Four words will save you more money than everything else on this site put together: เปิดมิเตอร์ครับ, "turn the meter on". A metered fare across central Bangkok is usually 60 to 120 baht. The flat price a driver quotes a foreigner who has not asked is routinely two or three times that.
The rest of the page is directions, which you need because Thai taxi drivers navigate by landmark and soi number rather than by address, and because the app on your phone will not always be enough.
The meter
Say this once you are in the car and after you have said where you are going. If the answer is a flat price, get out and take the next one.
The single most valuable phrase on this page.
Directions
Thai drivers navigate by landmark and soi number, not by address. These three words handle the last part of any journey.
The fare
Prices are almost always round. Learn the multiples of ten and the hundreds and you have covered nearly every number a driver will say to you.
When it goes wrong
ไม่เป็นไร is how you decline without a confrontation. It is the most useful thing to say while getting back out of a car.
The emergency one. Loud, not polite.
How the meter conversation actually goes
Get in first, then say where you are going, then ask for the meter. Asking through the window before you are in the car invites a refusal and a negotiation, and standing on a pavement is the weaker position.
If the driver says the meter is broken, or names a price anyway, get out. This is not a confrontation — say ไม่เป็นไร, leave, and take the next one. There is always a next one, and a driver who has opened with a flat price has told you what kind of journey it is going to be.
Grab and Bolt have changed this a good deal: the price is agreed in the app and the argument does not happen. The phrases here still matter, because the driver will call you, will ask where exactly you are standing, and the call will be in Thai.
Directions are landmarks, not addresses
Thai addresses are close to useless spoken aloud. What works is a landmark and a soi number — "Sukhumvit soi 11", "the BTS at Asok", "near Terminal 21". Have the destination written in Thai on your phone if you can; showing a screen is not a defeat.
Once you are moving, the three words below do almost everything. ตรงไป keeps you going, เลี้ยวซ้าย and เลี้ยวขวา turn you, and จอดที่นี่ stops the car.
Motorbike taxis are the orange vests
For short distances they are quicker and cheaper than a car, and they cluster at the mouth of every soi. There is no meter — you agree a price first, and 20 to 60 baht covers most trips within a neighbourhood. The same direction words work, shouted slightly louder.
Ask for a helmet. Drivers usually carry a spare, Thailand's road statistics are genuinely bad, and nobody will think less of you for it.
Common questions
How do you ask a Thai taxi to use the meter?
เปิดมิเตอร์ครับ, bpèrt mí-dtêr kráp (or ka if you are female). Say it once you are already in the car and after you have given the destination. A metered fare across central Bangkok is usually 60 to 120 baht.
What do I do if the driver refuses the meter?
Get out and take the next one. Say ไม่เป็นไร (mâi pen rai) and leave — it is a polite way of declining and avoids a confrontation. A driver who opens with a flat price has told you what kind of journey it would be.
How do you say turn left and turn right in Thai?
เลี้ยวซ้าย (líeow sáai) is turn left and เลี้ยวขวา (líeow kwǎa) is turn right. ตรงไป (dtrong bpai) is go straight on, and จอดที่นี่ (jòt tîi-nîi) is stop here.
Do I still need Thai if I use Grab?
Yes, though less of it. The fare is agreed in the app so the negotiation does not happen, but drivers routinely phone to ask exactly where you are standing, and that call will be in Thai.
How much is a motorbike taxi in Bangkok?
Usually 20 to 60 baht within a neighbourhood. There is no meter, so agree the price before you get on. Ask for a helmet — drivers generally carry a spare.