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Phuket's Taxis, Tuk-Tuks Still Blacken Holiday Island's Tourism Future
By Alan Morison Monday, June 29, 2015
PHUKET: The failings of Phuket's extortionate taxi system have been highlighted by the experience of an Australian man who made a one night stopover on Phuket - and paid a high price.
The man, who prefers to remain anonymous, was booked into a small hotel near Phuket International Airport.
Fresh off an aircraft, he went to an airport taxi desk about 9pm and asked to be quoted a price.
''400 baht,'' was the response.
He tried a second taxi desk. ''I know it's a short trip from here,'' he said. ''Can you give me a fair price?''
''400 baht.''
As it was at night and it was the man's first trip to Phuket, he paid up.
The following day, having to return to Phuket International Airport for an onward flight, he chose to walk.
''It took me three-and-a-half minutes to reach the airport entrance,'' he said.
The man's father, who is based on Phuket for a substantial part of most years, told Phuketwan: ''My son was heading surfing off Bali for two weeks. He only went via Phuket as all flights were full leaving Australia.''
High taxi and tuk-tuk fares remain the largest cause for complaint among tourists visiting Phuket.
Even with the military in charge, nothing has been done to solve the issue of extortionate fares. Visitors who come via Bangkok note prices six times those in Thailand's capital.
During the Asian Beach Games last year, visitors were amazed at the high cost of transport.
Excessive prices for tuk-tuks and taxis remains the biggest stumbling block for Phuket successfully holding international events in future.
Despite promises that the tuk-tuks and hire cars and motorcycles that hog most public parking spots in the tourist hub of Patong will be brought under control, little has changed.
''Police have failed to deliver on their promises,'' an expat resident of Patong told Phuketwan.
''I'd say the tuk-tuks, taxis and vehicle hirers now control more of the public parking spaces than ever.''
Authorities appear to show more interest in a 20-billion baht tramway proposed for Phuket's main north-south artery, Thepkasattri Road.
But the proposal has to overcome one large hurdle: Phuket people, deprived for generations of proper public transport and sensibly priced taxis, have already chosen their means of transport, and it has just two wheels.
Converting the public from convenient, fast motorcycles to a slow, indirect tram service will be a daunting task for officials who haven't yet sorted the holiday island's taxis and tuk-tuks, its most critical problem.
As long as tourists are treated like the Australian man who passed through Phuket last week, the holiday island's future as a tourist destination for independent travellers will remain murky.
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Comments
Comments have been disabled for this article.
seems like the army is more interested in chasing you guys for telling the truth about subjects instead of stopping the immediate corruption on the island.
Posted by
bondi
on
June 29, 2015 08:39
Editor Comment:
What corruption is that, bondi? Surely there's no such thing on Phuket?
I said it before and i will keep on saying it: As long as the authorities don't even have the power to enforce something simple as a helmet law, we don't have to keep our hopes up for something like controlling taxi fares. 400 Baht for a short trip though would be the same in many Australian cities. In Brisbane for example, from 7 pm till 7 am, the "flag fall" stands at more then 6 Australian Dollar.Plus another 2 Dollar plus, per Km. That doesn't take away the fact that Thai prices should be adjusted, so that more local people could afford to take a taxi.
Posted by
Carl
on
June 29, 2015 08:42
Editor Comment:
It's certainly true that Phuket is in a developing country where the taxi fares happen to be the first item that is fully-developed. In fact, Phuket fares are world leaders.
A bit off topic but there are much nearer places to fly to Bali than Phuket, eg Singapore, Jakarta "''My son was heading surfing off Bali for two weeks. He only went via Phuket as all flights were full leaving Australia.'' seems there is more to this story like why did not not stay for a few days to see his father?
Posted by
I am pretty far from ok
on
June 29, 2015 09:21
Editor Comment:
Was his father on Phuket or in Australia? It's certainly not the obvious detour.
i am pretty far from ok no i am in bondi till next wed .the only avenue out of sydney and the quickest was via phuket and fly the next morning to k/l than bali.i suppose he could have waited a couple of days but when the surfs pumping you gotta go
Posted by
bondi
on
June 29, 2015 10:02
"Phuket's Taxis, Tuk-Tuks Still Blacken Holiday Island's Tourism Future"
Always has and always will.
