Flashermac Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 The yellow-green taxis are privately owned. It used to be the drivers who owned them, but nowadays it often is not. Wealthy Thais buy taxis and rent them out. Each person is only allowed to own one taxi, so the wealthy Thais buy more in their children's names. p.s. One driver told me the taxi meters are fixed by the government. If the fares changed, the meters would all have to be replaced with new ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 p.s. One driver told me the taxi meters are fixed by the government. If the fares changed, the meters would all have to be replaced with new ones. No Just re-calibrated with the ammended rate. I mean Gas Pumps are not replaced every time the price changes are they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MooNoi Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 It will be interesting when the new rail link opens to the airport... I know that since the BTS and subway opened I use taxis FAR less than before. The airport rail link isn't going to help the cabbies methinks. Then again, this being Thailand, the "airport" rail link will probably terminate 2 or 3 km from the actual terminal and you'll have to catch a shuttle bus or taxi from there!!! Hope they have a look at KL or Hong Kong airports for how to build a city - airport railway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanddawg1 Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 In Samui they have so called "Taxi Meters" but once inside' date=' the meters aren't on display and are never used.[/quote'] Have not been to Samuii for many years now, I don't recall that the concept of a "Taxi Meter" had even arrived back then......but I suspect the selling point was that it attracts Tourist Punters who think the rules are the same as in BKK . I do recall that the Baht Buses were complete c#nts in the evening (7.30+??).......part of the reason I used to drink till the morning :smirk: Samuii - not as freindly and smiley as it appears in the brochures. and nowhere to run away to easily.......... I was in Samui last years; it cost 100 Baht to get in any cab no matter where. I flagged 5 cabs at the same spot none of them would budge. S1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonderlust Posted April 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 I once got a taxi from Emporium to the airport and believe it or not the driver was female. She had very good English and made no attempt at a 400 baht fixed rate like most drivers. After reading how difficult it is for them to make a living I feel bad for not tipping her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 Hi, "and believe it or not the driver was female" I believe it. Have met 3 different ones myself. One of them told me there are about 30-40 in Bangkok; out of some 80-100K taxi drivers. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David99UK Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 Still, I've discussed this with cabbies and they say they do NOT want an increase! The reason is they fear it would stop many Thais from using taxis. What the cabbies generally do say they want is an increase in the fares AFTER the basic 35 baht minimum. That way Thais would still use taxis for short rides, and tourists would be paying more for the longer hauls. The key is the length of the drops on the meter - you don't want drops on the meter every 1/2 mile.....you want the first ones as soon as possible and then the distance between drops lengthening out. With the meter also working on waiting in traffic time as well as distance. The key is to know what your average / most usual length of job is and maxumise the fare (that the meter calculates) for that length of job - even at the cost of losing out a little bit on some (but not all!) longer jobs. The meter provides the Punter with certainty (which increases trade), but it doesn't mean it has to be dirt cheap. It's a business not a vocation....... The advantage being that you don't end up going around the block for basic fare or getting bugger all for an hours work for 2 miles in solid traffic. and the longer jobs do not become exorbitant / uncompetitive by the meter dropping every couple of hundred yards for 30 miles The big advantage is that you can pretend that each year the fares have gone up only XX% when in reality the driver knows that most trips are XXX distance therefore the "in the pocket" increase tends to be a bit more. Of course having different rates for Bank Holidays and antiscocial hours makes a big difference. Especially for drunks. As well as the universal "around the houses Tourist Experiance" :grin: It's all legal. It's on the meter :grin: Not me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waerth Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 I actually usually tip the drivers about 10 to 20 baht on most hauls (some a bit more if it is a long haul) I feel kinda sorry for them with the rate having been the same. I think the problem is now that if they increase the rate the increase would be a doubling. Which although fair would scare most people away from taxis. It is time they started to raise the fare by small bits every year. Waerth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lembeh Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 >It is time they started to raise the fare by small bits every year. No offense, but thats the sort of idea you should keep to yourself if you don't mind! -j- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waerth Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 Why? The same price for over 10 years is unfair to the cabdrivers. And it is not as if some governmentofficial is reading this board to get ideas from the farangs ......... . Waerth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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