Taxis in Bangkok: 10 useful tips
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You can easily get around in Bangkok by Skytrain (BTS) or Metro (MRT). An alternative to this is the taxi. You see them everywhere in this metropolis; the taxis are easily noticed by the bright colors. In this article we give you some useful tips for taxis in Bangkok.
Although there are more than 100.000 taxis in Bangkok, there are situations when it is very difficult to find a taxi such as during rain or peak hours. You may have to wait a long time for an available taxi. They will also be more likely to refuse passengers.
Cost for a taxi
The rate for a taxi in Bangkok is very low. For example, the starting rate is very low. The meter starts counting after the first kilometer. The further you drive, the more expensive it gets. There is a small surcharge for standstills such as in traffic jams. The meter then calculates less. If you go via the highway and you pass a toll gate, you have to pay that too, but that is also only a small amount.
Like everywhere in the world, there are good and bad taxi drivers in Bangkok. The most common complaints from tourists are:
- Speak little or no English.
- Not wanting to turn on the meter.
- Driving around or not being able to find the destination.
It's not just tourists who complain about taxi drivers. That certainly also applies to the Thai. A common complaint is that taxi drivers don't want to take short trips or prefer to pick up tourists. There is a special reporting point for complaints about taxi drivers.
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10 useful tips for Bangkok taxis
The taxis in Bangkok are an attraction in themselves. As a tourist you can safely use it. Below are 10 useful tips for Bangkok taxis:
- Make sure the taxi driver turns on the meter. If the driver doesn't want that, it's better to get out. You will almost always overpay if you stay put.
- Taxis waiting at hotels are best ignored. They will also try to make you pay more.
- Don't be surprised if you want to take a short ride that the taxi driver refuses. Get out and try another.
- If you are waiting at a bus stop, passing taxis will honk at you to get your attention. You can get in quietly, but here too: have the meter turned on.
- Beware of people who approach you and offer a taxi at the airport, on the street or at places of interest. They are usually not official taxi drivers and therefore more expensive.
- Do not expect taxi drivers in Bangkok to blindly find every hotel and street. Have a card from your hotel with the name and address, also in Thai language.
- Watch out when you get out of the taxi. Especially for the many motorbikes in Bangkok. Don't just throw your door open and watch out when you get out.
- Tipping is not mandatory. It is customary to round up the rate. If the meter says 94 baht, then a 1.000 baht note is normal. Do not pay with a XNUMX baht note, many drivers cannot change it.
- When you get out, check that you have not forgotten anything, such as shopping bags or other items.
- Trust your intuition. If you don't have a good feeling with a certain taxi driver, take another taxi. Western female tourists should not take a taxi in the middle of the night if they are alone. Although there are relatively few incidents, it is still better to be careful.
If there are readers who also have useful tips for tourists, please leave a comment.
– Reposted message –
When I take the taxi with my wife – usually from the hotel to the airport in BKK – my wife and I can sometimes disagree. For my Thai wife, that is often 'mai pen rai' (with the accompanying mentality to avoid confrontations) and she and the taxi driver often also have a pleasant chat. I - as an "economically thinking Westerner" - often cannot live with that and then only have 1 option: remain silent, sit still and bottle up 🙁
If you take a taxi from the airport, they may charge 50 Baht extra for the ride.
So don't worry, you won't be scammed by the taxi driver when he charges you
About taxi subarnabumi airport the following. About two years ago, the system at this airport has improved incredibly. First of all, no more jostling, you stand in a row and a light box above the taxis indicates which taxi you should take. For short trips, especially for the hotels in the area, there is a separate bali and a slightly higher price. Customer satisfied and driver satisfied > simple solution. In addition, you will be handed a piece of paper with your name and, I mean, telephone number. So you can still complain afterwards. So you don't have to do it in a taxi. My opinion: perfect system. A real relief with the past where you had to be quite aggressive to get your money's worth. Have been arriving at this airport for many years. A relief now! Kudos to those who set this up!
If, for example, you drive from one of the airports with the taximeter in the city, it is best to give the toll money to the driver unsolicited before reaching the tollway. In this way you immediately show that you are not a novice who is easy to cheat. If, after paying the tollway, the driver returns the remaining change unsolicited, he is usually trustworthy and deserves a tip for this virtue alone. A driver who does not mention the change when paying the final price, you can calmly make this clear politely and, if necessary, pay in installments. Unfortunately, there are many tourists who act so silly, where precisely those drivers who like to cheat can see from a distance that they are easy prey. In my opinion, partly in view of the very low taxi fare, an honest driver always deserves a tip, although it is usually not mandatory in Thailand.
Tip for peak hours: avoid the taxi if possible.
The reason for this is that the journey takes longer due to a lot of standstill. Or combine MRT/BTS/taxi :
To Bangkok center : taxi to the starting station of a line and then take MRT/BTS.
From Bangkok center : take MRT/BTS to (final) station and then the taxi.
And another tip : don't get angry with the taxi driver, you will never benefit from it. If there is a Thai in your party, let them speak to the driver. A kind word at the start of the ride makes for a better ride.
Unfortunately, I disagree with some of the tips. If a taxi driver refuses to transport me, I immediately threaten the police. Take my phone out of my pocket and start calling. Similarly, if the meter is not turned on, the same procedure. And suddenly I can ride along and the meter turns on.
