News Forum - First time in Thailand!? Don’t take a taxi! Do this instead…

[Soidog]

43 minutes ago, JamesR said:

P.S. If the cashier is a bloke in a dress should I still let them nick two quid of my money? 

Listen mate. Whatever you want to give the bloke in a dress is entirely your business

[Soidog]

44 minutes ago, JamesR said:

I think it is great, to me anyone can be anyone they like but I don't like all the politicizing of it all.

Yes I couldn’t agree more. It’s one of the nicer sides to Thai culture, people generally don’t judge you and just let you get on with your life. We seem to over analyse everything in the West adding stress and anxiety. And then we wonder why mental health issues are on the rise. People need to chill out. 

[TheDirtyDurian]

2 hours ago, Marc26 said:

I know what you are saying

And I think you mean it in the scenario where they don't want to turn on the meter and in the end, will cost you £2

And I agree

But then I'm now at our house in Nonthaburi, all local of course 

And you just raise your hand and a taxi picks you up with none the meter nonsense

So even though I don't let the lower Suk taxis bug me

It's a pleasure when you don't have to deal with it 

Used to live in Nonthaburi years ago. Cannot recall ever having an issue with a taxi around there ever. 

[JamesR]

1 hour ago, Marc26 said:

We went out to watch live music in Nonthaburi 

Our server was a fantastic ladyboy

And I was thinking similar to your thoughts 

I don't even think the bar even thought for 2 seconds that they were a ladyboy 

They just hired someone they thought was good for the job 

Whereas in the West they'd want to be congratulated for hiring them

One of my two sons who are half Thai were born in England and went to university there, he works in marketing at a high level in  London dealing with clients willing to spend tens of millions of pounds in the company.

He told me one company willing to buy a 'package of work' off the company insisted he creates a team dealing with it had at least one Asian, a black person, a gay person, and some females as they did not want their competitors to accuse them of any wrongdoing.

It also means the team may not have been the best skilled if you have to fill part of it according to 'gender' etc and not 100% skill.

He said with every package they included a large section detailing how 'diverse' the company was regarding its policies, what a load of nonsense I thought.

 

 

[JamesR]

36 minutes ago, Soidog said:

Listen mate. Whatever you want to give the bloke in a dress is entirely your business

[TheDirtyDurian]

2 minutes ago, JamesR said:

One of my two sons who are half Thai were born in England and went to university there, he works in marketing at a high level in  London dealing with clients willing to spend tens of millions of pounds in the company.

He told me one company willing to buy a 'package of work' off the company insisted he creates a team dealing with it had at least one Asian, a black person, a gay person, and some females as they did not want their competitors to accuse them of any wrongdoing.

It also means the team may not have been the best skilled if you have to fill part of it according to 'gender' etc and not 100% skill.

He said with every package they included a large section detailing how 'diverse' the company was regarding its policies, what a load of nonsense I thought.

Sounds like South Africa and the positive discrimination in government positions and companies. It's all good and well until you end up with idiots running things.

 

[socal]

On 2/25/2023 at 7:56 PM, Soidog said:

I’m unsure what it is you are asking. Dollar amounts for what? For a cab being past it? 

You said 10-20% of cab rides result in disputes between the cab and customer. I am asking how much in dollars, is the cab over charging the customer ?

Are they being ripped off for $50 to $100 ?

 

[socal]

On 2/25/2023 at 11:55 PM, Soidog said:

Of course I mind people trying to rip me off. It’s just I can appreciate the urge of the Thai cabbie more than the U.K. one.

I’d still be furious and refuse to pay it if I noticed. 

 

So you'd get into a heated argument with a Thai taxi driver if you somehow thought he over charged you for 50 baht ?

How often do you win the argument and end up paying what you thought you should pay ?

[Marc26]

1 hour ago, socal said:

So you'd get into a heated argument with a Thai taxi driver if you somehow thought he over charged you for 50 baht ?

How often do you win the argument and end up paying what you thought you should pay ?

@Soidogis saying the opposite 

 

He minds but isn't going to lose sleep over such a small amount 

[Soidog]

1 hour ago, socal said:

So you'd get into a heated argument with a Thai taxi driver if you somehow thought he over charged you for 50 baht ?

How often do you win the argument and end up paying what you thought you should pay ?

Where did I say I would get in to a heated argument, with any taxi driver including Thai? If you read my post in context of what I said previously, you will see I view things totally differently. 

