Hi i would like to add to this scam.
Merlin beach resort Phuket island.
The taxi's out the front are only there to cheat you from money.
There is no way of getting another taxi from patong to come pick you up .
I was Thrown out of the Taxi Violently by one of the taxi drivers for trying to bargin with him on valentines day asking if he could drive me to the flower shop 10 mins away pick up some flowers and come back to the hotel all refused to take me there and back for 800 baht.(also you are not able to get there any other way you are a little bit out of town by about 5 mins)
when in town patong beach can not return back to the hotel for less than 300 to 400 baht, We found this very annoying and costly as we stayed for over 5 weeks.
Taxi drivers always trying to intimidate by yelling and making violent hand signs as if they wanted to hit me. also pulling off the shirts when i came out of the hotel in the morning of of an evening revealing whole body coverd in tattoo's.
Also the hotel is not helpfull at all. and will ignore you at every cost.
I had Orderd take Away food to the Hotel on a couple of nights .Pizza's and other fast foods. on the 3rd occasion i tried to order food each company told me they no longer deliver to this hotel??? i tried other companies but was given the same response.either was i was screwed i could go out the front and pay 600 baht to go to patong beach and back to get food or i would have order from the no so nice room servie. this was a way of the hotel forcing you in to eating there.When i went to some of these places and said i got food deliverd to me the day before they said that they no longer deliver there bla bla bla... i found of by of the the nicer staff that the hotel complained and banned anyone bring out side food in by delivery.Also using facilities in the hotel costed alot.

Im so happy I never stay in Phuket on my holidays.
Here in Pattaya the baht bus from the hotels only cost 10 Baht , (you can hire private for 100 Baht)

If anyone if in Phuket and is willing to go to the merlin Beach resort take a snap of the taxi/ Tuk Tuk stand out the front these guys are some thing i tell ya.

Yep we found Tuks tuks are all price fixed between Patong and kata/Karon beach to around 400-500 Bt one way.
Absolute scam.

thanks heaps i was going to stay at merlin cos it looks so nice but now i will look elsewhere=)

I avoid Phuket like the plague when I travel to Thailand each year. Its expensive and you are certain to be harassed and ripped off. General rule, try to stay away from the tourist places if you really want to enjoy Thailand.

Rent a car or bike.....

I never go to the Thai resorts.
The Taxi Mafia are thugs and have ruined the places.

It's a good money maker for the owners and gov officials that allow this to continue.

Why should they invest in nice taxies when they can cram you into the back of a cheapo truck and charge 500% more.

I hope some travel magazines expose what is really going on in Thailand.
They really need to show visitors some respect.

Seems because Patong etc is geared up towards tourists everything is more expensive. One example Fast food restaurants 10 or 15 percent more that Bangkok or nearly twice as expensive at Phuket airport than in Bangkok.

The taxis are just a mafia organised crime rip - off compared to elsewhere in Thailand but not in relation to prices back home. People should be more afraid financially of the current high that the baht is having against many other currencies. In 2006 I got 68 baht to the uk pound , now its far less and this of course affects the price of everything. Not such an inexpensive holiday anymore but economies can be made and its still much cheaper than most other places.

I have just returned from Phuket, the tuk tuk drivers are a nightmare and trying constantly to rip you off. I ended up moving to a hotel between Karon and Patong and hired a motorbike. If I wanted to go into town at night, I would flag down a tuk tuk and offer him 100 baht, I would always get it as he was already going that way. Phuket is the most tourist unfriendly place I have visited, I will never go again, even though it is beautiful.

On my final day I booked a private taxi to the airport, the company sent a shared mini bus, I refused to get on and demanded my money back. The company eventually agreed and we travelled alone, I hear this is common in Phuket. My advice is not to pay the tour company, but pay the driver on arrival at airport. Taxi was 600 baht, another scam in Phuket.

I loved Phuket but the scams and taxi and tuk tuks there make it a nightmare gooing out of there way to rip you off. i will never go back because of this crap.

The problem with the taximeters is they dont always take the shortest way to the destination. If one travels the same track often one will notice significant difference in prices, and a lot of difference in time the ride takes . It not only happens to falangs. Thais, from upcountry told me they got scammed too when the driver found out they didnt live in Bangkok.

I will never go back to phuket simply because of the tuk tuks we could not go anywhere with being harased by them, the scared us so we left phuket before our holliday finnished. NEVER NEVER EVER AGAIN.

Yes Mike, I agree with you, and strangly enough the tuk tuks to the airport were more expensive than the air conditioned taxis to the airport, couldnt quite work this one out, I used to take the local tuk tuks/open air taxis just to give the local man some business to the airport, but arriving dishevelled, hot under the collar, and doing a gymnasium act en route just to be ripoped off, air con won hands down lol

Tuk Tuks don't want to give you a ride to the Airport.
In fact, they don't want to giva anybody a ride. They are there only to scam first time visitors.
Full time criminals posing as taxi drivers.
BOYCOTT PHUKET.

