Traveller calls police over high fare charged by Phuket taxi driver

If you’ve been to Phuket, you’ve probably paid way too much for a taxi. Now, one Thai traveller claims a Phuket taxi driver ripped him off by charging a fare of 600 baht and even got the police involved to sort out the situation. He filmed confrontations with the police and taxi driver, posting the videos on Facebook and drawing criticism on the island’s notoriously high taxi fares.

The traveller had tried to book a ride through the application Bolt to get back to his hotel, but he says the driver refused service because he was afraid of the taxi drivers in the area. He tried booking a Grab, but the same thing happened and the driver refused service. He and his girlfriend then decided to hail a taxi, but the driver charged them 600 baht… much higher than the 168 baht fare listed on Bolt. The 21-minute drive was around 12 kilometres from Cafe Del Mar in Kathu to a hotel near…