Taxi in Bangkok is the most popular transport for locals and tourists. Being in Bangkok, people use the taxi service even more often than public transport of the city. After all, taxi fares in Bangkok are usually not much more expensive than trip by subway, and in some situations even cheaper. On this page you will find useful information about the different types of taxi in the capital of Thailand, the fares for a trip around the city and beyond the metropolis, as well as practical tips for using the taxi service in Bangkok, which can saving your money.
CONTENTS OF ARTICLE ( you can click on the link for quick transition)
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Classical taxi service in Bangkok
Almost every fourth car in Bangkok is an official taxi with a fixed meter (taxi meter). Cheapness of Bangkok taxi is largely explained by the use of gas as a fuel. Currently, in the capital of Thailand, registered more than 100 thousand of cars-taxis, of which daily on the streets of the Thai capitals, about 80 thousand taxis leave. All these cars are easily distinguished in the car stream due to the corresponding inscription “Taxi meter” on the roof and its super bright coloring, which not only attracts customers, but also gives some idea of the owner of the car.
All taxi cars in Bangkok, which are brown-green and yellow-green, belong to private individuals, usually taxi drivers themselves, who work on the basis of individual licenses for the transportation of passengers. Cars that are painted in two other bright colors, as well as in plain yellow, red, orange, pink or blue, belong to taxi companies and taxi cooperatives, and their drivers work on the basis of day-to-day rental of vehicles. The largest number are pink taxis, of which Bangkok has more than 15 thousand.
Unlike mos
You can find out the owner of a taxi in Bangkok by the color of the car
t European countries, taxis in Thailand stop at the request of passengers almost anywhere, so in order to find and use this transport does not necessarily look for specialized parking of this transport: you can simple to stand at the edge of the roadway and with an appeal to look at passing past the cars. If the taxi is available (and this can be seen on the luminous plate behind the glass), the car will necessarily stop, and the driver will offer his services. Almost all taxis in Bangkok are equipped with air conditioners, which work quite well, so you do not have to suffer from the heat when you move to a taxi.
Taxi fare in Bangkok (classical taxi cars)
Since all officially operating classic taxis in the capital of Thailand are equipped with meters, you should immediately tell the taxi driver that you will pay for the journey on the basis of the indications shown by the device. You need to be prepared for the fact that not all taxi drivers will want to use the taxi meter, and some of taxi drivers will immediately offer a specific amount for the journey. However, if you want to save money, it is better to refuse such an offer, because even in the most tourist areas, for example, on Khao San Rd in Bangkok, there is always a taxi driver who agrees to take you to the meter.
Do not be afraid and do not suspect fraud, when you boarding in taxi and you see a digit 35 on the taxi meter. It is this price in THB (thai baht) that is charged for landing in a taxi and the first two kilometers of the way. Then the figure begins to increase gradually for each additional kilometer. At the same time, as the travel distance increases, the cost of traveling each kilometer increases. For example, if you travel up to 12 km for each of them, 5.5 baht will be credited. If the distance is from 40 to 60 km, then for each kilometer you need pay 6.5 baht is charged, and if the distance of your ride in taxi exceeds 80 km, then fare for each will be counted 9 THB.
Taxi in Bangkok – better to pay a trip with using taxi meter fare
The above amounts are approximate and depend on the particular carrier, but the order of the figures is approximately the same. Also, do not blame the taxi driver for cheating when you notice an increase in the number on the meter when standing in place, for example, in a traffic jam, which, due to traffic in Thailand, happens in large cities often. During the downtime time of the car is also calculated a small amount, usually not exceeding 20 baht for half an hour without traffic. Thus, the cost of a taxi in Bangkok while traveling around the city will be from 50 to 250 baht. In the first case it is a short trip up to a distance of 5 km and without downtime in traffic jams. The second amount is quite feasible to meet when moving from one end of the city to another with a small downtime in traffic.
