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#1
10-05-2005, 22:43
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Airport Taxi Warning
This was found at Karon Cafe' Inn's website(http://www.karon-phuket-hotels.com/taxiwarning.htm):
AIRPORT TAXI WARNING Message from the owner of Bolder Business Associates Thank you for visiting this page. Phuket is full of natural beauty, nice beaches, and beautiful smiling people. But as with every place around the world, we have our problems as well. Normally, no tourist related business wants to talk about the problems they have, but I (Managing Director and CEO of Bolder Business Associates Co. Ltd.), have decided that the problem with the Airport Taxi Service is so important that we must inform our customers of the problem now as it has become worse after the tsunami and many well intentioned travellers are falling victim to this scheme. Many independent travellers arrive in Phuket tired from their journey, looking forward to sandy beaches and smiling people; a nice holiday. Usually, the first people they run into are the airport taxi drivers, who are also usually smiling, but in many cases they are not smiling out of kind friendliness, they are thinking about how much money they can make off you. You might think that these poor people deserve to be supported and you wouldn't mind to pay a little too much especially after the tsunami etc.. But I don't think you would feel that way if you knew that they are scamming to get 30-40% of what you plan to spend for a hotel room. That means, on a two week booking, that innocent looking taxi driver and his smiling well spoken cohorts are trying to and many times will make 10,000 or more baht (250 USD) on your holiday. That is more than an average months salary for most Thai people. So here is how they work. First a smiling girl or boy greets you at the arrival hall or just outside and ask you if you need a taxi. The next question they will ask is if you have a booking already. If you say "No", for them, that means you are a customer which belongs to them. You are now a piece of property which belongs to them and anybody who wants to have your business must pay them. Even if you know which Hotel you want to go to, if you don't have a confirmed booking it is understood that your business belongs to them. Since everyone is scared of the AIRPORT TAXI UNION, nobody can help you after you tell them you don't have a confirmed Hotel booking. So then to make it look legitimate, they will take you to a bogus travel agent whom they claim can get you a better deal. Sometimes they physically bring you to the bogus agent or sometimes they just call on their cell phone. They call that you requested hotel and tell the hotel that you no belong to them and they will only bring you to the hotel if the hotel pays them an obscene commission usually about 700-1000 baht per night for every night you stay. Often times the hotel gets less than the taxi driver. And if the Hotel doesn't agree to pay the commission, then the driver and travel agent will spend hours of your time trying to convince you that the hotel is fully booked, closed for rennovation, or whatever story they think of. They will waste your time until you agree to go somewhere that they can get a commission. Once you get in that taxi without a confirmed booking you are their prisoner, even though you already paid a taxi fare about double the rate of Bangkok !!!!! These people are so good at running these scams that some customers even tip the taxi driver after he "helped them to find a room". But the bottom line is everybody loses except the taxi's. Hotels have raise prices in order to make up for this ridiculous expense so YOU PAY HIGHER ROOM RATES. Hotel's can't afford to pay their own staff well, these are the nice people who really deserve more since they take care of you day after day, cleaning your room, making you good food to eat, and generally making your holiday more enjoyable. So you might ask why the Hotel Owners of Phuket allow this Monkey Business activity to go on. The fact is that, over the years, these undereducated monkeys have made enough money this way to form a semi-legal group (mafia). The money they have made from making unsuspecting tourists pay higher hotel rates finds it way all around the island. They have enough money to convince all the government officials involved to allow them to maintain their presence as the only taxi service available inside the terminal at Phuket Airport. They also have enough money to prevent other competition from spoiling their situation. Now there are metered taxi's at the airport but you have to walk with your luggage across the parking lot through the mob of airport taxi drivers in order to get one. And then most of the metered taxis are scared to take you to tourist areas, actually they generally only want to take Thai people to non-tourist destinations since they have been harrassed and beaten by the much larger AIRPORT TAXI UNION. Also, many hotel staff are afraid of these guys, and sometimes taxi's even demand a commission when the customer has a printed voucher of reservation. That's right, first they charge you double the taxi rates of Bangkok, then you tip the guy, and after you check in, the same smiling taxi driver goes to reception and demands a commission. WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP ? As with most of the Hotel Owners in Phuket, we want to provide our customers with the best accomodation and service for the lowest price possible. We want you to enjoy your holiday so much that you come back again and again and with your friends too. We have a lot to offer here in Phuket especially exceptionally good value for your money. "If you don't think it's proper for Taxi Touts to make 30-40% commissions on room bookings when real respectable Travel