Koh Phangan Island officials launch taxi fare complaints help desk in Thongsala village
Koh Phangan island officials recently proudly announced the fresh launch of the newly installed taxi fare complaints help desk.
Due to the recent massive price increase for taxi fares on Koh Phangan Island and the general rip off behavior of the Ministry of Transportation, also locally known as the taxi mafia, more and more complaints were reported by upset and more than dissatisfied foreign tourists traveling on this beautiful island.
“This is really outrageous! I have been recently charged 100 Baht from Thongsala to Had Rin beach during day time. Last year it still was an average of 50 Baht and now this. This is a total rip off!”, an unnamed Australian tourist said.
“During night time on Koh Phangan Island nearly everything is possible when it comes to taxi prices. Expect to be charged 5-10 times the normal fare during the night. These bloody taxi bastards just try to rip you off wherever and whenever they can!”, a British tourist added.
The Ministry of Transportation still tries to justify the heavy price increase for taxi fares with the higher oil and petrol prices. Petrol prices have increased during the last couple of months from an average of 30 Baht to up to 34 Baht per liter. That’s an increase of approximately 15% compared with the 100% price increase for the taxi fares.
“Well … go and have a look about the taxi prices in Switzerland or elsewhere in Europe. I think taxi prices here on Koh Phangan are still very reasonable compared to other countries.”, a member of the Ministry of Transportation replied when being asked about the recent massive price increase on taxi fees.
Finally Koh Phangan Island Officials have published a sign next to the main pier in Thongsala:
“If you think you have been overcharged for the fare on a taxi service on Koh Pha-Ngan please call 077-377114”
Further investigations by Island News Headquarters revealed that the taxi fare complaints help desk hot line number connects you directly to the local police station on Koh Phangan Island.
During the past, local police officers have been proven not to be very helpful when it comes to arguments between local business owners and foreign tourists. Many incidents have been reported by foreign tourists stating that local police officers were not helpful at all and mostly based their decisions in favor of local Thai business owners.
“Asking for help from the local police station seems sort of ridiculous! During the last couple of years with the increasing number of foreign tourists traveling to Koh Phangan Island they haven’t even managed to get some proper English speaking police officers. I wouldn’t even bothering getting the police involved.”, a reliable source added.
I think everybody shouldn’t be so quick to moan about prices….. Especially if your a tourist who probably comes from a country where a 20 minute taxi ride costs £15 – 20. Compared to a 100B (£1.50) for a twenty minute taxi ride through an island paradise it doesn’t seem that bad!!!
Koh Pha Ngan is a developing resort and prices will always be on the increase….. If your that tight that you can afford a £400 flight to get you to Thailand but not a £1.50 taxi to get to where you want to be…… go Blackpool or something!
It’s a real shame that we can’t keep all the poor people in the world poor while we swan about looking at them all…… but there you go! It’s not fair huh!
Have you seen any poor people on the island????
Its all about riping of Farangs.
Its like a sport for them
It’s about making the best for themselves. You honestly telling me you would try to get the most out of your business?
They may not be “poor” but I bet that your a lot better off than them! Quit moaning!
Unbelievable. People like you should be put on the next boat to Bangkok and the next plane home. You should be ashamed of yourself complaining about a 2 EUR taxi-rate…..I am Dutch and still am amazed at the low prices in Thailand. We should be thanking Buddah on our bare knees for being even allowed to visit this beautiful country! Quit moaning or go back to whatever western country you came from!
Ko Pha-Ngan, see you in three weeks, can’t wait to be cruising across the island in one of the TAXI’s!
i agree, people need to shut up their moaning, its still a serious amount cheaper than their own countries. the price has been 50bht for years and years and its only right the price goes up eventually. if people dont like it they should go somewhere else, or start realistically compare the prices to their own country or to the fares they would be charged in bangkok!!
Nobody likes to feel cheated or ripped off and that is the issue here. What a person pays at home for a taxi doesn’t enter into the equation. This is obviously not at home and those comparisons are not applicable. When I visit the UK I see how badly those people are being ripped off, anywhere is way cheaper for the Brits.
