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How much should I be paying for a driver for a day?


wellred

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I'm planning my itinerary for my high season trip and want to do a few day trips away from Bangkok.

 

Day 1 - Trip to Chacoengsao province to see the 2 Ganesh temples, Wat Pak Nam and have lunch at the riverside market. 

 

Day 2 - Trip to Suphanburi province to spend a good 2-3 hours at Wat Phai Rong Wua. 

 

I got a few names off Trip advisor, messaged them on whatsapp and both quoted around 2500bhat for trip there and back including fuel and tolls. Does that sound about right?

 

Also are there any advantages to maybe hiring a taxi driver? I may just end up getting a driver via the hotel but thought I'd ask here to see what the 'going rate' is. 

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If the drivers have good ratings on Tripadvisor then minimises your risk of being taken for a ride (so to speak) maybe contact some of the people who have used them? Taxi drivers can negotiate with, but condition of some of the taxis leaves a lot to be desired.....I'm sure hotel will oblige ... but likely to put their own commission on top if a hotel at the higher luxury end of the scale 

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I'm not sure about this one. You can rent your own vehicle for around 1,000/1,200 baht a day (shop around and that price can be lowered to around 800 baht/day, not a commuter van but a decent comfortable vehicle). So that means you're paying between 800 and 1,500 baht a day for the driver, it seems high to me given that the average wage here is around 14,000 baht a month, say 500 baht a day.

 

http://www.northwheels.com/fleet-rates/

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On a recent 5 day trip we paid B1,000 per day plus fuel and tolls. That's the standard Thai price for vans in my area of the northeast.

 

The driver slept in the van, acted as a tour guide and was available from morning til after our evening meal.

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7 hours ago, chiang mai said:

I'm not sure about this one. You can rent your own vehicle for around 1,000/1,200 baht a day (shop around and that price can be lowered to around 800 baht/day, not a commuter van but a decent comfortable vehicle). So that means you're paying between 800 and 1,500 baht a day for the driver, it seems high to me given that the average wage here is around 14,000 baht a month, say 500 baht a day.

 

http://www.northwheels.com/fleet-rates/

 

So if the average monthly wage is 500 a day why does 1000 for one of those days sound high?  Are you assuming there are no zero days to average things out?

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number one. make sure the taxi does not have a "boy racer dustbin exhaust" on it, i dont know why the hell they have to do this, its a bloody taxi, not a racing car (or maybe they think it is), went on the trip recently and you could not hold a conversation in the back of the taxi, it was bloody unbearable, luckily the journey was not very far

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/5/2016 at 7:07 AM, chiang mai said:

I'm not sure about this one. You can rent your own vehicle for around 1,000/1,200 baht a day (shop around and that price can be lowered to around 800 baht/day, not a commuter van but a decent comfortable vehicle). So that means you're paying between 800 and 1,500 baht a day for the driver, it seems high to me given that the average wage here is around 14,000 baht a month, say 500 baht a day.

 

http://www.northwheels.com/fleet-rates/

500 baht a day is basically minimum wage for unskilled  manual. An on call driver with passable English is going to make significantly more.

TH 

 

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3 minutes ago, thaihome said:

500 baht a day is basically minimum wage for unskilled  manual. An on call driver with passable English is going to make significantly more.

TH 

 

 

Nonsense, 500 is the average wage of the country (or close enough), not the absolute minimum. Daily manual workers in this area will work for 350/400.

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5 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

 

Nonsense, 500 is the average wage of the country (or close enough), not the absolute minimum. Daily manual workers in this area will work for 350/400.

 

You will note I did not say "absolute" minimum,  I said basicly minium. For reliable unskilled manual labor in Bangkok,  you will pay around 500 baht a day. You can get cheaper using Burmese or Cambodians, but not much. Outside  Bangkok it is indeed cheaper.

 

Besides, the discussion was about English speaking drivers on call for short term employment.  I was merely pointing out that 500 baht a day for driver with some skills is below market rate.

TH

 

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