PostBag
I'm glad to see some enforcement in regard to taxi fares in Bangkok ("Snag stops taxis charging new fares", Bangkok Post, July 4); however, a greater problem exists countrywide involving songthaews, tuk-tuks and motorcycle taxis which are being allowed to jump on the increased fuel price bandwagon and milk it for all they can.
I live near Hat Yai, and have noticed transportation fees for songthaews, tuk-tuks and motorcycle taxis have gone up unsteadily over the past two years. Some drivers charge cheaper fees while others have raised prices astronomically.
There appears to be no regulation or benchmark on which drivers base their fees, so most simply come up with a figure out of the blue, boosting the fee to satisfy their own pocketbooks, not to mention overcharging foreigners whenever possible.
The ridiculousness of the matter is this:
My wife and I take a local songthaew from our small southern village north into Hat Yai. The distance is about 33km.
Two weeks ago the fare was 16 baht, but now has risen to 18-20 baht, depending on the driver. The songthaews are typically economy trucks equipped with six-cylinder engines.
My wife and I usually stop at another intersection to catch a tuk-tuk to Rajyindee hospital where I have regular Saturday appointments. The tuk-tuk driver charges us 20 baht per person to travel 2km to the hospital.
Did you catch that? It costs 20 baht to travel 33km on a songthaew with a six-cylinder engine and another 20 baht to travel 2km in a vehicle with a four-cylinder engine.
Two weeks ago while shopping in Hat Yai, we noticed the tuk-tuk fares in central Hat Yai around Lee Garden Hotel had risen to 25 and 30 baht per person regardless of what distance we were travelling. The motorcycle taxis are following suit in this obvious rip-off scheme.
I'm curious to find out to what extent this is happening in other locales, and am wondering why fees are not regulated like in taxis and buses.
JIM ANDERSON
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Taxi service terrible
Much has been said about the problems with Bangkok taxi drivers, and so far I have bit my lip on the subject.
However, an incident occurred recently that made me realise this terrible service cannot continue.
My girlfriend, meeting me at my office, got a taxi from our Bangkok home in the pouring rain. Halfway down Charoen Nakhorn, stuck in traffic, the taxi driver simply turned her out saying he was no longer going that way. My girlfriend arrived half an hour later soaked to the skin.
Is it not bad enough that taxi drivers leave you standing on roadsides because they are "not going that way", or the "traffic is too bad" (where isn't it in Bangkok?), without leaving ladies stranded in the pouring rain because the agreed route becomes inconvenient?
I will not even go into the ripping off of tourists or the refusal of some drivers to turn on the meter.
This needs to stop. Taxi drivers are on the frontline of Thailand's service industry and give an appalling impression of this wonderful country. Standards must be imposed; drivers must accept all fares, no matter how "inconvenient". If necessary, raise taxi fares to help drivers. People won't mind paying a bit extra if the service is reliable. Otherwise these practices will continue to drag down the good name of this otherwise delightfully hospitable nation.
MARK ELLIOTT
Bangkok
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Generous with blame
Now that the affair has turned into a hot potato, Foreign Minister Noppadon protests he is not to blame because it was the previous government that pushed to support Cambodia's registration of the Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site, not him.
If that's so, sir, when all was roses why didn't you give credit where you now insist credit was due, and say: "Don't thank me, thank former prime minister Surayud?"
Why was it then only your face on stage and in the papers? Are you in the forefront only when the roses are handed out, and nowhere to be found when it's brickbat time?
BURIN KANTABUTRA
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Ground flights of fancy
I was appalled to see you again published a letter ("Benzine exposure", Postbag, July 5) denying the existence of global warming, this one even proclaiming the Earth is cooling.
Global warming is a fact and not a matter of opinion. It has been acknowledged by the scientific community, the UN and most governments. Isn't that enough?
No one has been able to refute its existence with serious, documented evidence.
Of course, there are and there always will be a few people who will deny it, even when confronted with overwhelming evidence, as well as there are people who deny the existence of evolution or the Holocaust. Global warming is a serious issue that threatens life on Earth and should be treated accordingly by the Bangkok Post, who should avoid being used as a platform promoting the flights of fancy of a small minority.
ALAIN
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Hype eerily quiet
The global warming hype that reached a fever pitch with Al Gore's movie An Inconvenient Truth and with Hurricane Katrina, which global warmists were sure was nature's revenge for SUVs, has gone eerily quiet.
There's more news in their silence than in the convenient lies about the evils of carbon dioxide that they had tried to foist upon us.
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
CHA-AM JAMAL
Phetchaburi
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Which accent is correct?
Ajarn M, in his Postbag letter criticising American, Scottish, Irish and Australian accents ("Test teachers for pronunciation too", July 6), failed to mention what country he/she comes from that he/she considers the accepted standard.
As a qualified, licensed speech and language pathologist, I am asked to deal with accents on a daily basis.
Granted, a Scotsman might be a bit difficult to understand, but this depends where he comes from. An Irishman might have a brogue, but this too depends on regionalism.
There is no set English language standard accent. To believe this is the same as believing British English sets the world language standard. Rubbish!
The key is training the listener to listen, not just hear. Ajarn M, follow the old proverb: Doctor, heal thyself.
JACK GILEAD
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Fax: +02 2403666, email: postbag@bangkokpost.co.th
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