Suvarnabhumi and taxi touts

On Apr 10, 2:06 am, "Romeo Raabe" wrote:
Then came the bad. There are so many taxi touts that it is difficult
to walk through the terminal. Several tried to escort us. A couple
tried to take our bags off the cart to "be helpful". Out the door and
the closest road is reserved for taxis and limos. We had to walk to
the center divider to the second road so that my driver could meet us.

So let me ask - When I arrived 2 years ago at Don Muang, I was able to
ignore the taxi touts and proceed to the official taxi dispatch stand
outside.

Yes. But that doesn't alter the fact that the touts are there, in
force, and sometimes blocking the way making it difficult to get out.
It's just a hassle, but arriving tourists should not fact a hassle.
The touts should not be allowed to cajole passengers. Move the legal
ones off to kiosks and move the illegal ones out.

From there it was only $5.00 US equivalent to Sukhumvit
area. Is there an "official" taxi stand at the new airport - or not?
Also can someone explain how to pronounce the name of the new ariport?

Suvarnabhumi is the transliteration.

First syllable is more like "Sue". Second is "wahrn". Make is like a
"w" plus the English word "on". Some include the "r". There are
actually 2 "rah reua" in the Thai spelling. The "a" is soft and
clipped short. Then "boom" like the explosion. But the "b" explodes a
little. Kind of half way between a "b" and "p". "bpoom" People tend
to leave off the "i" of the end because it isn't pronounced. But it's
there in the Thai spelling. The reason that it's there is that spoke
Thai tends to elide the last consonant. So the tendency is to not
speak the "m". The vowel at the end has the effect of forcing the "m"
to be pronounced. But the "i" isn't.

Sue-wahrn-a-bpoom will get you understood. Easier to say "sanaam
bin" (airport).

On Apr 10, 7:16 am, "Tchiowa" wrote:
On Apr 10, 2:06 am, "Romeo Raabe" wrote:



Sue-wahrn-a-bpoom will get you understood. Easier to say "sanaam
bin" (airport).



Tchiowa, It will be interesting to see if, when the metered taxis
move up to arrivals level, the kiosks there blocking the way will be
relocated so that the taxis are clearly visible waiting outside, doing
this would render the touts obsolete.


IMHO I would say "Sue-won-a-poom" will also get people saying it
understood, rather like saying in English "Sue won a prize" but with
"poom" instead of "prize" this is *very* close to how Thais say it.

Sandy
Huay Khwaang

On 9 Apr 2007 14:37:13 -0700, wrote:

On Apr 9, 3:06 pm, "Romeo Raabe" wrote:
so that my driver could meet us.

So let me ask - When I arrived 2 years ago at Don Muang, I was able to
ignore thetaxitoutsand proceed to the officialtaxidispatch stand
outside. From there it was only $5.00 US equivalent to Sukhumvit
area. Is there an "official"taxistand at the new airport - or not?

But of course there is an official taxi stand. You just say no to the
usual touts, and head for that stand, or ask for "taxi meter", and
you'll be directed to it.

However, count on spending more than $5.00 for the fare. In early AM
hours, the fare to Sukhumvit was 180 Baht, but there is a service fee
at the airport of 50 Baht, plus two tolls, which you don't know what
they are (the driver pays them). At the end the driver pretends to do
some calculations in his head, and comes up with some arbitrary
number, which in my case was 360 Baht ($12.00). I gave him 400 Baht,
which was probably too much, but was very happy to be finally at my
destination after 30+ hours of travel.

Why don't you know how much the tolls are? The charges are shown on a
sign at the toll booth, and the amount paid is shown on a display. How
do you think the driver knows how much to pay?

Chris

On Apr 10, 9:20 am, "Sandy Cruden" wrote:
On Apr 10, 7:16 am, "Tchiowa" wrote:

On Apr 10, 2:06 am, "Romeo Raabe" wrote:

Sue-wahrn-a-bpoom will get you understood. Easier to say "sanaam
bin" (airport).

Tchiowa, It will be interesting to see if, when the metered taxis
move up to arrivals level, the kiosks there blocking the way will be
relocated so that the taxis are clearly visible waiting outside, doing
this would render the touts obsolete.

