Public Tranportation in Bangkok

This is my last posting from Bangkok for now. I will dedicate this posting to the public transportation of Bangkok. Bangkok has been famous for its traffic jam for years. I have lived here for 5 months. I can be a living proof that it is indeed very jam. However, to be fair, I think Bangkok has many types of public transportation to ease the traffic. Otherwise, I cannot imagine how bad the traffic can be!

1. Motorcyle Taxi
This is a good way to travel short distance. If you are lazy to walk for a distance of 15 minutes or longer, you can choose this as an option. Fare starts from 10baht and up. It is useful when your bus stop is at the main road and your house is way back in the alley. You can spot them by their colourful vests with Thai numbers are the back.


2. Tuk Tuk
It is one of the symbols of Bangkok. It is not the most comfortable transportation in my opinion and not that cheapest. But it does serve its purpose of bringing passengers from one place to the next.

3. Taxi
I love Bangkok taxis. They are everywhere and goes almost every where even to the nearby provinces. They are relatively cheap compared to taxis in other countries. The downside about Bangkok taxis is that they are very difficult to get during evening rush hour because the drivers have to return the cab to the companies. Some drivers drive like race car drivers. So, be prepared before you get on one.


4. Songteaw
This is a small truck that is being converted into a small passenger bus. It has benches for passengers and room to stand. I find it a bit difficult for foreigners to take it as it is usually driven by non-English speaking drivers with no sign in English. Unless you are sure of your destination, it can be challenging.

5. Mini Van / 'Rot Too' (in Thai)
This is a fast way to travel between downtown Bangkok and the suburbs around Bangkok. It is fast and usually sit 14 passengers. Some of the vans are quite old and narrow seats. It has its route that it follows. It is managed by the Bangkok Mass Transportation Department.

6. Public Bus
Public buses in Bangkok come in a few types and colours. Some of the buses look like 20 years old with no air-conditioner and wooden floor. This is the cheapest way to travel in Bangkok for far. There are also air-conditioned buses just slightly more expensive than the old buses.

7. BTS Skytrain & MRT Subway Train
These two train systems are the most popular, fast and comfortable way to travel in my opinion. They run fast and very frequently. Although it can get crowded during rush hours just like any other transportation, it is still the fastest way to travel.

8. Boats
Bangkok has a lot of canals called 'Khlong'. The city makes full use of the waterways and provided motor boats as an option of public transportation. What a great idea and you can see why Bangkok is the Venice of the East.

Advert Advert Everywhere

Thailand is the Land of Smile. In my opinion, it is also the Land of Advertisements. Advertisements are everywhere in Bangkokians’ daily life. The usual ones like adverts on metro or subway trains, buses, tv, etc. But there are some unexpected ones that pop into my sight once in a while. Let’s read further for some interesting ones that I have seen.

1. Colgate adverts on disposable coffee cup. Instead of having a logo of a local café, Colgate advert take over the cover of the paper cups. You can’t avoid it when you sip your coffee.


2. At petrol stations in Thailand, there are attendants who fill up your tank for you. So, you would be sitting in your car waiting. While you are waiting for your tank to be filled up, ‘boom!’ the attendant would place an advert in front of your windshield telling you about the promotion that is going on in their convenient store. So, instead of waiting in the car, why don’t you get yourself out of the car and go into the convenient store to check out these promotion items? Very clever…

3. This is also a good idea. Advert in the taxi cab! I got on this cab one time, I saw a small laminated advert card of various mint and chewing gums at the back of the headrest in front of me. Then my colleague who was with me in the cab told me that the cab driver is actually selling the gums as well! I thought it is a good way to advertise as we all know Bangkok traffic is bad. A short trip could end up a long one. So, why not buy a pack of gum, and just chill in the cab while the taxi driver brings you to your destination?

4. On TV, you can see a display of a LCD TV with big logo. Also, you will see display of a laptop in front of the desk. You can't avoid adverts even you are watching the news.

I am sure there are some more clever ideas that I have not discovered yet. But just these are some interesting ones that I encountered.

English in Thailand

As a foreigner living in Bangkok, many people would wonder how do I get through with my daily live without speaking Thai language. Well, in Thailand, English is quite a popular foreign language. I notice that Thai culture has an interesting way that uses English as title or slogan for many things. For example, they would have English name for sales in departmental store like ‘Midnight Sale,’ ‘Halloween Sale’, etc. However, other that the name of the sale, the rest are in Thai including date. So, I am clueless as when should I go to shop.

In Thailand, most of the road signs are bilingual. So, for foreigners who would like to drive from one place to another, that shouldn’t be a problem. The only downside is that if there are any traffic update signs on the road, they would be in Thai. So, it’s wise to drive with someone who can read Thai.

Many foreign magazines such as Elle, Wallpaper, Men’s health, etc come in Thai version. When I first went to a book store magazine section, I saw many magazines with English titles. I was excited to flip through them. To my disappointment, the content was 99.9% in Thai language. I don’t blame the magazines as this is Thailand. I shouldn’t expect that magazines come in English to please foreigners like myself who can’t read Thai. So, I can only look at the beautiful pictures in magazines since a picture is worth a thousand words. I guess they are right about don't judge a book by its cover, in this case, a magazine.

Colour Coded Nation

Thailand, especially Bangkok has been in political turmoil for a few months now. However, since last Tuesday, the situation really elevated to affect the aviation in the country. Suvarnabhumi Airport and Don Muang Airport in Bangkok have been seiged by the anti government protesters! The airport authority had decided to close the airport since Tuesday (26^th November 2008).

