Songthaew and TrishawSongthaews (pronounced 'song-tee-ow' - say it quickly) are useful van like vehicles with rows of seating in the back. Outside of Bangkok, they seem to almost replace bus services as the main way of getting around town.
They're cheap - usually between 8 or 10 baht per journey, whether it's just a few hundred meters or 5 or more kilometers. The trouble that foreigners (and locals, I'm sure at times!) have is that it's often unclear as to where exactly they go! Often longer distance buses will have the destination in both Thai and English, but songthaews seem to be direction coded by their color. Handily, unlike buses, you can flag them down anywhere with a hand signal. The best advice I can give is to quickly approach the driver and state where your going. Usually, the driver gets the gist (sometimes they speak English well) - a bit of body gesturing (usual destinations are bus and train stations which aren't too difficult to 'mimic') often does the trick. Another thing to bear in mind when getting a songthaew is to be at the right place!...if you know the bus station is in a certain direction, make sure you're on the correct side of the road..and make sure you're on a road that the vehicles use...easy enough to work out as you'll see them often. There are also 2 seats in the front you can use, but these are often taken.
Sometimes you'll see kids (and adults!) standing up at the back of the songthaews, holding on to metal bars attached to the back. Often, if you're not entirely sure when to get off, getting in conversation with the other passengers can help. To get off, there's sometimes a contraption in the back you can push/pull that buzzes the driver. Otherwise a tap on the window behind the driver. It's customary to pay when you get off, so you often just get on without even seeing the driver! PROBLEMS In more popular tourist places like Chiang Mai, some drivers decide that their songthaew have turned into a taxi. If there's just one or two people on board, or no one, it might be an idea to just check the price to make sure you're not laden with a high tariff when you leave! Sometimes, though, this is fair game, as if you're the only one to be using the vehicle, paying just 10 baht for a 3 kilometer journey is too cheap. The price though shouldn't really be up to the price of a tuk-tuk as the driver will still stop to pick people up, unlike the tuk-tuk. Perhaps 30 or 40 baht is a reasonable price when it seems like you need to 'hire' the songthaew! They don't run late into the night so you'll have to get tuk-tuk's if you need to get somewhere after say about 8 or 9 pm. Remember, no songthaews in Bangkok, at least not in central Bangkok. The drivers seem to drive a bit too dangerously and quickly for my liking. TrishawsTrishaws, to many, seem to epitomize Asia. What's sad to hear is that they becoming banned from some places - Saigon, in Vietnam has recently stopped issuing new licenses, where they're accused of slowing down the traffic - the famous people powered rickshaws of Calcutta have, I read somewhere, also had an attempt to faze them out.
It doesn't seem to be the case in Thailand, although I rarely see them in Bangkok so this has probably already happened in part there. Trishaw drivers, generally, seem to have a hard life - for many of the cyclists, their trishaw is also their home and you'll see them sleeping in the seat at night.
One of their main customers seem to be older ladies who've just been to the market, returning home with their food and who probably don't fancy getting in fast-moving transport. This is their charm for me - they're slow, so you can have a relaxing journey to your destination. They'll often be a cover to protect you from the sun or rain. You actually see trishaws at lot less in Thailand, when compared with countries like Cambodia, India and Vietnam. So many more here have their own motorbikes and cars.
They're almost exclusively ridden by men (unlike motorbike taxis, taxis and tuk-tuks), and it's often older men - their legs often seem unusually thin from years in the saddle. There are 2 types - one where you in front of the rider, the other where you're at the side. COST Although no petrol is used, you do need to factor in time - so I often think trishaws are similarly priced to tuk-tuks. They're probably more easy to bargain with, as, generally, people prefer to get to their destination more quickly and so choose a tuk-tuk. That's not to say that trishaw drivers won't try to get a good price for themselves! Also, if you have big bags and/or you're heavy yourself, you might want to factor in the extra effort needed....So a short kilometer or so journey might be 20 or 30 baht.
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