvocatusDiaboli]

1 hour ago, Pinetree said:

hop on, thrown off, or knocked off and ripped off.

With a good possibility now of being caught in the middle of a shooting …

News Forum - Hua Hin motorbike taxi driver shot to death after fight over foreign passenger

[Poolie]

2 hours ago, Pinetree said:

Well I recon its no more than 400 yards, So to use your  view, that's paying  8.8 pounds per mile. That's equivalent to the London Black Cab taxi rate, which is one of the highest rates in any major city in the world?   

 

1 hour ago, Pinetree said:

so was I 

 

 

1 hour ago, Pinetree said:

I was talking about BigC to Memorial Hospital.

Doesn't look like it.

[Clutch]

Fast way to Die.

Motorbike Taxi.

Walk by a stand of motorbike taxis and it reeks of marijuana these days of legal pot.

No place for a bloke to grab onto and no backrest.

No helmet.

No traffic laws enforced.

I weigh 215# or 97-kilo.

You do the math.

Quick way to Die.

[palooka]

Ring your health insurance company and ask if you're covered? 

Bet a lot say NO

[Karolyn]

Tuk tuks are overpriced, and many car taxis, won't use the meter nowadays. Moto is more attractive than ever, if you have no more than light baggage.

[Marc26]

I have rented a MB in Bangkok the last 2x there

Absolutely loved having the MB to get around to more places during the day time

[KhaoYai]

I am a biker - I have bikes in both the UK and Thailand and I used to use motorbike taxis in Bangkok every time I was in the country - that was until 2011.

Having been involved with Thailand for many years and driven thousands of miles in the country, I am fully aware of the stupid/selfish driving that goes on and/or law breaking/ignorance of the law. When I'm in control of the bike, I like to think I can deal with it and have never had an accident. I had though, never given it a second thought as to how that, very Thai, behaviour might affect me when on the back of a motorbike taxi.

Before I had a home in Thailand I would usually spend a couple of nights in Bangkok when I first arrived before going on to wherever. Although I spent most of my nights out in Bangkok in the Sukhumvit area, it was not where I normally chose to stay - opting instead for the Lumpini area.  I would then take a bike taxi into Sukhumvit when going on a night out.  For those of you familiar, there is a road that runs between Sukhumvit Soi 2 and the expressway/railway line - Duang Phithak Road. At that time there was what I believe was an unofficial expressway exit onto Duang Phithak. It seems to be official now as its signed and tarmaced but it still has no exit lane etc. As is usual in Thailand, cars come off the expressway and simply carry on, not giving a damn about any traffic they might encounter.

On this particular occasion I was meeting a friend who was also visiting Thailand - I hadn't seen him for years.  Duang Phitkak Road is little used as its easy to miss when turning off Rama 4 as its right at the side of the railway line - the taxi drivers use it though, as do the bike taxis.  I left my hotel crossed over Rama 4 and flagged down a bike taxi to take me in to Sukhumvit - something I'd done hundreds of times. I never got to see my friend.

Riding up Duang Phithak Road we approached the unofficial expressway exit when a car taxi pulled straight out of the expressway into our path. The bike hit the taxi's drivers door slamming the rider into it. I was launched into the air over the taxi, breaking the taxi rider's shoulder in the process. I was pretty knocked up, I had a hole in my leg, 5 broken ribs and a head injury which was leaking blood at quite a rate.

I spent a couple of weeks in hospital and a further 6 weeks off work before trying to do battle with the car taxi's insurance company.  I won that battle but it was a hollow win.  The driver's insurance was unbelievably, third class and had a 100,000 baht maximum payout limit for my type of injuries.  I questioned this with the police who had become involved and they told me it was legal.

I don't know every country's laws but certainly in the civilised world, taxis and other forms of public transport are legally obliged to have special insurance which fully covers passengers - and that is checked each year when they renew their taxi's licence.

So, before you get on the back of a motorbike taxi in Bangkok, or call a car taxi for that matter - consider that you may very well not be fully covered by any insurance the taxi might have.  At that time I didn't have travel insurance (I do now) and as you can imagine, that accident and the 8 weeks I had off work, cost me a small fortune. It didn't even come anywhere near covering my hospital bill.

