Gay Boy Thailand

For Bangkok taxi drivers

I watched a Channel 3 soap opera in a taxi today. It was a hospital scene where the female patient and a female well-wishing visitor nearly pulled each other’s hair out while a nurse kept crowd control by threatening to throw warm soup at them. This is what people usually do in Thai soap operas.

I hailed the taxi on Petburi road. The television set on the middle of dashboard (twisted at an angle towards the driver) was on. Twenty minutes later I stepped out of the taxi on Suriwong. The television was still on. It was on at red light and at speed, at any speed. It never went blank. The driver was watching it while we were going up Rachadamri road. I watched it too from the back seat.

What does this tell us about Thai drivers? The obvious conclusion is that their driving skills are so superior they don’t have to worry about distractions. While lesser drivers such as I would be relived if the electronics turned off the TV automatically once the car started to move (as manufacturers tells us it should) Thais don’t need to be concerned about this.

Thais can watch reruns of “Too Fast And Furious” while doing 150 on the elevated roads. Not for them are car televisions that can be seen by the passengers only. Let the drivers catch up on the news and watch the weather forecast while overtaking and doing u-turns. Let them brake hard and avoid hitting durian carts while the national lottery is drawn live.

I am impressed. I will ask a Thai taxi driver to teach me this. I want to be able to watch TV, play the banjo, do my toenails, speak on the phone and drive at the same time. How hard can it be?