Motosay taxi

[lukylok]

I take sometimes a moto to go back to Jomtien Complex from BT or Sunee, between 12.00 and 2 AM.
And I pay 50 bahts. Tonight I have been quoted prices from 70 to 120 bahts.
How much do you usually pay ?

[bucknaway]

Are you talking about a Motor Bike Taxi?

[lukylok]

Yes indeed !

[TravellerDave]

No it is more than 50 baht. That was the price 2/3 years ago. Boystown to Jomtien would be 70/80 now.

[francois]

80 baht would be typical perhaps somewhat less at times.

[francois]

Boyfriend informs me the price from Boyztown to Jomtien Complex is 70 TB .

[latintopxxx]

thailand+motorbike=deathwish(if u r lucky) or paralysed......stop gambling with your life...at a minimum take a baht bus...you may have to wait a little after midnight but its a small price to pay...

[Nirish guy]

Maybe just a tad of an over generalisation there Latin no ?? To say that getting on a motorbike or motorbike taxi, to travel perhaps only several hundred yards, at an approximate speed in town of around 15-20miles per hours, when in warm dry weather on a dry road is a death wish is a bit over dramatic perhaps

Whilst of course like everything in certain situations a motorbike can be a slightly more dangerous form of travel you could say the same about even just crossing the road when in many SE Asia Cities ! So personally I tend to weigh up things on their own "actual" risk, balancing risk against benefit and work out ( and I hate to even use the term) but a genuine health and safety risk assessment ( on about one second flat through I should add) without perhaps jumping immediately to knee jerk reactions which might then stop me using a service that many many people travel on every single day without incident and which might actually be really useful or helpful to me - no ?

[latintopxxx]

...hello...anyone there...nirish...its not me that I'm worried about...its the idiot driver that will be driving me....and even of more concern all the other idiot drivers on the road....i love life and I love my limbs....you keep taking motorbike taxis...or riding them yourself...I'll minimize the risk to myself...and not make use of those death machines....argument is stupid...i'm sure if i google whats the most dangerous mode of transport that motorbikes will show up at the very top of the list...especially in thailand....ehre have you been all your life???...lala land....

[TravellerDave]

To characterise Thai motorcycles taxi drivers as idiots is very far from fair. I have found them very skilled and safety conscious. Also very honest and not attempting to overcharge.
The traffic problem in Pattaya is getting worse and worse with jams being the norm from midday to midnight. A motor cycle taxi is often the only way of getting anywhere in a reasonable time.

[Nirish guy]

...hello...anyone there...nirish...its not me that I'm worried about...its the idiot driver that will be driving me....and even of more concern all the other idiot drivers on the road....where have you been all your life???...lala land....

Well thankfully where ever I've been all my life has taught me the skill of using my own judgement and not making wide sweeping generalisations when it comes to evaluating risk, as you cannot seriously be suggesting that ALL motorbike taxi drivers are idiots, or that ALL other road users are idiots and so to say you're placing yourself at some crazy UNACCEPTABLE risk each time you get on a motorbike taxi, to, as I've already said, travel maybe only a few blocks, on a straight road, on a dry day, with a guy who drives a motorbike all day, every day "I" think is crazy.

And by using your logic as I've already said as you believe the roads are all full of idiot taxi drivers and idiot drivers in general if I were you I would ensure you never have to cross that road as to do so would also be risky - but of course you do so as you weigh up the risks against the likeihood of something bad happening - and THAT is my point.

Personally I've sometimes felt more vunerable sitting in the back of some motorcar taxi on the run from the Airport to Pattaya in the pouring rain with him bombing along the road half asleeping whilst necking Redbull but using your logic that must also be even MORE risky being as I was travelling at a MUCH higher speed, where a crash could undoubtedly have resulted in serious injury if not death, plus of course the roads around me would have those very same idiot drivers that are driving on the same roads were I on a bike - so, perhpas we should never take a motor CAR taxi then too?

And I do understand your point that yes motorbike taxis can be undoubtedly a more dangerous form of transport than walking or getting a baht bus etc ( but hey watch you dont fall off the back of that baht bus mind into the line of oncoming idiot drivers if you have to stand at the back of the bus - or maybe we shouldn't get on baht buses either just in case ? - or is that an acceptable risk ?!) But like everything in life most people weigh up the possible risks against the actual benefits and avoid using one wide brush stroke in saying things like "I will NEVER travel on a motorbike in Thailand, ever, even if driven by myself or a professional driver, in the dry, over a short distance and EVEN if the driver is sober ( ok that last bits a joke )" but if doing so that to me seems a little extreme and over protective of ones personal safety perhaps and is usually more the sort of thing that a person who would never travel anywhere might say, just like when they say "oh I'd never go to Thailand as FAR to risky".

[latintopxxx]

ok. agree to totally disagree. what a surprise.

[colmx]

To characterise Thai motorcycles taxi drivers as idiots is very far from fair. I have found them very skilled and safety conscious. Also very honest and not attempting to overcharge.
I have found them skillfull... but certainly not honest.... I usually find 1 in 4 try to rip me off... expecially as i usually visit around festival times (New Year, Songkran) and they are always looking to maximise their income around those times

I find that those that rip you off tend to congregate in the same areas... the guys outside Wat Chai and (especially) those at the Family Mart outside MyView Condo always try to charge more than they going rate... The guys at Family mart always demand 100B for anywhere and get quite agressive when you try to negotiate... These days i simply cross the street and use their friendly competition!