No change in sight....
Posted by
Nicky
on
June 29, 2015 10:55
Editor Comment:
At least the database and signage is in place. A couple of years ago, it wasn't possible to tell who was legal and who wasn't.
The bottom line is that the unmetered, airport taxis will try to get as much money from potential passengers as possible, if those passengers are not fully aware how many Km it is to their destination.
Ask to go to Patong and a typical fare is 900 baht from the airport - most passengers will know the distance to Patong.
But ask to go to a specific hotel that is not in a main tourist location, and the taxi drivers will try for as much as they can get.
The driver knows where the hotel is and the passenger does not - without metered taxis, the passenger has to rely on the honesty of the taxi driver when agreeing a fare.
By the way ED, 400 baht is a regular demand by airport taxi drivers for this 3 minute journey to the hotel in question. On one occasion, they have demanded (and received from the naive passenger) 1000 baht!
Posted by
Simon Luttrell
on
June 29, 2015 10:59
Editor Comment:
Outrageous. Until Phuket's administrators run the island instead of the tuk-tuk, taxi and jet-ski operators, tourists would be wise to choose their destination with appropriate care.
Air Asia often has flights from Bangkok to Nakhon Si Thammarat for 750 baht. You could catch a flight from Bangkok to Nakhon then a bus to Phuket for about the same price as a taxi from the Phuket airport to Patong. It's ridiculous.
Posted by
Arun Muruga
on
June 29, 2015 12:30
When I speak to many friends who visited specifically Phuket, their experience has been tainted by the greed which prevails on the Island. Sadly, most will re-think their holiday destination next time round.
Posted by
reader
on
June 29, 2015 12:59
As others have said, there is no incentive to change. Tourists are seen as ATMs from whom the maximum amount of cash must be extracted for the least amount of effort. With cartels in place across the island (usually called "clubs") making such great income for themselves and local authorities, why would you change?
Posted by
Discover Thainess
on
June 29, 2015 13:13
Editor Comment:
When the backside falls out of the business, people change.
Ed, last week I took a taxi from Don Muang to Holiday Inn Bangkok Silom. 27,7km. I paid 60 thb airport tax,170 thb pay road, and tips, total 400 thb. I was waiting 4 min. befor I got my taxipaper and the driver picked up my suitcase. What's wrong on Phuket?
Posted by
Retired Roadworker
on
June 29, 2015 14:48
AM,
But a bus ride from Nakhon Si Thamarat to Phuket can be a life threatening experience.
Posted by
MoW
on
June 29, 2015 15:30
Despite promises that the tuk-tuks and hire cars and motorcycles that hog most public parking spots in the tourist hub of Patong will be brought under control, little has changed." It needs to be said, even though you will "attack" me as a "doomsayer", or what ever else you can use to feel "superior," we told you so. You optimism at times a little wayward, or more a little too early, change will happen, but it could be a long time off.
Posted by
Laurie Howells
on
June 29, 2015 16:34
Editor Comment:
I have never for a moment been fussed about what you or any other Doomsayer has had to say. You see it as an ego thing: I don't have an ego. Telling other readers that nothing has changed and nothing will ever change is just what the tuk-tuk and taxi drivers would say, and just what they want to hear. That puts you on the wrong side of the trenches in the struggle between right and wrong. That's why your comments add no value, except to prop up the tuk-tuk and taxi drivers. What a shame you and the other Doomsayers are so beaten down with self-pity that you don't have a single bright idea between the lot of you.
I just drove from Patong to Chalong via Karon and Kata along the beachside road and I was happy to see only a fraction of the tuk-tuks one usually sees.
I hope this means they are simply going out of business. Judging from the large number of shops being closed and very few tourists to be seen, it gives me hope this is indeed the case.
Posted by
Herbert
on
June 29, 2015 16:47
Editor Comment:
Kata and Karon have been more effectively cleared. Herbert, I believe you've just crossed the trenches and said something positive.
Landed at Heathrow jumped in a black cab, said a hotel just outside airport and he was very unhappy as was only a 15 pound fare. Said he had been waiting 2 hours so we agreed a 20 pound surcharge. So 400 baht at night sounds reasonable. In 10 years I have never paid more than 700 baht night or day to bang Tao beach.
