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An app to connect all taxi/tuk tuk drivers in Thailand (or at least Bangkok).

Project Type
Project idea
Summary

An app to connect all taxi/tuk tuk drivers in Thailand (or at least Bangkok).

Description
Tldr: Scroll to -------------------------------- I went on holiday to Thailand and I've spent a week in Bangkok. I really liked the city, but one thing drove me crazy. THE TAXI DRIVERS ARE FUCKING MORONS. Let me give you an example: - Taxi taxi! - Hi could you get me to this hotel? "shows map and address" - 200 Bath. - Can we go with meter*? - *Makes face like he got kicked in the balls* *Unrecognizable sounds* No no. - OK thank you. Bye, have a great day. *Meter is what they call their device for measuring how much you should pay. 5 minutes later I get an Uber with a car twice as big and comfortable which gets me to the hotel for 100 Bath. This kind of situation happened to me every day during my stay. It was either taxis not wanting to use the meter or the scooter taxis overcharging like hell (300 Bath for what takes 100 with Uber) or the tuk tuks trying to rip you off in the same way. Now you might wonder, so what? The taxi guy can scam others and still get his money. That might be true, but from what I saw most of the taxis/tuk tuks are driving around empty and stopping by for every white person asking where they are going (which is also annoying as hell) No my idea to fix this shit show: -------------------------------- Let's create an Uber/My taxi like app that every taxi/scooter taxi/tuk tuk driver can download and become a driver using his commercial license. This app would allow users to choose which kind of vehicle they want to use (price would increase depending on vehicle size - kinda like Uber). Then at the end of a trip there would be a possibility to tip the driver with some % based on the actual fare. The driver would only be able see tips in total for every finished working week, so that he wouldn't be able to tell who tipped (tourists need that kind of safety). The fares would be slightly higher than a regular meter so that the drivers would get some extra money for using the app (+the tips ofc), that might encourage more of them to actually use the app. In the end if the app is successful it would be an awesome idea to create a company to actually hire the drivers full time (fixed and fair monthly income + tips + extra money when they actually drive with someone), create an interface that would allow phones to connect with cars and use the radio to communicate between taxis/central just by having a phone connected. The phone would also be able to grab the data from the vehicle's computer to quickly find out if something is wrong and most importantly if a user reports a driver a small recording of the talk between the driver and the user would be sent to an administrator to see what happened. How would that help the drivers? - No more driving around like crazy to pick up people, just park your car, relax and wait for an order close to you. - Less work, for easier and probably higher income. - Less stress and more reasons to actually smile when you pick someone up... How would that help everyone else? - No more annoying drivers trying to rip you off 10 times a day. - Easy to get a taxi when you NEED, not when you just want to walk from A to B. - Cheaper than paying the "fixed" price. I'm still on my vacation and this is just an idea that came to me when I was piased off. It would be great to get some information from native Thais (especially ones from BKK) to see what they think about the whole situation. What do you guys think?
Comments
  • 3
    i think you should add tldr at the top
  • 0
    Seems good! I think in India same problem exists.
  • 3
    The question is: Do they want to use such an app, or do they actually want to stick to their scam. I could imagine many tourists go for a drive after being asked directly
  • 1
    @418-teapot first point of contention: how will you make drivers use your app? If uber and lyft are anything to go by, any tuk-tuk driver who used the app will end up getting themselves stabbed or run out of business. Drivers are already complaining about Uber lowering their incomes, how will you combat that? Charging as low as Uber just won't cut it, drivers won't use it.
  • 0
  • 0
    @monr0e I was thinking about using their whole meter to handle that + maybe set the fare a bit higher. I'm not saying it should be as cheap as Uber, it should be just be much more convenient (being able to select the type of your transport etc). I was using an app called My Taxi last year and it uses this kind of approach. Works pretty well, but the meter starts as soon as you order and not the moment you enter. In my mind there should be a fix price for ordering the taxi and the meter should start as soon as you enter.
  • 0
    @Kimmax This is exactly why it would be perfect to get some native Thais to help with this one. I think that it must be pretty annoying getting rejected by people x times a day, so I'm hoping that they would get convinced by the pure ease of getting passengers. And setting the fare high enough + the option for tips + giving them a full-time employment benefits could maybe at least match what they are getting by scamming people.
  • 0
    @418-teapot So it's sort of like PickMe in Sri Lanka? Here where I live, it used to be exactly like that. Tuk drivers would pull numbers out of their ass and charge us that and it was even worse for tourists. We then got meter taxis, but then not every tuk driver was willing to go meter. An Uber clone for tuks popped up before Uber could actually capture the market, and managed to on-board good hearted tuk drivers, and then used these tuk drivers to act as evangelists and on-board even more tuk drivers. Customers realized how convenient PickMe was and most of them insisted that they would only use PickMe and not the normal tuks, which got even more tuk drivers to get onboarded since they didn't want to miss out.
  • 0
    @monkehparade Sounds exactly like what I'm thinking about :D
    The thing is that I want it to be more than just tuk tuks. I want to connect tuk tuks, scooter taxis and regular taxis in 1 app so that people could select exactly what they need at any given moment (cheap 1 person scooter or a big, more expensive taxi that can take you and 2 of your friends).
  • 0
    @418-teapot PickMe doesn't just do tuks. They do minis, cars, vans, VIP vehicles, and Pickup/Deliveries too :?
  • 0
    Let me know when you plan to launch this - would be an amazing improvement to the street walking comfort!

    On a side note, my startup Trips Avenue would be willing to partner to bring you first customers when you get this up and running - so keep me updated, and good luck 😉
  • 0
    @vlad Thanks! I'll need to get someone with some hybrid app experience to help me on this one. I'm a backend guy myself and haven't really built any "real" apps other than some school projects. Would you happen to know someone like that? I was planning to start working as soon as I can get people on board.
  • 0
    BKK taxi drivers aren't running out of customers. They are picky because they can afford to reject you. There is no benefit for them changing to this app. Also they all have a contract with the taxi companies that leases the cars out. These companies won't allow such a competition.
  • 0
    @cephei How about offering the app to the actual companies? That would increase their own competitiveness by a lot. Unless they want to get fucked by things like Uber at some point... Not my problem
  • 0
    @418-teapot if you want the thai mafia as a busines partner... sure.
  • 1
    I had the same issue
  • 0
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