Originally Posted by karenkay
anyway, at this point i'm hoping this means the conrad bellman is not in on it, since i did hear him check w/the cabbie in thai about running the meter, but i'm considering writing a letter to the hotel anyway. it's the last thing that happens to you in thailand, you don't want to be left wondering if the hotel is in on it.
I honestly don't think that the bellboy is in on this. I've stayed countless times at the Conrad over the last couple of years and out of that (literally maybe 30+ trips to the airport) only once have I had the cab driver not want to turn on his meter (I fixed that by saying I'll pay what I've always paid).
I've taken cabs that were dropping passengers off (i.e. random cabs) and cabs that were summoned from the small pool that always seem to hang around the Conrad (at the Wireless Road entrance). No problems either way.
When in cities in which I'm travelling in for the first time, I always ask the hotel what an average fare to the airport would be. Then if the taxi does not turn on the meter and I fail to notice, I just hand over that, and only that, amount.