Posted by
Conquestador
on
June 29, 2015 17:00
Editor Comment:
The taxi drivers are not going to complain about your generosity. Bear in mind that the daily wage is 300 baht and then consider whether 700 baht is reasonable for a local to pay.
Oh no, let's not make a habit of that !
I believe it has nothing to do with any clearance but rather the fact that the tuk-tuk drivers got fed up sitting in their tin cans on the roadside all day long without any potential customers even in sight.
The illegally painted parking squares are all still there, which I believe would have been removed it the reason was clearance.
Better now ? :)
Posted by
Herbert
on
June 29, 2015 17:11
@ Herbert, well the fact that all the yellow colored painted lines, illegally painted by taxi and tuk tuk drivers, are not yet removed is a clear public proof that Phuket authorities for some reason still not want to enforce laws.
Posted by
Kurt
on
June 29, 2015 17:27
To change things in phuket, you need to replace all those people... That's their mentality, they just think more tourists will come. Patong is dead now, they cry but they act the same... Hotels are empty, i saw my landlord today, depressed, saying what we gonna do with chinese customers here...
but still, they keep the same mentality, the taxis next to the hotel still have this smirk on their faces... Telling you it's 800 bath to go to the airport, if you dont want, get out, one taxi told me one day downstairs my hotel...
They dont get it but now, it's really dead and the future looks really dark here!
Posted by
Eric
on
June 29, 2015 18:42
Ed, quite frankly, to read that into my comment you really must be an idiot, I simply stated a fact, nothing else, your ranting's show a loss of reality. I wonder, what one would be, if they fail to accept the realities of life, on Phuket. Ed, it is you that makes, at times, a fool of yourself. I have not, ever, "propped up the tuk-tuk and taxi drivers," that is simply libellous, only you, in you slightly twisted mind could say that, interestingly, none of your readers have ever said it.
Posted by
Laurie Howells
on
June 29, 2015 18:53
Editor Comment:
Your comments only show a commitment to your own point of view, Laurie, which would be fine if your point of view actually expressed a thought worth sharing. Nihilism will get you nowhere. That's a tautology, but it's true. I don't have time to waste on you. Sorry.
Look back at history and check how many ''realists'' there are who said ''nothing will ever change.'' Start with the people who said ''the Earth is flat, we know that'' then think about whether there's any logic in what you say. The one certainty is that everything changes, sooner or later, for better or for worse.
"The one certainty is that everything changes, sooner or later, for better or for worse.." And in Phuket will be later and for worse because too late. People alder than 40 years can't change their mind, can't change their life.. Is question of lackness of education, lackness of experience and lackness of humility to accept the facts.. May be a day, (as you said) the life will be able to change them, just a second before jumping from the cliff.. But how long we still have to wait for? The disaster is already back to the corner..
Posted by
dave
on
June 30, 2015 00:11
Lots of airport's have a minimum fare just been no one on phuket to set one. Even Singapore has an airport surcharge but added with a fair metered taxi system.
Posted by
Michael
on
June 30, 2015 01:29
Editor Comment:
The surcharge at Phuket is twice as large as the surcharges at Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang, I believe.
With a surge in package tours and a lessening of Westerners, how is the taxi business doing?
Posted by
Bill
on
June 30, 2015 02:24
I have banned Phuket and now spend my tourist dollars in Hua Hin.
More than happy to spend my tourist dollar in Thailand but not happy to be blatantly ripped off in Phuket.
The Phuket authorities are pathetic and the Island will continue to lose there previously regular tourists to other destinations.
Posted by
Chaseable
on
June 30, 2015 06:36
@Conquestador
Comparing taxi fares in the UK with taxi fares in Thailand has no value because of the difference in the overall cost of running a taxi in the two countries
Posted by
Paul
on
June 30, 2015 07:30
Febuary this year my wife arrived in Phuket and asked for a taxi to nai yang beach resort the lady at the taxi stand said 500 baht. Not being a first time visitor to phuket she said no only a month ago she paid 200 baht. the lady at the stand said no you pay 500 baht. then a few drivers came over from thier yellow and blue cabs and stood around her. She felt so intimadated she paid. As Simon said this has been going on for a long time, In the few trips this year not once has a taxi driver turned on the meter to go to Patong. its been 850 or 900 baht already told price at airport.
