Taxi/ Uber/Gab/rent a car in Thailand

If you are planning to visit Thailand then this blog will certainly prepare you for the possible taxi scammers.

First of all, there are different color of taxis in Thailand, meter and non meter taxis, UBER and GRAB taxis, and illegal taxis.

Just keep it very clear that the METER taxis is the CHEAPEST option for you in Thailand. Usually driver will try to negotiate for LUMP SUM amount, DO NOT FALL IN TO IT, the meter amount in any case is still the cheapest option. 

The foreigner who visit Thailand usually trust the app based taxis services like UBER and GRAB and from my experience they are twice the cost of the METERED amount. But people usually have a long trust in the app and hesitant to take the actual taxis they still prefer the app service.

Rent a car or Motorbike

Taxis are available abundantly and I do not recommend the renting option for 2 reason, the Unclear insurance system if car is stolen or damaged, secondly the parking. If still very necessary to have a car for yourself then take it with driver and it wont cost much extra.

" I asked the renting person what happen if the car is stolen or damaged and he said me with big smile , YOU PAY IT"

AIRPORT Taxi

Both the airport in Bangkok has improved taxi service, there is a single counter and the customer takes the taxis one by one, the address is informed to the counter and receipt is given to the customer and the driver, you need to pay the total amount end of the journey.

IT looks simple BUT there are many issues later on, which you must know it.

1- Buy a sim card with internet service and use mobile internet for mapping ( Google map works online only and Sygic is a good software to use as offline in Thailand) most of the drivers are not sure about the way and sometime I think they just like to be stuck in traffic.

2- HIGHWAY ISSUE, 

This is one of the biggest issue if you are taking taxi from or To airport, you need to inform the driver if you agree to take highway or not, this can be an easy option if you have google map and you can see the traffic condition, there are 2 portions of highway involved and both parts cost 70 and 50 Baht respectively, this money need to be paid by the customer. If you do not say him to take highway , the driver will take normal way and possible to stuck in traffic for minimum 1 hour. sometime its just enough to take one part of the Highway and then back to normal road. just keep checking your gps traffic condition. Or just say driver to take highway and pay the money, which is hardly 3 Euro in total and does save a lot of time.

3-AIRPORT fees

There is fixed airport fees of 50 Baht, which must be given at the end of journey to the driver, this is also written on your receipt. Just be prepared for it as many tourist think this as a scam and fight with the driver.

4- Taxi commission

If you are single, its high possibility that the taxi driver will try to show you some parts of Bangkok, usually red lights areas, they get some commission from these places so be very clear about your address and DO NOT fall in to this offers.

5-Taxis at the islands like Krabi or Phuket

Meter Taxis on the islands are hard to find and usually illegal taxis ( I think its a monopoly of some car renting agents) run in this area and rate is fixed before the journey. The fare is abnormal high and cars are limited so usually people prefer to rent BIKES here, but the driving style and parking issues makes it a night mare, I recommend to use hotel tourism service and there are few websites that gives great fare for transfer from airport to the hotel or any other place. I recommend this service for Phuket transfer( http://www.phuketsrctravel.com/transfer_service.php ). I find them cheapest and professional.

6-TUKTUK

It is more like a tourist ride and are much more expensive then other car services, better fix a rate before and use your bargain skills.

Lastly, when you still in Meter Taxi, make sure the starting price is 35 and its counting as the car start running.

Finally its a quite safe and interesting city, wish you a safe travel. 
and short distances the bike taxis are best deal in traffic conditions.

Osaka to Kyoto, Japan

Kyoto is one of the famous places to visit in Japan. I would say if you want to see the modern and advanced japan then go to Tokyo and for real cultural and historical Japan then visit KYOTO.

Kyoto doesn't have his own airport and its necessary to arrive at the OSAKA airport and then there  are a lot of complicated options to reach Kyoto. Complicated in a way as your choice of transport is really dependent on how long you stay in Japan, what is your future travel plan and how much you can afford.

Arrival at the airport.
The airport is modern, before going to the immigration fill out completely the immigration form( most airlines give it during flight) or just take it form the counter before immigration control. I totally recommend to fill the form before landing and save time. As you walk towards the immigration one officer check if you have filled the immigration form and also the custom declaration form. After this there are counters which just scan your passport and finger print and then you stand in for the immigration counter. The process is quick and they just put a sticker on your passport showing the validity of your visa.
After immigration take your luggage and pass through the custom control and hand over the custom declaration form and they will check your passport again.

 Exit the main door and on the right side you will find INFORMATION center, usually crowded with the tourist. Before going there its better to decide what ticket you actually want.Option are
1- Take JR pass for 7 days and travel unlimited on JR lines
2- Take single journey train HARUKA etc card for one time travel
3- Take bus
How to choose
If you plan to visit multiple cities in Japan and stay like a couple of days in each city, then its totally recommended to take the JR pass which cost nearly 217 Euro and travel hassle free to different cities using fast trains.
If you like to travel by train and use prepaid card and then HARUKA and IOCOA is good option, and cost nearly 3000yen for one way and takes 78 minutes to Kyoto station.
BUT
if you are going to stay longer in Kyoto and you don't have plan to visit another cities soon, so the bus is the cheapest option. One way cost 2300Yen and return ticket cost 4000 yen. Which is a cheap way to reach Kyoto station and takes 88 minutes.

 The lines for the bus, First come First serve basis, buses depart every 20 min in day time so do not panic if you don't get a free space.

 The time table and bus time is shown on the screen, remember PLATFORM 8 to get the bus.

There is ticket office just next to the bus station too, encase you just rushed out of airport with out buying ticket.

 After reaching to Kyoto you can take a SUBWAY ticket for 290 yen for one way, 600yen for one day and 1000 yen for SUBWAY+ BUS for one day pass.

Change the currency at the airport, its similar rate as in the city. you can use CARD money in most of the places in Japan but cash is more welcomed, and small vendors you can just use cash.

Below find some useful links
1- For JR pass
https://www.jrpass.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw9afOBRDWARIsAJW4nvy31uaiIUC5b69qaJ9Rt-RHbDDMuePf9PvQpG8LrVW1NFKpguiaeJoaAjUZEALw_wcB

2-Kyoto subway
https://www.kyotostation.com/kyoto-subway-lines/