News Forum - 4 taxi drivers fined for overcharging and refusing service

[Thaiger]

Tourist police arrested four taxi drivers in Bangkok after discovering they refused to offer a service to passengers and charged overinflated fares without using the metre system. Not only Thai passengers are being refused by Bangkok taxi drivers but tourists face the same issue. They too are ripped off and refused by drivers. Tourist Police Bureau of Thailand spokesperson Apichart Suriboonya revealed last Saturday, September 17, that a number of foreign tourists complained via the 1155 hotline that taxi drivers at touristy spots refused customers, especially during heavy rain. Apichart said that their actions are spoiling the good image of […]

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[DoUKnowWhoIAm]

  On 9/19/2022 at 10:40 AM, Thaiger said:

Not only Thai passengers are being refused by Bangkok taxi drivers but tourists face the same issue. They too are ripped off and refused by drivers.

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You don't say

[palooka]

Get serious and start hitting them with 20,000 baht fines and it will stop overnight.

Second offence - loss of licence to trade and confiscation of taxi.  Problem solved. 

[ThaiFoodGuy]

I always ask taxis "meter ok mai" and most of them begrudgingly say OK fine, but many just wave me off.

For Tuk Tuks I always say where I'm going and "no stop". 99% of them laugh and wave me off. If they can't take me to multiple scam sites like tailors or gold shops, they're not interested. One guy tried to lecture me that farangs don't understand this is how drivers get gasoline and therefore make their living.

There isn't one sole issue and therefore one solution. It's how farang are perceived, it's how entitled taxis and tuk tuk drivers are, it's zero enforcement of rules or regulations or laws, it's corruption, it's greed. However, definitely agree with @palooka that if fines were actually handed down consistently, rather than selectively, the problem might not be solved but it would dwindle very quickly.

[Marc26]

  On 9/19/2022 at 1:40 PM, ThaiFoodGuy said:

I always ask taxis "meter ok mai" and most of them begrudgingly say OK fine, but many just wave me off.

For Tuk Tuks I always say where I'm going and "no stop". 99% of them laugh and wave me off. If they can't take me to multiple scam sites like tailors or gold shops, they're not interested. One guy tried to lecture me that farangs don't understand this is how drivers get gasoline and therefore make their living.

There isn't one sole issue and therefore one solution. It's how farang are perceived, it's how entitled taxis and tuk tuk drivers are, it's zero enforcement of rules or regulations or laws, it's corruption, it's greed. However, definitely agree with @palooka that if fines were actually handed down consistently, rather than selectively, the problem might not be solved but it would dwindle very quickly.

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It's not a farang thing, as pointed out in the article

Many taxis don't want a long ride in traffic

My wife often can't just hail a taxi in Samut Prakan to take her to Sukhumvit, she will need to call one and negotiate a price or call one that agrees to meter

[oldschooler]

Bangkok Daytime I would use Skytrain or for short trips Motorbike Taxi. Nighttime I would Walk or Meter Taxi. Very Late on when want to get home quick will agree 100 baht off meter. Was Rarely an issue. Too many Taxis. 
 

Taxis there only for my Convenience not Theirs.

[oldschooler]

  On 9/19/2022 at 3:43 PM, oldschooler said:

Bangkok Daytime I would use Skytrain or for short trips Motorbike Taxi. Nighttime I would Walk or Meter Taxi. Very Late on when want to get home quick will agree 100 baht off meter. Was Rarely an issue. Too many Taxis. 
 

Taxis there only for my Convenience not Theirs.

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Never take Tuk Tuks. No advantage over MBike Taxi. 

[MattBurgess]

Why fine them? They're licensed as taxis. If they don't want to comply with the terms of that licence, revoke it.

I'm not saying do that straight away, but three strikes and actually enforcing it seems reasonable. Totally unacceptable behaviour from taxi drivers (like the one who pulled a knife on passengers) is tolerated and needs to be stopped.

[ThaiFoodGuy]

  On 9/19/2022 at 2:07 PM, Marc26 said:

It's not a farang thing, as pointed out in the article

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I didn't mean to infer that it's a farang thing, I meant to include that as one of many reasons taxis are entitled and one of the issues which needs to be addressed. I know the person in the story is Thai and I know many Thais who report the same issue.

[WMD]

Tell the transport authorities to go to Phuket . They would have a field day with fines .

[HiuMak]

  On 9/19/2022 at 10:40 AM, Thaiger said:

Tourist police arrested four taxi drivers in Bangkok after discovering they refused to offer a service to passengers and charged overinflated fares without using the metre system. Not only Thai passengers are being refused by Bangkok taxi drivers but tourists face the same issue. They too are ripped off and refused by drivers. Tourist Police Bureau of Thailand spokesperson Apichart Suriboonya revealed last Saturday, September 17, that a number of foreign tourists complained via the 1155 hotline that taxi drivers at touristy spots refused customers, especially during heavy rain. Apichart said that their actions are spoiling the good image of […]

The story 4 taxi drivers fined for overcharging and refusing service as seen on Thaiger News.

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Think everyone should just call 191 if a taxi refuse service by meter.

