Colorful Bangkok taxis are all over the city and are a great way to get around under the right conditions. To avoid common pitfalls, keep these tips in mind before hopping into one of them.

• Bangkok taxi meters start at 35 baht and most rides within the city will cost under 100 baht.
• If a taxi is unoccupied, there will be a small red sign lit up in the driver's side window.
• Taxi drivers are supposed to take you wherever you need to go in the city, but in practice they will refuse fares if they are too far away or inconvenient. Tell the taxi driver where you're headed right after you enter the taxi.

• If the driver won't put on the meter or tells you it's broken, just get out of the taxi and find another one. If you try to negotiate (or worse, argue), you won't come out ahead. In all but the most touristy areas you will eventually be able to find a taxi driver that will use the meter.
• Don't expect the taxi driver to understand English or poorly-pronounced Thai addresses. Better to have the destination written in Thai so you can hand it to the driver.
• If you're going somewhere really out of the way or need a taxi at a particular time, call one of the taxi companies to arrange a pickup (1681 and 1661 are just a couple of companies you can call from any phone in Thailand). You'll pay a little extra for the service.