Pimp My Scooter: Transportation in Northern Thailand

Who needs "history" and "culture"? Lets talk about the rides of Northern Thailand.

Night Market is to Scooter as Mall is to Car: Funny how all young people all over the world seem to share the same basic interests. The guidebooks stress how cool the "Night Markets" are. And indeed they are pretty cool. Essentially, they are open markets with over 100 different independent booths that sell everything and anything you could imagine, such as electronics, cell phones/accessories, silks, books, food, drink, clothes, touristy crap, etc. While there are a good number of tourists looking around, there are even more local teens/young people.

When it was time to leave, we noticed packs of young people on scooters, which is the primary means of transportation for most folks. Once again, its really analogous to the US in that many guys were driving (trying to look all tough), and their girlfriends riding on the back. Also, many of the scooters were "pimped out" in that they have aftermarket stickers, upgraded wheels and exhausts. In some instances we saw 3 or 4 people on a scooter!!!

Cars: The upper-middle class either have extended cab compact pickups or a small car. The new generation Toyota Tacoma (here referred to as the HI-LUX) is the really fancy ride, followed by Isuzu's version of the Chevy Colorado pickup, Honda Jazz (known as the Fit in the US), Civic and Toyota Camry. Ford and Chrysler have practically zero presence here, which may help explain why they're so dependent on the North American market and losing money left and right.

Tuk-Tuk - As previously discussed, take a basic 125cc motorcycle frame, modify the rear-end to have 2 wheels, and add an open air cab with a bench seat, and you have Thailand's primary short-haul inter-city taxi. Marie adores riding in tuk-tuks.

Bus: There are many different types of buses for inter-city travel. In order:
- VIP - has plush reclining seats, audio/video, and an "attendant" that serves drinks/snacks;
- Air-Conditioned with reclining seats and an "attendant" that serves simple snacks/water - we took this from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai;
- Air-Conditioned with bench seats; and
- Non-air-conditioned with bench seats - we will be taking this from Chiang Rai to Chiang Khong.

Songthaew: This literally translates to "2 row". In a nutshell, take a maroon red compact standard-cab pickup (e.g., Isuzu PUP, Mazda B-series, previous generation Toyota Tacoma) with the bed door removed, throw 2 bench seats in the bed, and add a tall bed cap. Voila, you have the high-end taxi system in Thailand's 2nd largest town, Chiang Mai. Swap the standard-cab pickup for a blue pickup about 3/4 of the size, and you have Chiang Rai's high-end taxi. Funny how riding in the bed of a truck in the US is illegal in most states (not to mention really scary), but this seems perfectly fine and safe in Thailand. And words can't describe how much fun it is to ride in these things.