Bangkok

Tuk-tuk or Grab for a short hop in Bangkok?

400 metres, or 2 km in traffic. The driver already quoted 200. thailand.go.th says refusing a taxi meter is illegal. Tuk-tuks are a different animal.

Short hop decision

If	Take	Why
You can walk it in the heat	Walk	The quote is the product
Meter taxi with the meter on	Taxi	thailand.go.th / tourist police 1155 if they refuse the meter
App quote you can live with	Grab or Bolt	Number on a screen
Tuk-tuk “special price” / gem / “temple closed”	Walk away	Scams — embassy pages still list this pattern

Negotiate a tuk-tuk only if you like the theatre and you named the fare before you sit. A short hop is where the markup is worst.

Start, end, and whether you already have a quote. 200 baht for 400 metres is the whole answer.

Getting around

11 comments

Ploy

400 metres: walk. 200 baht is the joke price. Meter taxi if you must sit. Tourist police 1155 if a metered taxi refuses the meter.

19d

Mint Saelim

Tuk-tuk is fine if you name 80 baht and they laugh and you walk. It is not fine if they already started driving to a shop.

19d

Hannah Miles

I walk that Asok 7-11 stretch. The Grab for 400 metres is still smarter than a random tuk-tuk at 23:00.

19d

Kit Rattana

Chiang Mai red songthaew is a different product. Do not paste Bangkok tuk-tuk rules onto a shared red truck.

19d

James Collingwood

“Temple closed, I know a better one” is the diversion. Embassy pages still list it. Get out.

19d

Dan Okafor

Grab quote for 2 km in traffic can be 80–150. A tuk-tuk at 300 is not culture. It is a bad purchase.

19d

Lauren Peck

Do I haggle in Thai numbers or is the app just less theatre.

18d

Ian Crowe

Phuket tuk-tuks are their own expensive folklore. Grab or a meter if you can find one. Do not learn on Patong.

18d

Nora Blake

Bolt vs Grab is the other thread. Tuk-tuk vs app is this one. Keep them apart.

18d

Claire Dunn

If they already quoted 200 for a hop I can see, I have the answer before I sit down.

18d

Tess de Vries

App. I cannot haggle in a language I do not have. The screen is the point of the phone.

17d

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