Life from the back of a baht bus

Life from the back of a baht bus

More than a few seasoned travellers I know suggest that when you want to get a real feel for your destination, you should definitely visit a fresh market. There you can learn more about local lifestyles, how lives begin in the morning, partake of local delicacies and, perhaps most interestingly, observe town hygiene.

As much as such thoughts ring true, I also believe that another way to truly learn about a place you're visiting is to get around by local transport.

Every country has its means of transportation, from mass transit to mule carriers. In my years as a travel writer, I have learned a lot when I hop on and off whatever ride takes me along the way.

Take Thailand as a case in point. I am very found of the song thaew, sometimes called a baht bus, largely found in provinces.

A song thaew is a passenger vehicle adapted from a pickup or a larger truck. It takes its name from the two bench seats fixed along either side of the back of the truck. It normally has a high enough roof to accommodate standing passengers as well. Usually, the song thaew will operate on a semi-fixed route, but it can divert out of the way if required. There's not really a time schedule, and the drivers stop irregularly, depending on the passengers who can ring bells to halt the vehicles.

My experiences with this easy-going form of public transport has shown it can very often mirror the lifestyles and mindset of the people in any given place.

While passengers of city buses largely keep quiet, not daring to bother other people's privacy, song thaew passengers enjoy chatting. Though they do not know each other, the passengers find it is acceptable to talk to strangers, sharing their experience of the recent ride, current news and other general topics.

After chatting for a while, I often find they have an amazing ability to tease out personal information from very few clues.

During a ride they can find out names, careers, parents, family histories and home locations: all sorts of information that we in the city may not know about colleagues we've worked alongside for more than a decade.

Once I listened in on a conversation of two passengers on song thaew. After learning what villages they were from, I was surprised to hear them trace their family trees in a matter of minutes.

This, to me, is "social networking" at its best.

If a song thaew runs via a mountain route, you will see passenger dutifully preparing themselves to cope with the carsickness. Passengers who know they cannot bear the winding ride will come with plastic bags, balms, smelling salts or Indian gooseberry.

I once got freshly picked hog plums from a passenger who prepared them for the long and winding road. The generous passenger shared the fruits with everyone on board, breaking the ice and soon all on that song thaew were chatting and forgetting about carsickness.

For poor people in the provinces without private vehicles, the song thaew is their only mode of transport. Some passengers go shopping in town and pay extra for a song thaew cargo service. So, do not be surprised if you share the local bus with big sacks of polished rice or corn, fresh fish, or even bamboo cages full of live chickens. Some offer delivery services as well.

I find song thaew drivers' advice is useful for a traveller to listen to, although it cannot be fully trusted. The recommendations of good guest houses hidden deep in sois, famous local places to dine, or new chic coffee shops can be useful, often leading to places that cannot be found through travel websites. This may lead to a totally different experience from a self-driven trip or an organised tour programme.

Still, riding in these vehicles is not always comfortable.

Another big difference between the city bus and the song thaew is the standard of service. Normally, city buses run on schedule, and stick to transportation regulations.

But the song thaew system, such as it is, is much more relaxed, and the punctuality or otherwise mostly depends on the driver.

I once miss my flight back to Bangkok when an afternoon song thaew in Chiang Mai cancelled the service because there were not enough passengers. On the other hand, when there are a lot of passengers, the driver will try hard to pack everything and everyone in.

Just like Thailand, the song thaew experience can be disorganised, unreliable and uncomfortable at times, but underneath all that there's kindness, relaxed attitude and flexibility, depending from what angle you choose to view things from.

Try a song thaew, and you may get to see another side of Thailand.


Peerawat Jariyasombat is a travel writer for the Life section of the Bangkok Post.

Peerawat Jariyasombat

Travel Reporter

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