Life in a Taxi

When one lives in a large city like Bangkok, much of the traveling is done by taxi. This city has five and a half MILLION registered vehicles (unregistered are probably many tens of thousands), and I must have seen most of them. Whether going into town, traveling to or from work, bringing a load of groceries home, or trying to get to a friend's house, taxis are one of the most popular and--by western standards--economical ways to get around.

Instead of attempting to describe the emotional roller coaster ridden when in the unpredictable Bangkok taxi, I am listing a number of texts sent by Kat and me to each other at various times in the past several months. I think you'll get an idea of what it's like:

• "Taxi hasn't moved in 25 mins. Driver keeps opening his door to huck lugies into the street--it ain't pretty."

• "Fell asleep...Oh no! Wrong turn!"

• "Can I get a 'Sitting on my Ass in a Taxi' award?"

• "Driver going wrong way and he won't listen to me!"

• "Grid f***ing lock!"

• "Can't find a taxi. What the hell?"

• "Oh no! They're fixing the bridge, traffic galore, pouring rain, I'll never get home! Wah!"

• "Just got kicked out of the taxi. Guy decided it was going to take too long and he had other plans."

• "Wow, Sammakee is flooded, worst I've ever seen. I may have to walk. Sh*t!"

• "Traffic crawling...trapped like a rat!"

• "Got kicked out at Soi 72--I guess he picked up the wrong fare."

• "This driver is 200 years old and babbling."

• "Still babbling."

• "Have beer ready."