Every taxi in Bangkok has an illuminated sign on top that says “metered taxi.” Every guide book instructs you to insist that the driver use the meter. But for the life of us, we could not get taxi drivers in Thailand to use the meter if our lives depended on it. But why would you want to take a taxi anyway when you could take a tuk-tuk? The Philippines has their jeepneys, but Thailand has their endless parade of tuk-tuks.
The front half looks like a motorcycle, the back half has a two wheels and one bench seat. The whole operation is covered by a roof. With the exception of the tires and the windshield, pretty much everything else is made of stainless steel and chrome.
The roof is so low that if I sat up straight inside the tuk-tuk, my head would touch the ceiling. But worse yet, the low roof would obscure my view. So I found myself slouching way, way down in the seat –I was essentially reclining- so that I could take in the city sights as they whizzed by.
Wherever we were in Thailand, tuk-tuks were our preferred method of transport. It was as cheap as a taxi and a whole lot more stylish way to be seen about town.
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