Word about Taxis

Just a word of warning.......

Upon entering Taxi say METER PLEASE

Apart from words like MBK, PANTIP PLAXA ETC.,

try to get Conceriege to write down your destination for you because for some reason

3 OUT OF 5 Thais have no idea what your talking about.

And if you are planning to use a Taxi to take you back to your destination dont expect to hop into the first one and then be on your way home, there is a very good chance they will say no and be on there merry way somewhere else. It is not all as easy as it seems. I do however believe that the traffic has a great deal to play in this.

Traffic now thatsanother story.

You can however us the Syktrain whilst I have never ventured on to this I do belive a great many have and have found this to be both econimical and efficient.

Word about Taxis

In 6 years of travelling to Thailand between 3 and 5 times a year for around 9 weeks total I have only ever once had to insist the driver put on the meter.

Always have a hotel business card with you in Thai so you can show to a taxi driver. Do not barter for a fare go on the meter you will never get it less than the meter fare..

If you take a taxi from a q at MBK, emporium etc then you will normally not have a problem there is normally an employee there to assist .

If you flag a taxi on the road just tell the driver where you want to go if he nods his head then your ok. He may say no. Saying no could have many reasons bad traffic that way, it is in the opposite direction he needs to go, he may not know that area are just a few.

BTS and MRT is a much better way if you are on the routes and cheaper than a taxi for short distances.

Word about Taxis

The reason why so many visitors to Bangkok have problems to get the required destination across to the driver is: you all try too hard to speak with your local accent. Speak SLOWLY and CLEARLY .

English words sound very different when these are pronounced by a Thai with a Thai accent. This is English Thais understand easily.

I use taxis on a daily basis and never have a problem. Not with a meter or with my destination.

If a driver says ';no'; to your destination, don%26#39;t get in. ';No'; means that he doesn%26#39;t want to go to your destination.

I spent a holiday in Brisbane a while ago. It wasn%26#39;t always easy to get my English message across and taxi drivers often didn%26#39;t take the shortest route.

Thai drivers aren%26#39;t the odd ones out in the taxi driver world.

The only tiem that I%26#39;ve noticed that taxi%26#39;s dont turn on their metres are when they knew its hard to get a cab or its the time of the day to return the cab. Example - at RCA at 2 am when you want to get home or from the airport to the main city. Usual places in the afternoon usually arent a problem :)

Well, Breconion, all I can say is...you%26#39;ve been very very lucky- my experiences earlier this year in Bangkok was around 70% of my hailing taxis resulted in my insisting of the meter being used, usually resulting in the ';same same'; speech, (price quoted as opposed to the meter, of course it never was)

Falkirkfruitcake

As I say I only had it occur once and that was when it was raining. the next taxi I took was ok. But there again I never get in till the driver accepts me as a fare and I normally ask in Thai.

I still get a lot who dont want to go to where I want tho some will say sorry wrong direction others just drive off.

I too have never had a taxi driver not put the meter on - but they have refused to take me somewhere because of the traffic at the time

The only place I%26#39;ve had the driver try to set the fare instead of use the meter was outside the Patpong night market. We just said no thanks and walked around the block and got one off of a side street. As with some of the other posters, I%26#39;ve had them tell me no they didn%26#39;t want to take me somewhere because of traffic.

It gets back to this: if you are the type who tend to make easy tasks difficult..... and difficult tasks impossible... then you will have a hard time with the taxi drivers... just about anywhere... if you are an easy going cheerful person... who understands how to communicate with people... you are unlikely to have problems.... the drivers are not making much money.... but very few are dishonest.

Mosegrisen: amen to that. Well said!

Breconion: you will never know how much your last fifty or sixty posts have assisted me in making plans for our coming holiday.... your status as an expert is well-deserved. Thank you, and don%26#39;t be surprised if, in the next few weeks, you see a question or two (or five) from me with your name ';flagged'; on the title.... in fact, here%26#39;s one to start off with: are there no budget hotels in the ';old'; city, around the Grand Palace? All the sites I have found go very quiet about hotels in that area, and instead start talking about Khao San Road and Chinatown. I note one called the Royal and another one called the De Ville, but these look, from the pohotos, to be multi-storey, modern ';chains'; which we are anxious to avoid at all costs. We%26#39;re thinking, then, of staying at the River View Guest House and using the nearby ferry wharf as our means of getting transport up river to the Palace area... smart or stupid? And do you know anything about a hotel called the Burapha, which I have seen on a map but can%26#39;t find any other details on? Thanks!

Alanj

you may find this site useful

athailand.com/cgi-bin/AthMfShow/Show03a.pl鈥?/a>

I have to admit that the budget hotels dont rate high in my itinary as I enjoy my comfort tho I much prefer to find hotels further away from main roads.

It is my pleasure to help and I dont mind questions.

Yes KSR and Chinatown have budget hotels but other places as well tho for whatever reason never seem to get mentioned.

As a guide what is your budget for hotel?