Bangkok first timers - your #1 tip?

[Foreigner]

Tips to avoid getting ripped off by taxi operators:

http://first2board.com/verygoodpoints/2015/05/18/thailand-taxi-scam/

 

[amaroo]

Happy I won't need to worry about a dodgy taxi driver next week.

Looking forward to a three night stay at the Peninsula... BMW 7 series :mrgreen:

Summer Getaway Benefits

• Daily buffet breakfast for up to two persons served in River Cafe & Terrace
• Hotel limousine roundtrip airport transfer
• Buffet dinner at River Café & Terrace for up to two persons, once per stay
• Spa certificate valued at THB 800 per person, once per stay

Complimentary Benefits

• Unlimited In-room Wi-Fi Internet access
• Use of fitness centre and swimming pool
• Turn-down service
• Welcome fruits
• Local and international daily newspaper
• Peninsula Boat transfer between the hotel and Taksin Skytrain Station or The Peninsula Pier

 

[Foreigner]

Happy I won't need to worry about a dodgy taxi driver next week.

Looking forward to a three night stay at the Peninsula... BMW 7 series :mrgreen:

Pretty good. Enjoy BKK

 

[JohnK]

Happy I won't need to worry about a dodgy taxi driver next week.

Looking forward to a three night stay at the Peninsula... BMW 7 series :mrgreen:

Which arm and leg did you have to give for the room?

 

[amaroo]

Which arm and leg did you have to give for the room?

Cheaper than where I was going to stay in SIN + I get benefits. The hotel saving paid >60% of the 3K max fare SIN-BKK-SIN ... which gets me the 60SC I need for WP for the next 20 months. Happy Days!

JohnK you reckon I'll be able to get my 3K BP from the SIN transfer desk? Bit of a amateur when it comes to 3K and transfers...

 

[JohnK]

JohnK you reckon I'll be able to get my 3K BP from the SIN transfer desk? Bit of a amateur when it comes to 3K and transfers...

Shouldn't be an issue. You should also be able to transfer checked luggage if you have any.

 

[Alanslegal]

I have a feeling based on my last visit to Bangkok a few weeks back that the bad taxis are on the upward trend.

A friend of ours just messaged us saying she was scammed earlier today by a taxi who had a very fast meter She caught the taxi from BKK and headed towards the City, meter was on, not too far down the the highway it was like up to 400BHT when she mentioned to the driver about the 'fast' meter. The driver pulls over to the shoulder and says its 800BHT or she can get out. What kind of choice do you have when your on a multi-lane highway with very little options. Karma will bite the driver one day.

 

[Archipelago]

A friend of ours just messaged us saying she was scammed earlier today by a taxi who had a very fast meter She caught the taxi from BKK and headed towards the City, meter was on, not too far down the the highway it was like up to 400BHT when she mentioned to the driver about the 'fast' meter. The driver pulls over to the shoulder and says its 800BHT or she can get out. What kind of choice do you have when your on a multi-lane highway with very little options. Karma will bite the driver one day.

Big crack down at the moment on dodgy taxi drivers, with some public blitzes by the BiB in Bangkok.

If she had made a note of the drivers details (in a placard on the left dashboard) or the taxi number (side of the car), she should get in touch with the tourist or main police.
Still happens and it is a shame when it does - and I think your friend would have felt quite justifiably violated and annoyed by this scam.

 

[tehuringa]

Traffic is horrendous..... use the BTS to get around... motorbike taxis are great too if you have the intestinal fortitude. Don't be afraid of street food. Eat at Nahm, Bo.Lan, Benjarot, Chotre Chitre, Krua Apsorn & T & K Seafood in Chinatown. If you are heading to Chatauchuk markets don't forget to visit Or Tor Kor markets across the road.... great food market with a riot of smells, colours and sounds.... good street food stalls there also.

Street food tips.... Monday is street cleaning day so a lot of vendors take the day off. Apart from that try evenings around Victory Monument, Yaowarat (Chinatown), Ratchawrat Market, Chareon Rang and Bangrak, Bang Khun Non, Petchaburi Soi 5, Sukhumvit 38 or Ramkamhaeng up near the university.(street food is always great around any university area throughout Asia).

 

[MEL_Traveller]

If she had made a note of the drivers details (in a placard on the left dashboard) or the taxi number (side of the car), she should get in touch with the tourist or main police.
Still happens and it is a shame when it does - and I think your friend would have felt quite justifiably violated and annoyed by this scam.

I thought that information was contained on the slip of paper issued at the taxi queue at the airport?

Can understand an issue like this would make a bad start to a holiday. It's depressing.

