For those who land at various airpiorts in Thailand and don't like waiting for a bus (which drops you in the centre of the city) or mini bus which is often crowded, a taxi is the only alternative. However, I have noticed that prices within Thailand differ vastly.

Landing at Bangkok you can go to the taxi counter, where you pay in advance and located as you leave the arrivals area and (for going to Silom) be asked for 600 to 700 baht - if you go outside and join the taxi rank (rarely waiting more than a minute or so) you can get a metred taxi for 200 to 300 baht. 20 to 25 minutes depending on traffic.

Landing in Phuket you can get a taxi to Patong Beach for a set charge of around 500 baht (I couldn't see any metred taxi's or taxi rank). 25 minutes or so.

Landing in Pattaya (or Utapoa - or whatever it's called) there is no taxi rank, there is a bus or a taxi counter where you pay in advance and the charge here is 1000 baht. 25 minutes or so.

I am probably being overcharged and should take the mini bus, but I like having a driver bang my case in the trunk and drop me straight at the door of my hotel without going around all of Bangkok, dropping others off, before eventually reaching my hotel.

Also, does anyone have that nightmare with taxi's or tuk tuks or, in the case of Pattaya, bus baht's (or whatever they are called). In Bangkok you flag down a Tuk Tuk or Taxi, tell them where you are going and then enter a few minutes of chatting, before even moving, about the taxi driver wanting to take you to the Tourist Centre and only charging you 20 baht for your ride to your hotel. This has happened so many times now that I say 'no tourist centre' to the driver before getting in the cab or tuk tuk and if they even mention going I just get out without saying a word. In Pattaya my problem with the communal bus is the charge. I will happily pay 10 baht for a journey from Jomtien to South Pattaya (advised by my hotel and another Farang living there not to pay more) and some drivers will take this, others will rant and rage at you for not paying enough. In the end to avoid any hassle I started paying 20 baht (I know it's not much but it sticks in the craw that Farangs will be charged more than Thai's for the same journey), but paying 20 baht seems the only way to avoid a potential showdown. Phuket seems the only place where I have no trouble with busses or tuk tuks - the bus has a set fee for all and the taxi's give you a price, take you there and you don't get a diversion you didn't ask for.

Anyone else have trouble with Taxi's?

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