Taxi services in South East Asia

After constantly travelling in and out in several SEA ( South East Asia ) countries I am interested to make a quick and easy overview on taxi services among countries in SEA. I would include Malaysia,Singapore,Indonesia,Vietnam,Thailand,Myanmar and Brunei. I left Laos,Cambodia and Philipines out of this list as I never go to this 3 countries so can’t make any objective and direct observation.

I would start from Indonesia first and taking the samples from Jakarta and Bali. In Jakarta and Bali basically the famous brand is Blue Bird and its group ( Silverbird,Goldenbird and etc ). Outside of this many taxi companies are around with variety of quality. In Indonesia you can easily differentiate between good taxis and bad taxis. What I mean as good taxi here is the Aircon working fine,the driver use meter and the service attitude is there ( they don’t try to make more money by driving you around several more kilometres ). Bad taxi practically means the opposite of this ( broken aircon,no meter,bad smell and no service attitude at all ). It’s general knowledges that you don’t use bad taxis if you don’t want troubles. Good taxi brands in Indonesia are such as Blue Bird ( blue color with very specific symbol but be careful that some bad taxis use this blue color intentionally albeit with different symbol ),Gamya ( green color with specific symbol as well ),Express ( white color and has cheaper meter rate ) and several other brands. Comparing the amount of good and bad taxi in Indonesia I can say that good taxi has much higher percentage compared to the bad taxis.

Second country for comparison is Malaysia. I would take the sample from Kuala Lumpur and Miri. In Kuala Lumpur it can be quite annoying experience. From airport you won’t have any problem as practically only 1 taxi company operating from KLIA ( airport limo ) and another taxi company operating from LCCT ( the Airasia budget terminal ). Your experience will only start once you’re inside KL and the suburb of it. Many of the taxis basically don’t want to use meter especially if they know you are foreigners,refuse to go to some destinations if they expect traffic jam,charging more for opening the trunks or during rainy time and etc. How can we differentiate between good and bad taxis ? I can say it’s a bit difficult and tricky part here. To be honest I can’t differentiate it. The only way to work it out is by knowing and storing as much as possible the phone number of trusted taxi drivers and call them if you need them. Of course you still need to give them some tips,but it’s better than getting ripped off by crooked taxi drivers. The amount of good and bad taxis in KL is quite balance I think. In Miri basically no meter being used at all. There’s common rate used by all driver. Let see if you want to go from a hotel to a mall over there then the driver will charge you with that common rate ( which already expensive ). You have no choice here as all the drivers follow this common agreement.

Third country for comparison is Singapore. Singapore is quite expensive place to stay. Using taxi can be a quite luxury as you have MRT and bus as good alternatives. However almost all the taxis in Singapore are good ( use meter,clean,aircon working,better service attitude ). Very small percentage of taxis in Singapore can be bad such as hiding to wait for midnight rate and etc. Overall I can say the good taxi has much higher percentage here.

Fourth country for comparison is Thailand. I would use the taxis in Bangkok as sample. Taxis in Bangkok are abundant and has different color on the car body to differentiate as well. I can say most are quite good ( use meter,clean,don’t try to cheat you and etc. ). However you’ll find small percentage of crooked taxi drivers. As a main tourism destination many foreigners flock in to Thailand. Taxi driver might try to cheat you by advising you to go to “ Chinese cultural center “,”best gem shop “ or “ massage parlour”. Be extra careful when taxi driver politely advising you to do this as simply Chinese cultural center can easily mean a store selling expensive Chinese vases which you might not want to buy and see in Thailand. But why the taxi driver even bother to bring you there ? Simple,they get commision for bringing the people. Overall I still think the taxi services in Thailand is quite good.

Fifth country for comparison is Vietnam. Vietnam is a fast growing country and also with heavy dollarized economy. USD is highly valued here beside Vietnam Dong. So far from my experience there are two good and recommended taxi companies there ( Maylinh and Vinasun ). Good and recommended because you will have less proability to be cheated as the control from the company is stronger and the car condition is good ( sedan or Toyota Innova ). The rest of the taxi companies are in grey area. Some taxi drivers from this “ grey area “ companies might try to cheat you,don’t use meter and etc. Don’t be afraid with all the threatening remarks from the taxi driver if you’re sure you’re right. I never see so far a violent taxi driver. Even if they try to cheat you,if they can’t get it they’ll just leave and looking for next victim.

Sixth and last country for comparison is Brunei. Brunei is a small and rich country surrounded by Sarawak and Sabah. Basically taxis are not abundant here as most of the people have their own cars. However taxis are present in Kuala Belait,Seria,Tutong and Bandar Seri Begawan. Most of the drivers are ok eventhough they don’t use meter. They just tell you in advance how much the cost for a ride and if you agree they’ll bring you straight away to the destination. As car is cheap here so the car used for taxi is relatively good as well. I can say high percentage of taxi is good.

The overviews I made above purely are based on my personal experiences and view. There’s no hidden intention behind it and hope it can be helpful as well.