Grab Drivers Accused of Stealing Fares, Peace of Mind, and the Thrill of Meter Negotiation
KIP DUNGWORTH, STAFF REPORTER
BANGKOK, THAILAND — In a city once defined by the adrenaline rush of haggling with a taxi driver at 1 a.m. outside a closed mall, a new villain has emerged: Grab drivers offering consistent pricing, punctual pickups, and the unsettling absence of commuter conflict.
Longtime expats and chaos traditionalists say the ride-hailing app has stolen more than just fares from legacy taxi drivers — it’s taken the art, the romance, the raw spiritual theatre of the Bangkok meter argument.
“It used to mean something,” said Douglas T. Friedman, a Californian who’s lived in Thailand since the Clinton administration. “You’d wave down a cab, name a destination, and then you became the negotiation. Now? You press a button and some guy shows up with AC and a seatbelt. It's soulless.”
Grab, which continues to dominate the market despite murky legality in some provinces, is now facing fresh accusations from critics who claim the app is “undermining Thailand’s cultural friction economy.”
“They’ve gamified punctuality,” said one traditional taxi driver while turning down two Thai passengers to wait for a Japanese tourist. “Where’s the thrill? Where’s the freedom to charge 500 baht for a 90-baht ride just because it’s raining?”
Meanwhile, local commuters have expressed dangerous levels of satisfaction. Many now admit to arriving at destinations unharassed, with receipts, and even a bottle of water. Some say they miss the chaos. Most don’t.
“It’s too easy,” said one expat who asked not to be named in case his Grab rating is affected. “I used to earn that ride. I used to fight for it. Now I just get in and relax. It’s disgusting.”
As of press time, Grab had issued no statement, presumably because their drivers are already on the way, arriving in a liberally-calculated three minutes, and somehow knew the exact location without a single phone call asking, “You where?”