[Soidog]

2 hours ago, socal said:

You said 10-20% of cab rides result in disputes between the cab and customer. I am asking how much in dollars, is the cab over charging the customer ?

Are they being ripped off for $50 to $100 ?

No I didn’t say anything of the sort. You really either need to read more carefully or try better to understand. What I said was there 10%-20% there is some problem including not stopping or a cab or cab driver that is past it’s best. Seems to me you have a slight anger management issue if you assume everything ends up in a dispute or an argument? 

[Marc26]

On 2/26/2023 at 11:06 AM, Soidog said:

It’s only wrong to compare in the sense that the operating costs of Thailand to back home are complex and not like for like. Most taxis run on LPG in Thailand and the fuel is subsidised by government. Health and safety regulations are more stringent back home. Salaries are much higher. Benefits such as sick leave and holidays are different. Etc etc. It’s wrong to simply say Thailand is cheaper and not appreciate the negative aspects to the driver and wider society in Thailand that gets you those cheaper prices.
 

As you say, part of the allure is cheaper prices, but that’s not necessarily a success or a good thing for the Thai people. We get it cheap at a cost to someone else. 

I get what you are saying but sometimes it's just not that deep

 

By the way

2 of my BIL's drive MB taxi when they don't have contracting jobs

They make 1000 baht/day

That's more than enough to get by for them 

 

Compare that to my siblings back in US that have just gotten by their whole life

It's not much different 

 

I'm having a sundowner now

$4.50cad for a big Singha 

I like that comparison vs home. 

[Soidog]

39 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

I get what you are saying but sometimes it's just not that deep

By the way

2 of my BIL's drive MB taxi when they don't have contracting jobs

They make 1000 baht/day

That's more than enough to get by for them 

Compare that to my siblings back in US that have just gotten by their whole life

It's not much different 

I'm having a sundowner now

$4.50cad for a big Singha 

I like that comparison vs home. 

That’s a decent amount of cash they make at 1,000/day. 
 

my favourite time to have a drink is at sundown. A magical time of the day I feel. 
 

Yes the booze in Thailand is a lot lot cheaper than in the U.K. also

[Marc26]

2 hours ago, Soidog said:

That’s a decent amount of cash they make at 1,000/day. 
 

my favourite time to have a drink is at sundown. A magical time of the day I feel. 
 

Yes the booze in Thailand is a lot lot cheaper than in the U.K. also

They go out at 3am-8am

Say all the factory workers going to work that time

[JamesR]

4 hours ago, Soidog said:

That’s a decent amount of cash they make at 1,000/day. 
 

my favourite time to have a drink is at sundown. A magical time of the day I feel. 
 

Yes the booze in Thailand is a lot lot cheaper than in the U.K. also

 

If you are comparing supermarket booze then it is cheaper in the UK even the well-known brands.

The last lager I had in a bar last year in England was in a hotel bar and it cost 4.23 quid a pint.

 If I go to a bar here in Phuket it is 90 baht for a small bottle which is about 3.8 quid a pint so not that much difference.

Things here are cheaper for us as we make money overseas and spend it here, it is not cheap for the Thais on their much lower salaries.

Right, I have some Chang Beer waiting for me to drink, cheers. 

 

[TheDirtyDurian]

15 minutes ago, JamesR said:

If you are comparing supermarket booze then it is cheaper in the UK even the well-known brands.

The last lager I had in a bar last year in England was in a hotel bar and it cost 4.23 quid a pint.

 If I go to a bar here in Phuket it is 90 baht for a small bottle which is about 3.8 quid a pint so not that much difference.

Things here are cheaper for us as we make money overseas and spend it here, it is not cheap for the Thais on their much lower salaries.

Right, I have some Chang Beer waiting for me to drink, cheers. 

There's always Wetherspoon's, can still get a pint for £2. And meal deals etc. 

 

[JamesR]

10 minutes ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

There's always Wetherspoon's, can still get a pint for £2. And meal deals etc. 

https://www.thecaterer.com/news/wetherspoon-raises-food-drink-prices-inflation-tim-martin

2023 prices but still cheaper than Thailand re lager beer.

And unlike Thailand, you will not be pestered by a bloke in a dress to buy 'her' a drink or a twenty old girl saying she loves you as long as you buy her a house, pay the vet bill for the sick buffalo, and support her whole extended family for the rest of your life. 

