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TaxisIMPORTANT: Remind every passenger to not open a car door on a street until they have looked behind to make sure a motorcycle is not coming. It is very common for passengers to open a car door and have a motorcycle hit it. This can cause serious injury to the motorcyclist and/or the car passenger, as well as considerable property damage. The passenger or car owner is liable for all damages. It is perfectly legal and normal in Thailand for motorcycles to drive in the spaces between cars, lanes, and the curb. Most taxis in Thailand are metered, i.e., you don't need to negotiate a fare. Just get into a taxi that says "TAXI-METER" on the top. There are a few plain taxis still going around, but the vast majority are either the relatively new taxi-meter fleet or else have converted over. Taxis are economical in Thailand relative to western countries. The fare starts at 35 baht (approx. $1) and stays there for the first kilometer or two. I do not know the current rates, and they change from time to time, but a 20 kilometer (12 mile) late night ride typically costs me about 120 baht, or approximately $3. Typical taxi fares in town for going a few kilometers run around 50 baht. If traffic is bad, then the timer becomes more significant than the distance. Around 1992 or so, the city government oversaw an overhaul of the taxi system. A few leading companies with special concessions imported fleets of modern new taxis and equipped them with meters. This made taxis much nicer and easier for foreigners and Thais alike. A difficulty with foreigners is that most taxi drivers do not speak nor read English. The taxi drivers generally come from the poor northeast. They are usually pleasant but just limited in education. They will usually recognize the names of places if your pronounciation is close, but be careful that they don't misunderstand you and take you somewhere else. Suggestions:
Of course, these suggestions are not required, and most foreigners get by without paper, but you take your chances.
A few protocols:
A few phrases:
You can telephone for a taxi to come pick you up, e.g., at the end of a soi where taxis don't drive by, and if it would be a long walk to find one. There is a 20 baht surcharge above the fare on the meter, i.e., the charge is not shown on the meter and you add 20 baht.
There are a few others. Just note these numbers written on the taxis, for future reference.
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(May 2007) A trend started around April of hanging a doll under the back of the car, to blow in the wind as they drive down the road. (I thought about hanging a long tiger tail from the bottom center of my bumper.) For awhile, I saw a lot of cars like this on the expressway going to/from the suburbs. Discussions in the Thai media, however, revealed the origin of this trend: Among taxi drivers, who tend to be even more superstitious than average Thais, if they accidentally killed someone (by the notoriously aggressive driving by some of them), they were afraid that the spirit of the deceased dwelled under their car, so they put the doll there to occupy the space with a different spirit, so there's no room for the deceased. Something like that... So the trend quickly disappeared! Except among taxi drivers. Don't stare too much when you pass them, and steer clear!
