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Cheaper taxi from Pattaya, skip the middle man!


JungleBunny

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This has probably been a thread before but I just wanted to let some of the newer members know.

 

The last time I was in Pattaya and after staying 3 weeks which is to short for a place like that, it was time to go and get that bloody plane back to OZ from BKK airport.

 

So after packing my bags and taking one last look at my hotel room and reflecting on all the great nights I spent in there for the past 3 weeks with numerous BG's it was time to leave and get a taxi.

 

Now in Pattaya you can get a taxi in quite a number of different ways. Get the hotel to arrange one, which means you will pay more because the hotel wants there cut from it too, Or walk down the street and find a taxi stand where you will find some guy who will arrange a taxi for you, again expect to pay more because this guy wants his cut too.

 

So what I did last time and I did run into abit of trouble on first attempt was wait for a vacant taxi to drive past me and wave them down. Now Just as I got in the taxi and after getting a great price of 600 Baht, the taxi man was about to drive off and then 2 of those tuk tuk utes that everyone uses in Pattaya surrounded the taxi and some Thai mafia guy appeared and ordered me out of the taxi. I felt sorry for the taxi guy who I think might have got in abit of trouble, But I did see him drive off again.

I think its just greed on the part of some people over there that want a cut for doing nothing. Anyway 5 minutes later and down one of the small soi's I found another taxi and negotiated a fair of 600 Baht.

 

I guess this will save you about 200 and 400 baht to get back to BKK.

It?s always cheaper going back to BKK from Pattaya than coming from BKK to Pattaya, which you will pay around 1200 Baht on most occasions.

 

Just try and cut out that middle man that does bugger all on most occasions to save a few Baht if you are on a tight budget.

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Last time I was there, in May, I went to one of the travel agents on Walking Street and booked a taxi to BKK for 700 baht, which must have included any cut they took for themselves. Didn't seem very expensive and picked me up at my hotel on time - couldn't believe it wasn't late!

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Actually there is a relatively good system in place in Pattaya for meter taxis that have come from bangkok.

 

They radio into one or two call centers in pattaya that are linked to various of the budget hotels, travel agents, bars, dive shops etc. You can then book a return taxi to arrive on time and the taxi goes straight to pick you up after dropping off their bkk-pattaya fare.

 

Sure there is a bit of commission paid (about Bt100) but at least the bkk taxis are not driving round pattaya looking for a return fare and blocking traffic.

 

Standard fare pattaya to bangkok is Bt800

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Believe it or not but Pattaya does not really have that many taxi meters. What you see are usually guys from Bangkok who have dropped off and are waiting for a return fare, either through an agent or other medium.

 

As their time is of no great value, they will wait hour after hour for a fare.

 

I know from inside their business that they get about Bt600/700 of the Bt1200 charged. Their alternative by the way is to get fuck all and pay for their gas back to Bangers.

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