Kacee

It's almost worth the extra 1300 THB for the AOT limo not to have to argue with the taxi driver over meter vs. the 500 THB flat fare they usually want.

There's a reason they ask for this information. For example, if someone on your flight turns out to have had a highly contagious disease, they will need to track down all passengers promptly. A friend experienced this in Seoul several years ago . . . three day quarantine at the Grand Hyatt courtesy of the South Korean government.

If you read carefully, you'll note those questions are from the Thai Tourism Authority. They are not mandatory.

timster

I haven't had a taxi driver ask for a flat fee from the airport for about 10 years. 300-400 is the usual metered fare. They do sometimes still try it downtown.

Yes I do know that. The airline has my contact details in that case. And if you think the AOT / Thai government could find my card quickly in the piles of cards that come in each day you have a different impression of their efficiency than I do.

There is actually no indication on the card that the information regarding occupation and income etc is anything other than mandatory. The front of the card says "For non-Thai residents please complete on both sides of this card." (sic) I am sure many travellers foolishly do so, assuming they are required to.

http://static.thaivisa.com/forum/upl...1105549730.jpg

Kacee

I visit Thailand 2-3 times per year, and IME they try to pull this pretty much every time. Most recently about six months ago. Part of the reason I've done AOT limo my last two trips.

JVPhoto

In the past 2.5 years I've never had an issue ex-BKK with the fare. Not one suggested it on I would say about 10 rides.
Going to BKK I've had them suggest it twice. The first time I wasn't paying attention and we were already on the road and I didn't want to fight.
The most recent one quickly found the meter did work when I didn't have to use any English to express my desire that I wanted to use the meter or he could pull back into the hotel and let me out.

I've taken the train once but that was on a Friday night arrival around 9:30pm and Google maps showed the traffic getting to Silom to be 1:45 min. Even waiting with the swamp of people to buy train tickets I was at the Le Meridien in about 1:15 which beats sitting in a dead stop on Sirat Expressway.

BinSabai

well, that's just normal bargaining in Thailand. If you want to avoid this, go for the most expensive solution! Otherwise you can usually get a taxi driver that finally starts the meter and you will usually stay below 500 THB