5 Tips for Taking a Taxi in Bangkok

http://www.thai-faq.com/898 - The easiest and most comfortable way to get around Bangkok is in an air conditioned taxi. Follow these 5 tips for taking a taxi in Bangkok to ensure you don't get scammed and arrive at your destination safely.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• bangkok
• thailand
• taxi
• motorcycle
• scam
• meter
• traffic

[OzDelphi]

I always sit in the front, watch the meter like a hawk, and take photos of the driver photo id on the windscreen and id badge on the door. And make sure I've got all my belongings *before* I get out of the taxi.

And, as thaifaq says, be very careful when opening the door. However, the damage to the taxi and motorbike will be the least of your worries compared to the liability for the injuries sustained by the rider and any passengers.

[thaifaq]

@OzDelphi Good point about the liabilities. The photo on the dash is not always a photo of the actual driver. Sometimes cabbies will split a license or even use someone else's photo so it's not an accurate way to tell who the driver is. The other day I was in a cab and the driver had a photo of a the Buddha as his license photo!

[koulanie73]

When I went to Thailand, my grandfather's wife would not let us get into certain taxis. She said they had propane gas tanks in the trunk to fuel the vehicle instead of a regular fuel tank. Have you seen this as well? What advice would you give regarding those taxis?

[thaifaq]

@koulanie73 I think it's natural gas rather than propane. If the taxi is running natural gas they will have a sticker on the window that says NGV. Not sure why your grandfather wouldn't let you take it, I assume it's just as safe as a regular gas powered car. But if you do want to avoid them just look for the NGV sticker in the window.

[M4o]

Tip Number 6: Always go for the Taximeter! Even if they tell you it ll be cheaper if you don't and they would pay the toll (on the highway) the meter will be what you want to pay ;)

[Davef2912]

You should have mentioned as Tip No.3 that you make sure the Taxi driver really switches on the Taxi Meter! I think this is one of the most important tips for Taxis in Bangkok, because not every Taxi Driver does it. So sometimes if you get to the location the will charge you a lot more than the normal price if you didn´t tell him to switch on the taximeter.

Also one more tip (no. 6):

At rush hour times, its sometimes better to bargain a price in advance then to use the taximeter (traffic jam).

[SnugglePuma]

I recommend people learn to say the following phrase: "Poet meter dai mai krap?" It means "Can you use the meter?"

[wank0r]

Hers a good tip.. when you fly into bangkok don't pay stupid prices at the desks for "limo" taxi, goto arrivals level, go outside and catch one of the taxis, dropping people off.

they will give you a decent price because they're going back to BKK anyways, so they might as well get a little money from you.

[burnleyfan11965]

tip 1 get taxi to take you to airport and out the dirty scamming shithole thats Thailand and far away from its dog eating filthy people

[XECUTA2]

ive taken the taxi a few time while i was in bangkok... once my phone felled out of my pocket before i got out of the taxi. i thought to myself i wont be seeing my phone again. lucky i carried two phone with me ( one for local and one for oversea calling ) i managed to call my gf to call my phone that i dropped in the taxi... suprised to believe that the taxi driver answered the phone and dropped the phone at my gf's work... she offered him award money but he didnt take any...

[bazoil007]

really not sure why you would use a taxi. Most of Bkk is like a carpark

the MRT and BTS are the best way the boat is good to.

[johnnypocketrocket]

Tip number 3 write the address down in Thai. I gave the taxi driver the hotel card with a map on it saying Soi 7/1 and he still managed to take me to Soi 71. Pretending to get lost because he was forced to use the meter from Don Mueang. I found the taxi driver were some of the nicest people in Thailand or complete c~#ts.

[bellthree1]

Wow so cool information as if i didnt know how to flag down a taxi. What a loser you are

[zulethe]

oh, and one more thing....if you do happen to open the door and slam it into a motorcycle...and you are able bodied....run like hell...unless he knows where you live...and always ensure that they put the meter on. If you have to ask, you've already been scammed

[ttasd1]

Rule no.2- watch the driver that he put the fare meter on.

[dvdmsch]

Rule no.1- take no shit of taxi drivers.be confident.