Anything else. When my wife hails a taxi, she asks through the open window if the driver wants to take her to her destination. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. My wife accepts that.
If I hail a taxi and it pulls up, I get in immediately. I'm not going to negotiate through the open window. I specify where I want to go, and just drive.
If I'm not mistaken it's about 40 baht.
So make sure you always have 20 baht notes with you. Depending on the travel route. Sometimes no toll, sometimes 2 times toll…
I often pay for my purchases at 7-eleven with notes of 500 or 1000 baht (even though I still have notes of 20 and/or 100 baht), so that these are exchanged and I always have small notes (usually 100 or 20 baht - sometimes also 50 baht – if you only have notes of 500 or 1000 baht, then the seller or driver often “cannot” give change back… Also in the BTS or MRT stations I often pay with notes of 500 or 1000 baht…
Use Uber in Bangkok, then you don't have the 'meter' problem.
Coolsmoe, you definitely mean Grab. Uber no longer exists in Thailand.
I miss Uber in the story. We used it for the first time in January. Top invention, good price, no hassle with haggling and stuff. You can pay in cash or with your credit card. Sees exactly when your driver is there, absolutely great.
i use Grab
the Grab app is a great godsend…no more hassle
Where can that contact point be reached?
I kept taking a taxi to go from Suvarnabhumi AirPort to the center (Silom). I paid between 400 and 500 baht for this, depending on the length of time / traffic jam and including toll road.
But at the beginning of this year I used the metro for the first time.
Super convenient and easy.
You can take the metro on the ground floor of the airport, I had to change trains once and I was at my destination for less than 1 baht. Not only a lot cheaper but also much faster. No more taxis for me when I can take the metro
For traveling in Bangkok itself usually use GRAB (Uber no longer exists). You see in advance what you have to pay (without toll). In the better hotels you ask the reception to arrange a taxi, they only arrange a meter taxi and even register the number plate of the taxi you are boarding. Bring a ticket from the hotel for the way back or have it on your phone. Because of the language problem, it is useful to have the point where you want to go on your screen, not much can go wrong. Otherwise, ask at the reception to write it down in Thai.
With google maps on your phone it often works well to explain to the taxi driver where your hotel is. Especially useful if you don't have the street name in Thai with you. Many hotels also give you this name in Thai if you ask for it at the reception.
Uber has been gone for years and now there is only GRAB.
Ride prices always end odd, start 35 bt and always in increments of 2, so could be 94 bt someday.
At ELK farang HTL or ditto place there are no taxi hustlers imposing themselves, but middlemen who master English and know the normal quirks of the tourist by now and thus inform the hustler, they of course receive a commission for that and those taxis are therefore theirs days of life never on the meter.
Incidentally, the majority of the typical 1st x tourist seems fully satisfied with it and you pay a bit more, but it remains much less if that ride would cost ion NL.
and no: assume that no Thai, including those shoddy cards can read like what they have learned. What they do is read the name of the place/street/point in Thai and they head for it. If you teach yourself that very well - and that takes a lot of effort and it is not a sign of too little intelligence, it makes a big difference.
And oh yes, BKK also has about 7000+ city buses.
I always take the yellow-green taxi in Bangkok. Never had a problem with it. The drivers are so-called 'own drivers', so they own the taxi and the drivers, as far as I know, always come from Isaan. I always try to strike up a conversation in English with them and if I succeed and I tell them that I am married to a Thai who lives in the province of Roi-Et then a conversation will start very easily especially if I am late know that I have been coming to Thailand since 1999 and mainly visit and stay in the North / Northeast of Thailand. Often I also get some tips for places to visit.
Last Wednesday, 4/12, Theo posted an entry on Thailandblog about his taxi experiences. Many reactions, and the last one was from chris from Bangkok, who has been living and working there for many years now and takes a taxi at least once a week, which means that he has the right to speak. I fully endorse his conclusion that the majority of taxi drivers (in Bangkok and surroundings) can be trusted. Like him, I have also encountered excesses, such as a drunk driver or a speed maniac, but then I get out as quickly as possible and continue to pay the amount on the meter or what I agreed without comment. I can largely endorse the advice in this article, although in some places in Bangkok, such as the Siam area, it is almost impossible to find a taxi that wants to turn on its meter. Because of the traffic there, many drivers do not want to risk getting stuck in a traffic jam for too long with only a minimal compensation for the standstill. So when the driver makes me a price proposal that I can agree with, I don't care if the meter is not turned on. I have no fear that I will be cheated, and even then, it can cost me an extra 100 or 200 baht at the most. Today I spent a day in Amsterdam with a friend, an ex-colleague. In the Hard Rock café near the Holland Casino we both drank 2 (small) glasses of Heineken. The bill was € 25,80 or € 6,45 per glass. After that we wanted to go to a restaurant within 10 minutes walking distance at the most. There was a bicycle taxi near the cafe and when I inquired about the price it was 15 euros. However, when he saw that there were two of us, the price became 20 euros. Now I'm not a tourist, wonder what they would be asked. I have been to Bangkok many times, of course you always have to be on your guard but where not?