Kaosan Tuk Tuk drivers are annoying
Wednesday, April 4th, 2007I have rarely lost my temper with locals during any of my travels so far. In fact, today I was a bit shocked and disappointed in hearing a farang (foreigner in Thai) argue with the hotel staff at the place I am staying. At a lot of hotels in countries around the world you leave your key at the front desk and pick it up when you get back. I personally like to take the key with me as to avoid any problems. Apparently the reception gave someone else his key on accident that was right next door to his room. The man was really upset and was yelling in the lobby about how he was a jewelry dealer and that this was unacceptable and that someone could have taken all of his stuff and he wanted them to tell him that they were sorry. I was very close to stopping in my tracks, turning around and telling him to lock his shit up if it is so damn important to him. There are signs all over this guest house and EVERY guest house telling guests to lock up anything that they would not want stolen or lost and that the hotel is not responsible for anything missing. I always take this as a warning that even the hotel management can’t be held responsible for the actions of their cleaning personnel or any other staff. It is common sense when traveling to take care of your valuables.
All of this being said, for the first time in 3 months I raised my voice in anger and frustration with a local. Tuk-Tuks are a common mode of transportation in Thailand and 80% of the time there is no problem. I walk around and they hiss or psst in my direction and ask me where I am going. It is very easy to shrug them off if I don’t need them but the problem comes when I actually need to go somewhere. I noticed the Tuk-Tuk drivers operating around Kaosan Rd. are absolutely relentless. Like I have stated previously Kaosan Rd. is a backpacker mecca. Tons of accommodation, restaurants and shops catering to any travelers needs. If anyone saw the movie The Beach it is where Leonardo DiCaprio headed to his first night in Bangkok and enjoyed a nice sampling of snakes blood. While it isn’t that crazy it is definitely a spectacle. Anyway, back to my story… Bangkok is really crowded and traffic is so horrid that it takes an hour to cross town and several minutes to travel short distances. I woke up this morning with the plan to head off to a local mall to buy a pair of quality shorts. Everything I have found on Kaosan Rd is either too expensive or of bad quality, or both. I wanted to find something that I could try on in a dressing room and street vendors were not the place to do it. A good pair of shorts are important to me and worth the trip to a standard mall. I was told that the trip should only cost 50 baht which is about $1.50. I flagged down a Tuk-Tuk driver and told him where I wanted to go.
Me: “Sawasdi krap, pin klao mall?”
Driver: “Why you go there?”
Me: “Need to go, can you take me?”
Driver: “Ah”
Me: “Tao Rin? (how much?)”
Driver: “Where you go after?”
Me: “Forget it”
Repeat this process for about 20 minutes and you have Kaosan Rd. Tuk Tuk drivers. They want to know where you are going and what you are doing after because they want to take you around to shops and drop you off so they pay the driver commission on bringing you there. It is nearly impossible to find an honest driver that will take you to your location at a normal price. I got offers of 100 baht plus stopping at 2 shops of his choice to “look around, no buy” or taking me to a place to buy a Thai girl at a good price. It is pretty frustrating when all you want to do is get to your destination and not answer any questions.
After the 5th time of being asked why I want to go there I told him that it was none of his business and made a loud scene. I immediately realized that it might have been better to just walk away but I was starting to think there was no way I could leave Kaosan Rd without either visiting his cousin’s jewelry shop or agreeing to go to some sort of sex show in Patpong (redlight district) tonight.
I wandered away from Kaosan Rd. off to some other side streets that were a bit quieter and told the driver to please just take me to the mall for 50 baht and let me be. He agreed and all was fine.
Just thought I’d share a little story of annoyance with local transportation. I will say this right now. Bangkok is NOT my town. When I leave here I won’t look back. Not just because of this but it is just so difficult to travel within the city you are almost confined to the part of town you sleep in.
Joey