After a short trip to KL it was once again saddening to have to face immediate 'rip off' mentality at Phuket airport last night. So now metered taxi's quote flat rates and deny they have meters even at their dedicated metered taxi booth outside. sickened by this ongoing short term 'grab' mentality here, yes it happens elsewhere, but just look at the fiasco with the airport bus service? Any attempt to clean up or offer customers/visitors a real choice at realistic prices is met with protests, threats and in-action from officials far too often! It has to stop or this place will be emptied and forgotten like many other once attractive holiday destinations

Posted by Anonymous on March 26, 2013 11:56

This airport bus business as become a circus
How can someone invest all this money on new buses and just seat back and take it
This is going no where

Posted by Coco on March 26, 2013 14:24

This issue is already international, even mentioned for example here: http://azurejob.com/news/does-thailand-really-care-about-its-cruise-market/

Posted by Jakub on March 26, 2013 14:43

I must agree with all the comments on this fiasco. I arrived back and saddened to fined that the bus was not running. So after making my way through the taxi touts at the airport thought I will take a metered taxi, their were two of us going to Bangtao area another couple asked if they could come with us I said that was fine as we had only a small case, taxi driver would not take them I only take three people what a lot of rubbish. I asked him to put the meter on which he did fare on meter 285 baht charge to us 500 baht did not cause a fuss as he had our computers in the boot. Once again rip-off Phuket. Maybe these taxi drivers should go to Bangkok or Chiang Mai and see how they work. Why should fares in Phuket be any different than the rest of Thailand?
As for the bus lets see it up and running even if the Army has to be on board.

Posted by Granitebeetle on March 26, 2013 17:16

I have never known the meter taxis use their meter - it has always been flat rate. They are cheaper than the counters inside, but with good reason, as they are much older vehicles.

However, I have got to know some of the drivers & with advance warning, they are happy to pick you up in the south end of the island to go to the airport, at a significantly cheaper rate than the 1,000 baht fixed price. Makes good business sense for them, rather than do the run back to the airport empty.

Posted by Logic on March 26, 2013 17:34

The meters are still being used, just in case someone checks but they are covered with a baseball cap or other type of headwear on top of the dashboard.

This way if someone would actually pull them over to check, they can claim they are running the meter. They just don't charge the metered fare but their very own flat rate.

I don't use them unless I absolutely have no other choice. I don't want to support a rip-off business.

Most metered taxis I've seen at the airport lately are brand new.

Posted by Timothy on March 26, 2013 19:17

I begin to wonder if all this publicity surrounding tuk-tuks and taxis is being made purely to pacify the media. A Google search for "Porntep Chamkawn" who featured in yesterday's report about his lack of knowledge of the proposed airport bus reveals another report on the PW site dated July 1, 2009. That reveals him to have a master's degree in political science. Why then does somebody with a bit of intelligence side with the scammers? The fact that he's chosen to support them rather than than using his skills to help implement an efficient public transport service on the island speaks volumes.

Posted by Xircal on March 26, 2013 21:18

The excuse for charging for a fare they don't take has to stop. It is complete BS.
Also lets use some logic here.

All taxis in BKK use LPG which is about 15 baht per litre.
The average car can do about 10km per litre.
Lets also use some basic maths here.
30km = 3 litres = 45 baht. Return trip - 90 baht. Where does this 1000 baht even come in?
So do they have an excuse as to why they don't use LPG like all taxi's do in BKK?

Posted by Tbs on March 27, 2013 00:51

@TBS Please inform the readers of this page where you can buy gasoline for 15 b per liter. I will do all my fillings at this place in the future.

Apart from that then I agree that the local taxis over charge.

Posted by Sherlock on March 27, 2013 16:18

As a detective you have failed SHERLOCK - Tbs was talking about LPG.

Posted by Mister Ree on March 27, 2013 16:59

@ Sherlock. Please read the article sober. LPG stands for Liquid Petroleum Gas and it is about 15 Baht per litre.
So if you want to fill up at that garage, you need a car that runs on LPG or CNG.

Posted by Robin on March 27, 2013 17:54

Most taxis and "limos" on Phuket do run on LPG. Just look for the large tank in the boot or the numerous green plate cars filling up at the LPG stations across the island.

LPG and CNG are completely different products and not interchangeable. Liquefied Petroleum Gas and Compressed Natural Gas (also known as NGV - Natural Gas for Vehicles).

They are sold at separate stations and where LPG is stored at pressures below 10 bar, NGV/CNG is at 200bar. Thus the tanks for NGV are much larger and usually only suited for heavy vehicles that can fit plenty of them, usually at least 8.

Look at the back of truck cabins and you'll see them stacked up there and will also know why NGV is rarely used in passenger cars.

LPG also contains about 30% less energy than Gasoline, thus a 1:1 fuel consumption comparison is flawed.

It's price is being slowly floated to reflect the international market price and is expected to reach Bt 24 /kg at the end of this year. This will make it just as expensive as diesel, effectively stopping the abuse of the cooking gas subsidy being used for vehicles.

I removed the LPG system from my car last month after having used it for 4 years.

Posted by Stephen on March 27, 2013 18:25

Phuket! Come on people, it's not just the taxis ripping you off, everything is a scam to get rich quick, if you want to live in Thailand don't live on Phuket, or is it the fact that you can't afford to live in Marbella ?.... I got sick of all the BS and have moved to Supanburi, ok no azur sea full of plastic bags to swim in, but I don't get ripped of. Up here Thailand is the land of smiles.

Posted by Simon on March 29, 2013 11:14

@ Stephen on March 27, 2013 18:25. Thank you for the informative reply on LPG and CNG/NGV. I even learnt something new.

Posted by Robin on March 29, 2013 12:02