It would be simple to fix all of these bad feelings if there were the will to do it. Clearly nobody in a political position on this island has the will to make positive changes. Day and night time prices should be posted, advertised and strictly enforced, with penalties. The prices need to be fair for both the drivers and the customers. Even if the prices are high at least folks don’t feel that they have been taken advantage of.
Motor cycle rentals are a boom business on this island and you can thank the local taxi drivers for that. They have already screwed themselves out of a lot of customers. Calling the cops isn’t a good ideal. I suspect it could cost you even more.
The problem needs to be addressed at a higher level and that isn’t going to happen, because Thai’s pay a fraction of what farangs pay.
Cheers Glyn
i lived on Phangan for 8 months…i am from Central London,
Really you should not encourage folks to rent bikes instead of getting Taxis, cos u would get many many more accidents as drunken hedonistic farangs, drive off cliffs, and crash into palm trees etc…50baht or 100baht from Had rin to Thong Sala is a fair price indeed…i was always happy when i got my 400-500baht taxi back to the North of the island right to my door in Chaloklum.
The roads in the South are well built but too small for buses…
I have travelled around Cairo too and basically there u have to negotiate the fair in advance…
Long-Termers on Phangan always get a discount cos a Thai Cabbie can usually tell whether u are exploiting the Island for you own hedonistic pleasure or trying to experience proper island life. FFS you can get a whole fish and rice and soup and eggs and vegtables for a few quids/dollars and you are paying very low accomodation too…for a paradise life style…get a grip…be friendly and kind…or go to Samui instead and eat Burger King…
Exactly, I got tired of the taxi BS, and two taxi rides can cost as much as a full day on a motorbike plus gas!
You can see how much they are ripping you off by taking a look at the size of the new houses some of them are building or have built considering that the average price of a rai land on a good road is around a Milliom baht
By the way when I go to Europe, North America or Japan I expect to pay the going rate for a Taxi not some fabricated price which is arrived at by comparing the taxi prices to other places around the world.The Taxi drivers on Koh Phangan and Koh Samui make on one trip about the same as Taxi drivers make in one day in Bangkok
Now if they would charge the local population the same than I could see there argument but they don’t the reason being is if they did you would see a lot of dead members from the TAXI MAFIA.
The Police(what a joke) enough said!!!!
Hello all,
First thanks really a lot for all your comments to the articles. Great to see some sort of exchange going on here. I should probably post some more provocative articles in the future 😉
However … main point here is not the taxi price itself … it’s more the let’s better rip off the stupid tourists attitude from the local Thai community. And as some comment posters already said, it’s like a sportive event … a sportive challenge … to get as much out of the tourist as they can.
Probably once a week the local taxi mafia meets and the one with the biggest successful rip off gets a stunning price … a hair dryer or something … Who knows?
Anyway … observing the article comments I figured out that friends from our Dutch or British community mostly compare prices in Holland or the UK. But in my opinion, apart from the general price calculation in every country, there is still a big difference. A Taxi in UK or Holland drives to your destination immediately – It’s your private taxi!
Taxis on Koh Phangan are functioning in quite a different way. Taxi … Go now … Go now! Yes … they go immediately but you might spend another 30 minutes or probably up to 1 hour cruising around in the taxi before the driver actually decides to leave Thongsala. The taxi mafia member needs to collect more and more tourists … fill up the taxicab … before take off to final destination.
But again … it’s not about the prices … it’s mainly about being ripped off!
In general I feel mostly so sorry for all the tourists being ripped off … it’s really hard to describe. I have seen things here on the island during the last 15 years … you wouldn’t believe me – trust me. Just be assured that you, the standard typical tourist, pays in average at least 100% more than the local Thai from Phangan Island.
And to finally lighten you up a bit … it’s not only the tourists from the western world they are ripping off. The Phangan community has this very strong sense of ethic group origin. You’re a local ‘Phangani’ … all is fine … green zone! You’re a Thai citizen from the mainland … Had Yai … Hua Hin … Bangkok or perhaps Chiang Mai … ah … well … fuck it … better rip him off too. He doesn’t belong to our Prime Phangan Island Race.
Same animalistic group behavior can also be observed in any country I suppose.
