Taxi scams, Bangkok

With the busy traffic in Bangkok and the speed that is being used, please make sure your taxi has a safety belt. We were caught out the moment you wanted to put one on....tell your hotel doorman before he gets you a taxi!

After the Skyrail closed I was looking for a taxi to get home at 2 a.m.

My first taxi trip in Bangkok.

The driver was waiting at the wheel outside a hotel in Sala Daeng, I asked him how much to Nana.

He put up two fingers and said "Two" he acted like he knew very little English.

I thought he meant 200 baht but had no idea how much taxis charged in Bangkok.

When I got to Nana I gave him a 1000 baht note and he looked at me confused and said, "No, two!" and demanded 2000 baht. I didn't want to cause a scene and assumed after the Skyrail closed taxi drivers probably up their fees as it did seem expensive compared to everything else I bought in Bangkok.

I was taken for a ride alright, after checking out this site I see it should've cost about 200 baht.

Left me with a sour taste in my mouth for Bangkok.

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When you pick up your bags in the international arrivals area, you will see a big yellow sign warning of taxi scams. It was put up by the airport's endorsed taxi and limo service. When you walk out the middle level, outside baggage claim, you will be approached by people wearing the official blazer of this service. One asked me if I was going to a Bangkok hotel. They offered to take me for 900 Baht! I laughed and him. It only cost 300 Baht to get to downtown Bangkok with tolls. The tolls are 65 Baht. And, always give the driver a tip, they are poor, have kids that want an education, and work hard for their Baht.

Update! The Taxi-Meter service has been moved to the second floor all the way down on to the left as you leave the arrivals area. The bottom floor is for buses only now.

The official Taxi-Meter stand adds an extra 50 Baht to your taxi bill, but with tolls and traffic delays it was still under 300 Baht to get to my hotel in town! Another official's brother-in-law probably got the franchise for the official limo service, and with airport support, he is cheating tourists.

If you want the cheap ride into Bangkok, use the arrival area taxi on the second floor. For a cheaper ride, go to the top floor, departures. Catch a cab that is letting off a passenger and save 50 Baht. Taxis are not really allowed to stop here for passengers, so you have to catch one in the act of unloading a passenger. Put your bag inside the trunk and get in. He won't refuse you.

Also insist on using the north motorway, not the southern Bangna-Trad road. There is no traffic on the north road and the Bangna is usually stopped. It is also a longer ride out of the airport. The terminal is at the north end of the airport, so you must go the length of the airport and runways to get to the southern road. You can spend 100 Baht just to get to the Bangna road.

It's quite unfortunate that I should start my Bangkok page with warning tips. Mind you, it's a great place and one where I don't mind going back over again, but it's the dishonest people prowling the streets of Bangkok targeting tourists that gets on my nerves. BKK is one of those places where the "once bitten twice shy" proverb doesn't hold true. On one memorable trip there with my family, we got scammed not once, but twice in two days. This taxi-restaurant scam happened on our first evening in BKK at the Asia Hotel where we were staying.

We couldn't decide where to eat on our first evening and made the mistake of asking an Asia Hotel limosine driver if he knew any good seafood restaurants. He said he knew of an "excellent" seafood restaurant near our hotel that was "patronised by celebrities", and would drive us there for only B20 if we were interested. We took the bait easily. Mind you, this was the day before the bigger gem scam we were yet to fall for.

What we saw at the restaurant (can't recall name) was a huge wall menu, with glass and concrete tanks on the ground outside the restaurant. Prices were EXHORBITANT. B200 for a plate of mixed vegetables was the cheapest on the huge menu. Dad was still in a pretty good mood, so he ordered us a grilled lobster. Once seated inside, we noticed 2 other groups of families eating quietly and the atmosphere was pretty sullen. They must have realised something we had not. Anyway, the bill for the 4 of us was quite expensive - food quality wise, nothing to shout about. We were all simultaneously thirsty after dinner due to the MSG. Anyway, to cut the long story short, if unsure, get your friends to recommend any restaurants they've tried or even splurge abit more at those restaurants you read about on the THAI inflight mags because what we experienced was certainly not worth it. You might notice the many local restaurants that are chock full of people, as Asians tend to congregate wherever food is good. Walk right into those rather than relying on a taximan.

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Some taxi or tuktuk drivers offer good fares but there's a catch: you'll have to take a "quick" stop-over at a jewelry/ leather goods outlet before heading to your destination. If you don't intend to take this side trip and you don't have much time, just politely refuse the offer. If the driver accepts your reply, then good. If not, just ask to be dropped off right away. These drivers are supposed to get gasoline coupons for every passenger they bring to the jewelry/leather goods outlet. This is no way to help them if you're going to be inconvenienced, better that you just pay them the reasonable fare.

My boyfriend and I got a metered taxi from the airport to Th Chakraphong, Banglamphu. When we came to pay the taxi driver told us that the fare was 400B. The taxi driver said that the fare was not the meter reading, but the distance reading (ignoring the decimal point). We disagreed and pointed to the chart that all taxi's carrying saying how much for what distance. We said that we would pay the 209 and the 50 surcharge. We handed over the money, the taxi driver then chucked the money back at us saying it was wrong. They had swapped the 100 notes for 20 notes. We went to the police station to sort this out.

I thought it'd be the safest, easiest option to take a metered taxi from Suvarnabhumi airport into town, but beware - the yellow-and-greens scam too.

I'd already had my wallet stolen earlier in the day and had very little money left. We took a taxi from the Meter Taxi Stand on the 1st (ground) floor of the station to Banglamphu. When we arrived in Soi Rambuttri about half an hour later, the driver pointed to the destination on the taxi meter (39.1 Km) and said "400 baht." We pointed to the price on the meter (209 baht) and said "No, 259". (Including the airport surcharge. I paid her 300 baht and got ready to get out.

She threw the money back at me and I looked down to see that there were two hundreds and one twenty. "My mistake," I thought, and replaced the twenty with a hundred. She threw it back again and this time there were two twenties and one hundred.

She'd been switching notes.

I refused to pay her any more, and she got out of the cab screeching "You pay! You pay! Two hundred fifty!" as if she was almost in tears.

Me went to Chana Songkram police station to speak to the npolice, but they would do absolutely nothing about it. Because of my lost wallet, she made off with about 500 baht of my remaining 900.

I will never set foot in another Bangkok taxi.

We tried to get a taxi to take us to the train station from Sukhumvit 11. We eventually had to get out because he wouldn't take us at all. He wanted to drive us all the way to the port to get a boat to Ko Si Chang. So, we hailed another taxi down and he did the same thing. We finally just succummed and the guy drove us all they way there, about 2 hours or a bit more, for 45 dollars. When we got there he drove right to the place where we needed to go. We weren't sure if that was the place until he started to drive away from it. I had a map of the port so I new he was driving away. So, he took us to this modern spit type of port where people were selling stuff. He got out. We didn't. He started talking to some guys. We still didn't get out. I was trying to convice my husband that that was not the place either. I could see the real port from where we were. The taxi dude finally got back in and drove us right back to where we were when we first got there. Man! We almost missed the ferry. But we made it. Be careful! Trust no one, no what you are doing and where you are going.