Originally Posted by ajc1970
i thought similar... but that was straight from my thai language teacher.
i told her that i was saying "ao meter khrap" when i got into taxis, and asked if that was polite/acceptable. she told me "chai meter khrap" would be better.
Both of you are correct - "chai meter" or "poet meter" means the same thing. The former literally translated means "open meter" and the latter, "use meter". If you want to be more polite, "poet meter
dai na khrap" i.e. "can you open meter" (lit.)