In other words Ken "you will be taken for a ride" pmsl

I have just returned from patong and karon beach, it was a nightmare with the tuk tuks, its a basically pay us what we want or walk. just walking along the roads in patong you are harrased constantly by the tuk tuk drivers, never again phuket.

I agree with Ken and Brian, I generally smile and keep on walking. I guess if its not tuk tuk drivers, then it is time share touts, or girlies at the bar. I generally feel that it is the tourists that find B500 for a short journey cheap compared to their own country are at fault that are making it worse for the residents, farang and thais alike. Like in Nong Khai if I am having to resort to getting this means of transport bide your time and find someone you mutually like and then you can do business with this person. No different from black cabs in London or cabs in Ozzieland who have discreetly tried ripping me off! When Phuket realises they will be soon left with the back packers or sex tourists instead of the well healed variety they just might start using their common senses though I doubt it!

to the cooment above rent a bike or a car.. No thankyou another way to sam money from fake damages and also who in the world would ant to risk there lives driving on Thai roads with no traffic laws and where drink Driving is not enforced yeah right Buddy ....

Jason agreed... I wouldnt hire, a jet ski, motor bike, car, boat in Thailand...... even in Nong Khai a well known car hire firm cloned peoples credit cards at the airport... Driving around NK is ok, quiet enough, but forget BKK and other cities.

If you rent something, the owner will claim damages..., even if you didn't do it.

The Tuk Tuks and Taxies can't be trusted.
Be prepared to be cheated the entire time you are visiting Thailand.

Yeah you have to always be on guard when in the cities of Thailand Everyone is trying to get your MONEY... but renting things over there is a big NO NO. I saw endless arguments of vendors accusing people of damaging property its so sad, and this isnt new its been happening for years. iam sure alot of people have already boycotted Thailand its only a matter of time i guess that people tell there friends not to go anymore.

The taxi- and tuk-tuk drivers are getting used to the pricelevel after a few scams and will keep on demand that pricelevel. They talk amonst eachother and with all the tourists at phuket the prices will rise for every year. On the other hand, in bangkok the competition is stronger, they drive a lot of lokals and semi-lokals and the prices will stay on a low level. My experience (in bangkok) is to agree upon price before you jump into the taxi (aprox 80-150bt around bangkok city) instead of using the meter. Some drivers will drive in loops and around to get their 150 baht anyway so why waste the time? The taxi fares is 1/10 of the fares we pay in Norway anyway so I haves stopped to be bathered and just pay up, even if it is extremely irritating and a principle not to be scammed.

Agree upon price with a taxi?
"My experience (in bangkok) is to agree upon price before you jump into the taxi.."



The meters are there for a reason.
Get in tell the driver where you are going.
Don't even discuss a price or look at the meter.
Just pay what the meter says at the destination.
If it says zero. that is the fare.

Tuk tuk patong to karon beach 400 baht no air con etc. total rip off.
Bangkok could go almost everywhere for less than 100 in air con taxi with meter and no hassles.
Allowed to go on in Phuket because its foreigners theyre ripping off of course, if it affected the locals maybe there would be something more done about it.

Corruption and organised crime really is messing up Thailand particularly in Phuket and Pattaya which is a shame because most of the people are friendly and not out to rip you off.

pighoglet you are right, Phuket is just a ripoff, the tuk tuk mafia are a nightmare and they fares are absolutely ridiculous. Me and my family usually gmeet with our Australian friends in Phuket, however this year and for the foresseable future we will meet elsewhere and not visit Phuket again. We are all just tired of these idiots ripping us off. 400 baht for a 10 miute trip is ridiculous. The police and other authorities should regulate these guys.

Yes John, and I refuse to take tuk tuks down in Phuket, boycott them. There should be a minimum fare, they should be controlled and as pig said many lovely people but the minority spoil it for everyone. One wonders what exactly TAT do for a living, they should be surveying the tourists to gain their points of views...duty free at the airports are a rip off... better to buy in a local shop...

has anyone been down to this hotel and checked it out?

have you seen the guys out the front.....

Hana, There are "taxi" Scammers parked in front of EVERY tourist hotel.
They are not actually Taxi drivers but criminals that control the space in front.

They pay the police and the management at these hotels are afraid to do anything.
They see their guests ripped off every day by these guys but what have they done?
They cannot call the Police since Thai Police are scum.
Now you know.

Re- Patong to Karon 10 mins or shorter journey for 400 baht.