Agents only ask 10-15%, then please don't support the taxi mafia. Please follow the advice below and help us to make Phuket a better place to visit." Always book your Hotel and airport transfer in advance, even if only for one night. It's much easier to shop for a deal once you've escaped the Airport Taxi Touts, because no Hotel will be able to offer you any special deal when you arrive in an airport taxi. Also, drivers employed by Hotels are generally more friendly and helpful. If you don't have time to book in advance, simply order the taxi to go directly to the hotel of your choice and tell him you already have a booking. But this will sometimes create a problem for the hotel because if you don't have any documentation of your booking, the taxi driver will insist the hotel pay a commission anyway. They are very pushy and often times will volunteer to help carry your bags to reception so they can see if you produce documentation of a booking at check in. Never discuss your travel details with Airport Taxi drivers, treat them exactly as what they are, a service which employs low class people to perform the job of bringing you from point A to point B. Never give a taxi driver any respect, they see that as a sign that you are weak and can be taken advantage of. It's important to remember, they demand a commission on every night you stay not just the first night. They even come back and check with reception to see if you checked out or stayed longer. Please keep a note of the taxi's ID number in case you want to report any strange behaviour and in case the driver asks the hotel to pay a commission after you check in, you can give that information to the Hotel. Use the metered taxi's if possible. Help them to get their business going, but please follow the same guidelines above as they also would like to get a piece of the hotel action. If all customers follow these guidelines and assist us, we will put this activity to a halt and it will result in generally lower Hotel rates for you, our valued customers. Here at Bolder Business we offer you our convenient website direct booking systems which allow you to easily pick and reserve the room of your choice, get a nice discount on the room, and arrange your airport transfer in advance. Our commitment is to make your holiday easy, enjoyable, and excellent value for your money. Kind Regards, Eric A. Conger 
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#2
11-05-2005, 01:49
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Golf promotion-detour .
The most annoying thing about the taxi trip from the airport to Patong,is that they always encounter " a possible problem with the traffic in Kathu" and they take you through the golf and housing project nearby !!
This have happened on my last 2 trips,even when I arranged with the hotel to pick me up at the airport,we ended up on the golf-promotion trip  We passed through the golf course with the speed of 10 km/h when the driver said:"Looks nice or what ?",which by then I replied :"Naa....I ****ing HATE golf !!!" .....that was the magic word,he speeded up and brought me to Patong in no time without uttering another word again 
__________________
" Morgenstund har mus i mund og sæd i pung  " !!!
Last edited by Yahooka : 11-05-2005 at 01:51. Reason: Spelling mistake
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#3
11-05-2005, 01:54
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i suppose with a downturn in tourist numbers ,people are getting increasingly desperate to get money ,so they resort to any scam thet can get away with ,i always book the hotel taxi too ,but i didn,t know about this scam !,i do now though and will advise any friends that go to los in future
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#4
11-05-2005, 02:57
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I haver seen and heard about this scam for a long time. Since I speak Thai and tell them I live in Phuket they dont bother with me. Only one time the last two years I also had to stop at a travel agent and they asked me for hotel, I told them politely I have house in patong and dont need another hotel. Then another driver come and drived me. Strange.
Even if you have not booked any hotel, tell them a place to drop you off, e.g. C&N or another known place. Dont tell them you dont have booked any hotel. One time my parents also had problems, they told the taxi driver they already had a hotel room, but he insisted it was full and no rooms available. (Last year)
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#6
11-05-2005, 10:11
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I went there in january and the same thing happened. They stopped me at a 'travel agent' and tried to get me to go for a hotel for 900 baht per night.
My friend and I just told them we already have a booking at Expat (lie!). We went there and the driver did go to the counter girls, speaking Thai, demanding something I guess. So after he left, we walked a bit to Yorkshire Inn. Got a good rate and never saw the taxi driver again. It's just a minor incovenience and a simple no is good enough.
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#7
11-05-2005, 12:42
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Never have problem. Never have someone come to meet me and ask if I need taxi. There is a taxi counter near the exit
ive it's the mini bus drivers who pull the scam of stopping at a travel agents and try to get you book another hotel I reckon this story is way over the top, even the Tuk Tuk's arent as bad as this story!!!! I reckon more bullshit about phuket G
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#8
11-05-2005, 13:24
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Quote:
THERES ENOUGH GOING ON WITH OUT ALL THIS OTHER CRAP..... IJ
__________________
ROLL ON OCTOBER........