[bucknaway]

I only take a motorbike if I am limited in the amount of time I have to get to where I need to be. I prefer to take the baht bus for the opportunity to meet people and just look around as we move along and for all that it only costs me 10 baht.

If it is dark and the roads are wet, I will avoid a motorbike at all costs just because a wet dark road makes a accident more likely.

[Marsilius]

The Sunnee-Jomtien price seemed to be 40 baht for years. Then about 4-5 years ago it went up to 50 baht, so I'm not surprised by his latest increase, though it does seem to be a little excessive - especially when you compare it with the price of the baht bus.

[francois]

My bf who is a motorbike taxi driver said the increased cost is due to the increase in gasoline prices which are passed onto the customer. Unless the taxi driver is stationed at a premium location they likely earn a pittance, after their expenses, which includes a periodic fee for their jacket/vest which is paid to the concession owner. Thus a small tip by rounding up the fee, say from 50 to 60 or 70 to 80 Baht, is much appreciated by the driver.

[christianpfc]

I rarely use motorcylce taxis, but in this case I can chime in:

A money boy friend in Boyztown mentioned that he would join me in Jomtien complex, and would travel by motorcycle taxi for 40 Baht.
A boy I offed in Sunee asked for 50 Baht to go back to Sunee from Jomtien complex.
One of the rare occasions where I needed a motorcycle taxi: from South Pattaya railway station in Soi Khao Talo to the bus station on Thappraya, the full lenght of Thepprasit, for 60 Baht (distance comparable to Jomtien complex - Sunee or Boyztown).

As a general rule, mocy or tuktuk costs the same as a Bangkok taxi (once the price is above the 35 Baht at which taxis start, for shorter distances mocy can be cheaper, with fares starting at 10 Baht).
Most motorcycle stations have a billboard with destinations (in Thai) and prices, obviating the need to negotiate. If you can read Thai, just point out where you want to go.

[Jellybean]

IтАЩve never used a maw-dt╔Щ╔Щ-sai-t╔Щk-s├нi (a motorcycle taxi) when travelling between Boyz Town/ Sunee Plaza and Jomtein Complex, preferring to take the Baht Bus or, occasionally, walking (not to save money, but for the exercise).

Not sure that I would avoid them totally as Latintopxxx suggests, I think it all depends on the time of day/night, the road conditions, the distance to be travelled and whether the driver was in a fit state to drive.

I think I recall newalaan writing about a very close shave he and his boyfriend had one night or early morning in Pattaya when they were involved in an accident while on a motorbike taxi.

Actually, until March this year, my only experience of using motorcycle taxis was 5-10 minute rides from Sathorn Road to Silom Road in Bangkok during daylight hours, with relatively little traffic, and in good weather conditions. I find these short journeys scary enough! However, that changed when I had my most horrendous, and hopefully never to be repeated, experience of using a motorcycle taxi when I went to visit another member in north Bangkok.

I made the mistake of setting off at 5.30pm, right in the middle of the rush hour! I had to take the Sky Train up to Maw Chit. It had been my intention to get a taxi for the second part of my journey, but no driver would take me citing, r├│t-tit m├вi dai (cannot traffic jam) and told me the only means of transport would be a motorcycle taxi. I looked at the traffic and they appeared to be right, it was near gridlock, so I reluctantly agreed.

So off we set on a journey IтАЩll remember for the rest of my life ... it was terrifying as the driver weaved in and out of traffic, on the left hand side, then on the right hand side and even in between lines of cars and also on to pavements. And, at times, he drove at great and border line reckless speed with me shouting from time to time, тАЬk├аp ch├бa-ch├бaтАЭ (drive slowly!), тАЬp┼Пm r├║u-s├╣k m├вi-s├аbaaiтАЭ (I donтАЩt feel comfortable) and тАЬp┼Пm r├║u-s├╣k s├╣k-k├а-p├вap-m├вi-diiтАЭ (I feel unwell) but with no effect whatsoever and any change in his driving!

At times my thighs were squeezing him so tightly that he complained and told me to relax and not hold on so tightly! But I was so nervous I couldnтАЩt help but hold on as tight as possible!

Honestly, I thought weтАЩd never make it without an accident. I had visions of my last moments in life being splattered on a road in north Bangkok. The journey seemed interminable ... well, around 30 minutes! What a nightmare! I couldnтАЩt wait to get off and wasnтАЩt in the best of moods when I arrived at my destination.

NIrish guy described in great detail in his post above that as long as you make a sensible risk assessment on the conditions at the time, then using a motorcycle taxi need not be a life ending event. But I doubt IтАЩll be using them for anything more than the 5-10 minute journeys between Sathorn Road and Silom Road in future, because IтАЩm a, now what was it I was called? Ah yes тАж a chicken! Well thatтАЩs how I was described by the member when I got off the bike and started complaining about the horrendous ride I had just endured. 555!

[latintopxxx]

what does 555 mean???

[Jellybean]

Sorry latintopxxx I thought everyone knew.

The Thai for the number 5 is h─Гa and is used on Viber, WhatsApp, LINE etc., to indicate something is funny as in тАж 555 (hahaha)!