Thailand's tuk tuks, tour buses and boats marooned at Lunar New Year

[snoop1130]

Thailand's tuk tuks, tour buses and boats marooned at Lunar New Year

By Jiraporn Kuhakan and Juarawee Kittisilpa

 

Tuk-tuks that are used to transport tourists around the city are seen idle due to travel bans and border closures from the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in a parking lot in downtown Bangkok, Thailand February 3, 2021. Picture taken February 3, 2021. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Parked in rows with many gathering dust and cobwebs, hundreds of "tuk tuk" motorised rickshaws, tour buses and boats lie silent across the Thai capital of Bangkok, after suffering a twin blow from the coronavirus pandemic and a lack of foreign tourists.

 

Celebrations of the Lunar New Year, which begins on Friday, normally bring a spike in spending and travel among Thais and an influx of visitors from China and elsewhere in Asia.

 

But the pandemic has upended Thai transport businesses, leaving many drivers and owners struggling to make ends meet, while a survey predicted Lunar New Year spending would suffer its sharpest fall in 13 years.

 

"These tuk tuks have been parked for a year...you can see them all covered with dust," said garage owner Kraisak Kulkiatprasert, who now rents out fewer than 10 vehicles a day, despite having slashed rentals, versus more than 100 earlier.

 

"I will monitor the situation for another year," he added. "If it doesn't get better, I will have to shut down."

 

Campon Taikae, a 50-year-old tuk tuk driver, said he had earned only 50 baht ($1.70) after driving for hours a day earlier, but felt he had no chance of finding another job.

 

In another part of Bangkok, tour buses are parked in long lines, devoid of their tourist passengers.

 

The Lunar New Year is normally peak tourism season in Bangkok. But for a bus driver, Tossaporn Rakratchakarn, and a commuter boat skipper, Mani Hogkhontod, this year's festival has seen entire fleets of tourism vehicles just gathering dust.

 

"Before the COVID pandemic, I've never been short of work," said driver Tossaporn Rakratchakarn, as he cleaned his vehicle's dust-laden windshield.

 

"I usually drop tourists off and pick another group up. It's been a year now and there's been no movement at all," added Tossaporn, who had even returned to his home village at one point, to look after a fishpond.

 

A boat used to transport tourists around the Chao Phraya river is seen idle due to travel bans and border closures from the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in downtown Bangkok, Thailand February 4, 2021. Picture taken February 4, 2021. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

 

Wasuchet Sophonsathien, president of the Thai Transportation Operators Association, said only about a tenth of Thailand's 40,000 tour buses were still operating.

 

The story is the same for many tour boats and ferries.

 

Things were completely different from the days in the past when passengers packed his vessel, said Mani Hogkhontod, a 54-year-old boat driver.

 

FILE PHOTO: Buses that used to transport Chinese tourists around Thailand are seen idle due to travel bans and border closures from the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in a parking lot near Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, Thailand February 5, 2021. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

 

 "I have been thinking about finding a new job, but I am worried that I have to start from zero, because of my work experience and age," he said.

 

Thailand's tally of infections stands at 23,903, with 80 deaths, as this week's daily cases rank among the lowest reported since the southeast Asian nation's latest and biggest outbreak emerged in mid-December.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-02-10

 

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[Tropicalevo]

And the Thai military do  not care.

[Nout]

Chinese new year..

[smedly]

7 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Thailand's tuk tuks

 

Thailand's space program - Lunar tuk tuk  

[Justgrazing]

Turn them into mobile homes and at the same time promote a bit of home tourism .. but you'll have to be quite short .. 

 

[RichardColeman]

10 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

added Tossaporn, who had even returned to his home village at one point, to look after a fishpond.

I don't know why, but i find that statement incredibly funny

[sammieuk1]

A Chinese gift that keeps giving year after year unless this ramshackle government gets jabbing ????   

[asiasurfer]

You can keep all of those stinking rip-off tuk tuks and other "taxis" marooned indefinitely. Not feeling any pitty at all. 

[bluesofa]

3 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

Turn them into mobile homes and at the same time promote a bit of home tourism .. but you'll have to be quite short .. 

 

It looks more like a new line in economy hearses with that corpse.

To quote Monty Python: "Ring Arthur Sojurn, the fastest funeral service in North Wales. We can have the deceased out of the house and down the chute within the hour."

[Megasin1]

4 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

Turn them into mobile homes and at the same time promote a bit of home tourism .. but you'll have to be quite short .. 

 

is that the tuk tuk RV, or the Space exploration model ?

[Dukeleto]

When it comes to Tuk Tuk’s and taxis in Thailand all my heart can do is pump lumpy custard!

[warrima]

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Campon Taikae, a 50-year-old tuk tuk driver, said he had earned only 50 baht ($1.70) after driving for hours a day earlier, but felt he had no chance of finding another job.

Yes not a lot of demand in other industries for someone whos skillset is hanging around tourist intersections (usually sleeping in a hammock) waiting for a golden ticket to arrive. 

[Bob12345]

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

... tuk tuk driver, said he had earned only 50 baht ($1.70)... a day earlier,

Normally the rates start at 60 baht, plus an extra 20 baht for every 5 meters they drive. 

Guess it must have been local he drove around which made it harder to scam.

[tonysilly]

Tuk Tuk drivers have to look for new job?? Good luck, no job in Thailand where you can sit in your ass all day and just rip off tourist!!!  

[kiwikeith]

2 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

A Chinese gift that keeps giving year after year unless this ramshackle government gets jabbing ????   

I was just listening to a panel of highly respected world experts, independent of politics.

One Dr, said when the world approaches/ gets to the 75% mark, that is those that have been infected and  vaccinated in total , then there will be a turn around.