Posted by
Dave
on
June 30, 2015 09:36
It's so easy to blame the tuk tuks/ taxis, and they deserve lots of blame. But it should be directed at the authorities. Time and again they have shown no desire to work for the people they are meant to represent - everyday folk - but prefer to work for the people who presumably are lining their pockets. It's the authorities that should be blamed and shamed continuously until someone in power stands up and does something. Until then...
Posted by
Duncan
on
June 30, 2015 10:11
I had a good chuckle at Chaseable's Hua in comment. 305 baht for a 3-4 hour ride on a VIP bus with roomy comfortable seats and a decent seatbelt. In Hua Hin, a 150 baht tuk tuk ride is the equivalent of a 400 baht Patong ride. Hua Hin is very busy on weekends and in high season. And yet, the tuk tuks and taxis don't gouge like they do in Patong. The biggest difference? Hua Hin's drivers usually are sober, polite, smile and drive prudently. If it can be done in Hua Hin, why not in Phuket?
Posted by
Ryan
on
June 30, 2015 10:54
@ Ryan
The biggest difference between Hua Hin and Phuket re tuk-tuks is that Hua Hin is predominantly a Thai tourist destination, where as Phuket is international.
A large amount of Thais would cheat and fleece a foreigner in a heartbeat but they will think twice if it's a fellow Thai.
Since the majority of tourists in Hua Hin (and Cha-Am) are mainly Thais, they would not get away with what they do in Phuket because they would simply run out of targets.
On Phuket they have more than enough foreigners to rip off for them not to have to care how their fellow Thais react to similar pricing.
Nevertheless, if you can master some Thai, listen in when a fellow Thai is in the process of purchasing something at any of the Phuket tourist locations.
You are guaranteed to hear the phrase
" Kon Thai lot thaurai "
i.e. how much discount for a Thai person ?
The result is often 30 to 50%.
Posted by
Herbert
on
June 30, 2015 13:59
Ed, once again in you haste to show how "superior" you believe yourself to be you completely chose to "ignore" my previous comment re: "change will happen, but it could be a long time off." You take the "safe" line ALL the time re: "change is inevitable" but do not comment to anything timeframe, you also lead readers to believe this "change" will be for the "positive" refusing to even consider the opposite could occur.
Posted by
Laurie Howells
on
June 30, 2015 16:38
Editor Comment:
The only thing you are interested in doing, Laurie, is big noting yourself. Guesswork doesn't cut it. Add value and forget your fixation with me or you too will be taking a holiday.
Taxi & tuk tuk prices in Phuket are crazy. How can it be that a tuk tuk fare in many cases can be higher than a budget room in a hotel.
For years those drivers have terrorised tourists and locals. They must be a protected cartel. The question is who at the top of the political tree is making the big bucks to protect these taxi thieves?
Posted by
Anonymous
on
July 2, 2015 00:27
Dear Ed: why do you waste your time replying to lonely Trolls, for example, Laurie Howells?
I have just read all consecutive posts of hers and learned Zero. Just wasted valuable time, which I could have spent watching the tide come in and go out.
A PhuketWan fan.
Posted by
Patricia Delicia
on
July 4, 2015 10:39
@Conquestador.
I cannot believe you agreed and paid a 20 pound surcharge, the taxi driver must have thought it was his birthday. For a trip such as that they are allowed to cut back into the queue at LHR.
There is one born every minute it seems!!
Posted by
Andy
on
July 10, 2015 04:54
I pay 400 baht from the Airport to Cherntalay which is 5 minutes from the entrance to Laguna Phuket and takes around 25-30 minutes!
Posted by
Sam Hayman
on
July 11, 2015 17:00
Sam Hayman,
can you explain, please, why licensed taxis give you rates well below the market?
I assume you did use a licensed taxi, but not e.g. some company's car is driven by an employee, putting all costs on the company, but net gross margin amount the charged fee, into his pocket).
Thanks.
