Sunday, July 18, 2010

Tuk-Tuk's Love them or Hate them


All aboard

Click here for all you need to know about Bangkok http://www.onestopbangkok.com/


These folks bought this one new and rode all around Thailand , they store it in Kanchanaburi for their next trips and for their friends to use when they are here . He said made special for the 250,000 baht " I want one."

Opps-!!!! how did that get in here

Ciejay really liked this one

Alex on a Resort Tuk Tuk
Here are a few Picture of Tuk Tuk's

Here today and maybe gone tommorow

ME, I love them and for lots of reason They are cute, they are cheap , they are colorful and the guys that drive the are crazy , and you are in for the ride of your life and the most important reason is "They are a big partof Thailand" , what would a trip to the (Big Mango) hope Martyn doesn't have that name copyrighted, ha ha, without a ride in the little motorcycle that has made the big city and travel around the city famous , I know a lot of you folks don't like the smoke and the noise they make , but after all it's Thailand and you are just here visiting and to some folks it just would not be a complete trip to Bangkok with out a ride in one, when I rode in( or on) my first one I hung on for dear life , it was like riding on a amusement park ride. Ciejay was scared to death and to me it was like riding with my Mom in her little Ford Mavrick in 1975 , when she got her license ot 60 years old . Her moto was the same as the Tuk Tuk drivers "peddle to the medal" and then some . ha ha .
Well I guess they have limted the number of tuk tuk 's in certain areas of BKK and in some areas they have outlawed them all together , that was what a friend of mine told me .
Now ,they have come up with a green Tuk Tuk-- battery powered and charged with solar panels , or a 10 baht charge at a charging station for a 80 kilometres ride , I guess it was to be expected and for the Earth I guess it will be better , BUT I'll miss the smoke and noise and you can bet they want go as fast.
Here is a article I got from a link on the web about the "new" Tuk Tuk's.

The end of the line for noisy tuk-tuks?
July 5th, 2010 Health & safety, Transport posted by Jimmy Kransic
The ubiquitous Bangkok tuk-tuk is in for a revamp with the development of an environmentally friendly and silent model.
For decades, tuk-tuks, which are a form of taxi in Thailand, have been a fixture on the streets of Bangkok. The tuk-tuk moves with a sound akin to a chain-saw. Tuk-tuks are powered by petrol or gas, with little engine maintenance, and usually belch out thick clouds of exhaust fumes.
Due to the fact that the colourful vehicles can only carry two passengers comfortably, they are slowly being superseded by alternate transport options, which include taxis and public services, such as the Skytrain. Tuk-tuks are more of a tourist attraction than a viable means of transport nowadays.
With the appearance of a new solar driven model, tuk-tuks could be given a new lease of life. The only snag is the hefty purchase price. At over 300,000 Baht, this option is more than 50 per cent dearer than a standard model. The new price of the current model is around 180,000 Baht.
The initial expenditure on these green models would soon be recouped with lower running costs. Although the new tuk-tuks have batteries, they supplement the power from them by utilising the sun’s rays. The batteries cost 10 Baht to charge, which gives a distance of up to 80 kilometres.
The solar powered tuk-tuk could become more affordable if the government subsidised the cost of it. With an estimated 8,000 tuk-tuks on the streets of Bangkok, replacing them with smokeless, silent vehicles would surely lower noise and air pollution levels in the capital.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting post and some excellent photos.

I don't think that I'd buy the redneck scooter....

Have a nice day, Boonsong

Mike said...

Hi Malcolm we don't actually have any Tuk-Tuk's here in PKK. The nearest thing is the motorcycle with side-car.

To be honest I find them a bit of a pain in the neck but I have to agree they are part of Thailand although I first came across them in India many years ago.

LindyLouMac said...

I hope the tuk tuks do not disappear I want to see them for myself. Some of these look fun!! We did see them in China but that is not the point and are they exactly the same or not?

Thanks for your recent comment to which I have know replied, sorry about the oversight. I had intended to!

Talen said...

Malcolm, I love tuk tuks too but I don't usually care for their drivers too much...They are definitely a slice of Thailand that should be preserved.

Martyn said...

Malcolm I love travelling around in this mode of transport.

The vehicle which Ciejay is pictured in is called a samlor in Udon Thani and is sometimes referred to as a Sky Lab (it first hit the roads around the time the US sky labs went into orbit).

A 3km samlor ride in Udon Thani city is about 60-80 baht. That's cheap and they are great fun to ride in. I love how their brakes screech like crazy when they stop at traffic lights.

Good post and great pictures too.

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