Rogue Airport Taxis

[scottish-guy]

No.

If you are going (in a blatant attempt to troll another member) to recount an incident that you were not personally involved in, kindly get the facts right.

A call (in Thai) was received to our hotel bedroom just a few minutes after arriving back from a night out in BT. I do not speak Thai and neither does my BF (who looks Thai, but isn't)- so neither of us could understand the caller, who kept yattering on at great length (so it didnt appear to be a simple "wrong number"). It also seemed strange that the call came immediately after arriving back well after midnight. It seemed logical to suppose that the call may have been made from the lobby, so I went down to see if anyone was there or if they had put the call through, but the reception staff could shed no light. So, that's the entirety of the story.

Now, if the purpose of your post is to suggest that I am lying about the taxi incident in Gran Canaria, I'm happy to post the pics of the license plate. I assure you I do not routinely photograph taxi license plates (so its safe to assume I had a particular reason to do so) - and I further assure you that I am not going to pop over to GC today to get photographs of taxi licence plates to support my story.

Having said all that, your best course of action might be to just quit trolling - would you not agree?

[fountainhall]

I'm not sure why this business of dodgy meters on airport taxis seems to be continuing, but it happened to me again last night. I returned from China and got a taxi around 10:45pm. I showed him the slip with the rank number which he took and tried to hide on the front passenger seat. I know that by the turn from the airport road on to the highway the meter should read around Bt. 57 - 59. No problem. But before we got to the first toll booth, I noticed the meter started clicking over very fast for around 15 seconds. Then it reverted back to what seemed like the normal rate. How on earth it can do that I have no idea!

By the time we got to Rama 4 having had a very fast run in with absolutely no delay, distance was a good 7 kms more than it should have been. So I reached over and took back the slip, got out my iPad and let him see I was taking photos (although they are too dark to see much!!) When I got home, I told him his meter was doctored and I'd only pay the usual amount plus the Bt.50 surcharge. At first he complained and showed me the new disc showing his meter had been recalibrated with new rates. I stood my ground with the condo security guard beside me. Then he said, "OK" and took the cash. "You OK?" he said again. "I'm OK! You OK?" "OK!" He as clearly making sure I was not going to use the photos against him!

I have zero idea why this has happened twice in the last 3 months when I can't recall it happening in the previous 80 or so trips in recent years!

[fountainhall]

And it's happened again! I'm beginning to wonder if this only happens to me but on my way in from BKK this lunchtime I got a rigged meter once again. By the first tollbooth it was obvious the number of kms was quite a few more than it should have been. I whipped out the iPad, took some photos and then told the driver his meter was rigged. At first he barely responded but then switched the meter off and told me to pay whatever I usually paid. He uttered something about the cab not being his and its having been serviced yesterday. I didn't believe a word!

[thaiguest]

Returning from Hong Kong late last night, there were no queues for taxis. Very easy getting to the machines and, as you can see from the slip, this not only gives you the lane number but also the driver's name, ID, car type and registration plate number. The call center number for complaints is also clearly marked. So it's clearly a more sophisticated system than the old one. The price was as I expected, although all taxi fares have recently gone up by around 8% - 10%.

It's very important to hide this slip on your person but in a way that it can be found by the pathologist if the taxi takes a detour and murders you for your wallet and watch (or whatever it is they're interested in now) as happened a few years ago.

[newalaan2]

have zero idea why this has happened twice in the last 3 months when I can't recall it happening in the previous 80 or so trips in recent years

It's just down to luck, or lack of it sometimes. On my last trip before they changed to the machines at Suvarnabhumi a scam for a fixed taxi rate with no meter was attempted by the dispatcher and driver, this last visit in June was my first with the new set up. All machines were working, got my ticket and headed to stance 40, normal size taxi was there with driver waiting, two or three other drivers were hanging around chatting with him. I......the single white male pulls up.....heard one of his mates say to the other, something like 'another one for Pattaya!'...then to me " You go pattaya??" I said to my driver in Thai that I was going to Silom, soi 2 near salandaneg BTS, with the 2-3 drivers gathered round speaking to my driver I feared the worst for an attempt at a higher set rate, but no, the driver just laughed at something with his friends before confirming my destination and switching on the meter.

Told him to take the tollway which I paid upfront at the first booth and received the change after the last. The fare seemed right as we stopped outside Soi 2 Silom, I added the Bt50 onto the metred amount, rounded up to include a tip, the driver carried case & holdall into Ballys/D'Varee reception,and said goodbye with a smile.

Why can't it be like that every time? It's difficult to know if these attempts at scamming are on the increase or whether you have just been the victim of sheer bad luck 'fountainhall'.

[christianpfc]

I said to my driver in Thai...

I always speak in Thai to the driver, maybe that makes a difference?

I rarely takes taxis from places where they try to rip off tourists, but when I do a few times per year just to confirm that it's still the same, speaking Thai doesn't help.