Taxi order in Bangkok by phone
To order a taxi to the address you need, you can use the taxi order service by phone. Currently, you can use the following services:
★ General taxi operator of Bangkok: + (66 2) 15-45
★ The operator of the company Bangkok Taxi + (66 2) 424-30-62
★ Operators of Thai Taxi + (66 2) 437-88-67
★ Operators of Nakornchai Taxi + (66 2) 878-90-00
Motorbike taxi in Bangkok – fares and features
As in other cities in Thailand, a mototaxis or taxi-motorbike in Bangkok can be found literally at every step. Most often they expect customers under special canopies from the sun, located at the crossroads of the main streets with soi (alleys). To learn the motorbike taxi drivers and distinguish them from ordinary motorcyclists (number of which are also huge in Bangkok) is very easy on their vivid and noticeable vests of blue, yellow, orange, red, green and other colors from a distance (see photo).
It should be remembered that motorbike usually do not stop at any place for take of passengers. As a result, in order to use this transport, you need to independently find the taxi motorbike parking lot, the blessing of the latter in the city is very much regardless of the specific district of the capital. As in the case of other taxi types in Bangkok, the use of motorcycles should take into account a number of nuances, which are described below in the text in the relevant section of this article.
Due to the fact that a motorbike taxi in Bangkok for tourists can cost even more than a classic taxi, it is convenient to use this transport only in a few situations: for trips to short distances (for example, to the nearest Bangkok BTS Skytrain station) or in cases, when drive in the city traffic on cars is difficult due to traffic jams. Of course, motorcycles are not equipped with counters, so it is necessary to agree on the cost of the trip in advance.
Motorbike taxi drivers in Bangkok are waiting for passengers in the parking
As a rule, the cost of motorbike taxi in Bangkok with a short move within one or two lanes is about 20-30 baht. In the case, if you are trip on the motorbike threefold, i.e. Himself a taxi driver and two passengers, the specified amount is not divided equally between the latter, but paid by each of the passengers separately. Apparently, therefore, motorcycles are so fond of carrying two passengers: fuel costs increase insignificantly, and income doubles. If we talk about longer trips, then for an hour’s trip around the city the cost of a motorbike taxi in Bangkok will be about 100-150 baht (of course, after a successful pre-bargain).
I can also add that to use motorbike taxi in Bangkok you need to have some boldness, because it is not only a fast form of transport, but also to some extent an attraction: speed maneuvering between cars in dense city traffic sometimes causes an additional influx of adrenaline In the blood. I advise you when riding a taxi-motorbike in Bangkok wearing a helmet (in reality, it’s very few people do) and hold tightly to the handrails.
Tuk-tuk taxi in Bangkok
It is in Bangkok that you can find classic tuk-tuki, which were named so for the corresponding sound of a two-stroke engine. Unlike the passenger pick-ups of Songthaew, which many tourists also call tuk-tuks (more about them in the article “Transport in Pattaya – songthaew routes on the map”), this mode of transportation in Bangkok is represented by original three-wheeled mopeds with a body for carrying two and More passengers. In recent years, Bangkok tuk-tuki increasingly become not transport, but entertainment for tourists who, through their inability to bargain completely corrupted the owners of this original transport of the city.
Therefore, if your goal is just to get from one point to another, I do not recommend using tuk-tuki, because the classic taxi car and taxi motorbike in Bangkok in 99% of cases will be cheaper. On the other hand, tuk-tuk has long been one of the real symbols of Bangkok, so at least once you can ride (at least personally, I could not resist it). With a lucky coincidence of circumstances and the availability of free time to roll on the tuk-tuka it is possible and completely free.
Tuk-tuk – the most exotic kind of taxi in Bangkok
To do this, ask the driver to go shopping, which give him fuel coupons for bringing customers. You do not have to buy anything in these stores, but you can play the role of an interested buyer and stay at least 10 minutes in the store. Also I remind you that among the tuk-tuk drivers in Bangkok there may be not quite honest people who can not resist the temptation to make money on naive tourists. I recommend that you read the information in the article “The most popular scams in Thailand”, which tells more about this.
