Jan 18, 2014, 12:18 pm
Last edit by: aBroadAbroad
This archived thread is closed to posting.
A detailed wikipost can be found in the current thread at
Catching a taxi at BKK and general Thailand taxi discussion [2014 onward]
A detailed wikipost can be found in the current thread at
Catching a taxi at BKK and general Thailand taxi discussion [2014 onward]
Catching a Taxi at BKK and general Thailand taxi discussion [PRE-2014 ARCHIVE]
Jun 30, 2007, 9:37 pm
#31
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Los Angeles, CA (formerly New Haven, CT)
Programs: US Gold, *A Gold, SPG Gold, ex-CO Gold
Posts: 396
here's one more quick tip to easily find the right cab: look for the line of hot pink cars. they look part Barbie's Dream-Machine, part Toyota Prius, and part brothel-on-wheels. Once you've found them, you know you're in the right place.
Jul 1, 2007, 9:48 am
#32
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Del Ray, Alexandria, Virginia
Programs: KE Skypass, Morning Calm
Posts: 1,655
Maybe I'm missing something, but how are the limo touts "hucksters" or "con artists"? Most seem to be operating with the permission of the AOT, and the rates I've had thrown at me are not out of line with what one would pay for a car sent by a hotel. I agree that they seem overwhelming as one exits into the international arrivals area, but the ridiculously small area probably has much to do with that. AOT could have set up a less confused and less aggressive hired car system but they didn't, and I find it hard to fault the touts for AOT's failure.
Jul 2, 2007, 11:58 am
#33
Join Date: May 2004
Location: CNX/AGP
Programs: AF/KL Flying Blue, SK Eurobonus, TG ROP, BA EC, QR Privilege Club, SQ Krisflyer
Posts: 358
I am reluctant to get drawn into dispute with fellow FT'ers here, but feel I must point out that these vermin were equally active back in the Don Muang days when the arrivals area, whilst still rather chaotic, was somewhat less confined. I think I've said enough on this topic, and will desist now, hopefully having made my views clear on this matter.
Jul 2, 2007, 2:16 pm
#34
formerly known as 2lovelife
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: ORF : UA_Premier_Gold4Life, Bonvoy_titanium, Accor_Plat
Posts: 6,952
Perhaps the Op could edit the original post and include some past threads on taxis in BKK. This thread seems to be losing it's original momentum.
Jul 5, 2007, 12:43 pm
#35
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 1999
Posts: 12,375
For some reason Bangkok Taxi threads, and there have been many over the years here, seem to get overly detailed, complicated and downright personal. It is a strange phenomenon that I've not seen in other regional sub-forums here, and not sure why?
Anyway, the official metered taxi queues remain on level 1 as of 6 July 2007. They were supposed to move to level 2 but obviously this hasn't happened yet.
Touts are now well restrained from international arrivals exits B & C on level 2.
I chose not to go up to level 4 (departures) to get a taxi last night, but went down to level 1. Maybe three parties in line in front of me, no problems getting a taxi with meter here. I did not observe any flat-fare bait & switches, but there certainly is ample room for such activity what with the interaction between the drivers, runners and dispatchers.
Anyway, the official metered taxi queues remain on level 1 as of 6 July 2007. They were supposed to move to level 2 but obviously this hasn't happened yet.
Touts are now well restrained from international arrivals exits B & C on level 2.
I chose not to go up to level 4 (departures) to get a taxi last night, but went down to level 1. Maybe three parties in line in front of me, no problems getting a taxi with meter here. I did not observe any flat-fare bait & switches, but there certainly is ample room for such activity what with the interaction between the drivers, runners and dispatchers.
Jul 6, 2007, 12:37 pm
#36
formerly known as 2lovelife
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: ORF : UA_Premier_Gold4Life, Bonvoy_titanium, Accor_Plat
Posts: 6,952
Last time through, I went down to level one as well. Short line, and quick to get in the cab.
He asked for 450. I up and got out, asked for a different car. 2nd cab was trouble free.
I don't mind paying the 50 surcharge, tolls, and rounding a small tip up.
He asked for 450. I up and got out, asked for a different car. 2nd cab was trouble free.
I don't mind paying the 50 surcharge, tolls, and rounding a small tip up.
