News Forum - Phuket Airport officials pulled tourist from van, insisted they use airport taxi

[Thaiger]

The Phuket taxi situation has been under a microscope recently after accusations of taxi mafias, bad behaviour by drivers, and several outright brawls between taxi drivers in front of tourists have blemished the reputation of Thailand and Phuket in particular. Another recent incident at the Phuket International Airport went viral on social media when passengers were asked to get out of a minivan and use an airport taxi instead. While many bus stations and ferry piers have faced accusations that their exclusive arrangements with certain local taxi drivers constitute a taxi mafia, it has long been the case in Thailand […]

The story Phuket Airport officials pulled tourist from van, insisted they use airport taxi as seen on Thaiger News.

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[DoUKnowWhoIAm]

38 minutes ago, Thaiger said:

The Phuket taxi situation has been under a microscope

You don't need a bloody microscope to see all the Taxi/tuktuk/minivan scams here.  Can't see the forest for the trees?

[HolyCowCm]

Well then they should stop all people from dropping off and picking up anyone. Friends, family members, husbands, wives. This is the bigggest hogwash I have read regarding transportation at airports.

[BillO]

Does it offend the regulations when their registered taxis routinely try to rip off tourists by turning off the meters and charging excessive fares? Because that happens a lot and they know it. Tourists find that offensive and it reflects horribly on the country. 

[Giltee]

I blame the tourists for letting airport staff bully them. Why would anyone want to go to Phuket when your introduction is being ripped of and airport staff bullying passengers into using taxi mafia. The answer to the latter is simple, airport staff get a cut of  what the taxi mafia rip off from tourists. They’re all in on it and it’s time someone had the balls to stand up to it. 

[Pinga]

The minute you arrive in Phuket you can smell the greed in the air. Every taxi driver, every tuk tuk driver, every venue - they care about only one thing - sucking out as much money out of you as possible. It's so apparent and visible it's astonishing that officials don't understand this is putting tourists off. Next high season they'll cry why there's so few tourists - because YOU made it happen.

Even the ride-hailing apps now are overpriced, Bolt went from 100-150 a ride to 200-300 inside Patong. Grab has long been a lost cause. Meter taxis don't exist. Only InDriver is left semi-reasonable, but even there drivers keep trying to upbid what you offer which is ridiculous and offensive.

[stevenkongju]

Been going to Thailand for 25 years. Married a Thai woman. Never been to Phuket, never plan to go.

[Mudshark]

I have not been to Phuket for 18 years. This is only one of the reasons I have no intention of returning. 

[Alavan]

"The minivan driver has offended the regulations. Taxi vehicles are not allowed to enter the airport except when they have permission from the airport. The airport has a registration system for taxi drivers. Regulations have been clearly communicated to passengers and taxi drivers"

I come to Phuket for 32 years, and never heard of such regulations.
Besides, how should arriving tourists know about such regulations?

[Grumpish]

One of the taxi mafia dons slipped someone at the airport well padded plain brown envelope in exchange for a re-interpretation of the regulations? I suspect that what the rules actually say is that only registered airport taxi are allowed to ply for hire at the airport.

[Skip]

“Yesterday (September 28) a minivan taxi arrived at the domestic terminal to pick up passengers who booked via an online application. The Phuket Airport is an aircraft control area as stated in the Ministerial Regulations. The minivan driver has offended the regulations. Taxi vehicles are not allowed to enter the airport except when they have permission from the airport. The airport has a registration system for taxi drivers. Regulations have been clearly communicated to passengers and taxi drivers.”

The airport wants their cut... sorta like Joe's 10%

[TeddY]

Going to phuket next month.

For a single traveller not in a hurry, are there any option to go from Phuket airport to Patong (no taxi) like shuttle or bus ?

[TeddY]

I just got my answer :  Smart bus 100 bahts or Shuttle 180 bahts 

[Ramanathan.P]

JUST BOYCOTT PHUKET....OR....DON"T GO VIA FLIGHT. Better go to Krabi or Pattaya there are public transports available to the city. No hassle

[MrStretch]

Boycotting Phuket would seem the logical thing to do.

Government officials are always droning on about "damaging Thailand's reputation", yet they not only accept boorish, mafia-like behavior from the taxi consortia but like here, they actually participate in this reprehensible activity.

These behaviors clearly damage Thailand's reputation, but the brown envelopes make it worthwhile to be hypocritical, I'm sure.

[Pinetree]

13 hours ago, stevenkongju said:

Been going to Thailand for 25 years. Married a Thai woman. Never been to Phuket, never plan to go.

good decision, the place is a hotbed of corruption, greed and bad vibes. 

[Pinetree]

9 minutes ago, MrStretch said:

Boycotting Phuket would seem the logical thing to do.

I haven't been back since my youngest daughter was 8 years old ( she is now 24).  The place was always over rated and a center for scams, over charging and unhelpful people. It clearly hasn't changed since that time. 

[stapoz]

I was in Puket about 10 years ago.  I was surprised there is no bus, train or shuttle bus to the city from the airport.  There were only taxis.  Took a taxi and paid 700B for the 15 minute drive.  After returning to the airport, I couldn't find anything cheaper either and had to pay 700B again. 10 years ago!  At bkk, I paid 100B for a similar ride. Since then, I have never been to Puket again, even though I have been several times to Surat Thani, Krabi and Ko Samui which are close to Puket. 

[BJoe]

Rip-offs in Thailand….REALLY ?  What a shock.

[Mandy]

5 hours ago, Pinetree said:

good decision, the place is a hotbed of corruption, greed and bad vibes. 

Yep agree in full, I live here and can't wait to leave as soon as my apartment contract is up and I get my 50,000 deposit back, I'll be gone, never to return. 

[Donald]

20 hours ago, stevenkongju said:

Been going to Thailand for 25 years. Married a Thai woman. Never been to Phuket, never plan to go.

Good for you. It doesn't exonerate though the fact that scams and mafia practices should never and nowhere be allowed to flourish. And demonstrating that clearly to newly arrived visitors the fact that they are just the Baht cow to be milked is certainly not going to help the tourist revenue and the reputation of the country.

[thaicm]

If you're going to police the vans/busses/etc. that come to the airport for passengers, at least have the common sense to do it when they enter the property, not after they're loaded with tourists.  

[HolyCowCm]

21 hours ago, stevenkongju said:

Been going to Thailand for 25 years. Married a Thai woman. Never been to Phuket, never plan to go.

Stray out of Patong and it is very beautiful and nice.

[Yuwatida]

If I want to from Patong to the airport do I have to order a taxi from the airport to pick me up ??                       A taxi from Patong will probably be stopped before entering the airport so I will have to carry all my luggage to the entrance or order an airport taxi to drive the last few hundred meters. Crazy system.  

[Marc26]

1 hour ago, Yuwatida said:

If I want to from Patong to the airport do I have to order a taxi from the airport to pick me up ??                       A taxi from Patong will probably be stopped before entering the airport so I will have to carry all my luggage to the entrance or order an airport taxi to drive the last few hundred meters. Crazy system.  

No it won't 

 

It's for airport pickups not drop-offs