[Jafagreg]

I was trying to get a taxi once when I had arrived at the train station in Bangkok after coming down from Chiang Mai. The driver told me how much it would cost to get to my destination, which I explained to him that this was not the correct price and that he should turn on the meter. Of course I got the usual response, " meter broken". Having noticed the Buddha statue on his dashboard, I then used the Pali version found in the five precepts regarding false and harmful speech. That stopped him in his tracks. Meter on and away we go.

[Pi_Tim]

Happy to read that, hopefully they are more cases in Sukhumvit !

[Cabra]

  On 9/19/2022 at 11:39 PM, HiuMak said:

Think everyone should just call 191 if a taxi refuse service by meter.

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I don't know what would come of it, but they are asking anyone refused service to dial 1155 (tourist police).

[Cabra]

For me personally, I've gone almost exclusively to Grab and have now been able to avoid many of these issues

[TheDirtyDurian]

  On 9/19/2022 at 3:44 PM, oldschooler said:

Never take Tuk Tuks. No advantage over MBike Taxi. 

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Not true. What many foreigners fail to understand is the reason Thais take tuktuks in the first place, which is that they are good for transporting a lot of stuff quickly, more stuff than you can get on a bike. 

[TheDirtyDurian]

  On 9/20/2022 at 1:48 AM, Jafagreg said:

I was trying to get a taxi once when I had arrived at the train station in Bangkok after coming down from Chiang Mai. The driver told me how much it would cost to get to my destination, which I explained to him that this was not the correct price and that he should turn on the meter. Of course I got the usual response, " meter broken". Having noticed the Buddha statue on his dashboard, I then used the Pali version found in the five precepts regarding false and harmful speech. That stopped him in his tracks. Meter on and away we go.

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You sure told him....

[Marc26]

  On 9/20/2022 at 2:07 AM, Cabra said:

I don't know what would come of it, but they are asking anyone refused service to dial 1155 (tourist police).

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I don't know why anyone would bother and get even the least bit stressed 

There will always be another taxi that will take you 

I've been in hotels where the taxis in front won't turn on meter

I just have the hotel get me a taxi that will and just sit in the lobby and read a book or my phone while I wait 

[Cabra]

  On 9/20/2022 at 4:13 AM, Marc26 said:

I don't know why anyone would bother and get even the least bit stressed 

There will always be another taxi that will take you 

I've been in hotels where the taxis in front won't turn on meter

I just have the hotel get me a taxi that will and just sit in the lobby and read a book or my phone while I wait 

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I don't disagree. The only upside might be reporting allows them to get a handle on the true size of the problem, and go after repeat offenders. 

[Marc26]

  On 9/20/2022 at 5:03 AM, Cabra said:

I don't disagree. The only upside might be reporting allows them to get a handle on the true size of the problem, and go after repeat offenders. 

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I just think guys move or spend time in a place like, moaning about the negatives back home

Then expect Thailand to function like back home 

I don't think I was ever what you would call an "Ugly American "

An American tourist/expat who expects everything to be like back home

But I definitely got worked up quite a but when I 1st started going to Thailand 

Now......sure some things are frustrating 

But in the same breath, there are so many more things that work up that probably wouldn't back home

We went out in Phuket and both my wife and I drank more than we thought we would.

So we didn't want to drive the MB back

I'd go back the next day and get the MB

The bar called a tuk-tuk

Think it was 200 baht for a short ride

But the driver knew all the people at the bar

So someone drove our MB home and he took them back

So we didn't have to go back and get it the next morning 

Things like that happen a lot more than the frustrating stuff

[Cabra]

  On 9/20/2022 at 6:39 AM, Marc26 said:

I just think guys move or spend time in a place like, moaning about the negatives back home

Then expect Thailand to function like back home 

I don't think I was ever what you would call an "Ugly American "

An American tourist/expat who expects everything to be like back home

But I definitely got worked up quite a but when I 1st started going to Thailand 

Now......sure some things are frustrating 

But in the same breath, there are so many more things that work up that probably wouldn't back home

We went out in Phuket and both my wife and I drank more than we thought we would.

So we didn't want to drive the MB back

I'd go back the next day and get the MB

The bar called a tuk-tuk

Think it was 200 baht for a short ride

But the driver knew all the people at the bar

So someone drove our MB home and he took them back

So we didn't have to go back and get it the next morning 

Things like that happen a lot more than the frustrating stuff

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I find that most things seem to work themselves out if I  maintain a level of self control and positivity. It's not always easy, but I'm trying. I just remind myself that nothing can harm if I don't let it. People suffer more often in imagination than in reality. Seneca, Epictetus and Zeno had it right. 

[Smiler]

I just persevere which is annoying because trying to get a meter taxi after midnight is so frustrating I can usually find one in ten will accept but principle prevails 

[oldschooler]

  On 9/20/2022 at 3:22 AM, TheDirtyDurian said:

Not true. What many foreigners fail to understand is the reason Thais take tuktuks in the first place, which is that they are good for transporting a lot of stuff quickly, more stuff than you can get on a bike. 

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Talking transporting people efficiently not shopping trips. 

[TheDirtyDurian]

  On 9/20/2022 at 7:27 PM, oldschooler said:

Talking transporting people efficiently not shopping trips. 

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Just clarifying what you said, which was no advantage to TTs over MB, when there is. Relax