recent features

• Taxis

  A few years ago, Thailand made an effort to train their taxi drivers. The result is "I Love Farangs and I speak English" signs on most taxis. The services have improved and you're likely to get fair metered fare from a taxi driver than a tuk-tuk driver.

• Getting around by taxi

  Getting around Bangkok by taxi is the most convenient way of traveling. The trick is to know when and where. Evening rush hour in Central Bangkok around Siam is not the time and place to hail a cab, nor is getting on the expressway heading out of town or the toward the airport. But between 10am and 3pm you can go anywhere. Weekends can be funny--in Central Bangkok, it can jam up at night. Holidays, traffic can be dead. Taxi drivers are independent businessmen, if they don't like where you are going, if it's not far enough, they might refuse. Always say "meter" and refuse a taxi that wants a flat fee.

• The Nice Way

  Asians are sensitive to the way you get their attention. Pointing with your feet or index finger is considered rude. Hailing a taxi is no different. If you want to hail a taxi, do it the way Bangkokians do it--outstretch your arm, palm down, and raise and lower it.

• Vans

• The First Kind

  The first is vans that follow some of the bus lines. Some are white and purple, some are silver blue. The cost is 15 baht per ride. although there are dozens all over the city, most tourists need to be only concerned with two. The white and purple one that starts at Victory Monument and follows Ratchapralop over to Siam. The other follows the same route but continues through the Ratchaprasong intersection and turns down Silom.

• The Second Kind

  These is an alternative to taking medium haul buses. For less than 200 baht, you can go to destinations like Pattaya, Hua Hin, and Kachanaburi. Most places that require you to go to the southern Bus Terminal are best traveled by van. From central Bangkok it will take about 150 baht by taxi to get to the terminal then more to buy a ticket. Wouldn't it be better to go directly to you destination from a central location easily accessed by BTS? The vans all load up at Victory Monument. The van drivers will be calling out their destinations. They leave when the van is full.

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