How Do Songthaew Driver's Afford The Truck?

[fxm88]

Hey All!

I wonder how songthaew driver's can afford to do what they do? I don't know but I can't imagine they're making a lot on fares. Minus the rooftop and paintjob, petrol (e.g. in Pattaya some seem to drive around incessantly even when empty), food to eat and possibly even a place to sleep, there surely can't be much leftover to pay for the truck -- can there? And some of these trucks are brand new! Have they tapped into some secret source of incredibly cheap trucks?

Same goes for the motorcy taxis.

What's the deal (and how can I get in on it)?

[MikeRay]

Many people in Thailand are working 14-16 hours,7days a week to make a living.The trucks are mainly rented by them of the owners.Several families live of 200 Baht/day, some of less.Guess why there are some many girls working in the night-life.First of all it´s good and quick money,secondly some are paying off Mummy and Loans.E.g.

for a brand new truck

[Thaipwriter]

Hey All!

I wonder how songthaew driver's can afford to do what they do? I don't know but I can't imagine they're making a lot on fares. Minus the rooftop and paintjob, petrol (e.g. in Pattaya some seem to drive around incessantly even when empty), food to eat and possibly even a place to sleep, there surely can't be much leftover to pay for the truck -- can there? And some of these trucks are brand new! Have they tapped into some secret source of incredibly cheap trucks?

Same goes for the motorcy taxis.

What's the deal (and how can I get in on it)?

The fact that the trucks are new should tell you something, for sure if they were not making money they would not be out there roaming around. these trucks are diesels and are very economical. here in khon kaen many of these trucks are brand new...............now. the same guy will still be cruising around in the same Isuzu truck in 10 years. its not unreasonable to say that on average they have sixty people get on and off in a day. at 10 baht per person that is 600 a day , or 18K baht a month. the payment on the truck is maybe 8,000 and diesel 5,000. that leaves 5,000, which here is about what the average thai person earns. of course this is based on 60 a day. if he hits 100 a day, he might gross 7,000 baht. add on top of that the fact that he will happily drive away from a farang who has given him a twenty and is waiting for change that he will never see and maybe a few instances where people hire him privatley to ferry family members to weddings/parties/house moves/funerals. and other bits and bobs on the side he may actually be making 10,000 - 12,000 a month which here is Khon Kaen is way beyond what Joe Average will ever see in his hand at the end of the month.

ps. I asked the same question as you about 2 months ago to a good Thai friend and he gave me the explanation above. I was like you in thinking that they must be skint but it aint so!!!!

[monty]

Most motorbike taxi's I personally know make a pretty decent living.

One guy works at a pretty busy stand, averaging 30 customers a day at between 20 and 40 Baht/trip. (one trip every 25 minutes on a 12 hour day)

On market days this goes way up to 70 or 80 customers a day...

He grosses at least 25.000 Baht/month, minus fuel (honda wave, doesn't drink a lot), 2000 Baht/month to the coppers who control his stand and minus the 2500/month instalments on the bike...

He easily has between 15000 and 20000 Baht/month spending money after costs!

Most Thais would be happy with half this amount.

His wife is a cashier at Lotus, adding another 8500 Baht/month to the family income...

Definately a middle class family