Take the bus, train - just don't get in a taxi

Thailand gets worse and worse every day. From third-world politics to road shows for the failed rice price-pledging scheme that is bankrupting the economy, the country lurches from one catastrophe to the next and has become a laughing stock.

Your story alleges that the passenger was rude to the driver and threw coffee at him, but does not mention how generally rude and complaining Thai taxi drivers are. They would rather sit around like vultures in front of Patpong, the airports, and hotels to overcharge foreigners than to make an honest living driving normal fares around town. They act like an entitled mafia.

This government and the old Thaksin government are largely to blame for this, since taxi-drivers are part of the core of their red-shirt supporters and are always in the forefront of their staged protests. Their LNG is subsidised by the government, of course, like the rice and red villages – another form of vote buying.

Refusing fares during rush hour, they roll the window down and ask where you are going and 90 per cent of the time wave their hand, no, in your face and give you the brush off. They are the rudest people on earth.

In any other country their licence would be taken away, but in Thailand they are like an arm of a political party and they act like bosses.

The government’s supposed plan to fine taxis that refuse fares has been a failure since day one and hasn’t been enforced. It’s just another PR trick that hasn’t fooled anyone except for their gullible voter base of cheerleaders.

My recommendation is that you do whatever you can to avoid taxis and take the train, buses and airport link. That way, you also won’t have to listen to their litany of complaints about money and how much traffic there is on the way to your destination, or their drunk or comatose driving at night.

The Cheater Meter

Bangkok