Happy New Year and the first warnings for you to have a good first impression of Bangkok

Hello all

This will not be a blog that sounds fantastic, nor a blog that will look amazing. This is just something for me to kill some time when i really have something to share, and for people who can't find me/contact me to see exactly what I am up to, and hopefully, in due time, everyone who reads my blog will have some knowledge or travel tips in Bangkok/Thailand. So, it is never a waste of time to pop in here to have a read!

Anyway, Happy New Year to all. For all who still do not know, I am working in Bangkok for the foreseeable future, and if you are interested to know what I do, I might share it when I feel like it in the future. However, do drop me a message if you are ever coming to visit, and I will do my best to meet u or even bring u somewhere interesting.

For the first post, let me just make it simple. In my experiences with Bangkok taxis in my 3 short months here, I must say that taxis in Bangkok are normally comfortable (they are all Toyota Corolla Altises) and cheap with a metre making sure the rates are the same. However, i have recently had 2 bad experiences, both with taxis from the airport.


First, please have a look at the picture below:

















Ok, this is what the airport pple will give you after helping you tell the taxi where u want to go before you board the taxi. Just remember, this piece is for you to KEEP.

Keep, meaning, never give it to anyone until you leave the taxi unscathed. Unscrupulous taxi drivers will ask you for it, then after that, with his highly customized meter, charge you double the actual fare or more, and since double the fare will not be overly expensive, as you would pay that in your home country anyway, they would get away with it.

Here's why:



















This is the other side of the paper. It contains the details of the driver and the taxi, and information telling you you have to pay for the tollway as well as a 50baht surcharge from the airport. And also, the number to call to complain etc.

So, if you hand this to them and you do not know what's happening, then you will have nothing against them when you realise it.

I handed this paper to them but ended up not paying extra due to my experience in taking taxis from the airport as well as my limited knowledge of Thai, but please do not hand this to them if you read this blog.

If you keep this, they will probably not switch their meters to the speed mode if there is one, or they will probably know they need to give a discount at the end. Just as a rule of thumb, even if you are deep in town, usually the meter reading will not go beyond 350-400baht. I have taken taxi maybe a hundred times here, and a distance like from Orchard to Changi will be around 150baht, varying depending on traffic. If you see the meter jumping every 1 or 2 seconds, u are in trouble.

Otherwise, if you have a feeling, "Hmmm, Bangkok taxi really isn't so cheap after all", or "Wow, Thailand IS BIG, 80km from airport to town", or later in your trip, u are expecting to pay 300baht getting from your hotel near town to Siam Paragon or Platinum Mall, chances are you have been 'killed' at the airport, and try not to be killed the next time you come.

All in all, the taxi culture here and the prices are very nice and good, don't let this post scare you, I am supposed to help you! And, even if you get 'killed', it won't cost you a bomb, just that I do not want those taxi drivers to earn a single cent more than they deserve, and vice versa.

This post is becoming long and boring, so I shall stop for now, see you next time.