Originally Posted by
CJKatl
Addressing two points in the dozen or so posts above:
1. I've had a couple taxi drivers avoid one of the two tolls from the airport by exiting the highway, driving on side streets a few blocks and going back on the highway. IMO, it's nuts and a waste of time. Maybe the driver thinks I'll give him a bigger tip? I now cringe when passing the exit hoping the driver just goes through the toll booth.
2. I usually set my GPS at the start of the ride. The driver almost always is following the same route. When it's different, I either ask or slide the GPS map to see why. Once the driver was avoiding an accident according to the GPS. Another time the driver was avoiding a toll booth by driving a half mile to the next highway entrance. One time when not doing this the driver took the scenic route; Khaosan Rd area to the Marquis via an area very southeast of the hotel which took over an hour.
I generally agree with this, but Google Maps is not so awesome in Bangkok. Like going from the airport to the Marriott Bangkok Suk 57, there are shorter paths that the drivers know (usually) and trying get them to stay on a Google route is not a great idea unless you want to add time. This also happens on the way to JW Marriott Suk Soi 2, and the U-turn at Sukhumvit 1 (? and Rama 3) and driving through the Phloen Chit center mall, it's not on the maps as a route to the hotel. So just to say, it's not an exact science to use Google Maps --- but it does help, and I do that same thing trying to track where they are going unless I'm in an AOT limo that is prepaid already, then generally they want the fastest route anyway ...