Hugh_Hoy Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 I emerged from my suite at the Super Royal Grand Nana Hotel and descended to the ground floor via the elevator (lift). As I made my way through the lobby, my mind was in turmoil. I?d just gotten off the phone with my ?tilac?. She was at Manusak in her last month of ?hair style? training and we?d arranged to meet during her lunch hour. But only 10 minutes before, she?d advised me ?I can?t see you again?. Dumbfounded, I finally brought myself to tell her I?d be at the school in 30 minutes and we would talk about it. As I exited the double glass doors of the hotel and crossed the parking lot toward Soi 4, I was immediately struck by the unseasonably heat for a November morning?especially, it being only 1100 hours. I could see the traffic on Sukhumvit was (as usual) stopped up. I wasn?t in the mood to stand on the boulevard waiting for a taxi or tuk-tuk, so flagged the first tuk-tuk I came to on Soi 4. ?Pai Pratunam, see-sip baht?, I asked the driver while only partially inside the 3-wheeler. The driver nodded affirmatively and I crawled inside. The shade of the tuk-tuk?s roof only partially provided relief from the heat and as we waited for the traffic to clear I showed the driver the business card for the hair school to give him a more precise destination. His momentary glance at the card told me that he either was a speed-reader or didn?t give a shit what it said. Maybe he only saw the drawing of a female?s face with some fancy hairstyle. The tuk-tuk edged closer to Sukhumvit. As if on cue, the driver retrieved several well-worn and dog-eared flyers promoting a number of massage parlors. I merely responded, ?mai khop? and waved them off. The driver pulled into the traffic on Sukhumvit and proceeded to get us entangled in the grid-lock that was allowed to develop in those days. We were stranded in the middle of the intersection with no place to go and with the temperature seeming to escalate by one degree every minute. Into his back pocket the driver reached, this time handing back a couple of business cards for jewelry stores. What?s he matter with this idiot? I produced the school?s card again and pointed to it. The driver was clearly not happy. That made two of us. Frustrated, hot, hungry, thirsty, and being told to fuck off by my ?tilac? had not put me in the best frame of mind. And it was about to get worse. Finally, the traffic moved and the tuk-tuk, now in the far right lane going in the direction of Pratunam proceeded with the flow. Suddenly, the driver stopped to make a right turn across the on-coming lane of traffic and into a Shell petrol station. (Long since gone.) I motion for the driver to proceed up Sukhumvit. He ignores me. What now? The idiot needs to fill up? I?m looking at my watch and I?ve been in this dreadful contraption for about 15 minutes and am only 300 meters from where I started. Now in the Shell lot, the driver tells me to get out. Well, fuck you, I think. I point to the school card. He shakes his head negatively and with a sneer. I?m thinking I?m already late, it?s fucking hot?and I?m now about to boil over. If I get out, I?ve got to walk about 2-300 more meters to a walkover, cross to the other side of Sukhumvit, and then try to find another lift. I decide to see if I can wait this guy out. No chance. Finally, the driver gets out, stands next to his machine, and motions for me to get out. Now, I?m really pissed off big time. But I know this guy isn?t going to take me any place from which he can?t get a commission. So I get out, but decide I?ll let him have my two-baht speech before I go. ?Fuck you ASSHOLE. Got it: FUCK YOU?! I don?t know if he understood what was said, but even if he did, he probably figured out that he need not further piss-off an already enraged orangutan. He was pretty-decent size for a Thai: maybe 5?8?, 170 lbs. But even without the benefit of reading the admonitions on this board, I instinctively knew that my 73? and 260 lbs. were no match for this asshole. I mean, these tuk-tuk guys are all trained killers, right? But the same instincts told me that it would be no problem putting this guy?s tuk-tuk out of commission for the rest of the day. After all, I?d leveled a few defensive linemen in days gone by. I grabbed the poles of the tuk-tuk and gave it a couple of ?rocks? when I decided that, rather than putting the thing on its side, ?screw it?. I just gave it enough of a kick to put a dent in the side panel. I gave the driver another ?Fuck you? and walked away?not feeling any better, but (now wiser) having cheated death from the hands of those toughies that make up the tuk-tuk mafia. J What would you have done differently? Shrugged your shoulders and walked away? Waied the driver and given him 40 baht? Beat the crap out of him and driven the tuk-tuk to your destination yourself? Called the tourist police? Go to the nearest temple and thank Buddha that the driver didn't slit your throat for not going to one his touted businesses? Hugh (mak) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCgringo Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 I try to avoid all the Tuk Tuks and Taxis that sit and wait like vultures on Soi 4 , Most of the taxis that sit will not use the meter , I think thats one reason for the Soi 4 wall, to keep the vulures from circling looking for a victim ! And Tuk Tuks cannot really go any faster than a taxi with the traffic, they are too wide, I guess a motorbike taxi is faster , but I do not have the balls to use them ! I use regular taxis that are moving , I ask them if they want to go to wherever I need, normally its a 150baht ride with little chance of getting a return fare , so I want them to know what they are getting into ! OC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Hi, I would have taken a motorbile from the Nana Only way to make it to Pratunam from there in 30 min at that time of the day. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jitagawn Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Well written Moto is the way to go when its gridlocked. Some/most of the Tuk tuk drivers are rotten.Yetserday met a very nice tourist couple who got in one and was swept away to the "jewelry store instead of Wat Pra Keaoow-The guy no dummy had a coke and asked to leave which they did but the bastard Tuk tuk guy drove them out of his way to the middle of no where in Lat Prao and dropped them off-stranded-They walked 30 minutes in the heat-no taxis coming by-mean Dont like Tuks never take them :(mostly rotten pricks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 I use motorbkes almost daily, However the best advice here is NEVER get into a still taxi/tuktuk unless the tuk tuk is at a stand like we have in our soi. Otherwise, get a moving one alwyas! DOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh_Hoy Posted January 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 Well, the conscensous of going by motorbike as being the fastest in heavy traffic is right on. But like OCG, I'm wary of those things. Have only taken them on side streets (like Ruam Rudee) --except in Phnom Penh where there really isn't much alternative. This incident took place about 13 years ago when traffic seemed much worse than it is today on Sukhumvit...everybody pretty much ignored any "lanes" of traffic, which made it easier for tuk-tuks to navigate openings between vehicles (and thus sometimes faster than taxi). Too, tuk-tuks were cheaper than taxis in those days. Now, seems like the lazy drivers of tuk-tuks want as much as a taxi. Go figure. Haven't ridden in one in years (except in Khon Kaen). I, too, avoid the Soi 4 taxis, for the reason noted by OCG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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