Jul 7, 2007, 2:30 am
#37
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 1999
Posts: 12,375
The process seems to be:
Taxi/driver queues in lot near the transportation center, they pay a fee (something less than 50 baht) and receive an official chit (four part form), they are then dispatched to the main passenger terminal building, level 1, where they hand the chit over to a runner who hands it to the dispatcher. The dispatcher then matches up these chits with customers, writing down the destination. The dispatcher is supposed to tear off a portion for the customer (with taxi details) but this may not be happening. The runner then escorts customer to the appropriate taxi and hands off the chit to the driver. There does seem to be ample flexibility for a dispatcher, runner and driver to steer potential flat-rate customers to a specific taxi/driver. In my recent experience the driver tore off the customer portion and handed it to me, when we were in the taxi.
Jul 7, 2007, 5:29 am
#38
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Seoul, Korea
Programs: ROP Gold, BD Gold, Asiana Club Silver
Posts: 678
I took a taxi from the departure level, as usual, with no problems.
Jul 7, 2007, 10:51 am
#39
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 3
Previously at Don Muang, I had always used the taxi cues (in the heat, with the long lines). I never had a problem getting to my destination (typically somewhere on Sukhumvit).
At Suvarnabhumi, the few times I have passed through there, I have caught cabs at the departure level (that have just dropped off a passenger going to the airport, and are eager to avoid going around and entering a cue to pick up a new passenger.) The benefits of this method include typically no waiting, and no 50-baht fee to the dispatcher. I also have not had any problem with security/police for getting a taxi on the departuer level; I have done it in plain view of them.
The down-side of this (for me at least) has been that you don't receive a taxi complaint card from a dispatcher, with the taxi number recorded on it. And it seems in my limited experience at Suvarnabhumi, that some taxi drivers may be tuned into this point also. I have had a couple of rides where the driver took circuitous routings to pad the fare in getting me to my destination, and been reluctant to flag the meter, claiming it is a "flat fare" of 400 baht because it is out of the city.
In the first case, I came in on the New York flight and got into a cab at 6:30pm on a Friday night. I was going to Sukhumvit Soi 22. The driver asked "highway?" and I said "yes". After leaving the airport, I soon noted runways to my left, and knew he was going south, not west. I asked him what he was doing, and he said he was catching "the highway". I told him Rama IX was the highway to take. He was going to catch the highway from Pattaya to Bangkok, and passes south of the airport. Through not understanding/playing dumb/being stuck in traffic, we continued on that route. Due to the backtracking required to get on the highway, we fully drove around 3/4 of Suvarnabhumi on this route, (from about 1 o'clock ccw to about 5 o'clock). We were stuck in big traffic, and it took 2:15 to get to Soi 22, a trip that should have been about 45 minutes. It also metered out to about 350 baht. I knew from previous experience that I could go between Suvarnabhumi and Soi 22 for about 185 baht on the meter.
I had the hotel clerk dispute it with the taxi driver, and he did not argue with my contentions . . . he knew he was busted! I was most angry about the long trip to the hotel, after a 17 hour flight to BKK.
The next time, I paid more attention to the exact route/highway to take beforehand. I was with my Thai girlfriend on this occasion. Again, the subject of route came up, but he was speaking in Thai with her. He was trying to persuade her to go a longer route, but I was firm about the route I wanted to go. She said something to him, and the chatter stopped and we proceded on my desired route. We arrived at Soi 22, and metered about 190 baht. She later told me what she said that ended the discussion with the taxi driver; On the debate of taking the route I wanted vs. what the driver was suggesting, she finally told him "he smart farang, you cannot fool him."
I believe both of these experiences would likely not have happened had I gone through the dispatcher at Suvarnabhumi. Maybe it won't happen every time you use the departure level to get a cab, and you will save 50 baht and maybe some time in a cue, but I would recommend that if you use the departure level, you pay attention, know the exact route you desire, and take note of the cab number. Have a pen and paper ready to jot down information.
At Suvarnabhumi, the few times I have passed through there, I have caught cabs at the departure level (that have just dropped off a passenger going to the airport, and are eager to avoid going around and entering a cue to pick up a new passenger.) The benefits of this method include typically no waiting, and no 50-baht fee to the dispatcher. I also have not had any problem with security/police for getting a taxi on the departuer level; I have done it in plain view of them.
The down-side of this (for me at least) has been that you don't receive a taxi complaint card from a dispatcher, with the taxi number recorded on it. And it seems in my limited experience at Suvarnabhumi, that some taxi drivers may be tuned into this point also. I have had a couple of rides where the driver took circuitous routings to pad the fare in getting me to my destination, and been reluctant to flag the meter, claiming it is a "flat fare" of 400 baht because it is out of the city.
