It happened a bit before I ever arrived here but there was a time when there were no apps to get taxis in Thailand or at least, there was a ton of opposition to it by the various taxi mafias that I have heard existed and perhaps still do exist.
I don't know if they were really mafias so much as they were a union of sorts that tried to protect their livelihoods by working together as some sort of lobbying team to influence government decisions and I suppose that is normal all around the world.
Today in 2023 it is really quite rare that we even see taxi ranks or metered taxis getting flagged down for a ride and sometimes I feel bad for these guys because they are getting absolutely destroyed by Grab which is similar to Uber - not similar, it is exactly the same company. I felt bad for them until I heard the horror stories of what these groups would get up to before my time.
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In Bangkok, these guys are still all over the place and it is easy to understand why seeing as how there are more than 10 million people in the metro area and they basically dominate the landscape on most streets. Outside of Bangkok, you very rarely even see any of them even though it was basically the same story in any other large city just like Chiang Mai.
These days the only time you ever see taxi ranks are outside of popular tourist areas or shopping malls and still most people will opt to order a Grab Taxi rather than even deal with these guys. The reasoning is quite simple. Meter taxis have a lot of opportunities to rip you off whereas the Grab app has made it nearly impossible for the driver to con you.
I'm disappointed that a lot of these people have been put out of work and also that Grab is certainly taking a big part of the profits for themselves but the reason why they are here in the first place is because the "regular" taxis were such con artists for such a long period of time.
I hear stories from people here that have lived in Thailand a great deal longer than I have about how taxi drivers would tell you one price as you are getting into the taxi and then tell you a completely different and of course much higher price once you arrive at your destination. In some of the stories that I have heard the taxi drivers would intentionally park near other taxi drivers and they would surround and intimidate the passengers until they eventually capitulated and paid. Other stories I hear are when it would start to rain that taxi drivers would refuse to use the meters which they are required to use by law. There idea was that "if you don't like the price I am quoting, get out and stand in the rain." It is an a-hole tactic, but it was a very effective one.
Tuk Tuk's have been a bane on transportation since forever, and that particular scam is still alive and well today because all tourists want to go for a ride in this iconic machine.
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The scams these guys would pull off were numerous but one of them was that they would offer a price to foreigners and then without permission they would stop at a gem shop or tailor and refuse to take the customers to their intended destination until they went inside the shop for "5 minutes." Once inside the shop the hard sell began in there and if the customers came out without buying anything they would again be surrounded by Tuk Tuk drivers and intimidated. These days Tuk Tuk's still charge rather insane prices for short journeys and basically the only people that ever ride in them are tourists. Once the tourists find out that a tuk tuk is actually a pretty lousy way of getting around and that they paid 3x what it would cost for a Grab, they never use them again.
So the story continues with a sign that is still up in the city that I live in. At the train station here there are always taxis parked outside and there is a crudely made sign that states that Grab is banned from being used. It also says Uber is banned which is funny because Uber hasn't existed in Thailand for many years. The sign is all lies though and once again passengers are harassed and intimidated into getting into overpriced taxis who conveniently don't have or refuse to use the meters.
I like Grab / Uber and think they are extremely useful but there is no denying that they have put a serious dent into the taxi driving industry.
When I think about it a bit I realize that had it not been for the actions of the taxi drivers themselves there wouldn't have been an opportunity for Grab to ever take over the transport industry in this country. Had the drivers of the taxis just been a bit more honest and kind, customers would still be using them. This is what we call a "self inflicted gunshot wound." The only time I ever get a "regular" taxi is when I arrive at the Chiang Mai airport because Grab is inexplicitly banned from entering the compound. If you want a Grab you have to walk several hundred meters to the main road in order to get to one. Even this will eventually be scrapped because you can only bully a population into using your services for so long.
I am fortunate enough to hitch a few taxi cabs back in 2018 and 2019 in Bangkok. Back then, I got no problem using the cab, and it was proven to be more affordable than calling for Grab car, as long one assert the use of meter.
However, if I'm getting IN to the city from outside, I will only use Grab 🤣 Cabs are more aggressive when they're out of town. I tried once, the driver ask me to pay 200 baht or I can call Grab 🤣 then I know they're serious
No tuktuk for me 🤣 the last tuktuk ride was in 2015 in hatyai.
I think that once you have ridden a tuk tuk for the tourist experience there is really no reason to ever do it again. It's slow, it's hot, it's loud, and it's expensive.
Tuk-tuk can still be very affordable. The 2015 experience I had was not too bad as long we have a group of people riding in. Tour leader will negotiate for 200bht to get from A to B, if the driver doesn't agree he can fart off 🤣 but when we have oess than 4 and or the tour leader(our local friend) is not around... Shit just hits the fan. Landed in to a wrong snakepit, got chagred a bomb causing all arms and legs, and worst i heard someone got robbed 😔
well that doesn't sound very good at all! haha
Indeed, everywhere a some drivers here in my sides are scammers though except for the kind hearted ones who simply price based on the approved regulation for transportation. The saddest thing is that if you are foreign to a place, they would charge with their prices at high costs. That is why if I am travelling far from my place I would not make it notice that I came there for the first time so they would not take advantage about it. Or I will be looking for cheaper transportation. Have a great day my friend.
I used to walk great distances rather than get conned by unscrupulous taxi drivers. This was years ago though.
I guess it is sad knowing that probably not all taxi drivers are dishonest but because of the rampant bad drivers so they are now banned. I guess all Iniquity has to be stopped and there's no one to be blamed but themselves.
I think the metered taxi drivers outside of Bangkok really have no choice other than to start being Grab drivers as well. It's a shame because Grab takes 20-30% of the fare.
⋆ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ғᴏʀ sᴏᴜᴛʜᴇᴀsᴛ ᴀsɪᴀɴ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ᴏɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ
⋆ sᴜʙsᴄʀɪʙᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ
⋆ ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ ᴠᴏᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʀᴀɪʟ
⋆ ᴅᴇʟᴇɢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʟɪɴᴋs 25 ʜᴘ⇾50 ʜᴘ⇾100 ʜᴘ⇾500 ʜᴘ⇾1,000 ʜᴘ
Interesting as taxi drivers definitely had this coming. I only use a taxi when I am in London as they are well worth the price as they are controlled by rules. I have no sympathy with any industry that is geared to rip tourists off. I saw a program on Brazil and the taxis use counterfeit money as change so you may not know immediately how much you have been ripped off.
It really wouldn't surprise me if this is going on here as well. Tourists wouldn't even notice and once they did they wouldn't remember where they got the notes from.