Craig, they are generally okay between the Wall Street area and 125th Street, although I once had a cab driver who couldn't find his way to the Supreme Court on Centre Street. It was pouring and I was late for court and the driver had no idea where to go, and we were only about 6 blocks away!! I had to direct him there. In the outer boros it's a real problem, they have no idea where anything is. By law, they have to have maps of the 5 boros, but they are loathe to use them. I've never seen a cab driver pull out a map, not once. And when you get a cab at the airport to go home, if they think you are not a New Yorker, many will try and take advantage of this, I know, it's happened to me on occassions too numerous to count. But I know where I'm going and they don't get away with it. That's not to say that many are honest, many are. But you know what they say about a few bad apples. I actually have never had a problem with a taxi driver in BKK. They get me to where I'm going with no drama and have always been courteous, although they don't bow like the cab driver I had in Tokyo ;-)

Hi Craig,
i feel sorry for the taxi drivers too (until they try it on!). One driver told me that every day he pays 550 baht to the taxi company. Considering the flag fall starts at 35 baht (and has been for how long?), and let's say average journey fares of 50-60 baht, that's at least 10 journeys the guy has to make before paying that bit off. Then there's tax, petrol etc... and the traffic. ugh! And he said he worked 7am to 9pm normally.
And yet I've only had a couple of bad experiences - hardly registering considering all the taxis I take

A taxi taken directly from a good hotel like the Peninsula will always cost more than one off the street. There is a good reason for that as ccc's experience can attest to. A taxi service the hotel uses will usually be reliable since it is assured a steady stream of customers. Scams such as what happened to the op are bound to be more prevelant from taxis hailed away from the hotel. Not that it will happen all the time off the street, but caution is warranted.

Its also happened to me several times, but since I was already aware this occurs, a few no nonsense words was all it took to be taken to where I intended to go.

i do not know of any hotel in bkk that has a taxi company that it uses ....its first come first serve...you can see this easily at the four seasons in bkk...tons of taxis wait on the sidewalk below the front door...the doormen do not use any of them...they are scam artists...they hail cabs directely from the street...

Well I know the owners of the Le Meridien and that is what they do, so thats one.

isn't the meredien gone from bkk??

don't mean to start a fight but i have not observed it at any bkk hotel and i have stayed in many of the 4 and 5 star places

A lot of the 5 star hotels have their own fleet of cars but in my experience they do not have a link to a taxi company.

CCC,

I was wondering if you could email me directly at [email protected] as am looking for some further information from your receipt about the restaurant. Thanks

To all the others Mango Tree Kuching is looking forward to providing you with a wonderful evening!

Trevor MacKenzie
Director of Global Development
Mango Tree

I am very impressed with your customer service and look forward to visiting your restaurant in Bangkok in October. We are staying at the Sofitel so should be able to walk and avoid any taxi scam.

I am looking forward to an evening at Mango Tree in Kuching. We will be there Sept 29, 30 and again on Oct 3 and will be staying at the Hilton. Hopefully we will be able to find it without any problem. I looked at the menu on the website and it looks great.

Trevor, I just sent you the info. Let me know if you don't get it.

I'm I the only one wondering how on earth the peaple at the real mango true knew CCC had posted on fodors just 5-6 hours before...
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jeez all I do on this forum is complain and know one responds.
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RHK. chirp chirp.. welcome to the land of smiles
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Craig... who wrote bangkok inside out.. It kind of seems the writer, just like a lot of us guys checked out stickman.com and bangkok bob.. and now paraphrase what they been posting for years..

I'm looking forward to visiting the Mango Tree in Kuching in November.

Orgy, your problem is that you don't complain about places that monitor the Fodor's site! lol

orgy - Bangkok Inside Out was written by Daniel Ziv, author of Jakarta Inside Out and Guy Sharett, a Bangkok-based journalist - means nothing to me but may be meaningful to you.

I'm sorry that you had a bad experience in Bangkok. Unfortunately, it's common to have taxi problems in Bangkok. In my case, our taxi driver couldn't read the address card (in Thai) because his eye sight was too poor!
I hope you will try the Mango Tree next time. it's one of the best restaurants in Bangkok. You just cannot try Thai dips at other places.

lol, eyes too poor to read a card, but was good enough to drive a cab? lol.

kara. ya maybe I should apply for a licence over here..

yipes! now that's a scary thought!

a visually impaired hispanic, whose inner most desire is to be italian, enhanced with 50% weirdo tendencies, yep, perfect qualifications to be a taxi driver in bangkok. on to rachada, and use the meter! .