Using Taxis in Thailand (Complete Guide): Are Taxis Safe?

Taxis are everywhere in Thailand, so you won’t have any trouble hailing a taxi if you’re up for it. I’ll also cover how to use Grab (company that purchased Uber in SE Asia), the taxi hotline to call if that’s what you prefer (Dial 1680), and everything else you need to know about taxis.

Are taxis in Thailand safe? Taxis in Thailand are one of the safest and most efficient ways to travel short to medium distances. To reduce risk, avoid any taxis that charge a flat rate and always make sure the meter reads “35” upon entering.

I’ll cover some basic how-to’s you need to know and go further into detail on prices, tips, scams, and pretty much everything else.

Taxi Basics

How to Speak Thai to Taxi Driver

English Phrase	Thai Translation
Will you go to (destination)?	Pai (destination)?
Do you use a meter?	Gohdt meter pock-ga-di chai mai?
Use the expressway (toll highway)	Khuen tahng-do-ahn
Don’t use the expressway (toll highway)	Mai Khuen tahng-do-ahn
Increase Air Conditioning	Reng Air
Decrease Air Conditioning	Bao Air

Taxi Colors

Don’t be confused by different taxi colors in Thailand. All taxis operate with the same rates dictated by the government.

*Alexander Klink, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons*

What color taxi to take in Bangkok? It is recommended to use bi-color yellow-green taxis as these taxis are personally owned by the driver and are more likely to provide better service. However, any color taxi is generally safe as long as they use the meter and do not attempt to charge a flat rate.

Single-Color Taxis

Owned and operated by taxi companies, alliances/cooperation of drivers, or taxis that are rented to drivers. Any individual with more than one taxi must register as a taxi company. Prior to 2008, all taxi companies were required to have their own unique color, but since then cabs are permitted to be painted yellow with a registered number in blue.

Bi-Colored Taxis

Yellow-green taxis are owned by individual drivers and highly recommended to use as the owners typically take better care than normal renting or company drivers.

Red-blue taxis are rented by drivers from conglomerate taxi hubs that own a large amount of taxis.

Yellow-orange taxis are owned by taxi companies.

Avoid Parked Taxis

First lesson you should know is to avoid parked taxis in popular locations as they’re very untrustworthy. They’re likely to scheme their way into your pocketbook with some examples I’ll go over below…

Thailand Taxi Scams

Flat Rate Vs. Meter (Always Use Meter)

If you’re in a taxi and the driver discusses flat rate, get out and move on to the next taxi. Only take metered taxis in Thailand. When you get in the taxi, make sure the meter reads “35” as that is the beginning rate for all taxi fares.

A flat rate is always a bad deal in taxis, the meter will always give you a lower rate.

Tampered Meters

This may be difficult to spot if you’re new to taxis, but if you’ve taken rides in Western cultures expect to pay MUCH less in Thailand. I’ll go over rates in more detail a little further down in this article, but you shouldn’t be paying much more than ฿200 Baht at most (and that’s for about 20 miles).

If you see a meter reading ฿500 Baht after a few minutes, get out!

After the first KM, the rate rises by ฿5.5 Baht/KM. A KM is a little over a 1/2 mile.

If you see the meter is rising way too rapidly, hop out of the taxi and get in the next one. Don’t pay any scammers!

Out of the Way Stops

If any driver asks or insists on taking you anywhere other than your destination, do not let them. Get out of the vehicle or demand to be taken to your destination.

What they’re trying to do is get a commission from a travel agency, jeweler, tailor, etc. by bringing customers. Items will be overpriced and you’ll be pressured to buy. If you are taken to a travel agency, especially don’t book anything as it’s likely you’ll pay for services you’ll never receive.

Taxis With Long Routes

This shouldn’t happen to you, but it is possible that the taxi will drive out of the way in order to get a higher fare. To avoid this scam, make sure you have a general idea of how far and how long the route should take by plugging it into your phone.

This generally won’t happen because taxis make most of their money through higher turnover and the ฿35 Baht base fare.

Taxis Without Change (Carry Small Bills)

While this isn’t so much of a scam rather than an annoyance, many taxi drivers will not have change or will not admit to having change in the hopes that you will be forced to hand over a larger note. Having a handful of ฿20 baht and ฿100 Baht notes will ensure you aren’t overpaying due to a lack of change.

If you’re arriving in the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, there will be exchange booths everywhere that are open 24/7 which are a great place to request small notes.

You can also use the ATM and withdraw an amount denominated by anything but thousands (e.g. ฿5,900 Baht rather than ฿6,000) in order to force the machine to give you smaller notes. There will be a fee for ATM transactions with a foreign card, but it is pretty low (usually around ฿150 Baht).

If you don’t have small Baht notes, request your diver to travel by expressway (toll highway) and offer to pay the toll fee with a ฿1000 Baht note. You’ll receive change in smaller notes.

How Much Do Taxis Cost in Thailand: Thai Taxi Meter Rate

A base rate of ฿35 Baht and charge per km is calculated. The rate gradually increases with distance and you’ll be subject to fees in case of a traffic jam (฿2 Baht/minute if traveling at a speed less than 6km/h), toll highway (usually ฿75 Baht per toll), or if you’re coming from the airport (฿50 Baht surcharge).

