Rule of 6

When dealing with taxi drivers in Bangkok I have found that they largely multiple the actual price of the ride by 6 when they first tell you how much it will cost. They all have meters...but why use them? Why not try to take advantage of tourists?

I was trying to go from the Northern bus terminal to the southern to head down to the beaches and I had a map in Lonely Planet that made them look to be about 15km apart. Now cabs in Thailand are cheap, dirt cheap....when the meter is used. It cost a group of 4 of us 25o baht (~$8) for the 45 minute ride from the airport to downtown, so I knew this 15km ride should cost about 100 baht (ended up being 90, $3). So this cab driver ushers me to his cab, speaks pretty good english (a rarity among cab drivers) and then tells me 650 baht ($22). I just started laughing at him, seriously man? The price then drops to 300 baht ($10) and I keep laughing and tell him to put the meter on, he insists it will cost 600 baht if I use the meter then tells me how the insane traffic will make it go higher probably. Now its 1am at this point and I know Bangkok can have bad traffic but not at 1am. So I woke away and find another cabbie who happily puts the meter on, 12km and 90 baht later I'm safely at the bus station heading south.

The ride was on a pretty comfy air-con bus full of Thais. I slept all night and awoke to the TV turning on so the Thais could watch what looked like the worst game show ever created. They were all laughing so it must have been funny. But I get to the bus in Krabi and again a cab driver tries to charge me 6 times the amount of what it should cost to get to town. I just hoped on a local bus and was on the beach of Ao Nang in no time.

I'm pretty sure my rule of 6 is science, divide the initial cost of the trip by 6 and that is what the actual price should be. Don't forget this when you go to Thailand next.