Inside Thailand: Taxis In Bangkok
The world of taking taxis in Bangkok can be a tricky, frustrating, cheap or expensive experience depending on your luck and knowledge. Many say that if you are taking taxis in Bangkok it is almost always better to make sure the taxi driver puts on the meter first. The one exception is when you are going long distances (ie...the floating market) then its better to negotiate the price in advance as they will be with you most of the day. Otherwise always make sure they use the meter and if they don't then get out of the cab andfind one that will. It may take 2-3 tries but its better than paying 2-3 times the normal price.
Normally after you have told the driver where you want to go they will almost automaticly come back with 200 baht or some other figure which again is 2-3 times the normal price. Most taxi drives pay between 500-1000 baht per day for the taxi rental. So anything they can make about that minus gas is their profit. The following is a list put out by the gov which should be in the taxis but is quite hard to find:
0-2 km/ 35 baht
2-12 km/ 4.5 baht per km
12-20 km/ 5 baht per km
and if your stuck in a traffic jam and not moving it will run you 1.25 baht a min until you start moving
a trip of 50 km should cost 285 baht
you can also hire a taxi for about 200 baht an hour if you need to do some shopping or run errands
So now you can probably see why taxi drivers try and get 2-3 times the price. If you are going very short distances a couple of blocks or soit is probably better to take motorcyle taxi. Tuk tuks are great but then you run in the problem of them always trying to take you to some shop to buy something you definitely don't need. But with that said one of the most fun and heart poundingexperiences that you can do is find 2 tuk tuk drivers that seem to be friends and then you and your friends split up between the 2 tuk tuks. Pick some destination across town and tell them that the one that gets there first get some type of monitary reward 100 baht or so. It is better than any ride at disneyland. But fair warning it is not for the faint of heart!
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