George Bowman lives in Thailand (1999-present)
Are taxis safe in Bangkok?
Throughout the years I have literally ridden in thousands of taxis in Bangkok. Old ones, new ones, many with seasoned drivers and a few drivers on the first day of the job. This is what I have learned about taxis in The Big Mango.
My first week in Bangkok, I thought I was going to die in a taxi. Even the driver thought so as he kept saying “Die, die, die.” when I gave him the written address in Thai of where I wanted to go. Later, I found out the word can in Thai sounds like the word die.
The majority of taxi drivers in this concrete jungle are just trying to make a living, much like I was. Usually, taxi drivers are from families in Issan. This Northeast region is considered one of the poorest in Thailand and these guys come to Bangkok for work to help support their families back home. The driver of the taxi either owns or leases a daily car. If they make B20,000 or $600 per month, it would be a good month. Not an easy life.
Standing near the curb one morning, I was trying to flag down a taxi. Eventually, a taxi pulled over and we headed to my work. The driver kept looking at me through the rearview mirror. Fifteen minutes later and two blocks from the school, he was still looking at me when we bumped into the back of a city bus. I quickly paid and got out. I can still see him standing in the street pointing at me and yelling “Ba.” This means crazy in Thai. It was on October 31st. I was wearing a dress.
Another time I was sitting in a taxi that was stuck in traffic. Then we got a flat tire. I say we because I helped push the taxi off of the main road. The driver also wanted me to pay for the flat tire, which I refused. His reasoning was that if he had not picked me up, then he would not have got a flat tire. I just gave him B100 and walked away.
After a hard day at work, I grabbed a taxi to head home. In Thai, I told him Sammakorn which was the village that I lived in. He shook his head yes. My thinking was to have a short nap for the 20-minute ride. About an hour later, I woke up. We were in Samut Prakarn. I got home late.
My biggest complaint with taxi drivers often involved the route they wanted to take to get to my destination. After all, I had lived in Bangkok for a few years by then and knew the city. And most of the time, I was wrong.
The majority of Bangkok taxi drivers want short trips. They want to go the fastest way and on to the next customer. Not always, but usually. Plus, the different routes are a great way to see new areas of the Venice of the East…
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