Thai tourists charged $386 for $70 fare in Paris taxi scam

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This was published 5 years ago

Thai tourists charged $386 for $70 fare in Paris taxi scam

The fare should have been around €55.

The fare should have been around €55.Credit: YOUTUBE

Two unsuspecting tourists from Thailand have gone public after falling victim to a common scam - being picked up by an unscrupulous taxi driver and charged an exorbitant fare.

They uploaded a video to YouTube showing their stand-off with a driver in Paris, France who charged them €247 ($A386) for the 45km journey from Charles de Gaulle airport into the city.

The driver claims that taxis in Paris do not operate on a fixed price and are metered.

But, taxis do operate on a fixed price from the airport with charges of around €55 ($86) into Paris.

The driver in this case gets increasingly angry and threatens to go to the police. At one stage he lashes out at the couple for filming him.

An initial offer of a compromise €100 is rejected as the terrified tourists are driven at high speeds around the city.

Eventually, they reach an agreed €200 deal.

One of the victims, Charkrid Thanhachartyothin, told Le Parisien that the doors were locked, and that their luggage was in the trunk.

"He did not want to let us out, and kept driving while (supposedly) phoning his company to find a compromise. So, we decided to pay €200 to get out."

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Charkrid said the couple went public as a warning to other Thai tourists.

The driver said he belonged to Chauffeur Prive, which is a legitimate company. However, it advertises a flat rate of €45 ($70) from the airport on its website, reports The Independent.

The video of the incident has now been viewed nearly 200,000 times, and an investigation has been launched.

Stuff.co.nz

See also: Chinese tourists pay $5k hummus bill - was it a scam?

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