Metered Taxis, Bangkok

There have been several negative comments about taxis in Bangkok lately. Here are some helpful suggestions:

There have been some comments on the website about Bangkok taxi drivers. I have had few problems with them. Make sure they start the meter and make sure they understand that BEFORE you get into the taxi. Also a good idea to photograph the taxi number (and make sure the driver sees this) in case of problems. You can tell him you do this so you can locate the taxi again if you forget something. If problems DO occur, you can let him know you sent a picture of the taxi information to a friend. Oh, and if you threaten to report him to the "Tourist Police" make sure the taxi is stopped or on a straight road. Told one that onetime and he nearly lost control while in a curve!!

You will nearly always come out ahead by paying the meter-rate instead of a negotiated rate. Exceptions might be if you are familiar with the meter rate and the driver offers a better deal. Other times during heavy traffic or long trips, the driver may refuse to accept a meter rate passenger. (When I get what I consider to be excessive requests, I usually tell him, "I want clear title and a full tank of gas!")

Passengers are responsible for tolls.

There is a service charge from (but not TO) the airports

Don't be afraid to contact the Tourist Police if you have problems!!!

MOST IMPORTANTLY--Have a good trip. Thailand is by far my favorite country and I get there about 5-10 times a year!

Look for the public taxis outside the airport; there is a 50 baht surcharge, then we paid an additional 270 which was around $10 to take us directly to Khao San Rd. I think it would also depend on what time you arrive, we arrived at midnight so there probably wouldn't be much other public transportation anyway.

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If you don’t mind spending a little more money for transit into Bangkok from the airport and depending on the time of day you will go into town from Suvarnabhumi Airport this might prove to be a decent way to spend a few extra Baht.

I found and used a METERED taxi on the GROUND LEVEL from Door 8. The doors are numbered and you will easily find the line for taxis, access is controlled and assigned in a pretty organized fashion. Go down a level from the main Arrivals level and you’ll find the taxis. I was staying in the Banglamphoo area and I think I paid about the equivalent of about $ 20.00 including the tolls used for the freeway. Given the distance involved I thought it was a pretty reasonable cost.

The LITTLE catch with using this mode of transit is that to save money in transit time its BEST for the driver to use the TOLL freeway and you must pay for the TOLL in addition to the taxi fare, however in the long run it’s still faster than using the buses that are available.

If I was arriving mid day during the week I would consider other cheaper options to get into the city because of traffic congestion but during off hours this proved to be a fast and efficient way to get to my accommodation. Nowadays the airport is served by a sky train to move you to the downtown area of Bangkok so the train might be a better option for you although I like the idea of hopping into a taxi.

If you use the taxis on the MAIN floor Arrivals level you can negotiate a fixed rate but it will not be metered and it’s MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE so BEWARE of this….CHEAPER and METERED taxis are to be found on the ground floor level below ARRIVALS…take the elevator or escalator down and walk to door 8.

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There are plenty of taxis in Bangkok with many different striking colours and most are metered taxis.

FROM AIRPORT:
On exiting the Airport's Departure Hall, there's a taxi stand and a counter where you goes up to and tell them your immediate destination/hotel. They will fill it on a chit and hand it over to the taxi driver (in waiting) and the taxi driver will take you to the hotel.

The driver of the taxi that I took indicated he would take the highway to Bangkok city centre where the hotel is located and I mentioned I had no objection. Those taxi drivers at the Airport seems to have better command of the spoken English.

The journey was smooth until the end of the highway and after exiting the highway into the city centre itself, the journey was smooth was we were heading in the opposite direction of the heavy traffic.

Total fare: THB300

CITY CENTRE TAXIS:
Generally, the drivers in the city centre speak little English and showing them a map may not be meaningful. Address/Destination written in Thai would be more helpful.

Starting fare seems to be about THB35.

If caught in the famous Bangkok's traffic jam, one may wish to reconsider destination and re-route to the nearest BTS or MRT station. Time saved (from sitting out a traffic jam) is more important for a tourist who has limited time in Bangkok. Generally, on the western side of Bangkok city are without the BTS skytrain and MRT.

In some tourist spots, there are many metered taxis awaiting but would only accept fixed fare price and would not accept metered fares.

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Taxi in Bangkok

All taxis have a taxi meter that begins from 35 baht. There is taxis with different colors (red, yellow and more) and always you find one. Be careful and say the taxi driver to put the taxi meter on before he begins to drive.


My Photos
First Photo: Taxis in Siam, Bangkok
Second photo: Taxi in Rama I Road in Siam, Bangkok
Third photo: Taxis in Surawong Road in Bangkok
Forth photo: Taxis in Siam, Bangkok
Fifth photo: Taxi outside the hotel

Hi Jan, very easily. Should only take you about 20-30 by taxi, at most. I don't know what bus takes you there but you will have plenty of time to spare either way. On a saturday and 9am there will be no traffic that will delay you. Shouldn't be more than a couple hundred baht but make sure that you have the driver run the meter, or grab another taxi.
Not sure where you are talking about for hotels when you say, "centrally located?" in Bangkok downtown or by the airport? There are literally hundreds of web sites to check hotels by locations and rates. Try www.asiawebdirect.com and they have a lot of great information as well, great web site.
Good luck and have fun

Bangkok is world renowned for its terrible traffic problems, so getting around on the roads is a bit of a nightmare. Yes, Bangkok has a metro but it only consist of one line (at the moment) and, yes, it has the BTS Skytrain but this doesn't go anyway near the city centre in order to get to the main tourist destinations like the Grand Palace, Wat Pho or Wat Arun. Instead you either have to take a tuk-tuk or a taxi. I took a few taxi's during my time in Bangkok and found them to be a lot cheaper than the tuk-tuk prices I was quoted.

Taxis are all metered, here, and the set price is 35B at flag fall for the first 2km, then 5B/km after that. This means that even relatively long journeys, such as from Sukhumvit to the Grand Palace often aren't above 100B but this does go up depending on the time it takes. The two tone green and yellow taxis are generally reckoned to be the best ones. These are driven by the owner, while all others are rented out by the day. Of course, everything really depends on the driver rather than the colour of the car, and there's not really any major difference between any of them.

Once exiting the airport, do not try to book taxis INSIDE the arrival hall. Instead, walk out and join the long queue at the official taxi stand. It's much cheaper here and you are never short of taxis. It looked chaotic but the system works. It should cost you about 400-450 Bahts to get into the center of the city, and do factor in the additional toll tax of about 65 Bahts as well (circa Nov 2007) should you choose to go by the highway and escape BKK's deadly traffic jams.

Once in BKK, taxis are not exactly a bad way to get around BKK (especially to the outlying areas not reached by the Skytrain or the Subway), except during the peak hours along the major roads where you can really be boxed tight in a traffic jam. Much more comfortable and much cooler compared to the Tuk-tuks and you are not exposed to the pollution outside, well at least till you get off.

Always insist on the meter, unless you are feeling really rich or generous.

However, when night falls and you are trying to return to your lodging really late, that it could be a hardball game of bargaining with some drivers to get your fare right.

On my latest visit to Bangkok (circa Oct 09), I hired an AOT limousine to house my entourage of 6 to-&-fro the airport. 1 way was 1200 Bahts and there was a 50% discount if we book the return journey as well...which turns out to be quite economical for us as a group.

We hired a taxi for a day as well this time round to drive around to the destinations we need to go. For a day 10am-7pm, we paid 2500 Bahts. It may be steep by local standards, but to have the taxi at our beck and call the entire day, it worked out pretty fine for us.