Hya Becky,
I guess there are two types of tourists: those who accept being ripped-off and those that take it as a personal insult. I belong to the first group…..let me explain:
If I get ripped-off in Amsterdam, I mind. Why? Firstly because I know the ass-hole in question thinks I’m a tourist. Secondly because I watch my money in Holland to make ends meet. Got a holiday too Thailand to think of hey?!
Vice versa, when I AM FINALLY a tourist, I don’t watch my money. I have a budget that is a 5-fold of my usual budget for a month (love the THB exchange rate 🙂 so everything’s peanuts. If I’m ripped-off, good on him, I’m a TOURIST!
Besides all this, getting up-tight about a taxi-fare should be the last thing on your mind when you have just entered paradise…worrying about money is what you are supposed to be wanting to get away from in the first place!
Great site Becky, give me an address and I’ll send ya some Amsterdam export 😉 !
Ciaooooo
hiya …
Great site … Amsterdam export … awesome!
Detailed instructions to support Phangan Island News Headquarters can be found at our Support Us section, including a postal shipping address 😉
Hope that helps, thank you for your support & all the best
becki
P.S. Well … sweet smell … pack … airseal … airproof … well … well … well 🙂
hahahah, the tulips will be on their way, be there with you in 3 weeks to enjoy their sweet smell 🙂
Latersssssssss Poohbeerrrrr
Hey Becki, It sounds like I’m going to get there just in time for the tulips..
Maybe I can put together a Canadian package? I’ll talk to the boss and see what we can do…. Not going to be out done by the dutch..
Cheers see ya soon….
Hey you arseholes oil has gone up by 100% in the last year what do you want, the taxi to pay more for oil and not pass it on. go home you cheap pricks we dont want you here
i lived on Phangan for 8 months…i am from Central London,
Really you should not encourage folks to rent bikes instead of getting Taxis, cos u would get many many more accidents as drunken hedonistic farangs, drive off cliffs, and crash into palm trees etc…50baht or 100baht from Had rin to Thong Sala is a fair price indeed…i was always happy when i got my 400-500baht taxi back to the North of the island right to my door in Chaloklum.
The roads in the South are well built but too small for buses…
I have travelled around Cairo too and basically there u have to negotiate the fair in advance…
Long-Termers on Phangan always get a discount cos a Thai Cabbie can usually tell whether u are exploiting the Island for you own hedonistic pleasure or trying to experience proper island life. FFS you can get a whole fish and rice and soup and eggs and vegtables for a few quids/dollars and you are paying very low accomodation too…for a paradise life style…get a grip…be friendly and kind…or go to Samui instead and eat Burger King…
from Phangan Londoner no.13
LEAVE PHANGAN ALONE….IT ROCKS!…
exactly how many Thai Cabbies do u know…cos i never had one bad experience with a Phangan Cabbie…they get you home safe you bucket drinking piss head idiots that is worth a few Bahts of anybodies money!!!!!!!!!!!!
when Samui airport lost my Backpack @ the start of my long long trip to Phangan, they gave me 1000bahts so i could travel across the Island and back!!!! Had-
Rin to ChaloKlum to Had Rin (pick up bag) and back to Chaloklum that is like soooo kind…they do care…do not tar Thais with the brush of your own bigotry!
Thank you! The main reason I come to Thailand instead of another place is the price. The racism is so disgusting though, it makes me sad. Like you said, the attitude of “fuck the falang” makes me not want to return, and to tell others to avoid Koh Phangan. I come to be happy, and to spend money, and enjoy Thai culture, not to feel badly.
And it is NOT $2 for a taxi ride! The airport taxis are the worst, and are usually more like $10 plus tip (yeah, we’ve spoiled them by tipping), and the ride is ten minutes max. Thong Sala Pier is another ripoff. The only reasonable rate is if you want to ride on the back of a scooter (which isn’t that bad, just dangerous).
As a culture, the Thais seem torn; they want our money, but never want to see us or talk to us. Maybe an independent company could give a window sticker to ‘tourist friendly’ businesses so we know who to support?
If Koh Phangan doesn’t want us, maybe we should try Myanmar? Everyone who works in the service industry is from Myanmar anyway, and they are the friendly “Thais” you meet. Every resort employee, every boat crew. All the actual Thai people seem very arrogant..