In the first case, I came in on the New York flight and got into a cab at 6:30pm on a Friday night. I was going to Sukhumvit Soi 22. The driver asked "highway?" and I said "yes". After leaving the airport, I soon noted runways to my left, and knew he was going south, not west. I asked him what he was doing, and he said he was catching "the highway". I told him Rama IX was the highway to take. He was going to catch the highway from Pattaya to Bangkok, and passes south of the airport. Through not understanding/playing dumb/being stuck in traffic, we continued on that route. Due to the backtracking required to get on the highway, we fully drove around 3/4 of Suvarnabhumi on this route, (from about 1 o'clock ccw to about 5 o'clock). We were stuck in big traffic, and it took 2:15 to get to Soi 22, a trip that should have been about 45 minutes. It also metered out to about 350 baht. I knew from previous experience that I could go between Suvarnabhumi and Soi 22 for about 185 baht on the meter.
I had the hotel clerk dispute it with the taxi driver, and he did not argue with my contentions . . . he knew he was busted! I was most angry about the long trip to the hotel, after a 17 hour flight to BKK.
The next time, I paid more attention to the exact route/highway to take beforehand. I was with my Thai girlfriend on this occasion. Again, the subject of route came up, but he was speaking in Thai with her. He was trying to persuade her to go a longer route, but I was firm about the route I wanted to go. She said something to him, and the chatter stopped and we proceded on my desired route. We arrived at Soi 22, and metered about 190 baht. She later told me what she said that ended the discussion with the taxi driver; On the debate of taking the route I wanted vs. what the driver was suggesting, she finally told him "he smart farang, you cannot fool him."
I believe both of these experiences would likely not have happened had I gone through the dispatcher at Suvarnabhumi. Maybe it won't happen every time you use the departure level to get a cab, and you will save 50 baht and maybe some time in a cue, but I would recommend that if you use the departure level, you pay attention, know the exact route you desire, and take note of the cab number. Have a pen and paper ready to jot down information.
Jul 8, 2007, 7:22 am
#40
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: KKC/TPA
Programs: All statuses lapsed; now I'm just a free-agent, and loving it!
Posts: 1,245
If you use the dispatcher , keep YOUR ticket!
As I stated originally, I have not (yet) used the dispatcher at Suvarnabhumi; I've only caught the cab from the Departure level. But, reading through the subsequent comments brought another thought to mind I'd like to pass on.
At Don Muang (and I assume Suvarnabhumi still operates the same way), the dispatcher gives you two tickets (or maybe it was one that was perforated). Anyway, part is for the driver, and part is for the passenger. On more than one occassion, I had taxi drivers trying to get BOTH parts out of my hands . . . and not thinking about it carefully, the natural thing to do is to hand it all to him. Of course, if you give him your ticket (with his cab and driver info written on it, and a complaint form to mail in), you've given away your leverage to keep the driver in line. . . I started to tune into this practice after a few times.
At Don Muang (and I assume Suvarnabhumi still operates the same way), the dispatcher gives you two tickets (or maybe it was one that was perforated). Anyway, part is for the driver, and part is for the passenger. On more than one occassion, I had taxi drivers trying to get BOTH parts out of my hands . . . and not thinking about it carefully, the natural thing to do is to hand it all to him. Of course, if you give him your ticket (with his cab and driver info written on it, and a complaint form to mail in), you've given away your leverage to keep the driver in line. . . I started to tune into this practice after a few times.
Jul 15, 2007, 11:24 pm
#41
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Generally PHX
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP, TG Gold, Starwood Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 413
I paid Bhat 200 plus 65 on tolls going from Sukumbhit soi 34 (or thereabouts - Throng lo), on sunday at about 7 in the morning. took the meter - it was one of those pink barbie taxis.
Took the tollway from the start of sukumbhit road and then turned right onto the second tollway (chunbury highway?).
I guess, if the taxi had taken a right turn on soi 21 (near the westin) and not gone all the way to the start of sukumbhit to get on the tollway, could have saved about 65 bhat.
Last time I had paid bhat 250 inclusive of tolls going from Pratunam to the airport. this was a pre-negotiated deal and taxi took the tollway.
thanks
Took the tollway from the start of sukumbhit road and then turned right onto the second tollway (chunbury highway?).
I guess, if the taxi had taken a right turn on soi 21 (near the westin) and not gone all the way to the start of sukumbhit to get on the tollway, could have saved about 65 bhat.