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#9
11-05-2005, 15:02
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God only knows how many taxis I've caught from the airport to Patong, and I have never experienced any problems. One time I even forgot to get my B500 change, told the driver he stopped and rang the airport. Gave me B500 out of his wallet and he got it back when he returned to the airport.
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#10
11-05-2005, 17:53
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On my last trip in March I used the minibus taxi. They stopped at their
office/travel agency on the way. Apparently this is now standard practise. They asked everybody if they had rooms booked. One young couple said no. They offered them a room at the Paradizio ( spelling) guest house @ 700 bt. a night. The couple accepted it and booked 10 nights. I had seen the same a/c rooms advertised on Phuket Gazette site the previous week @ 350 bt. I remember about 7 years ago when i first visited Phuket the same thing happened to me. ( still a little green) I arrived with nowhere booked and the taxi people booked me into the S.V. Hotel on Had Patong Rd. @ 1200 a night I only booked for 2 nights with them. At that time there was a shortage of rooms in Patong so I enquired at the hotel how much to stay longer. They quoted me 900 a night which i got down to 750. Enough said.
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#11
11-05-2005, 21:03
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Bloody mini bus
This March as G said it was the mini bus that loaded us all in and took us to the travel agent. Even when I told them that I had a room, which I did, and told them a very low price they still tried to talk me into another place and tried to throw in motor bike for same price. They rang even after I still said no but the hotel could not match the price, as it was not the truth what I had told them. The mini bus driver dropped me a few minutes walk from my hotel as he did not want to go off the main road. He wanted to drop me in town but my hotel was a few minutes drive away and I had to be real firm to get him to take me anywhere near the hotel. It was way to hot to just stay in the bus at the travel agent so we all got out. I was not happy, it took way to long to get to Patong, got driven everywhere before I was dropped off. I won’t use the mini van again I will just use the taxi and pay the extra.
__________________
Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance. 
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#12
11-05-2005, 21:12
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my experience is that as long as i told the driver that i already had a room booked they would usually leave you alone. although one time the driver took me to a travel agency even though i had already told him a room was booked. at the agency the lady told me she knows the owner of the hotel and could get me a better rate and such, but i just politely declined a she let it go at that.
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#13
12-05-2005, 03:57
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Im scared of the taxi driver now after hearing all this Im going to walk to patong next time and save 550 Baht
 To be honest the taxi drive is always a buss for me and not too much worries me on the ride always happy to be back.  Last time I was taken the back way throught the golf course but must have had a deaf & dumb driver he didnt say a word from airport to hotel !!
__________________
MAY THE BEER BE COLD AND ALL YOUR BETS WINNERS
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#14
12-05-2005, 04:10
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Quote:
I got the golf club detour on the way back to the airport. The driver made some remark about it being quicker because the road was empty. He was right,and now I know where the Dulwich School is now On my first trip,the hotel pickup didn't arrive,so went outside and got a taxi from there. He stopped at the travel agent and we had the spiel about getting a better hotel for a better rate as well but as I had booked and paid deposits I wasn't going to change. The driver was OK about this and the trip was fine,550 baht standard fare.
__________________
I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my Granddad Not screaming in fear like his passengers
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#15
12-05-2005, 11:49
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i just simply tell them when i am booking the taxi that i do not want to stop at their office and they always listen. make sur you say that to the people at the desk and be certain she says it to the driver. ive even had her write it in thai to give to the driver. fu** them
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#16
12-05-2005, 18:32
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I took a taxi last week from airport to patong. Driver did stop at agency on the way claiming he needed directions to Harry's hotel. Agent lady asked about another room, I firmly said no and we went on no problem. Stayed one night at Harry's - terrible. Walked in to Patong Garden resort got awesome new room for 1800 bht with breakfast. Great trip!
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#17
13-05-2005, 15:41
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My first six times that I flew into patong, I took the minibus. Usually got the song and dance at the travel agent, but quickly learned that if I started taliking to them in Thai, they didn't bother me.