Since the touts are paying people off I guess we both know the answer
to that question. :-(

One of the reasons I find it worse in Suvarnabhumi is that at DM when
you left the Customs area you only had about 10 feet to walk to get
out the door. You could bypass the army of touts simply by turning
right and leaving the building. At the new airport they've had door 6
locked for a while so you have to walk about 50 meters or so and wade
through every single one of them.

I can't help but wonder if that is why the door is locked.

IMHO I would say "Sue-won-a-poom" will also get people saying it
understood, rather like saying in English "Sue won a prize" but with
"poom" instead of "prize" this is *very* close to how Thais say it.

Yes it is. That's yet another example of trying to transliterate Thai.
Tough to do, particularly when the audience reading comes from
different countries and pronounces English writing differently.

Most people find that "airport" works just as well. Taxi drivers
understand that.

On Apr 10, 9:49 am, Chris Blunt wrote:
On 9 Apr 2007 14:37:13 -0700, wrote:





On Apr 9, 3:06 pm, "Romeo Raabe" wrote:
so that my driver could meet us.

So let me ask - When I arrived 2 years ago at Don Muang, I was able to
ignore thetaxitoutsand proceed to the officialtaxidispatch stand
outside. From there it was only $5.00 US equivalent to Sukhumvit
area. Is there an "official"taxistand at the new airport - or not?

But of course there is an official taxi stand. You just say no to the
usual touts, and head for that stand, or ask for "taxi meter", and
you'll be directed to it.

However, count on spending more than $5.00 for the fare. In early AM
hours, the fare to Sukhumvit was 180 Baht, but there is a service fee
at the airport of 50 Baht, plus two tolls, which you don't know what
they are (the driver pays them). At the end the driver pretends to do
some calculations in his head, and comes up with some arbitrary
number, which in my case was 360 Baht ($12.00). I gave him 400 Baht,
which was probably too much, but was very happy to be finally at my
destination after 30+ hours of travel.

Why don't you know how much the tolls are? The charges are shown on a
sign at the toll booth, and the amount paid is shown on a display. How
do you think the driver knows how much to pay?

Chris

Exactly right. Further, when you take a taxi they usually ask you for
the cash for the toll up front.

On Apr 9, 10:49 pm, Chris Blunt wrote:

Why don't you know how much the tolls are? The charges are shown on a
sign at the toll booth, and the amount paid is shown on a display. How
do you think the driver knows how much to pay?


The answer do the second question is quite easy: he takes that route
several times per day. I don't.

The toll booths have all the fares listed. So far I remember, in Thai.
There are several fares for different types of vehicles. All this at
2:00 AM after 30+ hours of flight. You really need to be sharp to be
able to figure out within 30 seconds or so it takes the driver to pay
the fare, which one applies to you. No, there is no electronic display
that shows the fare paid.

In brief, if you want to quarrel with the driver about 60 Baht
($2.00), it's your choice. To get to the airport where I live, I have
to pay ca. $45 + tip for a cab, i.e. over $50.

jrk


Chris- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

On Apr 10, 9:39 pm, wrote:
On Apr 9, 10:49 pm, Chris Blunt wrote:



Why don't you know how much the tolls are? The charges are shown on a
sign at the toll booth, and the amount paid is shown on a display. How
do you think the driver knows how much to pay?

The answer do the second question is quite easy: he takes that route
several times per day. I don't.

The toll booths have all the fares listed. So far I remember, in Thai.

Big signs, black letters on a white background, pictures of vehicles
to show number of wheels, English numbers. Plus there is an electronic
sign in front of you while you're paying the fee also showing the
amount. A couple of feet tall.

There are several fares for different types of vehicles. All this at
2:00 AM after 30+ hours of flight. You really need to be sharp to be
able to figure out within 30 seconds or so it takes the driver to pay
the fare, which one applies to you. No, there is no electronic display
that shows the fare paid.

Yes there is.

In brief, if you want to quarrel with the driver about 60 Baht
($2.00), it's your choice. To get to the airport where I live, I have
to pay ca. $45 + tip for a cab, i.e. over $50.

I agree with you on that completely.