Last time I had paid bhat 250 inclusive of tolls going from Pratunam to the airport. this was a pre-negotiated deal and taxi took the tollway.
thanks
Jul 16, 2007, 10:53 pm
#42
Join Date: Apr 2006
Programs: UA Premier Executive
Posts: 346
I do not think one should write-off the limo drivers and their solictors as deserving of contempt. I took a limo on my first arrival at BKK and cabs from the "ground floor" level on subsequent trips. The limo was an old but big Mercedes with functional seatbelts and a driver who spoke decent English. The Mercedes A/C worked better than any cab I ever took in BKK. I wonder how crash-worthy the "Thai spec" Japanese cabs are. For some visitors to BKK the additional six or seven hundred baht cost of a limo with some or all of the above advantages makes sense, esp. if that visitor just flew to BKK in business class, or if, God forbid, the visitor is going to experience a car crash on the way from the airport. After all, isn't trying to sell the consumer more than just the basic products the way all successful economies work?
Jul 17, 2007, 3:13 pm
#43
Join Date: Apr 2006
Programs: UA Premier Executive
Posts: 346
I have been thinking about the comments on tipping cabdrivers in this section. To some extent tipping seems to increase as a society's prosperity increases. For example, I believe that in the last few decades the average restaurant tip in the US and Canada has increased as both countries have become more prosperous. I realize that Japan is a contrary example: as the country has grown more prosperous its no-tipping policy has remained. Still, I think affordability influences the tipping issue. Also, we are seeing increasing income disparity between, for example, frequent flyers and cab-drivers. The actually BKK cab fare has got to translate into a pretty low wage by first world standards after deductions for gas and the cost of owning and maintaining the cab, to say nothing of the fact that the cabdriver may not even own the cab.
For a visitor to BKK who has just gotten off a business class plane and is taking a cab to a first class hotel, the cab fare plus a generous tip is still one law cab fare to that visitor; to the cabdriver trying to support a family the tip could be a nice help.
I even have a hard time getting worked up about cabdriver cheating. My wife and I got a cab from the palace museum complex in BKK to the Shangri-La Hotel. I noticed the meter wasn't on. I mentioned this to the driver, "Meter broken" came the suspect reply. "300 baht; takes at least 45 minutes."
OK, I'm not a shy person and I suspect the metered fare would have been around 150 bahts. I have no doubt that I could have negotiated that fare or making the meter work if we had simply threatened to leave the cab. However, I do think the time estimate was accurate. But considering the unfairness of my advantage of being born in America to educated parents vs. the cab driver's circumstances I would not have gotten any satisfaction out of winning the argument. Fine. I agreed to the 300 baht which was pretty close to what I think I would have paid with the tip and the metered fare.
For a visitor to BKK who has just gotten off a business class plane and is taking a cab to a first class hotel, the cab fare plus a generous tip is still one law cab fare to that visitor; to the cabdriver trying to support a family the tip could be a nice help.
I even have a hard time getting worked up about cabdriver cheating. My wife and I got a cab from the palace museum complex in BKK to the Shangri-La Hotel. I noticed the meter wasn't on. I mentioned this to the driver, "Meter broken" came the suspect reply. "300 baht; takes at least 45 minutes."
OK, I'm not a shy person and I suspect the metered fare would have been around 150 bahts. I have no doubt that I could have negotiated that fare or making the meter work if we had simply threatened to leave the cab. However, I do think the time estimate was accurate. But considering the unfairness of my advantage of being born in America to educated parents vs. the cab driver's circumstances I would not have gotten any satisfaction out of winning the argument. Fine. I agreed to the 300 baht which was pretty close to what I think I would have paid with the tip and the metered fare.
Jul 17, 2007, 9:41 pm
#44
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: here and there
Programs: some
Posts: 3,381
and in the process helped others getting ripped off...
I think this is a flawed reasoning. I agree that paying a fair price is fine. I agree that we can afford to pay a bit more. But what about 50% more, or 100% more, then how about 500% more? Where do you draw the line?
I always tip taxi drivers who turn on the meter without asking. If they try to cheat, I don't. Their loss.
I think this is a flawed reasoning. I agree that paying a fair price is fine. I agree that we can afford to pay a bit more. But what about 50% more, or 100% more, then how about 500% more? Where do you draw the line?
I always tip taxi drivers who turn on the meter without asking. If they try to cheat, I don't. Their loss.
Jul 17, 2007, 11:25 pm
#45
Suspended
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: HNL/HKT
Programs: UA 1K/MM, Marriott Plat, SwissBel Gold
Posts: 622
Don't be dumb!
Why was all the time for saving les than 500 Baht. Yepm you go all the wat to Heaven and blow it! Right after you go past the baggage check ( such as it is) and out to the Arrivals hall go to the AOT Limo desk..... About 1 min and you driver will be pushing you cart to his waiting car and off you go. Taxi, plus tolls etc.. FaGetAboutIt as thehy say. Don't waste you time..... I know a guy who wouldn't pay fopr the tolls and took t hours to some dump on Soi Nana!