Quote Originally Posted by bkkguy View Post
I haven't used Uber but I have used Grab in similar circumstances at the Immigration Office in Chaeng Wattana - late afternoon, no taxis arriving etc

the app showed many cars available and they allocated the closest who unfortunately was on the other side of Chaeng Wattana road and it took him 20 minutes in traffic to get to the nearest U-turn and get back and into the complex and down to Immigration but he did keep in contact to assure me he was coming and the rest of the taxi crowd were jealous when he turned up and I got in leaving them stranded with still no other taxis arriving

and like you I am usually not in a good mood after wasting/spending hours at the Immigration Office and I find the difference in price v's the difference in comfort and convenience for a taxi to Mor Chit then Skytrain to SIlom then a walk v's a taxi straight to my place in the Silom area makes the Skytrain option hard to justify - particularly as it is only once a year for the extension, but "your mileage may vary" and I am sure some here would not agree with this laziness and flagrant waste of money, there are after all non-air-con bus options that will cost less than 30 Baht for what could be a 3 hour journey during afternoon peak hour - at my age personally I just couldn't be bothered!

Grab, like Uber, offers many types of service, but one of their options actually uses licensed Bangkok taxis with licensed drivers if that consideration is important to you, and their corporate philosophy does appear to be slightly less toxic - but again "your mileage may vary" with that

bkkguy
Thank you bkkguy for posting about your experience of GrabTaxi. The information was very helpful and much appreciated. I shall have a look at GrabTaxi and Uber and download one or the other, or possibly both, apps.

Adopting a belt and braces approach seems entirely sensible to me, given my stressful experience at Chaeng Wattana this year.

Quote Originally Posted by frequent View Post
I simply hire a limo and keep the driver waiting. USD90 for a once-a-year expense
Wow! I am impressed, frequent. A limo waiting to pick you up, was it a yellow Rolls Royce by any chance?

But do you think the driver, in my case, would have been content to wait over 5 hours to receive 2,818 Baht (US$90)? And, was that a standard hire charge, or did your chauffeur charge by the hour?

Quote Originally Posted by francois View Post
When I applied for an O visa and later retirement extension at Chaengwattan that is what I did.
Hired a car, had him wait, and took care of business. It did cost about 4000+ TB. Now just use an agent.
And françois, spending 4,000 Baht on a limo, in addition to forking out 6,000 Baht on agent’s fees. My, how the other half live.

And not for the first time do I feel like the poor relation on this forum.