Streetwise: Taxis leave bad taste in the mouth

 If nobody can pick you up at the airport, you need to take a cab if you can't afford the expensive limousine - and so you have to join the queue. Then, aside from the risk of being turned down by some taxi drivers, you have to endure tension.

 At Suvarnabhumi Airport, the Bt50 extra fee on top of the metered fare for the ride is not the problem to all. Most people are happy with the availability of the service, with the cabs waiting right at the passenger terminal. However, it is surprising that many taxi drivers are so choosy despite fierce competition from the rising number of vehicles.

 A friend of mine encountered an unfortunate experience last week. Coming from a European country that is extremely cold now, she still wore a sweater. Travelling light with a small bag, she unintentionally deceived a taxi driver into thinking she was a non-Thai.

 The driver, in the false hope that she would travel far from Suvarnabhumi to the inner-city area, gleefully rushed over to her and swapped his ticket with another driver, who had to pick up an Indian family instead.

 In the car, when told that she wanted to travel the short distance to Pattanakarn 65, he fumed. "I shouldn't have exchanged the ticket. The distance is too short and it doesn't make my waiting here worthwhile."

 Stunned, she rebutted: "Then stop here. I can hail another taxi."

 The driver, probably realising the rising tension, shut up and later told the passenger to tell the ticket seller that next time, she should have made "Praves" as the destination, so that he could get into the taxi queue without a long wait.

 She said nothing but thought to herself: when will this problem eventually be solved? Passengers are bound to be upset when turned down by taxis, and many have to suffer from drivers' rude attitudes and acts.

 Is it too much to hope that one day our public transportation will be like that overseas?