Bangkok, leaves 1,000 euro tip to a taxi driver who takes him to the airport on time
One of the most recurring nightmares of travelers is that of missing the plane. If on the day of departure you arrive at the airport [...]
BKK
Thailand
One of the most recurring nightmares of travelers is that of missing the plane. If you arrive at the wrong airport on the day of departure, the risk is that you will be stuck and have to shell out a lot of money to buy a new ticket. This is precisely why we have written A couple of articles devoted to what are the "dual" stopovers that could cause confusion for Italian passengers.
In this article:
Today I want to tell a similar story, fortunately with a double "happy end," and dealing with Thailand it is not what you think.
Bangkok's two airports
Bangkok, the bustling capital of Thailand, is served by two main airports: Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK) and Don Mueang International Airport (DMK). The former is the main airport and less close to the city center, while the latter is closer to the center and is used by low-cost airlines, AirAsia above all.
The direct distance between Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang is about 45 kilometers. Travel time between the two airports may vary depending on road traffic and weather conditions, but it usually takes about an hour by car, but as I always say on my frequent trips to Thailand (or Asia in general) you can never imagine what can happen on the streets of these cities.
The misadventure of two tourists
Did you get your flight cancelled, miss your connection, land late?
You could get up to 600€ compensation per person
I never talk to taxi drivers in Asia. e I only ever use Grab as my app for all my travels, is similar to Uber, but much much more widely used and with many more features. I use it for commuting because it allows me to get picked up and taken exactly where I want to go (and pay with Amex and thus make points, as well as get a receipt for each run). However, I did happen a couple of times to set a different destination because of a typo or a "fat finger," but I admit I never got the wrong airport.
So I understand what happened to two tourists who took a cab and arrived at Don Mueang instead of Suvarnabhumi Airport, given how little English they speak in Thailand, I can already imagine the discussion "Airport..." "Yes." And the nightmare begins when you get out of the cab and find yourself in the wrong place less than 2 hours before your flight takes off.
With less than two hours from the departure of the original flight, and thus having less than an hour to change airports, the tourists approached a taxi driver asking to get from Don Mueang Airport to Suvarnabhumi as quickly as possible, and they managed to arrive on time. As reported by The Taiger, the passenger gave the driver two 500-euro bills as a gesture of gratitude.
At the current exchange rate, the 1,000 euros would be about 75k bath, say the average salary of 3 months' work, compared with a ride that would cost less than 700 bath on the meter.
On Nov. 12, 2023, one lucky taxi driver posted a photo of the tip in a Facebook group of Thai taxi drivers. The taxi driver posted a photo showing the meter with the value of the ride he had just completed, 677 baht and with two banknotes of 500 euros each.
Real banknotes
The incident went viral, and many people speculated that these were counterfeit banknotes. From personal experience I can confirm that To change around the world a €500 bill is really difficult.. However, since Bangkok is filled with tourists from all over the world, I am not surprised that one of the many wealthy travelers so generously rewarded the taxi driver, even to cover any speeding tickets, in exchange for getting him to the airport on time.
The taxi driver then shared the receipt for the change of one of the two bills, thus certifying the veracity of the story and his lucky day.