Here is what you can expect to pay if you don’t use expressway (toll highway), don’t get suck in traffic, and aren’t coming from the airport:

Mile(s)	Kilometers	Cost (Baht)	Approx. Cost (USD)
.62	1.00	฿35	$1.15
1	1.60	฿38	$1.25
2	3.22	฿47	$1.50
5	8.04	฿68	$2.15
10	16.09	฿124	$4.00
15	24.14	฿181	$5.80
20	32.18	฿241	$7.75
30	48.28	฿366	$11.70
40	64.37	฿499	$16.00

Here are the metered rates for Bangkok that must be used by all taxis:

Base Rate: 0-1KM ฿35 Baht Plus +
1-10KM ฿5.5 Baht/KM
10-20KM ฿6.5 Baht/KM
20-40KM ฿7.5 Baht/KM
40-60KM ฿8.0 Baht/KM
60-80KM ฿9.0 Baht/KM
80+ KM ฿10.5 Baht/KM
Traffic Jam: ฿1.25 Baht/minute (if <6KM/hr)
Airport Surcharge: ฿50 Baht
Expressway (Toll Highway): Varies – ฿75 Baht or More

If you’re uncertain about whether you’re receiving a fair rate, plug your destination into google maps or a similar service and calculate the distance.

As an example, if you’re traveling 5KM, you should be charged ฿57 Baht (฿5.5 Baht/KM for 4KM = ฿22 Baht + ฿35 Baht base rate that includes the first KM).

Also note that if you traveled from the airport or used the expressway (toll highway), you will be subject to surcharges and toll fees.

There is no fee for traveling to the airport, fee only applies if you’re traveling from the airport.

Picking Your Taxi

Hailing a Street Taxi

Don’t be intimidated by the traffic, if you’re in need of a taxi put your hand to the side as they drive past. Make sure they have a red vacant sign and hope they pull over. If they do, make sure they have the meter on and tell them your destination.

To properly hail a taxi, don’t wave your hand like you’re greeting your best friend. Put your hand out to the side as if you’re showing them where to stop and give your hand a small wiggle.

It’s a good idea to know which direction you’re traveling and get into a taxi driving in that direction since traffic will be crazy.

Always try to hail a taxi that’s driving. Taxis that are stopped are almost always trying to charge a fixed rate and will rarely use the meter.

If they’re able to get to you, they will. If not, look for another taxi until one pulls up.

When you’re able to get a taxi to drive up to you, they’ll expect you to open the back door and talk to them without actually getting in the seat. Tell them your destination (pai _(destination)_) and they’ll either say “yes”, “no”, or try to give you a flat rate. If they give a flat rate, walk on to the next taxi… it’s always a bad deal and opens the possibility for other scams.

If they say “no”, it’s probably because there’s bad traffic to the area or they don’t know where it is.

If they say “yes”, get in the back and make sure the meter is set to 35. If they don’t put the meter on within the first 15 seconds, ask them to (Gohdt meter pock-ga-di chai mai?). Otherwise they may be trying to charge a flat fee.

It’s good practice to have the destination ready on your phone’s navigation app so you can show directly where it is. This also allows you to track approximately what rate you should be paying (based on how your destination is) to avoid being ripped off by a tampered meter.

Scheduling a Taxi Pickup

Thailand Grab Taxi App

Grab is considered the most widely used and best taxi app service in Southeast Asia. You can download the app here, and it works much like Uber. Grab purchased Uber’s Southeast Asian sector in 2018 and continues to be a major player in Southeast Asia.

Grab’s app is much more English-friendly than alternatives (like calling Taxi Radio 1681) and directly competes with Easy Taxi and All Thai Taxi apps, all of which allow you to track where the driver is. Unlike with Taxi Radio 1681 where there’s no telling when the taxi will arrive (you can be standing around with luggage forever), you can see exactly where the Grab driver is and meet them precisely when they arrive.

Fees for Grab Taxi include a ฿20 Baht surcharge (฿150 Baht surcharge if you book a 7-seater).

Rates increase by 30% during rush hour and vary; Grab is not subject to standard taxi rates.

Easy Taxi App

Up and coming taxi app that has been received fairly well by customers. There are issues with this app during peak hours “finding” the user while attempting to book a taxi and there is no option to manually insert your address, but this app is much better reviewed than the All Thai Taxi App and a good alternative to Grab.

Here is a link to the app if you want to try it out.

All Thai Taxi App

A unique thing about this business is that they only drive Toyota Prius taxis. Historically there’s been issues with this app’s inability to register users, and it has received very poor reviews, but it might be worth giving a shot if you aren’t a fan of Grab: Link to App Store.

How to Call a Taxi in Thailand: Using Taxi Radio 1681

Simply dial 1681 on any phone in Thailand and you’ll be connected to a Taxi Radio operator. The operator will ask for your phone number, where you’re calling from, if it’s an alley: how deep into the alley, name of a building or landmark, where you are in relation to that landmark, etc.

They’ll also ask if you’re booking in the future or asap. For asap arrivals, taxis might take 20-30 minutes to arrive. If everything is checks out, the staff will verify place of pickup and send a confirmation text. If you don’t receive a text, call back to ensure you’ve been booked.

There is a surcharge of ฿20 Baht for this service.

The downside of this service is that they might not speak great English, so you might have to be creative. If you’re able to make it understood where you are, most people in Thailand understand English enough that you might be able to get your message across.

A good way to get around this is to have a passerby help give landmarks for you, or, if you can, convince them to get on the phone call and talk to the operator.

Arriving in Airport

Using Standard Airport Taxi

If you’re coming from the airport, you’ll follow signs that read “Public Taxi” and wait in line.

You’ll be directed to a touchscreen kiosk where you’ll fill out information and receive a slip. The slip will contain a driver and stall number for you to meet your driver.

Do not give the slip to the driver, it is for your records if a problem arises. The slip will tell you who your taxi driver is and an explanation for the airport surcharge of ฿50 Baht.

Schedule Ahead Using Talixo App

There’s also a service called “Talixo” (click here for link to Talixo’s website) that allows you to book your taxi in advance at the airport. I have not personally used Talixo but I hear it’s great and has better prices than standard taxis you’ll get at the airport.