Wednesday 18 June 2014

Thai Military cleverly clamps down on the Bangkok Airport taxi chaos

The colourful taxis at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport
Photo: omad on flickr (creative commons)
There are new rules coming to clean up the taxi chaos at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK).

You may be pleasantly surprised that the relatively chaotic approach to hailing a taxi and navigating different queues will be sorted through strict guidelines that could even include troops present to ensure taxi operators follow the new rules.

A new computerized punch system will allow taxi drivers to enter the queue in an orderly fashion and chronologically they will move up the line to where travelers are waiting for their taxi. All taxis must take passengers to their desired trip, regardless if it is 1 mile away or 150 miles away. The passenger will continue to be responsible for the taxi airport fee of 50 Baht, which is included in the price of the taxi fare.

In addition, non-airport taxis dropping passengers off at the 4th floor (arrivals) are now legally able to pick-up other travelers during their abbreviated stop. Therefore if a traveler wants to avoid the airport fee and a potentially long queue can make their way up to the 4th floor and try your luck there.

All of this will hopefully eliminate the bullying tactics of the taxi mafia which uses aggressive touts to lure weary eyed travelers to specific taxis and to chase away their competition from the airport.

This change is due to come into place mid-July.

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