Posted by
Sue
on
July 12, 2015 07:21
Sad sad sad , i am in phuket now leaving on monday, and me and my wife and the last few years my kids 4 and 7 have been comming here since 2004, and i really dont know what is happening, first of all the tuk tuk mafia is getting out of hand, 200 baht from one point of patong to bangla rd not even a km?? And then i rented a car for a few days, that was a disaster, no no parking in patong tuk tuks every where and if u do get a open spot to park they come and chase u away and say u are not alowed to park there it is for tuk tuks. There is almost no swimming place for people, jet skis every where the entire beach and parasailing, and the operators are very rude, the were very rude to me and my children a few times telling us not to swim where we wanted to , we had to walk for a long period of time to find a spot where it was safe to swim , and not even there it was safe because the jetski operators was operating where every body was swimming aswell, so basically they are operating the entire beach, i wonder who is the big boss behind the jet skis? mr govender u wanted to stop the mafia of beach chairs but now i wonder how can u allow the jetski operators to get the entire beach. Then i get the 10 % beach lounger thing , but seriously paying 100 baht for a mat and umbrella that is outrageous, i will pay a 100 baht for a sun lounger , not to lie on the ground, i can use my own towel for that thanx!! and now with me having small kids and the hot sun of phuket i am not allowed to bring my own umbrella , and are forced to sit in the sun if no beach mats is available, have u ever heard about CANCER!! And then last i have never seen Patong beach dirtier than this year , it is so bad broken beer bottles in the sea, bags and wood and bottles and what ever are floating every where , not even talking anout the dirty dirty smelly water from the little river floating into the sea next to the seaview patong hotel , and polluting the entire front part of half of patong beach,
If u still what to safe Phuket u must seriously start doing something about it, i cant see people coming to phuket anymore for a beach holliday, and that was probably the nr 1 reason for people comming to Phuket , but now everything is getting so expensive, dirty, beiing ripped of.
Ps : i wonder what will happen if i post my video online of one of the jetski operators pushing me a few times On my back, infront of my kids , telling me to get of the beach this is his area i must find a other place to swim, After 11 years i am so so sad seeing what is happening here, and after following everyone's comments on phuket wan after last years beach raid in July i wanted to come and see for myself what is goiing on, and seriously there is better places in the world to spend your money !! please safe Phuket !!!!!!
Posted by
Jacques
on
July 12, 2015 07:30
@Jacques
Very sad to hear what happened on your holiday to phuket, but no surprise at all, this is what Patong has become now.
I would suggest posting the video on YouTube and writing your review on Trip Advisor
We have to try to improve things in Patong to encourage people to come back, and for that to happen, things must change.
Can I recommend Krabi for your next trip to Thailand, beautiful beaches, no jet skis or parasails - lovely place.
Posted by
Discover Thainess
on
July 12, 2015 09:50
@ Jacques. Please put your video on youtube and hope somebody takes note. The more publicity gets in this regard, the more hope there is for action. When tourists stop coming, who they gonna get business from, Ms. Mayor herself?
Posted by
Anno
on
July 12, 2015 11:05
The obvious answer for Jacques is to spend his money elsewhere. Patong beach used to be a wonderful place 25 years ago but now it is a dirty, over-priced, rip off. The locals have had it so good for so long they have a contemptuous attitude to tourists and treat them as just entities to rip off and cheat.
Just do as I do and just avoid the place. Time has shown officials are not really interested in what tourists want or need. They just turn a blind eye to all the scams and rip offs.
It's just embarrassing so see our volunteer embassy officials pleading with Thai officials to make changes. It is those very same officials secretly taking kick backs that have allowed all the problems to manifest and fester.
I get so sick of all the excuses for these Phuket problems when it all gets down to a lack of character and honesty from greedy people selfishly putting their own agendas before what is best for the country, it's citizens and visitors.
Posted by
Arun Murugaa
on
July 12, 2015 15:48
Editor Comment:
Outrageous. Until Phuket's administrators run the island instead of the tuk-tuk, taxi and jet-ski operators, tourists would be wise to choose their destination with appropriate care.
Posted by
phuketgreed
on
July 25, 2015 18:40
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seems like the army is more interested in chasing you guys for telling the truth about subjects instead of stopping the immediate corruption on the island.
Posted by bondi on June 29, 2015 08:39
Editor Comment:
What corruption is that, bondi? Surely there's no such thing on Phuket?