If it wasnt uphill I would walk it, this price is quoted as the minimum for a ride in a small van without windows or air con and would be many times less in either Bangkok or Pattaya.

Rip off for sure but you are just about stuffed to get about any other way on Phuket besides renting another vehicle which opens you up to more potential scamming.

That's good enough for me.
Taxi scammers are costing hotel owners and tourist business a ton.
I used to go to Phukett often, tell my friends,,,not any longer.
Too many scams.

Ive noticed a few posts here where peopel say your paying less etc... For a taxi here than you would in your home countries, while this is true, the fact that these thais are living in thailand (obviously) and paying 'local' (ie: not tourist) prices then the money they rip off from you probably actually goes a lot further than it would in your home country.

What im trying to say is that, should a dodgy taxi driver rip off say 1000 baht a week from tourists etc.. hell end up with 52,000 baht by year end now when I was in Thailand (Feb 2008) that would equate to about 13500 New Zeland Dollars (NZD) now in NZL thats a bit of money but your still not gonna be able to buy that much but how much could a thai buy with that sort of cash in Thailand, a lot would be my guess so its all relative so really ripping off 13500 NZD in thailand would be like me ripping off say 150,000 NZD if was back In NZ.

So the moral of the story is, they really are ripping you off and dont look at it like oh its no problem its only a a few dollars/euros just think about the buying power of the money they are ripping off from you !!!

nb: also think about this if your tipping, if the guy/girl has done a great job then a 10 dollar tip will probably get them a lot.

Just a thought


Chris

It's called fraud. A bunch of criminals wrecking Thailands image.

Hi Chris,
I have been brought up in a "tip culture" and then I married an Australian. Australians basically do not tip, at the hairdressers in Melbourne when I first tipped I was handed it back. I have to say I dont agree with tipping this is an American culture of actually contributing to an employees salary which is wrong in my eyes. I do tip B10-B20 in Thailand, certainly not $10 though unless it is with a driver who has been with me all day. Tipping is an emotive issue isnt it... in Dubai with the Indians and the Fillipinos who I feel are exploited in a disgusting fashion then I tip, because I know this does contribute to that little extra. I suppose each case is judged on its merit and country eh?

I am also from a non-tipping culture and when I moved to the middle east and began to visit asia it was a bit wierd for me, I still dont know what the score is in Thailand with tipping are there guidelines like in the US ?

I have a few rules I like to apply to tipping with regard to taxi drivers (trying to stay here with the theme of taxi drivers !!)

1. If they try and pretend where they are going without admiting at first that they dont know where the location is that you requested then NO TIP

2. If they muck around purposly with my Change (be it 5 baht or 5 euro) then NO TIP (I do apply the reverse though, if they dont muck around too much then ill chuck some of the change back at them)

I find these work pretty well but again im not sure at the protocols of tipping in Thailand.

I also have a strict policy of not just tipping for the sake of it, im prepared to pay someone if they have done a good job but if theyve preformed avergaley why should I give them any money ? This was something that annoyed me on my travles to the USA, and SE Asia, is that everyone expected a TIP even if they had been blatantly rude to you, I even had one guy in Los Angeles telling me I hadnt given him enough !!!

However, thats getting off topic a bit, so if anyone has experiences with tipping in Thailand please share them as i dont mind giving people a tip if they are working hard and in difficult circumstances but i dont just like giving away money because "its expected."

Rant over,


Chris

Chris, I do tip in Thailand and the whole of SE asia, but only when the service is good, and it is always a pleasure to do so. I do not like the American system at all, its highly immoral!. In Holland I tip , Australia very rarely ( but I always give a gift at Christmas to the postie or garbage guys)I do enjoy shopping for small gifts to give to people who have given me excellent service, the girls in Lao , Cambodia, Vietnam love lipsticks and make up and coupled with a tip makes both sides of the coin enjoyable.

I've lived in Phuket for 7 months. At last people are noticing. Now you can see why the bus services are so bad in Phuket and there's no train etc. Luckily I have a scooter. I only use tuk tuks in life or death situations >:-(

The problem with Phuket is that it is a direct destination for charter tourist from Europe and elsewhere. No backpacker or expat in their right mind would go there because of the undeveloped infrastructure and the rip off prices.
Coming from Europe perhaps for the first time on charter trip the place they do not have any choice, Hotel being pre-paid there is no choice.
Only thing is too rent a bike and take detailed pictures of the bike before renting it.