The last time, decided I wanted to get to the hotel faster,and avoid the waiting for the minibus to load up and the staop at the travel agent. I went out to the taxis, and they said OK, 600 or 650 Baht. I said 500 Baht, no more. I walked away, and they came after me and said OK, 500 Baht. Then I got the golf course drive and had to tell him I hate ****ing golf(untrue).Then he said he had to stop somewhere. Let's just say I got very upset. He had asked me if I had a room booked, and I said I'm staying at the place I always stay(not true), on one of the paradise sois, but I can't remember the name. Just drop me off at Paradise. He insisted on taking me to an agent. I said, "Look, I know the whole f*cking travel agent scam. I hire YOU to drive me where I want to go and that is what you are going to do. I hired YOU so I could avoid going to a travel agent's office like the minibus does. Drive to Patong and DO NOT stop anywhere along the way. He argued with me a bit, but I just argued more, and for everything he said, I *****ed at him twice as much, until he couldn't stand listening to me rag on him any more. Then we drove the rest of the way in Stony silence. He dropped me on one of the Paradise sois, and the I found the hotel I was looking for which is funky but cheap. I spend one night there, then go shopping for a hotel in the morning. I generally don't book in advance, 'cause I like to go around and see who wants to give me a deal. It is easier to bargain on a room when you are not carrying bags. BTW, when I took a taxi from the airport to BKK, I just blew by the pretty ladies trying to sell me taxis for from 550 Baht to 750 Baht, went out to the curb and got a taxi for 300 Baht. The driver was awesome. Drove me to 4 different hotels of my choosing, he didn't even make a suggestion. We drove around BKK for nearly an hour,with him waiting outside, while I went in and got told "no rooms at the inn." The guy was a saint, and did not ask for one Baht more for all the extra time and assistance. I gave him a 100 Baht tip. JayBee 
__________________
LOS is warm, soft, smooth, and brown. 
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#18
17-05-2005, 10:15
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So I fly in 3 weeks ago and have a room booked with voucher and I'm supposed to meet the driver at the airport to transfer me to the hotel...Low and behold the useless prick isn't there. I go walking out with just a little bag and myself and get the usual s*** from the taxi MAFIA and tell them I got a car coming....Here's the good pert as the security situation is becoming an issue they've got this little navy guy guarding the entrance to the exit and of course me beiing half in the bag I decide to re-enter with hopes of finding the driver, well the little fellow grabs me and tries to push me out (big mistake) so I push him out and the door closes. Now I have their attention for sure judging by the look of shock on their faces (all around) so he comes in the other way and I exit through the exit door and pomptly hail a Taxi and once I'm in he refuses to leave yammering on about the Police must come see me, of course little Navy man is right outside the cab waving his Baton like a cheerleader. So I get out my trusty mobile and call my good friend the Captain from Khoa Lak Naval base and tell him of the assault on me by his Petty Officer and he says give the Taxi driver the phone....Well ol Taxi boy starts stuttering and jumps out of the car to talk with the Petty Officer who promptly turns white as a ghost when the phone is handed to him and well I get my phone back and my friend tells me I should go and we will meet later to go whoring.....After the little problems and what not I had possibly the fatest taxi ride to Patong ever! With no stops anywhere but 7/11 for beer.
Moral of the story DO NOT MAKE A STAND IN THAILAND UNLESS YOU HAVE FRIENDS AND CASH
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#19
17-05-2005, 11:41
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Sorry but you sound as though your proud of this achievement. Security is there at the airport for a reason. If you did that in the States, you would have been locked up.
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#20
17-05-2005, 13:43
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No it wasn't meant to sound as an achievement, it was totally accidental on my part that I walked in the out and I didn't even see the guy, however had I not had friends I would've been in jail. The same as if you get to aggressive with the Taxi Mafia as some of the other posts have recommended you will either wind up there or with them threatening you.
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#21
17-05-2005, 17:05
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Same me. Never had these problems. But maybe they saw that i am a poor guy..... (farang mai mii dtang)
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#22
17-05-2005, 17:28
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I never had any problems with the taxidrivers from the airport, I have even passed the limosineservice and been taking a ordinary taxi to Patong. I think only if you look unsecoure about what kind of transport you need, then they try to hunt you down and take you to all kind of places. Also with the limosineservice things have worked out great for me. Sometimes they have been asking if I want to stop somewhere, but I allways say that Im tired and want to go stright to the hotel. After that no more questions, and they have allways carried my suitcase to the reception.
Geir
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