A simple solution to the taxi menace
Unless I'm escorting an outrageously attired lady friend from Nana Plaza back to my apartment and it would be just too embarrassing to take the BTS, I never use a taxi. But what I do observe time and again during my perambulations around Bangkok is taxi d
And not just hapless tourists, but Thais and resident farang as well. It’s as if these people don’t want our money! The situation appears worse than ever despite the military’s promise of remedial action.
I propose a “boycott taxis day”, when we Bangkokians refuse to use cabs and instead travel by BTS, MRT, bus, car-share, vans, trains, canal boats, river ferries, tuk-tuks, motorcycle-taxis, bicycles and yes, even walk! Just think what a boon this would be for the BMA’s bicycle-promotion programme and how residents’ fitness levels would improve through walking. Visitors arriving at the airport would be encouraged to use the city-link train and the airport bus, with extra carriages and coaches brought into service. Hotels could give generous discounts on their limousine charges for guests.
There are thousands of taxis roaming the city streets and many of the drivers are damaging Thailand’s reputation as a tourist destination.
A boycott-taxi day (or week) might help convince the drivers that they need paying passengers for their livelihood and we should be treated with respect. Can you imagine cabbies carrying on this way in cities like London or Tokyo?
Post Prandial Perambulator
