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With traffic often crawling to standstills on the busy Bangkok streets, motorcycle taxis have become a necessary alternative for the population, especially during rush hours. But calling a motorcycle taxi in this city is not always easy, especially if there isn't a motorbike taxi station in the area.

Recognising the benefits of the motorcycle taxi's manoeuvrability on the capital's choked streets, many businesses like GrabTaxi and Skootar are now offering motorcycle taxi calling apps as a more convenient mode of motorcycle taxi or messenger calling service.

While GrabTaxi has more or less become a household name for many city-living, smartphone-toting Bangkokians, names like Skootar and Lalamove are less known, though all three offer motorcycle taxi and/or messenger services. While GrabTaxi (with GrabBike as its motorcycle calling feature) is more geared towards general consumer use as a taxi-calling app, Skootar and Lalamove are geared more towards delivering packages and the like. This is apparent in the interface of the three different smartphone apps.

In terms of layout and design, the GrabTaxi app features more cartoony graphics and provides an option for various types of taxis, from regular sedan types to larger seven-seat varieties. Skootar is a one-trick pony in the sense that it only offers motorcycles, while Lalamove offers pickup trucks and minivans in addition to motorcycles.

To check the effectiveness of these online motorcycle taxi services, Life conducted a test to compare the performance of each app's drivers, judging them based on price, how hard it is to book a driver, and the response time from initial contact to time of delivery.

GrabTaxi/GrabBike

GrabTaxi/GrabBike is a taxi-calling app that includes both public taxi drivers (GrabTaxi) and independent drivers (GrabCar) of all car shapes and sizes, including motorcycles.

Booking a driver through this app is as simple as choosing a drop-off point (or a pick-up point too if you want, though the app will always default to your current location as the pick-up point), complete with a convenient map for you to tap exactly where it is you want to be dropped-off, in case you don't know the exact address. Once that's all set, the app will show you the fare based on distance, and you can simply tap a button to call the nearest available driver.

Once a driver has agreed to accept your call, you will receive information such as his name, photo, vehicle plate number and even his distance from the pick-up location. He/she will call you on your phone number to confirm pick-up and drop-off points, as well as to ask for general directions. During our test, we were pleasantly surprised at how quickly we received a confirmation call from our driver, which was pretty much within two or three minutes of pressing the booking button in the app. The driver also arrived fairly quickly, taking seven minutes to arrive at the pick-up location.

In our test, we asked the driver to deliver a package approximately 13km from the pick-up point at the Bangkok Post offices near Klong Toey. The delivery arrived about an hour after the pick-up, partly due to it raining on the day of the test. They don't accept credit cards, however, so make sure you have the cash to pay them on delivery (or pick-up).

Skootar

Unlike GrabBike, which is marketed more as a taxi service, Skootar is very clearly aimed at businesses that require messenger services, such as delivering packages or documents. The app is clean and straightforward, with options for you to choose the pick-up and drop-off locations from a map. Skootar also allows multiple stops on a given trip, as well as an option for a round trip. You can make an instant booking call or make an advanced booking for a later date.

Once you have your destination all set up, you need to enter the type of item you want delivered into the app (such as food, documents or packages). You can also choose additional services, such as asking them to deposit cheques or mail a package. These options cost extra though. You will also have to enter some information about the person at the pick-up/delivery location, including their name and phone number, in order to complete your order. Once your order is confirmed, they will give you an order serial number, sort of like when you're sending a package in the mail. You will also receive the driver's name and phone number, but not his photograph or vehicle number.

At 160 baht for the same distance, Skootar is the most expensive app out of the three we tested. It was also the slowest, taking almost 20 minutes to arrive after we used the app.

Unlike GrabTaxi, Skootar's drivers aren't independent drivers but employees of Skootar, so they're not spread out across the city like GrabTaxi's drivers.

Skootar's package also took the most time to arrive. Furthermore, the delivery process wasn't quite as smooth, as we were required to sign on delivery, unlike the other two apps, where you pretty much just had to pay them. But you can pay Skootar through your credit card, something you can't do with GrabTaxi.

Lalamove

Lalamove is probably more similar to Skootar than GrabTaxi, in the sense that its more of a messenger service than a taxi service. The app is a little bare-bones, but functional, with the option for either a motorcycle, pickup truck or minivan. It also allows for multiple way points along the route, as well as an option for instant (under 45 minutes) and advanced booking.

Lalamove includes a map function seen in the other apps, but you also have a function to automatically choose your own location as the pick-up point, which is convenient. There are options for a round trip, document processing, mailing and purchasing services as well, all with extra costs. For the test, this translated to a 134 baht fare.

Once you've called a driver, you will be able to track his progress with a GPS map. If you find that he's taking too long to arrive at the pick-up point, you can also pay a priority fee to move yourself up the queue. If the driver's making good time, you can also tip him straight from the GPS map, though we assume that this means entering your credit card information.

In terms of time, Lalamove's driver took over 10 minutes less than GrabTaxi's driver to arrive, and more than 30 minutes less than Skootar's. We didn't even pay the priority fee! Chatting with the driver revealed that similar to GrabTaxi, Lalamove's drivers operate on an independent schedule, with some of them doubling as regular motorcycle taxis until they are called on the app. That's not to say being a full-time Lalamove worker doesn't pay, as the driver we spoke to admitted to earning over 1,000 baht in profits on particularly busy days.

It seems that in terms of delivery time, Lalamove wins the day as the fastest delivery app out of the three we tested. For taxi purposes, however, GrabTaxi seems to be the way to go, as it is the cheapest and most abundant in available drivers.