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Nov. 2006
While Bangkok sidewalks
are filled with
street food
, Bangkok
streets are filled with
taxis. Unlike
other means of public
transportation like
buses, skytrain, subway,
Pok Poks
,
motorcycle taxis
, or river
boats, taxis are the one
and only available
24/7.
Bangkok taxis have gone
through years of
changes. Back in
the seventies,
most
taxis were still non
air-conditioned.
There was only a small
toy-like fan installed
on the dashboard
pointing to the
driver
.
Back then, windows must
be opened when riding a
taxi due the heat and
humidity.
And
whenever it rained, it
was an oven time.
Windows closed,
no
air-conditioned!
Taxis started to become
air-conditioned in the
eighties. Still,
fare had to be bargained
and most cars were old
to very old. Some
taxis only the drivers
knows how to open the
damaged doors so you
would see them open the
doors for the
passengers. Repeat
this was back
then.
The big change came in
the early nineties and
can possibly be called a
revolution. It
brought
Bangkok roads life and
colors. Taxis
changed from single dim
colors to bright fancy
colors no different from
a toy car. Fare
meters were also
introduced over the
old-fashioned fare
bargaining style.
Further, taxis were
categorized into private
and corporate.
Private taxis are
yellow/green and those
corporate are
non-yellow/green.
That simple.
Private taxis are
individual-owned which
the driver can either be
full or part-time.
(Similar to a
motorcycle taxi
.) Some
owners don't drive but
hire a driver
instead. For
corporate taxis, either
company or coop, are
identified by their
corporate colors.
Different colors
identify different
companies and
coops. Similarly,
drivers can also be
working full or
part-time in which taxis
are rent on a daily
basis more or less
around 550 Baht.
It
is common for you to be
rejected when waving a
taxi during their shift
transfer.
It's their rush time to
transfer the car to the
next driver.
Presently, all taxis are
competing for varieties
of services such as,
call order and
reservation, safety GPS
navigation system,
English speaking drivers
(for tourists), new
cars, etc.
Since
taxis are identified by
their colors, some
regular passengers even
make decision on geting
a taxi based on these
colors.
It's
totally different from
the old
days.
Bits & Pieces
1. Some frequent
passengers believe
the private
yellow/green
taxis are safe
and
service-minded
because
the owners are the
drivers
themselves.
2. All taxi
windows are
required to be
filter free and
doors to be non
central
locking for both
passenger and
driver's safety.
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