The 'high flying' Bangkok lawyer I was recommended to, assured me that he could obtain payment for me - we would take the taxi driver to court and if he had no money, the court would take any land he or his family owned.  The guy may have been a total idiot and disregarded the most basic of traffic laws but he was just a poor guy from Isaan. He shared his taxi with 2 other guys on a 3 x 8 hour shift basis each day. I wasn't about to make his life any harder. In my opinion, the law that let's them drive without adequate insurance was to blame. I declined the lawyer's proposal and put the matter behind me.

I have been on the back of a bike taxi since but not often - and each time I do, I worry.

Edited July 30, 2023 by KhaoYai

[TheDirtyDurian]

5 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

I am a biker - I have bikes in both the UK and Thailand and I used to use motorbike taxis in Bangkok every time I was in the country - that was until 2011.

Having been involved with Thailand for many years and driven thousands of miles in the country, I am fully aware of the stupid/selfish driving that goes on and/or law breaking/ignorance of the law. When I'm in control of the bike, I like to think I can deal with it and have never had an accident. I had though, never given it a second thought as to how that, very Thai, behaviour might affect me when on the back of a motorbike taxi.

Before I had a home in Thailand I would usually spend a couple of nights in Bangkok when I first arrived before going on to wherever. Although I spent most of my nights out in Bangkok in the Sukhumvit area, it was not where I normally chose to stay - opting instead for the Lumpini area.  I would then take a bike taxi into Sukhumvit when going on a night out.  For those of you familiar, there is a road that runs between Sukhumvit Soi 2 and the expressway/railway line - Duang Phithak Road. At that time there was what I believe was an unofficial expressway exit onto Duang Phithak. It seems to be official now as its signed and tarmaced but it still has no exit lane etc. As is usual in Thailand, cars come off the expressway and simply carry on, not giving a damn about any traffic they might encounter.

On this particular occasion I was meeting a friend who was also visiting Thailand - I hadn't seen him for years.  Duang Phitkak Road is little used as its easy to miss when turning off Rama 4 as its right at the side of the railway line - the taxi drivers use it though, as do the bike taxis.  I left my hotel crossed over Rama 4 and flagged down a bike taxi to take me in to Sukhumvit - something I'd done hundreds of times. I never got to see my friend.

Riding up Duang Phithak Road we approached the unofficial expressway exit when a car taxi pulled straight out of the expressway into our path. The bike hit the taxi's drivers door slamming the rider into it. I was launched into the air over the taxi, breaking the taxi rider's shoulder in the process. I was pretty knocked up, I had a hole in my leg, 5 broken ribs and a head injury which was leaking blood at quite a rate.

I spent a couple of weeks in hospital and a further 6 weeks off work before trying to do battle with the car taxi's insurance company.  I won that battle but it was a hollow win.  The driver's insurance was unbelievably, third class and had a 100,000 baht maximum payout limit for my type of injuries.  I questioned this with the police who had become involved and they told me it was legal.

I don't know every country's laws but certainly in the civilised world, taxis and other forms of public transport are legally obliged to have special insurance which fully covers passengers - and that is checked each year when they renew their taxi's licence.

So, before you get on the back of a motorbike taxi in Bangkok, or call a car taxi for that matter - consider that you may very well not be fully covered by any insurance the taxi might have.  At that time I didn't have travel insurance (I do now) and as you can imagine, that accident and the 8 weeks I had off work, cost me a small fortune. It didn't even come anywhere near covering my hospital bill.

The 'high flying' Bangkok lawyer I was recommended to, assured me that he could obtain payment for me - we would take the taxi driver to court and if he had no money, the court would take any land he or his family owned.  The guy may have been a total idiot and disregarded the most basic of traffic laws but he was just a poor guy from Isaan. He shared his taxi with 2 other guys on a 3 x 8 hour shift basis each day. I wasn't about to make his life any harder. In my opinion, the law that let's them drive without adequate insurance was to blame. I declined the lawyer's proposal and put the matter behind me.

I have been on the back of a bike taxi since but not often - and each time I do, I worry.

A cautionary tale. Too many foreigners in Thailand think they're invincible. 

They're not. 

[Thaidup]

56 minutes ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

A cautionary tale. Too many foreigners in Thailand think they're invincible. 

They're not. 

Holiday in Koh Samui last month, the place was full of farangs on rented scooters speeding around on the main road, saw one woman come off on a curve in the rain, they where just crazy fast and no sense of safety, we rented a car.