Bangkok is probably the only city in Thailand where it is really very convenient to use a taxi. At the same time, it is also cheap when compared with Moscow and St. Petersburg prices. Yes, there are taxis in the resorts, but there are usually such prices are so high that it is easier to rent bike or automobile and not depend on anyone. In the capital of Thailand, he just went out into the street, waved his hand, and after a while you sit in an air-conditioned cabin, watching the counter spinning slowly..
We lived in Bangkok for 2 months and fully appreciated this opportunity. With fairly frequent movements (3-5 trips per week), the total cost of a taxi per month came out to be about 3000 baht, which is less than if we rented a car, and even less than if we rented a bike! Why ask, spend too much, think about parking, give a security deposit indefinitely when there is a taxi? Well, for those who want to save more, you need to use metro and buses, as well as walking more.
The content of the article
- one General information about taxi in Bangkok
- 2 How to explain where to go
- 3 How to ride the meter
- 4 Taxi from Bangkok airport
General information about taxi in Bangkok
For those who have lived in Thailand or Bangkok for a long time, I will not open America. Perhaps I myself do not know enough, but my knowledge is enough for me, and in conjunction with GPS I do not feel any shortage of them.
Taxi colors
Once you are in Bangkok and go outside, you have «full of» in the eyes of a large number of taxis of different colors. Taxis are available: yellow, pink, green-yellow, green, orange, blue. It just means belonging to a particular company. I did not notice any other differences. The only thing, it seemed to me that there are more green-yellows, because we most often moved on them, and also on pink.
Multicolored taxis in Bangkok
Free taxi
If the taxi is free, then in the lower right corner (from the side of the catching taxi), Thai red krakozyabra will burn. Wave your hand and stop. It can be seen perfectly in the dark, on a bright sunny day, so-so.
The icon is lit in the lower corner «free»
Taxi cost in Bangkok
Taxis can be taken by meter or at a fixed price. But here everything is much simpler than in Vietnam, where you need to be a hard-core traveler so that you are not deceived, and to know the voluminous instructions for using a taxi. The counters in Tae are not winding up, so if you took it over the counter, you can relax.
You pay 35 baht to get in a taxi. It is from this figure that the counter starts. Further, the mileage and idle time will be counted (two small numbers on the counter). Therefore, sometimes you can «insist» in a traffic jam a good amount, hardly moving forward. But even taking into account traffic jams, taxis in Bangkok are cheap: they went to the hospital several times (3 km) and paid somewhere between 60-80 baht, depending on traffic congestion. For two it turns out, like on the subway.
Detailed layout of the cost by meter
The fixed price is usually 1.5-2 times higher than what will be on the counter. I try to drive only on the meter, you just need to know how. Although in rare cases you have to ride at a fixed price. Yes, please note that the meter is valid only in the city, in Pattaya, Hua hin and so on, you will only go for a fixed price.
Toll road
The passenger pays for the toll road if he travels on the meter. In the case of a fixed price, it is sometimes included immediately in the indicated amount. Prices are small 25-30 baht (for a car), so don't worry, but you can get there faster. The toll road looks like any other toll road, with gates and toll booths.
Divorces
In fact, I have met only two types of divorce: fixed price and route with a hook.
The first case is the most common. As far as I understand, taxi drivers should ideally only use the meter. And here is a simple way out: if you don't like the fixed price, don't go. Do not pay attention to the Taxi-Meter sign on the roof, it is on every taxi and nothing depends on it.
The second divorce lies in the fact that the taxi driver may not be lucky along the shortest path, or he will make a detour on purpose. You can deal with this, either knowing the city, or having a GPS with a built route. Just teach, a taxi driver can go around traffic jams, you shouldn't scold him in vain. In any case, you need to speak softly and with a smile about his mistake, if at all, because you are unlikely to change anything, and you will lose a little in money. I ran into this recently, as the taxi driver was obviously taking a big hook. And I tell him, dude to us in the other direction, let's turn, and he just nods «OK OK» and passes the next turn. In general, here it was only possible to get out of the taxi, but we were late, so we decided to go further. As a result, they overpaid by about 30 baht more, and lost an extra 10-15 minutes of time.
How to explain where to go
Destination address
You definitely need to know the destination address and this should be taken care of in advance. Only the addresses here are not quite the same as ours. You need to know the street and lane (soi) where the facility is located. Sometimes it is desirable to say the area of deployment or some well-known object nearby. Please note that your pronunciation of Thai names will be very different, so if you do not know how to pronounce it, then it is better to have it all written on paper and preferably in Thai. Although some areas taxi drivers will be able to understand with any pronunciation, either because it is pronounced similarly, or because the areas are too touristy. For example, Khaosan (Khaosan road), where 50% or more of foreigners travel, is difficult to distort.
