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Phukets ripoff taxis



 
 
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  #1  
Old February 5th, 2010, 06:11 PM posted to soc.culture.thai,rec.travel.asia,soc.culture.malaysia,soc.culture.singapore
none[_1_]
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Posts: 77
Default Phukets ripoff taxis

http://phuketgazette.net/news/detail.asp?id=8321


Phuket rip-off: the trouble with tuk-tuks
February 6, 2010



Seeing red ... tourists pay 10 times more for tuk-tuks in Phuket than
in Bangkok. Photo: Austin Bush/Lonely Planet

Tourists in Phuket are being taken for a ride, writes Alan Morison.

Most of Phuket's tuk-tuks are red, which is the colour tourists are
seeing when they encounter extortionate fares and sometimes gruff and
thuggish behaviour by the drivers of these strange local taxis.

The quaint open-sided vehicles provide a ride that's about as
comfortable as the back of a ute but visitors are charged a five-star
luxury price for the privilege of being bounced all over the holiday
island.

One Canadian tourist complained about the 150 baht ($5) fare for a one-
minute journey and was punched in the face five times by a driver last
month. A French tourist argued about a parking space on December 26
and had his arm broken.

The cost of a tuk-tuk from Phuket's airport to Patong, a journey of 40
kilometres, is 800 baht, about the same price as the bus fare to
Bangkok, 852 kilometres away.

Phuket's tuk-tuk drivers snaffle the best parking spots along the
island's popular beaches, charge more than 10 times what their Bangkok
colleagues ask and the number of drivers is growing quickly.

While Phuket tuk-tuks have four wheels compared to the three-wheelers
in Bangkok, that extra wheel hardly seems to justify prices that are
on par with those charged for air-conditioned taxi services in the
world's most popular cities.

Natdanai Chaowana, a prominent tuk-tuk owner in Patong, says: "In
Patong, everybody knows that it's 200 baht just to start the engine of
a tuk-tuk." When asked why the cost is so high, he adds: "'Look at the
economy of Phuket. Everything is expensive here."

Patong's police chief, Colonel Grissak Songmoonnark, says there are
too many tuk-tuks on Phuket. There are about 500 in Patong alone, he
says, not including unregistered vehicles. "Two hundred tuk-tuks would
be enough for the whole island," he says.

"Problems arise because of the rivalry between the tuk-tuk groups,
which means they often cannot make pick-ups so return trips are
usually made empty. It should be 150 baht to travel from Karon to
Patong but because the driver has to return empty, he charges 300
baht."

Tourists and expat residents have used internet chat sites to call for
a boycott, petitions and the introduction of a proper public transport
system on Phuket.

Visitors to Phuket can hire cars or motorcycles or catch slow buses
from Patong on the west coast to Phuket City on the east coast. Taxis
from the airport, for example, can drop passengers in Patong, Karon
and Kata but they cannot pick up passengers.

There are no buses linking the popular west-coast beaches, so tuk-tuks
and motorcycle taxis have a monopoly along the west coast.

It is widely acknowledged that tuk-tuk drivers have supporters in
local government, resulting in growing pressure for intervention by
the Thai government. Even Phuket's powerful provincial governor,
Wichai Praisa-ngob, who recently forced unscrupulous jet-ski operators
to pay for compulsory insurance, seems unable to rein in the "the tuk-
tuk mafia".
  #2  
Old February 7th, 2010, 12:10 PM posted to soc.culture.thai,rec.travel.asia,soc.culture.malaysia,soc.culture.singapore
Lim PE
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Posts: 1
Default Phukets ripoff taxis

Join packaged tours to avoid rip off, same in many countries.
E.g. Xiamen hotels charge high rates to walk-in customers,
low rates only to packages tours.


 




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