The most bad reputation is enjoyed by tuk-tuk drivers, whose parking lots are located near popular tourist sites: near the Kaosan street, in the Royal Palace area, near other famous temples. According to acquaintances who have been living in Bangkok for a long time, to use tuk-tuk in the capital of Thailand makes sense when visiting one of the major markets. It is in this situation that the tuk-tuk allows you to quickly and easily leave with all the purchases with which it would be inconvenient to navigate with mototaxis.
General tips for using a taxi in Bangkok
If you use a classic taxi to move around the city, I advise you to take a photograph of the sign posted on the windshield with the driver’s data (just make sure that the same person is in the photo and behind the wheel). This somewhat increases the overall level of security, and also allows you to find and return the things forgotten in the taxi (but it’s better to leave nothing in the car after your ride).
When using any kind of taxi in Bangkok, it is not enough to name the destination and safely get there wherever you need. Being afraid to lose the client, the taxi driver will not refuse you, however it can absolutely incorrectly or not absolutely precisely understand, where it is necessary for you. Therefore, you should ask the taxi driver to repeat the destination in which he takes you. The reason for such errors is usually not the desire of the taxi driver to deceive you (although taxi drivers in any country in the world are somewhat fraudsters to some extent) – simply the taxi driver found a client and does not want to miss the opportunity to earn some money.
Many of the taxi drivers are not native inhabitants of the megalopolis, they do not know the city very well and sometimes do not know the English language at all. Moreover, even the Thai names in the pronunciation of the farangs often sound quite differently than they need in reality. To avoid such problems (and related trips in the wrong direction), I advise you to ask someone from the familiar Thai people or just plain English-speaking local residents, for example, hotel workers, so that they write on the sheet the addresses of the places you need in Thai.
You always find a taxi in the streets of Bangkok (very bright color of the cars)
It is practically useless to show taxi drivers even the best map of Bangkok, because for Thai people the real terrain and its designation on the map are two parallel universes that do not intersect in their heads. In this case, it’s better to upload photos of the places of interest to you in the memory of the phone or tablet, and show these photos to the taxi driver. If the places are popular enough, for example, the famous temples of Bangkok, the city’s stations, markets, etc., and the taxi driver works in the capital not for the first week, big chances are that you will be understood correctly.
Sometimes taxi drivers in Bangkok offer to use paid roads to speed up the trip. You make the decision yourself, just remember that when you travel by the meter, the paid roads are paid by the client, and when traveling by taxi at a contractual price, such additional amounts should be included in the agreed amount. By the way, that’s why all negotiations about the form of payment (on the meter or at a fixed price) should be made before the trip and landing in the car, if it is a classic taxi in Bangkok. Bargain when traveling without a taxi meter can and should be.
Well, always remember that you are in the Country of Smiles, where it is customary to observe certain rules of conduct in Thailand. Therefore, if there are some misunderstandings when using a taxi in Bangkok, do not lose face, scandal and on high tones proving your rightness. Better smile and just say that you do not understand what they want from you. Thus, the situation will be resolved much more quickly and in a more pleasant way for all parties to the conflict.
If you want to use a classic taxi, remember that many drivers working on cars cooperatives and taxi companies from 15:30 to 16:00 are changing, so not every taxi driver at this time will want to take you and drive to the opposite side from the taxi park. Because of the large number of streets with one-way traffic in Bangkok, make sure that you are try stop taxi car in the direction you need, otherwise you will have to pay sometimes up to 2-3 km of excess road before the turn back.
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Before using a taxi in the Thai capital, as with the use of mototaxis and taxis in Pattaya, I recommend have not too large banknotes, because sometimes taxi drivers “can not find” the right amount of coins for return change. Tipping a taxi in Bangkok is not particularly accepted, but if a small amount (for example, 10 baht) does not hit your budget too much, the taxi driver will never give it up and will be very grateful. I wish you successful and comfortable taxi trips in Bangkok!
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