Taxi scams alive and well in Pattaya
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For months government officials, as well as the military and police, have huffed and puffed their way into media headlines with their action plans on how they are cleaning up tourist scams in Thailand's resort cities, particularly Phuket and Pattaya.
I can’t speak for Phuket, but recently I had to go to Pattaya to visit two friends who were on holiday from Australia. Outside their hotel we got into a taxi and gave directions for our stop 2km down the road.
“Bt300,” said the driver.
“No, put the meter on,” I replied.
“No, no meter,” was the response.
“I will call the police,” I said.
The taxi driver broke into almost uncontrollable laughter and offered to give me the telephone number of the local police.
We got out of the taxi and hopped on a songtaew, arrived where we wanted to go and paid the driver the fare of Bt10 each.
David Brown
Rayong
