right got my militant head on and thinking about our last visit to Phuket and the ridiculous prices that the Taxis and Tuks wanted to charge.

What do you do do you pay or hold out?

Is it not about time that everyone visiting decided to hold out and refuse at first to pay the silly prices and question them going to the next etc. This is what we have done before and we have only gone with the one that offers the realistic price. We have usually tipped him after for his trouble.

when we stayed at the Amari in Patong they always wanted 100 bhat just to go up the hill and we used to hold out for the one that did it for 60 and then give him the 100. That was 4 years ago.

I found last time i was staying in Karon that the prices wanted to go in to Phuket were ridiculous and the tuks are the same price.

If you get a taxi in Bangkok and it is metered you can drive around for ages for the same price.

It's about time we all made a stand!

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Kiss
God laughs at people who make plans.

Personally I can not understand why anybody expects taxi's in Thailand to be cheap, the cost of petrol is set by the USA and I doubt that the Thai Government gets a special discount because tourist expect cheap taxi fares. The price of cars there are also not cheap. I think we should all really think a bit more about this. I live 5 mins from my airport and it costs me the equivalent of 375bt to get home, which is more than it costs me to travel up to an hour from the old airport in Bangkok to the hotel!!!!!

Yes sure you can be ripped off by a few quid or dollars but seriously the majority of taxi drivers in Thailand are only trying to make an honest baht to feed their families. I would estimate that taxi fares all over the world have risen dramatically with the ever rising cost of oil, but for the past 10 years or so fares in Thailand have to me, seemed to stayed the same.

Do a few calculations and compare what you pay for a taxi at home and then convert this into baht, then think is that 300baht ride really so expensive...I think not

I can't calculate it against what we pay in the uk as it is now well over a £1 a litre or around £5.30 a Gallon. So it does not equate to what we pay for petrol when we are in Thailand.
I don't mind anyone making an honest living but what I was trying to say is the cost in Phuket is not comparable with the cost of metered Taxis in Bangkok.

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Kiss
God laughs at people who make plans.

I can understand anyone wanting to make an honest living but I didn't appreciate taxi drivers banding together and quoting a ridiculous price because they believed we had no other choice than to hire one of them. This happened to us at the Katathani hotel which is a bit out of the way and they greedily quoted us a price that was not much cheaper than Sydney. Luckily we had a phone number for a private driver who did pick us up but was rather nervous about the "Tuk Tuk Mafia". A lot of these drivers are simply out to rob tourists at every chance they get. The difference between the taxi prices charged in Bangkok and Phuket is enormous. Bangkok taxi prices are very cheap and well worth the money, Phuket prices are a total rip off. When in Phuket I would prefer to hire a car with driver and have him wait rather than constantly dealing with the Tuk Tuk thieves. If you compare these Phuket drivers to taxi drivers in other countries how do they compare ?

Do they offer a "proper car"
No, just a little beat up mini truck with a cabin on the back.

Air conditioning ?
No.

Seatbelts ?
No

Insurance ?
No

Sobriety ?
Not always

Meters ?
No

Safe driving skills
Not always

A Licence ?
Who knows

Do they contribute to the economy by paying tax ?
Probably not

A formal organisation to whom we can address complaints which will be dealt with in a genuine fashion ?
No

My point is that whilst taxi drivers in Australia are far from ideal, Tuk Tuk drivers offer much, much lower standards than I experience at home and whilst I expect and accept these conditions, it should be reflected in the price.

Before anyone says that not every Tuk Tuk driver is a rogue, I do know there are exceptions.

I agree with Jax, boycott and haggle as much as possible in the hope that they reduce prices. Consequently they may get more business from people just wanting to travel a couple of hundred metres, who at this stage refuse to pay 4-5 AUD and walk instead. Whilst I am not a great lover of staying in the heart of Patong, I am planning to stay in there a couple of days next holiday so I can go to some favourites places which I will be able to walk to and the Tuk Tuk drivers can go hang. In saying my piece on this subject, I am not a tight wad and always tip my regular driver as well as buy him lunch or dinner. He never tries to rip me off and he is actually trying to make a living to support his family but is doing it in an honest way and is prepared to work all day and night to do so. So many of these drivers just sit around and take less work but at highly inflated prices, after all in their opinion, tourists are fair game. I work hard to save to go on holiday why should I give my money away so easily to these pack of bludgers. They are a blight on the Thai people and the most negative aspect of Phuket apart from the crooked cops who will so blatantly fine westerners for not wearing helmets whilst watching hundreds of Thais ride past without one.

Michelle

Couldn't agree more, I just wish we farang would band together and do something to correct these wrongs, but it will never happen, you get so many farang making excuses for Thais and their dishonest methods (which would get us charged and sentenced if we did similar things to Thai tourists in Australia or UK)

Well put Michelle. Can you PM me with the number of your driver. i would rather give him the business.

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Kiss
God laughs at people who make plans.

many people think that we are just stingy when we complain about the prices of taxis and tuk tuks. But I think it bothers us more knowing that we are getting ripped off. Last visit tuk tuk's were charging us 200-300 bt just to go 2 blocks to our hotel. One night we thought buggar it and walked. Unfortunately we must of picked the hottest night and it nearly killed us.
I would rather pay a resonable amount, by an honest driver and give him a tip knowing that we were not being ripped off!

Michelle I would appreciate the drivers name/number also if its ok. Would prefer to support honest hardworking drivers than rip off merchants anyday

Thanks

Karin

when the tuk tuk drivers in Phuket got nasty with a tour company, when they started offering collection from people's hotels, the tuk tuk drivers got really nasty. I hate tuk tuk drivers in Phuket; they are slime balls and their "taxis" are dangerous.

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There are two categories of travellers, those that experience a country and those that take their home with them wherever they go.

Be warned, as with any forum, picking a fight with the admin guy is not recommended!

There are licensed cab companies you can call. When the come, the driver will give you his card for the next time so you can book direct (he saves so you should). Aircon taxis (real cars with seat belts, roofs to keep the sun and rain off and aircon) are cheaper then tuk tuks in Phuket; go figure.

__________________
There are two categories of travellers, those that experience a country and those that take their home with them wherever they go.

Be warned, as with any forum, picking a fight with the admin guy is not recommended!

where can you find their number?