Caught in the act at airport
By Sean Augustin
news@nstp.com.my
My mission is to solicit rides from touts to a hotel in Putrajaya.
The first step was to look completely lost and within minutes I was approached by a slim middle-aged man in a yellow shirt.
I told him my preferred destination and without hesitation he blurted out RM100.
A bit expensive, feigning annoyance.
"Outside, they charge RM150," he said, pointing to the airport taxis parked outside as drivers huddled in groups waiting for passengers who purchased tickets from counters.
It was a lie of course and he had the poker face to go with it. In actual fate, the airport limousines would charge RM60.
I followed him to the parking lot below where he had stationed the ever familiar red and white taxi.
Less than a minute after the car crawled out from the parking lot, I had my "Australian friend" call me to say he was at the luggage claim area and wanted to meet me.
I apologised for the inconvenience and handed him RM10 for his trouble.
I made my way to the arrival gate again, wearing a confused look and about 15 minutes later, another tout, this time with a kindly face, approached me.
He asked for RM120, explaining that he had to risk returning to the airport with no customers when asked if a discount was possible.
Some repeat tourists had complained to the airport limo drivers that they had paid up to RM450 to touts for a 40-minute trip to Cyberjaya.
The man, possibly in his late 30s, seemed nervous when I tried to coax him to pick me up from outside the airport.
Ten minutes later, I was hopping into an unmarked white van.
The tout said the vehicle belonged to a Kuala Lumpur-based hotel and he had to shuttle guests to and fro to the airport.
An affable fellow, he promoted some popular tourist sites during the 40-minute drive to Putrajaya.
When I said that I needed a local mobile phone line, he was quick to fish out from his pocket a SIM card which he sold to me for RM30.
It has RM5 worth of credit and I didn't need to register.
He apologised profusely when he lost his way to the hotel, and his advice on taxis was most memorable, if not ironic.
"Make sure you insist they use the meter, otherwise don't get into the cab," he said, insinuating that one could be cheated if a taxi does not switch on the meter.
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