This is not expected to happen for about 4 months.

So if the turn happens then the world tourism might start up.

 

Also reported that in the UK people dependent on hand outs / food banks has gone up 700% in some areas.

One thing is sure the world is being dragged through a depression the likes of, never seen before.

It may get worse before it gets better.

The Dr said no one is doing much research on other medications the politicians are totally mesmerized on vaccines.

If you google South African news, they have suspended use of Astra Zeneca vaccine as it has had little effect on the new strain, as little as 25%, amazingly the rest of the world are ploughing ahead ordering and injecting this vaccine which may turn out to be useless, if the South African strain spreads throughout the world.

Astra Zeneca are currently working on a modification to the vaccine but they have not got one yet. 

 

That said-Thailand is in the same boat as most other countries, except the panel agreed, that the countries that locked down, their economies are doing well--- China ,NZ ,Vietnam, they have not needed bail out money any where near some other countries.

Bailout money definition= monetary Missiles, aimed at the rich.

When a turnaround happens and we all hope that is sooner than later, then if Thailands stupid policies on insurance and making things difficult for tourists to return will be the final nail in the coffin.

 

How long will the people be able to take this, surely the pressure from Tuk Tuk drivers right up to the big boys who rule the roost, Mr Tesco 7/11 will hurt . Thing will have to change in Thailand or they will head back to being the same as poor old Myanmar. 

 

What a state the world is in, the media focused on idiot Donald Ducks impeachment and arguing about how to distribute vaccines, a giant political mess with billionaires and the WHO, Bill Gates and his mates, rolling in the cash while the worlds lower income are going to hell.

 

The amazing thing is they don't seem to be to worried about all those wide bodied jets being parked up in the dessert or the Tuk Tuks in cob webs in Bangkok

[saminoz]

I think that few of would bemoan the fate of the Tuk-Tuks and their drivers.

Whilst an icon in Thailand's public tourism image, the reality is that the majority of Tuk-Tuk drivers have, for many years, abused this and used this as a means to aggressively rip off tourists whilst promoting the sex trade to the point of pimping!

As far as I am concerned, this would be a good time to cancel them all and the drivers can go <deleted> themselves and learn to make an honest living somewhere.

Rant over

[Deli]

Thank you Xi and your comrads, it's all your fault.

[WineOh]

The upshot of all this is that I am now no longer being accosted on the street by intoxicated tuk tuk drivers referring to me as their 'friend' and offering me a pus*y show.

 

I was staying at chaweng beach on samui in 2019 for a week and what those drivers were offering me was beyond belief. 

They just could not take no for an answer. 

 

Hopefully all this will be a massive wake up call for all the scam artists in this country. 

[SymS]

Beautiful

[itsari]

Tuk tuks and buses are on thing , what is more important is the state of the banks that are behind all this idle merchandise . That will be too hard to find out before it is too late . 

[TKDfella]

The government will probably suggest they all go to the new proposed Miami style Pattaya instead of providing alternative forms of re-learning for different skills.

[hotchilli]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Thailand's tuk tuks, tour buses and boats marooned at Lunar New Year

Could do with selling a few of those buses to my town, we could do with some new wheels instead of flogging to death the 30+ year old clunkers we have now.

[Olmate]

5 minutes ago, itsari said:

Tuk tuks and buses are on thing , what is more important is the state of the banks that are behind all this idle merchandise . That will be too hard to find out before it is too late . 

Yes but the  hard done by TVF members posting  here about their scammed by tuk tuk drivers experiences don,t share that reality. “Tough as nails” world travellers who can,t manage a ride in a cab!     Geeez. Really?

[Guderian]

All those big tour buses, filled with spitting zero-dollar Chinese, would by now be blocking the roads in Pattaya and, when they're not parking so as to obstruct everybody else, would be belting along like mad things and doing their level best to run other vehicles off the road. I don't miss them one little bit!

[kiwikeith]

9 minutes ago, Olmate said:

Yes but the  hard done by TVF members posting  here about their scammed by tuk tuk drivers experiences don,t share that reality. “Tough as nails” world travellers who can,t manage a ride in a cab!     Geeez. Really?

Banks receive money from the government printing press. Usually backed by govt bonds (pieces of paper) or securities, then the banks give it to the poor to buy things, like food and houses, cars and Tuk Tuks, who in turn have to pay interest to the banks. Then the banks take whatever you have got left when you fail to repay, and land bank it for future profit, or use land and houses confiscated as securities so they can get more money from the printing press to give to you to buy another car or house .

 

I have no sympathy for banks , they and the stock exchange pilfer the world at will. 

The USA is heading towards the end of FIAT currency which has lasted 50 years , the average of other bases for the dollar have lasted 20 years.

Maybe time to switch to gold silver or Bitcoin.

[shackleton]

Well look on the bright side less TukTuks  means less Pollution 

Plus the big tour  buses especially in Pattaya now not causing traffic 

Jams and parking problems on Jomtiem   beach ect

[Richard Allen Weaver]

Won't matter, if The New World Order, Soros, and Bill Gates get there way, there won't be enough of us left to need more than a hand full. 

[steevjee]

Richard Weaver..... may I call you Dick ?  Just wondering Dick, can you recommend a place to buy a Tin Foil Hat ?

[sapson]

4 hours ago, tonysilly said:

no job in Thailand where you can sit in your ass all day and just rip off tourist!!!  

 

Immigration officer and bar girl get close !

[Keesters]

4 hours ago, tonysilly said:

Tuk Tuk drivers have to look for new job?? Good luck, no job in Thailand where you can sit in your ass all day and just rip off tourist!!!  

Most of them do it flat on their backs.