 

[Sprucegoose]

A friend of ours just messaged us saying she was scammed earlier today by a taxi who had a very fast meter She caught the taxi from BKK and headed towards the City, meter was on, not too far down the the highway it was like up to 400BHT when she mentioned to the driver about the 'fast' meter. The driver pulls over to the shoulder and says its 800BHT or she can get out. What kind of choice do you have when your on a multi-lane highway with very little options. Karma will bite the driver one day.

I have filmed fast meters. Changes attitudes when caught out.

 

[Archipelago]

I thought that information was contained on the slip of paper issued at the taxi queue at the airport?

Hit and miss since they changed to machines, sometimes its left for the driver to add that info.

I would hazard a guess that the info was missing or incorrect on the above occasion.

I always recommend to take note of the placard, even make a point of taking a snap of it as you're getting in. Don't rely on someone else filling out the correct details on the queue slip.

 

[Alanslegal]

Hit and miss since they changed to machines, sometimes its left for the driver to add that info.

The issue with the machine, and I wrote about this a few pages back, is that you select a destination area and 'hope for the best' that 1. the driver is doing the right thing and 2. knows where you want to go. When they had people manning the taxi stands, at least you told the person where you wanted to go, they would then pass the information to the driver and if the driver didn't know, they would at try to explain it to the driver - at least it minimized the chances of the driver 'pretending' not to know where you want to go like what happens with the new machines.

 

[drron]

Many years ago this young taxi driver took me to the airport and I was terrified. I buckled my seatbeat and asked him to slow down as I saw speedometer reaching 100kph.

He wasn't even trying.I regularly see 120 up on the speedo to or from BKK.

 

[diningdecadence]

recently returned from our trip, and our taxi came into the airport from the city with the tarmac on the left hand side - felt like they were going the long way to run the meter up (traffic felt very light etc) - is that approach normal, or did we get had? 1st guy at the hotel wanted a flat 400, we said no, and then i think this guy in the end was 360 so should've just gone the first guy.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

recently returned from our trip, and our taxi came into the airport from the city with the tarmac on the left hand side - felt like they were going the long way to run the meter up (traffic felt very light etc) - is that approach normal, or did we get had? 1st guy at the hotel wanted a flat 400, we said no, and then i think this guy in the end was 360 so should've just gone the first guy.

Not entirely sure I've got this right... but yes the tarmac should be on the left as you approach/enter the airport from the freeway.

There is an alternative route which I've only used once... in unusually heavy traffic... we didn't go down the express way at all much... but approached the airport from kind of like a side road. Took nearly two hours from Sathorn to get to the airport... but we were standing still for most of that time. (I was happy on that occasion I had a pre-paid car so didn't have to worry about the meter.)

 

[Archipelago]

recently returned from our trip, and our taxi came into the airport from the city with the tarmac on the left hand side - felt like they were going the long way to run the meter up (traffic felt very light etc) - is that approach normal, or did we get had? 1st guy at the hotel wanted a flat 400, we said no, and then i think this guy in the end was 360 so should've just gone the first guy.

Depending which part of the city you started in (you don't mention your point of origin, and Bangkok is a big city) then 360 on the meter is about right with tolls.

Never accept a flat rate in Bangkok. Always use the meter or wait for another taxi if the one you flag down won't put the meter on.

Not sure what you mean by tarmac on the left coming in from the city - but if you mean the last part of the journey as you reach the airport, then the tarmac will always be on the left

 

[JohnK]

Take a photo of the taxi and the driver before you approach the assigned lane could be a good idea.

 

[Timsboot]

Hi all,

Also, are there any good champagne brunches on Sunday that people have been to?

!

The Sheraton on Sukhumit has the best food and coughtail collection of the Sunday brunches I have tried. The Kempinski is world class. Not as good as the Sheraton and a smaller coughtail list but still world class. The Kempinski has three things going for it beyond the Sheraton. 1. it is 5 hours long not 3 (if you can last that long). 2. Bottomless Louis Rodderer. 3. You can take a break and use the swimming pool which is just next to the buffet area. Number 3 is particularly a winner if you have children with you.

You will need to book for the Sheraton. Advisable for the Kempinski but normally seats available.

A friend said they enjoyed the Raddison Blu hotel. Not as smart as the Sheraton and Kempinski but gets good reviews and is about 40% cheaper. Others have raved about St Regus and the Four Seasons but I have not tried these (and the Four Seasons is now the Anantara.

 

[Alanslegal]

The St Regis' brunch is pretty amazing, ableit on the pricier end

Sunday Brunch at Viu, St. Regis Bangkok | Gourmet Bangkok Magazine