[socal]

9 hours ago, Marc26 said:

@Soidogis saying the opposite 

He minds but isn't going to lose sleep over such a small amount 

Soi dog said this. Which presumably means a heated argument in public, a request for the drivers dispatcher and a call to the head office of the company to get a driver fired, over 2 pounds.

This assumes the driver was just trying to steal a 2 pound bonus for himself. If he was trying to pull a fast one and just steal, he'd probably just pretend that he made a mistake and said "oh yeah sorry, here's your 2 pounds back. But if he added the 2 pounds because he knew he was losing money on this ride, he'd probably argue about it. Which appears , a lot of them do. 

 

 

Why would you not bother about the £2 extra. When did I suggest you shouldn’t bother about being ripped off? If a taxi driver in the U.K. tires to rip me off for £2 extra on a fare I would have no sympathy and be prepared to see the person fired.  If a taxi driver does it in Thailand I still think it’s wrong, but understanding the situation the person is perhaps in makes me less prepared to get angry or upset about it. 

 

 

Edited February 27, 2023 by socal

[Soidog]

4 hours ago, socal said:

perhaps in makes me less prepared to get angry or upset about it

So in your world feeling angry and upset has to lead to confrontation and violence does it?  Many things anger and upset me but I don’t start shouting my mouth off or throwing punches. I save that for when I’m physically threatened and then it’s justified. 
 

Let me try to reset this and get everyone on the same page:

Overcharging deliberately is wrong no matter where you are and who does it. WRONG. I’ll say it again WRONG. However, while there is never any justification, life is full of grey areas and I can see the greater motivation from a relatively poor person (the Thai taxi driver) then I can see it from a U.K. taxi driver. Both still WRONG but one slightly more understandable if your family is hungry (Thai situation) compared to your family not being able to afford Netflix or a new iPhone (U.K. situation).

 

Edited February 28, 2023 by Faz
Frivolous meme removed

[socal]

18 hours ago, Soidog said:

So in your world feeling angry and upset has to lead to confrontation and violence does it?  Many things anger and upset me but I don’t start shouting my mouth off or throwing punches. I save that for when I’m physically threatened and then it’s justified. 
 

Let me try to reset this and get everyone on the same page:

Overcharging deliberately is wrong no matter where you are and who does it. WRONG. I’ll say it again WRONG. However, while there is never any justification, life is full of grey areas and I can see the greater motivation from a relatively poor person (the Thai taxi driver) then I can see it from a U.K. taxi driver. Both still WRONG but one slightly more understandable if your family is hungry (Thai situation) compared to your family not being able to afford Netflix or a new iPhone (U.K. situation).

 I guess you could diplomatically confront the taxi driver after he overcharged you 2 pounds. But it is still losing face and a confrontation. That can easily and almost always escalates into a scene. 

 When I was younger, I would challenge these kinds of things. Yes that includes Thailand. I went there 1st in 2006. But there was always 2 sides to the story. The truth would be somewhere in the middle. And if someone was just stealing a small bonus for themselves, they would just pretent it was a mistake when called out on it. At least that is what I suspected. 

Taxi cabs "over charge" when there are concerts or events in an area. Demand is higher. So shutting the meters off and charging more attracts more cabs to the area. So that more cabs are there for the higher demand. A cab might be on his way to one of these, he knows demand for his services are high. He wants to capitalize on  the shortage of cabs. So he charges a little more, because he knows this. But the customer doesn't know. And thinks its just a big ripoff. There is many different scenarios like this.

These cab ripoff stories are probably mostly hot air. 

Here's the story of Patrick Kane. A proffesional hockey player who makes 10 million a year, who assauted a taxi driver for not providing 20 cents change for his ride.

https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2009/08/10/nhl_star_charged_in_fight_with_cab_driver.html

According to local media, the 62-year-old driver charged the Kanes $13.80 for the ride and the men gave him $15. When the driver said he could return only a dollar in change, there was an altercation over the remaining 20 cents. Police say the Kanes took their money back and the driver, an independent operator from Buffalo, was struck in the face and head.

 

[Soidog]

6 hours ago, socal said:

That can easily and almost always escalates into a scene. 

No it doesn’t. In most cases I put it down to life and move on, especially in a place like Thailand. If it was in the U.K. I’d point it out to the cabbie. If he disagreed I’d call it in and sort it out. Another reason why Uber will ultimately beat all of these antiquated systems of meters and negotiations and handling cash.