Little do I know about politics. So, I am not going to write anything political. From the recent protests and demonstrations, I can see that Thailand is a colour coded nation. Why do I say so? Thai people are very obedient when it comes to being told what colour to wear.

First of all, we of course have to start from wearing yellow shirt on Monday for HM the King. This new tradition has been started since the celebration of the 60^th Year anniversary of the King on throne. And a few years later, today, many Thai people still wear yellow on Monday for the King. Why Monday? Because HM the King was born on Monday. However, on Tuesday, Thai people wear light pink to wish HM the King good health.

Next, Thai people also wear light blue for HM the Queen. However, sorry that I do not know which day people where blue for HM the Queen as it is not as widely worn.

Two weeks ago, Thai people wore black or white during the mourning period (3 to 5 days) of the late Princess Ghalyani Vhadana. I have written about that weekend in my previous blog posting.

Recently, we can see a lot of anti-government protesters wear yellow during demonstrations and protests. I wonder why do they choose yellow since it is the colour for HM the King.

As for the pro-government supporters. They wear red during their gathering in a stadium. When I saw the pictures of the pro-government supporters, it’s like a sea of red chilly!

So, living in Bangkok, I have to be careful of what I wear. Recently, I won’t wear anything yellow or red. Well, actually, I have neither colours in my closet anyway. So, I shouldn’t be worry unless a new group of protesters decide to wear black or blue. Then I might be in trouble.

Bangkok Design Festival 2008

‘Everybody’s Everyday Life’ is the slogan for Bangkok Design Festival 2008. From the slogan, we can see that Bangkok really want to bring designs into people’s everyday life. There are many events going on throughout Bangkok in this annual festival. The main area for the events are in the Siam Area, but spread in a few buildings like the newly opened Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Siam Paragon, Siam Discover, and Siam Center. There is also a Bangkok International Gift Fair (BIG) and Bangkok International Houseware Fair (BIH) at IMPACT, MuangTong Thani.

The events ran for 2 weeks. It has interesting exhibition for those who are interested in Arts, Design and Architecture. However, I think it would be nice to include Fashion Design in this festival too. Bangkok Design Festival is a great event to promote a city’s status to be the so-called ‘Design Capital’. Other than design talents, it also needs some marketing and promotion by the local government. Besides, inviting foreign designers to the event also helps to elevate a city’s status to be a ‘design capital.’ And Bangkok is doing just that to promote and encourage it’s local talent and bring design into people’s daily life.

As for the events, there are too many to be listed in my posting. Let’s just take a look at some pictures that I had taken. Hope to see you here in Bangkok Design Festival 2009!

Taking MRT or BTS in Bangkok

Bangkok has 2 Metro/Subway/Underground Train (or however you want to call it) systems: MRT and BTS Skytrain. MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) is the underground train or subway system. It is only 4 years old (as of 2008). BTS or also being called SkyTrain, as the name suggests, is running above the streets of Bangkok. Both MRT and BTS are clean, convenient, and COLD! I mean seriously cold and your eye glasses gets blur when you come out from the train to the hot and steamy streets of Bangkok! I take the MRT more often just because it is more convenient for me. Let me share with you some etiquette and my experience of taking the train here in Bangkok.

First of all, passengers actually queue in front of the door, especially during rush hour, while waiting for the train. The first time I took the BTS in the morning rush hour, I didn’t know. As soon as I got to the platform, I went straight to as near as I can to the train track. I was glad that I was near to the track so I could be the first one to board the train. So I just stood and waited for the train to come. I slowly looked around and felt strange that the platform was full of people but nobody was standing around or behind me. Then suddenly I saw that everyone was standing in queue while waiting for the train! I was not sure how many pairs of eyes were watching and cursing this rude guy jumping queue. I felt embarrassed but I try to stay cool. I pretended nothing happened and walked to the back of the queue and waited for my turn as everyone else did.

When the train comes, people don’t push each other to get to the train. Though I can sense the ‘rush’ when train comes, but everyone just take their time to board the train. Since everyone is in queue, you just wait for your turn. If the train is full, you can have the option of standing aside and let the people behind you get on while you wait for the next train. I have never been so relaxed taking a train during rush hour because I don’t have to push or being pushed to get on the train. I think this is the Thai people’s nature of ‘sabai sabai’ (take it easy).

Another important thing I noticed is that they actually allow passengers get out from the train first! I don’t see that happens in too many cities that I have been to especially in Shanghai. So, passengers in the MRT train actually don’t need to rush to the door before arrive at their destinations. There is plenty of time for passengers to get in and out of the train.

While inside the MRT train, passengers like to stand facing towards the front of the train. I am very curious about it and have yet to find out the answer. Of course not 100% of them stands towards the same direction, but I would say about 95% do. And when the passengers stand, they don’t like to hold on to the stainless steel pole or the straps hung from above. So when the train moves forward, the standing passengers slightly tilted their bodies to the back to balance themselves. And tilted forward when the train brakes. I have been taking the train for 2 months, and I have never seen anyone fall down even without holding on to the pole or straps.

Thai people are very polite and courteous. They carry the same manner while on the train. Sitting passengers always offer their seats to those in need, i.e. elderly or small children. The train is quite quiet here in Bangkok as most people don’t speak loudly. And when there are empty seats available, standing passengers would not rush to sit. They normally wait for a moment to see if the other passengers want to sit. When it is crowded, passengers do stand towards in the center of the train and not gather near the doors. This let more passengers get into the train.

So have you learnt something from Bangkok train systems? It amazes me that what we were taught in school like queuing and offering seats to those in need actually do happen in reality. Yes, they happen right here in Bangkok.