Japanese tourist quits Bangkok trip after airport taxi rip-off
A Japanese tourist said he booked a return flight home immediately after being overcharged nearly 2,000 baht by a Thai taxi driver at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok.
The Japanese man shared his disappointment on his X account, @musasino231, at 3.52am on Sunday, January 18, writing that he was “ripped off by a taxi at Suvarnabhumi Airport.”
According to the post, the tourist had travelled to Bangkok specifically to take photographs of trains, an interest he openly states on his profile. He arrived late at night via Suvarnabhumi Airport and said that taxis were the only transport option available at the time for reaching his hotel.
The tourist claimed that after driving for a short distance, the taxi driver suddenly demanded 10,000 yen, equivalent to nearly 2,000 baht, for the trip. Feeling unsafe, he decided to comply. In his post, the Japanese man stated…
“After driving a certain distance, the taxi driver asked me for 10,000 yen. I didn’t want to be dropped off in the dark and strange place or stabbed with a knife, so I gave him the money.”
He admitted that he regretted getting into the taxi in the first place and warned other travellers not to arrive in Bangkok late at night, claiming that limited transport options increased the risk of being overcharged.
Following the incident, the tourist said he completely lost the motivation to continue his planned trip. Instead of taking train photographs as intended, he chose to cut his holiday short and return to Japan the very next day. He later updated his followers that he had arrived safely at Narita International Airport, flying with Zipair.
The story gained wider attention in Thailand after the Facebook page J-doradic shared the post on January 20. The page administrator said he contacted the Japanese man to ask whether he had recorded the taxi’s registration plate, but had not received a reply.
Thai netizens reacted with mixed opinions. Many urged foreign tourists to use ride-hailing services such as Grab, which operates an official booth on the first floor of Suvarnabhumi Airport near Entrance 3, as fares are clearly shown in advance.
Others were more sceptical, questioning whether the story was exaggerated. Some argued that it seemed unlikely a tourist would cancel an entire holiday and abandon accommodation bookings over a single taxi dispute.
