Bangkok Taxi's

[kamui]

Auto transmissions have improved enormously over the years.I remember the 3 speed Borg-Warner auto on an old Jag I had in the early 80`s - unresponsive and awfull whereas the latest auto boxes are in a totally different class .

 

And of course it's a makes a major difference if you drive 1-2 hours a day on highways or being stuck for 12 hours in BKK traffic. in Germany i think 90% of the cars are with stick, but I think 99% of cabs are automatic even though our traffic problems don't come even close to BKK.

[Pescator]

 

Secondly I have noticed a higher proportion of female drivers, even 2-3 years ago I would be surprised to get a woman driver once or twice a year, where as now it seems that 5% of Taxi drivers are women, plus a few tuk tuk drivers as well. OK I don't use cabs in Sukhumvit Ghetto etc but I think my observations are a true representation of Bangkok as a whole.

 

I travel with wife and kids.

2 times, the female drivers told me, that they only wanted to drive us, because I was with wife and kids.

 

Had I been a single male, they would not have stopped and picked me up.

[Mekong]

I travel with wife and kids.

2 times, the female drivers told me, that they only wanted to drive us, because I was with wife and kids.

 

Had I been a single male, they would not have stopped and picked me up.

 

I can understand that and its not just the fact that you are a farang I don't think any female taxi driver would stop for a lone male Thai or Farang, I always travel with my "Official Translator" so have also not had a problem.

[radioman]

I had a female cab driver a couple of times now, last time was maybe 2 years ago though. She was nice, not young but maybe mid 30's, looked very nice in the mirror from what I could see. Was quite a longish drive, downtown area to my place at Rangsit, early evening around 5:30pm I recall. Not much English but a little conversation. No issues and it struck me she thought it perfectly normal to be picking up single men and taking them where they wanted to go. I guess she might have had some decent protection one way or another.

[Flashermac]

Last NY Eve I rode home with a 20-ish woman driver. We chatted all the way and she obviously thought nothing of being alone with a man. Her father owned the taxi (green and yellow) and let her drive it in the evenings. (Must have been about 2am.) She was dressed like a Tom, men's clothes and short hair. Even so, it was easy to see she was quite pretty. I normally sit in the front seat and I've never had any problem with female drivers not wanting to take me.

[Mekong]

I had a funny one about 3-4 months ago, we were picked up by "A Female" taxi driver yet the license clearly showed a guy, I joked with "My Official Translator" is she driving her brothers car or is it a ladyboy, and she gave me the "SHUT UP" look. The driver starting laughing at us and obviously understood a little English.

 

"She" admitted that she was in fact a he, and the license was taken before s/he made the transition, my one and only Transexual Taxi Driver (That I am aware of) in Bangkok.

[zen4dummies]

'checkbin posted'

 

"During the last couple of months:

 

Taxi drivers in BKK asking for a flat 100THB, regardless of time of day, location of pick-up point/destination and/or whether destination given in Thai or English."

 

My regular taxi driver said that the discount that taxis got for LPG is going away (in increments) and that is why they started wanting 100 baht to start with. They seem to have been backing off of that demand lately.

[lozz17]

Just back from 2 weeks in Thailand and noticed a few changes with the cabs, a friends husband had to go home to Ubon to get all his paperwork in order as he was not allowed to drive the cab without it ( before not an issue ).

The wife and i were going by cab to Sa Kaeo the other day and he was stopped by the cops and fined 500 baht for not having the proper photo and wearing jeans !He was issued with a receipt and told if he was stopped again the same day just produce the receipt !

They seem to be clamping down , but for how long ?

[cavanami]

...wearing jeans

[Mekong]

...wearing jeans

 

I cannot find the original article from TAN but it is available on TV website, dress code was introduced in March this year

 

 

BANGKOK: -- The Traffic Police has launched a new campaign passenger and road safety. They are calling for taxi drivers to observe the official dress code for taxi drivers and obey traffic laws.

 

The Traffic police have launched a new campaign to promote road safety and safety of taxi passengers. They are calling for taxi drivers to help the police solve the chronic traffic in Bangkok and help promote the city as one of the top tourist destinations in the world.

 

Officially, taxi drivers must follow an official dress code.

 

They are required to tuck their shirttails into their pants. They must wear a name tag with Thai alphabets on the left hand side of the shirt. For footwear, drivers must not wear flipflops during work hours.

 

Violators could face a fine of no more than 500 baht. Taxis are also prohibited from parking their vehicles in unauthorized areas or blocking traffic. Violators could face a fine up 500 - 1,000 baht.

 

All taxis are required to use their meters to determine the cab fares. There are two main types of taxi in Thailand. Ones that are sporting two-tone paint, more specifically yellow and green, are privately owned taxis. The ones that have red-blue two-tone paint, however, are not privately owned.

 

They are older taxis that belong to a taxi cooperative or company. Taxis that are painted in one color are those that are owned by taxi cooperatives or companies. They are rent out to taxi drivers who usually split the driving shifts between 2 drivers per vehicle.

 

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