Bangkok Taxi Drivers

If there's one thing I detest with a passion, its being ripped off. It's bad enough when you find out after the event that you were ripped, but its even worse when the rip-off is so blatant that you can see it happening right before your eyes. Most of the worst and most blatant rip-offs and attempted rip-offs, that have been perpetrated on me, have been by Bangkok taxi drivers. These fellows are in a league of their own. I admit that it is unfair to tar them all with the same brush, there are, no doubt, some really upstanding guys out there, but on the whole, they are a fairly scaly bunch. Let me relate my two latest experiences;

I arrived at Bangkok international airport this morning and caught a taxi into town. The taxi driver tried to get me to agree to a fixed fee of 300 Baht. I politely declined and insisted that he turn on the meter. Fortunately, he did not push the issue and I arrived at my destination with the meter sitting on 205 Baht. This was clearly an attempted rip-off and I don't know why he even tried - was it because I am a foreigner? Would he have tried the same trick on a Thai man?

My business in town finished, I needed to catch a taxi to our head office, which has a guest house attached to it. This is about a 25km drive and the average taxi fare is maximum 230 Baht. It was 7 pm and the first two taxi's that I got into refused to take me (as I understand the law, a taxi which is on duty is compelled to take the customer wherever they want to go within the city of Bangkok). So, not a rip-off per se, but a flagrant violation of the law and a major source of irritation to me, a tired guy who wants to go home. Once again, I ask myself, "Would these guys have refused a Thai man who got into their taxis?" Anyway, the 3rd taxi I find is willing to take me, but he refuses to turn on the meter and because I'm getting fairly desperate to get home and am not in the mood to try to find another taxi, we agree on a fare of 300 Baht. Rip-off right there! If his meter was on, it wouldn't come to more that 230 and I still have to fork out 75 Baht in tolls.

Now, its clear to me right from the outset, that this fellow has no idea where I want him to take me. He keeps mentioning places that I have not heard of and I keep telling him which highway to take and which off-ramp and near which temple my destination is. I give him street names, but he still has no clue. I tell him not to worry, that I know exactly where it is and will direct him as we go. So we're going along the freeway on our way home when he decides that he wants to take the next off-ramp, which is one before mine. I ask him to please keep going, that my offramp is the next one and it is literally 3 minutes away at his current speed. He refuses, takes the wrong off-ramp and starts ranting and raving about how I told him that this was where I wanted to go. I tell him that he has just squandered his fare and that he must stop so that I can get out. At this stage the situation escalates to a loud screaming match. He refuses to stop, but says that he's going back to where he picked me up from (20 kms back). He is so irate that he tries to drive up the wrong way on another freeway off-ramp. I'm in the back, threatening to call the police because he's ripping me off and I'm telling him that he's not doing his karma any good. Eventually, still speaking in very raised voices, we agree that he would take me to the old Bangkok airport, which was further than he would have had to go had he just carried on on the freeway as I had asked him.

As I reflected on this whole ugly incident afterwards, I realised that I had handled it very badly and had not been a very good witness. Then again, what do you do when an irate taxi driver accuses you of lying about where you wanted to go and refuses to drop you off, but instead insists on going back to where you started from, thus wasting more than an hour of your time and money paid in toll fees? What really irks me is that the whole situation arose from his greed and intention to rip me off in the first place. He stung me for 300 Baht and when he realised that he had to take me further than he originally understood, it was no longer such a bargain for him. If, on the other hand, he had had his meter on, he wouldn't have worried. In fact, the further he had to take me, the longer the meter would have run and the more money he would have earned.

So what lessons do I take away from this? Don't trust taxi drivers? Give very detailed instructions with names and numbers of offramps and streets and suburbs? Use only those taxi's that are prepared to turn on their meters, even if it means taking a bit longer to find a guy honest enough to do it? I don't know. I just know that right now I'm feeling a little jaded, but I'm sure I'll be alright in the morning:-)

Our May 2008 Newsletter

How do you get to know a town and meet people? On foot, with a cute little baby of course. In order to really get to know Lampang town (see photo of Wat Phra Trat LampangLuang), we ditched the Isuzu and walked. We used the municipal market as our starting point and walked down the streets, going from shop to shop, introducing ourselves, telling people what we do, why we’re in Lampang, and handing out tracts.

“So, where are you from?” asked one friendly shopkeeper.
“South Africa,” we replied.
“Mmmm, where’s that?”
“The southern most part of Africa”
“Oh, is it a region?”
”Well, no, it’s a country”
“And what city are you from in this South Africa country?”
“Johannesburg”
“Johannesburg!!!! I’ve been there. I was there 3 years ago on an 8-day tour!” Then, much excitement as we talked about what a wonderful holiday destination South Africa is.

So far we’ve learned a couple of valuable lessons:

1. Nina is a great conversation starter and eases any initial tensions, but after two minutes she becomes a liability (she gets bored easily on the hip, but tends to destroy displays in shops when let loose).
2. Its going to take a lot longer than we thought to survey this town. The folk in Lampang are really friendly and keen to talk, so in about one hour, we only did one block … there are many blocks to go!
3. There is a big Catholic school in Lampang and many people think that we are associated with them - and don’t understand why we are not… others have been in contact with the Mormons and think they already know what we’re all about.

PHI NOK’S BIRTHDAY

Phi Nok’s restaurant is closed this Wednesday. It’s her birthday and she is going to “tham bun” (have a merit making ceremony) at the restaurant because it is an auspicious day for her. She usually does this at the temple, but this year she’s decided to do it at the restaurant, hoping that it’ll bring her lots of luck and make the restaurant more prosperous. She admits that it’s the first time she is doing it at the restaurant, but really, she should have a merit making ceremony there at least once a year. On the 4^th some monks will come to the restaurant at 10h30 (we’ve been invited to join in) as Phi Nok goes through with the ceremony.

Phi Nok tries to be a good Buddhist, but she knows that she cannot even keep the 5 basic Buddhist precepts – she kills flies almost every day - so actually, she is without hope. We shared with her about the hope that we have in Christ and that only he can remove our bad karma.