Nam's Taxi Service

[User Name Eric]

Another great service to report!

Used Nama few weeks ago and had NO problems at all.

Great Driver that I met outside the airport popped in and water was waiting for me.  Quick trip to Pattaya and drop off at Acqua.  

Could not have been better.  Will ALWAYS use when going to Pattaya!

[JA01_]

Just set up all of my rides through Nams.  Same day response via email.  How do you guys tip the drivers? 

[bobbyg]

Flawless pick up and drop despite me being over an hour late on arrival. Driver was there with a smile on her face 

[Jebb]

7 hours ago, JA01_ said:

Just set up all of my rides through Nams.  Same day response via email.  How do you guys tip the drivers? 

I always tip 300bht. Going back the fare used to be 1200 inclusive of tolls so I rounded it up to 1500. Always best to give them the money before pulling up at the airport.

[Luv2Phuket]

17 minutes ago, Jebb said:

I always tip 300bht. Going back the fare used to be 1200 inclusive of tolls so I rounded it up to 1500. Always best to give them the money before pulling up at the airport.

+1

[vivid2]

2 hours ago, Jebb said:

I always tip 300bht. Going back the fare used to be 1200 inclusive of tolls so I rounded it up to 1500. Always best to give them the money before pulling up at the airport.

+2

[Thomaz73]

18 hours ago, JA01_ said:

How do you guys tip the drivers?

Always give 200 on top. Not expected at all, though. But an ex milf used to freelance for Nam and explained enough that I understand how tiny their margins are. 

[AngelCty2Nit]

11 hours ago, Jebb said:

I always tip 300bht. Going back the fare used to be 1200 inclusive of tolls so I rounded it up to 1500. Always best to give them the money before pulling up at the airport.

300b has always felt right to me as well.

Nams has always been excellent-never a problem with something unexpected like a late flight arrival 

Ive also used Nams more than once to pick up a 'friend' from the airport when I'm not a passenger. I transfer payment to them directly, and they take care of everything: communicating directly with my friend to coordinate particulars.

Friendly, punctual, reliable - every time

[Thomaz73]

43 minutes ago, AngelCty2Nit said:

300b has always felt right to me as well

Yes, I realise now that I've been a CCC (the last C is quite explicit.) The 200 always brought a smile and many thanks, though. I shall adjust. 

[Bonkabit]

Normally I tip 200 bahts on the ride cost of 1000 or 1200 bahts.

A few years ago, going from Pattaya to Suvarnabhumi we ran into the heaviest rainstorm of my life; I could hardly see and was surprised the driver did not just pull into the side of the road and wait till conditions improved. But no, she drove on slowly and carefully; once we were out of the rain, she sped up again and we got to the airport in time for my check-in to fly home to Australia. I'd thought I would be too late.

Driver had told me she was going to sleep in the car at the airport as she had a customer to meet next morning at 0730. I was so pleased with her effort for me that I gave her 500 bahts tip, saying, "Go into a hotel for a good night's sleep." ((I know there are some el cheapos nearby).

She was a bit overcome, flinging her arms around me and giving me a big kiss!

[OKAY]

I guess I tip too much; 300 baht on top of the 1200.

Heck, once the outbound airport got closed so couldn't get to the BKK airport, phoned Nam as soon as the airport closed (military plane blew tires on landing and couldn't be moved) to cancel the ride . Still tipped the lady ; anyway gave the next day driver 300 extra to be given to the previous driver. I'm not rich in my neighborhood but ten bucks is a lot in this country to most workers.

[gammonplayer]

I am the same, I like the comfort of large sedan (1200B) and always just give 1500

[Kale]

Up to you but 300/1200 is a 25% tip. That is excessive for Thailand imo.  Even in the US anything more than 15-20% is excessive imo.

Edited September 29, 2022 by Kale

[onehunglo]

31 minutes ago, Kale said:

Up to you but 300/1200 is a 25% tip. That is excessive for Thailand imo.  Even in the US anything more than 15-20% is excessive imo.

the reason for a 300Btip you will find is that they charge the driver 300B commission so most of us make it back up for them .. everyone wins 

# 1 ... Nam gets her commission 

# 2 Driver gets her full amount 

# 3 We get a promt hassle free trip

Not much really when you look at what we waste on L/D's !! in reality it is only 2 L/D drinks in most places across the board . most blokes leave a MIN tip of 20B for dinner service , add that up over a week or 2 

Edited September 29, 2022 by onehunglo

[Kale]

1 hour ago, onehunglo said:

the reason for a 300Btip you will find is that they charge the driver 300B commission so most of us make it back up for them .. everyone wins 

# 1 ... Nam gets her commission 

# 2 Driver gets her full amount 

# 3 We get a promt hassle free trip

Not much really when you look at what we waste on L/D's !! in reality it is only 2 L/D drinks in most places across the board . most blokes leave a MIN tip of 20B for dinner service , add that up over a week or 2 

Up to you.  The driver gets paid what the driver gets paid.  That is not my concern.  Lots of people from countries that are not tipping cultures do not tip anything. Again, up to you. 

Edited September 29, 2022 by Kale

[onehunglo]

5 minutes ago, Kale said:

Up to you.  The driver gets paid what the driver gets paid.  That is not my concern.  Lots of people from other countries that are also not tipping cultures, do not tip.  Again, up to you. 

I don't tip in australia as they get paid enough to do the job but do in LOS  and especially feel it's worth it at Nams Taxis as I've been F*#Ked over a few times before so its worth it in my eyes , as you say everyone is different 

note I wasn't having a go at you , just pointing out why most blokes tip the 300B me included . as I asked the driver once what Nam charges her , keeps everyone happy , but mainly I get to room in one piece

[ocka]

I also tip 200-300 for the airport ride,  but I have a life-long habit of only paying a taxi driver after I have taken my luggage out of the boot.   🙂

Probably not necessary,  but why tempt fate?

