My Two Cents

While I don't dispute the general comment on Thailand and its status in the modern world, I am disgusted by the example of "Been There" of assaulting the motorcycle taxi driver. There was no rip-off here. He knew what the charge was for
the ride. It was not the usual charge perhaps but it was he who climbed on the motorcycle. He wasn't forced to do so. There was nothing but silence on the part of the driver…he had previously stated his price (I think twice if I recall)
so I am sure in the driver's mind he ASSUMED that "Been There" accepted his price of 20 Baht. Just as "Been There" ASSUMED the driver accepted his offer of 10 baht.

A rip-off occurs when a hidden charge is made or that the driver was taking an advantage of a situation. Knowing the state of motorcycle taxis in BKK where there is one taxi there are several. You don't like the price find another taxi…simple
as that!

It was a miscommunication over the price of the ride. The taxi driver has every right to charge his price. "Been There" had every right to refuse it and move on to find another driver. Restaurants charge different prices for meals,
stores charge different prices for goods. The last I heard there is no regulation requiring a motorcycle taxi driver to charge a set fee.

The driver demanded his fare at the end of the ride and was aggressive in trying to collect it. I would be too if I was a taxi driver and I was being stiffed for my fare. "Been There" showed extremely poor judgement in arguing over
this considering the amount of money he was carrying at the time. From his other post (Another Post) he seems to have an arrogant personality to me who is always right and from the tone of his post he is probably prone to bullying his way around…my
opinion anyway. So…how does he get out of this situation…he commits a physical assault on the guy…and then he whines that when the driver threatens to call the police…that the police would take the Thai side!

He whines to the bank employees to take his side and boot the guy out of the bank. They did nothing. Why should they? The only one beat up here is the Thai driver who certainly makes a good case for being the victim here!! Personally he is
lucky they didn't take action…they could have called the police to sort it out.

Let us look at the evidence:

1. Farang accepted a taxi driver's ride.

2. Farang refuses to completely pay for the ride.

3. Farang settles dispute with assaulting the driver…no punches thrown by the driver,
then gives him the required 20 baht.

Yeah, right….the Farang is innocent to me :-0 If this was done in a western country his ass would be in a sling faster than you could speak…in my country of Canada anyway.
Now he panics…gives him hush money of 500 baht. He has the nerve
to say that HE was taken advantage of and the Taxi driver was the bad guy. "Been There" is lucky I wasn't the taxi driver…I'd have still called the police.

How are Farang supposed to gain the respect of Thai people by pulling a stunt like that?!

Direct quote: " …..in a strange kind of way ….it felt good!!! Like all those little aggravating, bullshit injustices I had suffered for years had just been rectified and I did what I did for all the other farangs who would like to
but could not or would not"

Tough guy eh! Do me a favour pal…commit your assaults for yourself. You certainly don't represent me with garbage like that. You embarrassed yourself in front of your Thai business contacts (the bank), you risked your customer's
money and you did NOTHING to help any other farang. In fact you probably succeeded in doing the opposite.

Direct quote: "The door guard at the bank gave me a longer and more significant Thai wai whenever I entered the bank from then on."

Ohhhhh…that must have made you feel great eh! or perhaps the depth of the wai indicates sarcasm :-)…oh Great White Hope! Well I suppose you finally got the respect you need but watch your back guy. Where I come from taxi drivers
stick together, it is not just in Thailand.

Perhaps the standard fare for that ride was 10 Baht. But that driver wanted 20 baht and that is his right. It was simply a case of mis-communication over a fare. He wasn't ripped-off. "Been There" knew the fare was 20 baht…the
driver did not say yes to 10 baht. But this stupid farang tried to bully his way through it.

That is my take on this situation anyway…

Stickman’s thoughts:

If the standard fare was 10 baht and the requested fare was 20 baht then yes, charging twice the standard price would indicate a rip off, would it not.

There are times when one should stand up for their rights. There is a time to fight. Been There felt that this was such a time.