In this day of Uber and Lyft, I rarely use taxis any more. Unfortunately for me, Uber and Lyft have been banned in Thailand and Bali. If there’s anything I hate more, it’s arguing with taxi drivers who refuse to turn on their meters. I understand that taxi drivers are averse to Uber and Lyft, since they lose business to them. However, if more taxi drivers would be honest and simply turn on their meters at all times, I’d have no problem using them more often.
On my most recent trip to Bangkok, I simply went down to reception and asked them to call a taxi for me, rather than going out into the heat and humidity to find one. By and large, based on my experience, random taxi drivers in Bangkok might be SLIGHTLY more honest than those in Bali – a little more likely to turn on their meters without prompting. Having hotel reception call a taxi for me whenever I needed to go somewhere far was such a stress reliever for me. I actually stayed at the same hotel twice in the same trip – 5 nights at the beginning of the trip, then 4 nights at the end of the trip after jaunting off to Bali in the middle. When I returned to that hotel at the end of the trip, I finally downloaded the Grab app for myself. Like other ridesharing apps, I could see a photo of the driver who would be picking me up, the type of vehicle he drove and the license plate number. It also gave me the exact price, plus the option to pay in cash or with a credit card. The only problem was that I never use a SIM card when going abroad, only free public WiFi on my cell phone. Therefore, if the driver couldn’t find me and I walked too far away from public WiFi, the call/text/message would be dropped/lost. Most of the drivers didn’t speak much English, but they basically only needed to know my destination, which was already shown to them on the app. The drivers were all friendly enough and polite.
At my first hotel in Bali, a driver was provided to drop me off at destinations within a certain radius. They were also supposed to pick guests up when you called them with the hotel-provided cell phone. However, no one ever answered when I’d call late evening, though they assured me that the service was 24 hours. Finding a taxi in the evening in Bali is such a pain. If you’ve been there, you already know that Blue Bird Taxis are the ones that supposedly always use their meters. Therefore, most of the other taxis try to emulate Blue Bird Taxis as much as possible. They’re blue, have something similar written across the top of their windshield and have what appears to be a bluebird at the top of the taxi. If you have bad eyesight like me, you can’t tell if it’s a real Blue Bird taxi until it’s right up on you! Generally, if I can’t find a Blue Bird taxi, I’ll take a motorbike and haggle a price with the driver. If I can’t find either a Blue Bird taxi or a motorbike willing to take me to my hotel, I have to take my chances with the “rogue” taxis. The first 2 nights at that hotel, I was lucky enough to find Blue Bird taxis both times. The second time, however, it was only after I’d gotten into a “rogue” taxi after getting tired of waiting around. The taxi driver asked ME “How much?” Since he meant how much I’d be willing to pay for him to drive me, I said 50,000, which is the old price that taxi drivers used to ask for when they were ripping you off in the evening. He said “That’s not enough!” Rather than deal with his B.S., I exited the taxi while he was still trying to negotiate a price with me. Luckily, I found an empty Blue Bird taxi stuck in traffic and hopped in. The fare, by the way, was only 23,000 with a meter, which shows you just how much they’re trying to rip you off by.
After that incident, I remembered that I’d downloaded the GoJek app to my cell phone prior to leaving the U.S. I decided to try it first on a Sunday afternoon to go to brunch somewhere on Pettitenget from my hotel near Dhyana Pura. The app gave me the option of requesting an ojek, a car or a Blue Bird taxi. I was fine with taking an ojek. The driver showed up within about 5-7 minutes and had an extra helmet for me. The ride was quick and safe. I only used GoJek the rest of my stay in Bali, and the fares ranged from 4000 to 8000; so inexpensive! As with Grab in Bangkok, the majority of the drivers didn’t seem to speak much English, but were pleasant and polite.
So there you have it! I’ve found great alternatives to Uber and Lyft in Bangkok and Bali, though it took me awhile to come around. One day I may even break down and get a SIM card!