[LASportsNut]

4 hours ago, Kale said:

Up to you.  The driver gets paid what the driver gets paid.  That is not my concern.  Lots of people from countries that are not tipping cultures do not tip anything. Again, up to you. 

Of course it is up to you and all of us.

I don't want to make this a tipping thread but this topic is for sure related to Nam's services.

A 200-300 baht tip for us is not much but for the drivers it can mean a great deal.

The reason I tip is the car services (similar to Nan and Meow) are cheaper than a taxi.

The drivers pay for your toll, however taxi drivers do not.

You are also riding in a more comfortable vehicle.

The drivers for the car services arrive early (up to an hour sometimes) and wait for you with your name displayed.

They also help you get to your luggage to the car and expedite the time it takes to get out of the airport and on the road.

For me this is a no brainer.

Edited September 29, 2022 by LASportsNut

[AngelCty2Nit]

48 minutes ago, LASportsNut said:

For me this is a no brainer.

Well said.

+1

 

 

[Kale]

5 hours ago, LASportsNut said:

Of course it is up to you and all of us.

I don't want to make this a tipping thread but this topic is for sure related to Nam's services.

A 200-300 baht tip for us is not much but for the drivers it can mean a great deal.

The reason I tip is the car services (similar to Nan and Meow) are cheaper than a taxi.

The drivers pay for your toll, however taxi drivers do not.

You are also riding in a more comfortable vehicle.

The drivers for the car services arrive early (up to an hour sometimes) and wait for you with your name displayed.

They also help you get to your luggage to the car and expedite the time it takes to get out of the airport and on the road.

For me this is a no brainer.

The world is not the US, where tipping has spread and grows like cancer.  My friend from the UK does not tip anything anywhere.  Up to him, up to you, up to me.

Edited September 29, 2022 by Kale

[LASportsNut]

5 minutes ago, Kale said:

The world is not the US, where tipping is a cancer.  My friend from the UK does not tip anything ever.  I don't want to hear any lectures or guilt trips on what I should or should not tip any more than you do.  Up to you, up to me

I was agreeing with you.

However, not everyone tipping is from the US.

[thinkingallowed]

If you take out the fee the driver pays for the booking, fuel and toll fees plus wear and tear to the car your 300 baht tip is possibly 100% of what the driver actually makes for themselves.

This is neither a pro or anti tipping post.

Edited September 29, 2022 by thinkingallowed

[Encora]

12 hours ago, onehunglo said:

the reason for a 300Btip you will find is that they charge the driver 300B commission so most of us make it back up for them .. everyone wins 

# 1 ... Nam gets her commission 

# 2 Driver gets her full amount 

# 3 We get a promt hassle free trip

Not much really when you look at what we waste on L/D's !! in reality it is only 2 L/D drinks in most places across the board . most blokes leave a MIN tip of 20B for dinner service , add that up over a week or 2 

Not sure where you got that information from, it maybe last years but not current now.

At the relaunch of her service earlier this year, things were still very tight but starting to open up. Most of her drivers had been more or less unemployed for two years (But unlike most European countries, no unemployment government payout) and were very keen to get back to work. Nam looked at the numbers and the competition, decided to cut fares and to cut her commission.

From then on the 1000 Baht small car fare to the airport was introduced, and her own commission was cut to 100 bath for a one way trip ( which is the only type most of us will deal with) and a 300 baht "There and back", which means that on top of the 100 baht one way fare, twice for return, Nam gets another 100 baht for arranging the driver has a two way paid fare. Most drivers jump at that because the paid return trip means a huge jump in the income from a two way trip they need to do anyway, customer or not.

It was also a big drop of income for Nam, but she justified it by saying " I wanted as many of my lady drivers to have work quickly because they have had no income for so long. I think reducing my prices would increase my bookings"

She was right.

This month her bookings are well over the highest number she had just before COVID , while those were in high season, this is still low season.
But out of her 100 baht commission, she still has to pay her admin cost, Chanya and others, who do a lot of the email responses for her.

The margins for both the drivers as well as Nam are very tight. In fact, so tight that I recently suggested to her "The numbers have gone up, more of your ladies driving again, but low prices, why not help everyone by putting up your fares by 100 baht one way?"  Half of that for drivers, half for Nam and her admin.

A firm "NO, I am happy with current fares"

It may or may not happen in the next few months, especially with the war and oil prices...

But it the meantime, profit margins for drivers are minimal, so any of your tips add to the net income of the drivers. If you are happy with your service, tips will be gratefully accepted.

I don't think the debates about "prices in Thailand and my country cannot be compared, different circumstances" are all that relevant, OK, wages and food costs here are lower then in USA or Europe, but the purchase costs of a car and fuel are mainly internationally universal, and are a big part of the cost of running a car.

In your country, where can you get a taxi ride for a 140 km taxi ride including 105 bt tolls.... for 1000 Baht?

 

[onehunglo]

46 minutes ago, Encora said:

Not sure where you got that information from, it maybe last years but not current now.

was from about 3-4yrs ago when I was told , maybe even a little bit longer not sure 

I haven't travelled since nov 2019

still happy to tip 300 though , maybe send nam in on it as well 50/50

good service , glad my brother put me onto her 

[OKAY]

16 hours ago, ocka said:

Probably not necessary,  but why tempt fate?

I'd think paying at the airport for an unmarked taxi is tempting fate.