I had a very bad experience with a taxi driver in Bangkok. We came from Siam Paragon and was having a hard time finding a taxi that would use the meter, so we agreed to the flat rate of 150 baht that the driver charged us with.
The taxi driver was irritable from the heavy traffic, and was driving very fast when he got the chance. Upon arriving at our hotel, he did not see the first door (probably because of his speed) where the hotel lobby was. Instead, he went straight ahead to the next wing where there was no bridge to the main lobby. My brother who was sitting beside him called his attention (nicely) and told him that we were supposed to get off at the first door. It was roughly only 20 to 30 steps away from where he stopped, and he was also going to pass it on his way out of the hotel premises. It was raining so we thought we would just get off at the lobby for us not to get wet. He angrily shouted "200 baht! 200 baht!" and stepped on the gas so hard to make a U turn. Startled with his outburst, I sternly told the driver that we would just get off right there, and that he should not treat tourists so rudely. My brother, after being shouted at, slammed the car door as he got off. The taxi driver did not stop there. He too, got off the car, and opened the trunk. He took his tire wrench and was supposed to attack my brother with it! The hotel guards stopped him just in time and asked him to leave. While driving out the hotel premises, he left a threat to us that he will be watching us and waiting for us outside. I was able to get the taxi's plate number from the guard. It is a hot pink taxi and the plate numbers looks something like "NS4521" (the NS was written with curves? I guess it is in Thai? Sorry I'm really clueless, but I kept the paper with the plate number that the guard gave me).
During our stay in Bangkok, and we rode taxis around four times. The first time was from the airport where we were charged 500 bhat. We had no problem with that since the driver just went about his business and was professional. It was a blue taxi. The second, third, and fourth time were all pink taxis, wherein not once had it been a good experience for us. For the second taxi that we rode, the driver told us that the mall we wanted to go to had closed early, and that it would be better to just have dinner somewhere near the night markets. He then suggested a "cheap and good" seafood restaurant, so we agreed. When we arrived, we noticed that the prices were ridiculously high, and later on, upon reading the same stories on the web, realized that we were scammed.
The same thing was offered to us by the next taxi driver (also of a pink taxi). Since we already knew better, we declined his offer and just made up an excuse.
Now, the last taxi that we rode had the rudest and meanest taxi driver that I had ever encountered in my entire life! These 3 encounters all from pink taxis had made me wonder if this is a common practice among them.
I really lost all the excitement I had for Thailand after the incident. Shouldn't they be doing something about these taxi drivers if they really want to promote tourism in their country?
I believe my Bangkok stay has by far been the worst vacation I have ever had. I have never been scammed and treated so rudely so many times in a row! My vacation has turned out to be very frustrating, disappointing, and infuriating,
If you have friends or relatives who are going to Bangkok, please warn them about this particular taxi driver. Also, please ask them to read about the different scams that some locals trick the clueless tourists into. Please pass this email to your friends and family. It is best to come prepared and aware, so as to avoid these kinds of experiences. Thailand sure has plently of things to offer, but if this comes with visiting their country, I think I would rather not return unless needed, and would not recommend friends and family to visit too.

Now, many of the meters are rigger to add 50%.
When will the scams stop?

At Paul, how long is a piece of string?

7/11 type stores scam.

I frequently use a 1000 baht note to buy a few items at 7/11 and Family Mart. The total value of the items will be about 70 baht.

On several occassions the change back on the thousand baht note will be short-changed by 100 baht. I should get 9 one hundred bath notes back but receive 8. I always count out the bills when I recieve 100 note instead of a 500 plue the hundreds. On the occasions where I was short changed, upon stateing or showing the bills, I was immediately refunded the missing 100 baht note.

Suffice it to say that the poorly paid staff at these retail stores stand to nearly double their daily income with just one such mistake.

So make sure you count out when you numerous odd bills in change.

I have lived in Thailand for 20 years. On my last trip to Chang Mai, we arrived at a private bus station in town around 6am. There was only one shared baht bus for a group of passangers that we headed to the north.
The hotel that my mother and I was staying at was about 5 blocks from the station. The driver was not aware that I spoke Thai well and that I understand the street layout of CM.
Instead of dropping us off first. He drove us all over CM delivering the all the other passengers first. When we got to the Pornping Towers, he demanded 200 baht for the ride. I told my mother to go inside.

I was a bit hot at this and spoke in clear Thai, that i the proper fare was around 60 baht, that the bus station was in fact only about 5 blocks away, I threw 80 baht on the passaenger seat of the cab and told him if it wasn't enough to call the tourist police.

I was not assulted, but then I weigh 100kg and lift weights. He left, making the air blue with his words while I noted with my middle finger that he was CM's #1 Taxi driver.

Rob, What are the chances he is still out there scamming visitors and ruining Thailand's reputation(as the worlds biggest whorhouse).
Now, it's getting better known for scams.
Is there anyone in Thailand that respects guests and do something?

be aware if you really upset a taxi driver, he has many friends that are just waiting to take out all their pend up frustration on tourists