Ah the tuk-tuk: the world-famous motorized pedicab from Thailand. A three-wheeled motorbike with a passenger bench; it’s the adorable vehicle you see in all the tourist photos.
Brightly painted in primary colors with shiny chrome guardrails and quirky personal decorations from the driver, it’s easy to see why everyone wants to ride—and take photos—in a tuk tuk.
Every country with a dire need for cheap transportation has its own version of the motorized rickshaw. It’s the resourceful way to turn your cheap, personal motorbike into an income. I’ve ridden the mototaxis in Peru and the tricycle of the Philippines but nowhere have I seen them more prevalent than in Thailand.
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| mototaxi pulling a friend in the Sacred Valley, Peru |
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| tricycle in El Nido, Philippines |
About 20,000 tuk-tuks are registered as taxis in Thailand, 9,000 in Bangkok alone. Some people have personal tuk-tuks for trips to the grocery store, and countless hotels have tuk-tuk shuttles for sending customers to the BTS skytrain in style. They. Are. Everywhere.
In parts of Bangkok, it’s common to see tuk-tuk drivers milling around outside a tourist attraction. “Tuk-tuk?” they shout at passing tourists.
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| tuk tuks waiting outside the 7-11 near Thammasat University |
So when visitors come through Bangkok they are surprised when I tell them that I don’t take tuk-tuks. Like, ever.
Sorry. Maybe a few friends have been disappointed because it was on their travel bucket list. I mean, sure you can take one for the experience but it’s not like I use them just because I live here.
I don’t have anything against them…they just don’t make sense.
They make sense in the countryside. Big open roads mean tuk-tuks can squeeze by car traffic and be a cheap, convenient way to get from A to B. Plus, it’s nice to hop in the back and feel the fresh, natural breeze on the way.
I remember a late-night tuk-tuk ride in Chiang Rai towards the center of town. We needed a lift and our driver approached from down a dark road in a blaze of brightly-lit glory with a proud smile
But in Bangkok traffic? In Bangkok weather? With Bangkok pollution? That’s a no for me, dawg.
Bangkok has two kinds of weather: hot and rainy.
Tuk-tuks are open-air vehicles.
You do the math.
If I am going to sit in traffic in the middle of the city, I’ll do it with a roof over my head in the air-conditioned luxury of a taxi cab.
Or if I’m in a rush, I hop on a motorbike taxi. Motorbikes are slimmer than tuk-tuks and can weave through cars so I still make it to work on time. Without having to sit in exhaust fumes, thanks.
Maybe it’s because I live on Sukhumvit Road, the busiest thoroughfare in all of Thailand. There are just so many better ways to get around this city. For 50 baht I can get all the way to work on the back of a motorbike taxi AND get a free hair blowout at the same time!
About once a year I’ll catch a tuk-tuk in Chinatown at 5am when the taxis have cleared out. Even then, I just get out when I see a regular taxi. I dont want to go across town in slow motion. Once I took at tuk-tuk from a wholesale market, but only because I knew the exact price.
Sorry. Maybe a few friends have been disappointed because it was on their travel bucket list. I mean, sure you can take one for the experience but it’s not like I use them just because I live here.
I don’t have anything against them…they just don’t make sense.
They make sense in the countryside. Big open roads mean tuk-tuks can squeeze by car traffic and be a cheap, convenient way to get from A to B. Plus, it’s nice to hop in the back and feel the fresh, natural breeze on the way.
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| my girlfriend Stacy & I riding a tuk tuk in Chiang Mai, Thailand |
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| Chiang Mai, Thailand |
I remember a late-night tuk-tuk ride in Chiang Rai towards the center of town. We needed a lift and our driver approached from down a dark road in a blaze of brightly-lit glory with a proud smile
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| tuk-tuk in Chiang Rai |
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| L-R in Chiang Rai: rickshaw, songthaew, bicycle, motorbike, car |
But in Bangkok traffic? In Bangkok weather? With Bangkok pollution? That’s a no for me, dawg.
Bangkok has two kinds of weather: hot and rainy.
Tuk-tuks are open-air vehicles.
You do the math.
If I am going to sit in traffic in the middle of the city, I’ll do it with a roof over my head in the air-conditioned luxury of a taxi cab.
Or if I’m in a rush, I hop on a motorbike taxi. Motorbikes are slimmer than tuk-tuks and can weave through cars so I still make it to work on time. Without having to sit in exhaust fumes, thanks.
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| motorbike taxis on Sukhumvit Road |
Maybe it’s because I live on Sukhumvit Road, the busiest thoroughfare in all of Thailand. There are just so many better ways to get around this city. For 50 baht I can get all the way to work on the back of a motorbike taxi AND get a free hair blowout at the same time!
About once a year I’ll catch a tuk-tuk in Chinatown at 5am when the taxis have cleared out. Even then, I just get out when I see a regular taxi. I dont want to go across town in slow motion. Once I took at tuk-tuk from a wholesale market, but only because I knew the exact price.
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| bumper-to-bumper traffic on Sukhumvit |
Did I mention that it’s hard to get a fair price from a tuk-tuk driver in Bangkok? They are so used to tourists who have no clue about local pricing or the value of the Thai baht that they don’t blink at a 500-baht ride.
When I see tourists riding in tuk-tuks I like to play a game. It’s called Guess-How-Much-They-Paid-Based-On-Their-Clothes. Elephant pants are about 300 baht per person. Bandage dresses and high heels at night jumps to 350.
Travel blogs like Lonely Planet always recommend bargaining for tuk-tuk rides. As if it's possible to do. In English. By tourists.
Even if you got down to 150 baht for EVERYBODY for one ride—which let’s be honest won’t be further than a kilometer or two—the fare is so inflated it’s laughable.
As a point of comparison, I pay about 180 baht for a taxi from my place in Thonglor all the way out to either airport.
Hey, I don’t blame tuk tuk drivers for squirreling money out of people, but not me.
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| late night tuk-tuk ride in Siem Reap, Cambodia |
With my foreign face and speaking Thai, the only response I’ve ever gotten for asking a fair price is a simple rejection. No driver needs to put forth the effort to drive me anywhere when tourists will pay their entire day’s salary with a single ride.
So that’s the long and short of it. Tuk-tuks are a famous mode of transportation here in Thailand. I love them for being a cheap, convenient, and whimsical way to get around in countryside towns. That said, I won’t be taking one in Bangkok anytime soon.
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| tuk-tuk in Siam area of downtown Bangkok |
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