Hotel business card or voucher
If you need a hotel, then know its name, sometimes it will be enough, especially if it is famous. Also print the hotel voucher (a screenshot on your phone is enough), or have a hotel business card with you. There will be indicated all the necessary data and the phone number where the taxi driver will call if something is not clear to him. So getting to the hotel is easy. Again, GPS is useful when the hotel is unknown and is located on an incomprehensible jay, at the entrance you will help the taxi driver to find his way. Or just get out of the car and stomp a couple of hundred meters to the desired location. By the way, if you want to find a hotel in Bangkok in advance on the Internet, it is convenient to choose accommodation on RoomGuru, it is a service where you can compare hotel prices in different booking systems.
Specific example
We live in condominium, which is located on Ratchaparop street. But the street is long, and the lane of our house has no name. Therefore, I always call the adjacent alley Rang Nam Soi to indicate the location. That is, I stop the taxi and say: Raphaparop, Ran Nam soy. And I speak in turn, when the taxi driver understood the first name, I say the second. Sometimes I repeat it 3 times, because my pronunciation is lame. Further, when approaching Rang Nam Soi, I indicate where to go next.
And we go to the center for classes with Yegor according to a different scheme. I asked the center staff to write in Thai where it is, and just immediately show this description on the phone display to the driver. Perhaps there it was possible to get by with the previous scheme, but there they are in a muddy place.
How to ride the meter
First, I'll write the easiest way - this is the Grabtaxi application. Put it on your smartphone, register by phone number (it is better to indicate local Thai, as taxi drivers will call it) and then order a taxi by the meter. You will need to pay an additional 50 baht for using the application, so it is not entirely relevant for short trips. The disadvantage of the application is that it does not know all the addresses, and you cannot select an arbitrary point. True, in Bangkok this is not a problem, you can just choose the nearest point, there is a lot of everything. Also, when ordering, you can specify the destination, then there will be less problems explaining to the taxi driver where to go. Another nuance - when the taxi driver calls you, I will be on my way to you, you can tell him «Gps», and most will understand that you need to go to the point indicated in the application. Because it will be difficult to explain otherwise, the language barrier.
Another method is basic and more traditional: stop a taxi, say the address, if the taxi driver agrees, point to the meter and say the meter. Further, if he says ok, then sit down and drive. If he refuses and calls a certain fixed price, then just close the door and catch the next taxi. Sometimes all this can take time, and sometimes you even have to agree to a fixed price..
In a non-tourist area, most likely, the first taxi will take you by the meter, and in the tourist area, the 5th. You also need to know that during rush hour, taxi drivers are reluctant to carry on the meter. But this mainly applies to those cases when you need to go through traffic jams, that is, in the center of Bangkok.
Rush hour in the center of Bangkok
«Stop a taxi» I did not write in vain, because it is necessary to stop. Those taxi drivers that are parked will not take you along the meter. Together with tuk-tukers, they are waiting for those who will travel at a fixed price. And they will convince you that traffic jams, fixed prices are cheap, and so on. So I immediately ignore them, I say «No.» and I do not enter into polemics, and I just silently catch passing taxis. By the way, a taxi according to the meter is almost always cheaper than a tuk-tuk..
Alternatively, if there is a desire to scandalize, then you can, without asking anything, just leave the taxi immediately sit in it, give the address and turn away from the window, they say, do not bother with anything, take it. Further, there may be different layouts, the taxi driver is either still lucky, or pretends that he does not understand where and does not speak a word of English at all, or maybe he will come up with something else, like a taxi has broken down. In the lower left corner of the windshield there is a plaque with his name and phone number. You can call there and complain that such and such was driving through the city with the icon «free», but does not want to take you by the meter.
Taxi from Bangkok airport
IN Suvarnabhumi airport, where most travelers arrive, it is very easy to take a taxi by the meter. Go down to the first floor (it is the second in a row, because the bottom is ground or zero) and look for the Public Taxi sign. Get out on the street at this sign and come to the terminals with the sign Public Taxi. By and large, you can leave any exit on this floor and just look around, the terminals cannot be overlooked. There may be a small queue, but usually the wait is short..
Just in case, I remind you that if you need a ticket for an intercity bus or train, then you can buy them in advance via the Internet at 12go.asia. It is now the only service for buying tickets online. Payment by credit card or PayPal. The site is verified, I recommend!
Public Taxi at Suvarnabhumi Airport
Recently, the queue was made electronic, you go to the terminal, press the button, you are given a ticket with the parking number. Next, go to the parking lot with this number (it lights up on the board above each parking space), give the coupon to the driver, tell the driver where to go and leave.
For boarding a taxi, you pay the standard 35 baht, but there is also a separate airport tax of 50 baht, which is paid in addition to the amount on the counter at the end of the trip. Also, a taxi driver can go on a toll road, then another plus 30-50 baht, it is paid near the money collection booth for a toll.
From the airport to the city center, we usually get there by meter for about 300-500 baht with all fees. If you go a little further or in traffic jams, you can get 600 baht. But it shouldn't anymore, although it depends where you go. The taxi back to the airport will want to guide you at a fixed price. Haggle, for 300-400 baht it is quite possible to leave the city center.
