More tuk-tuks on the streets of Bangkok should boost tourism
The Thai Ministry of Traffic and Transport will register 565 new tuk-tuks from the beginning of next year. It is expected that more tuk-tuks in the streets will stimulate tourism.
The Tuk-Tuk (ตุ๊กตุ๊ก) is a small and typical means of transport with three wheels and a two-stroke engine. A kind of motorized rickshaw. The name Tuk-Tuk is taken from the popping sound of the two-stroke engine.
Ministry director general Saint Phrom Wong says tuk-tuks are a popular mode of transport for tourists when visiting the capital.
The issue of 565 new license plates also means that drivers will be able to buy a tuk-tuk instead of renting it. This way they can increase their income somewhat. There are more than 9.000 tuk-tuk taxis registered in Bangkok. There are more than 20.000 across the country.
Although a ride in a Tuk-Tuk is an experience in itself, it is not very comfortable. Especially in Bangkok it is quite unhealthy given the enormous heat, the traffic jams and the exhaust fumes you breathe. A tuk-tuk also offers little protection in the event of a collision.
Another disadvantage of the tuk-tuk is that they are very polluting for the environment. The two-stroke engine of a tuk-tuk is an old-fashioned type of fuel engine in which lubricating oil is added to the petrol. Because the construction of this engine is simpler than a so-called four-stroke, they are cheaper to build. However, the combustion process is much worse, which means that the emission of particulate matter and harmful aromatic hydrocarbons is considerably higher. A single two-stroke engine is 20 to a maximum of 2.700 times dirtier than a normal taxi or van.
Source: Bangkok Post – http://goo.gl/wYXrb9
Odd, shouldn't it be the other way around? Tuk tuks provide a transportation service. You do not stimulate tourism with that. You have to do that somewhere else and only when you have more tourists then you need more tuk tuks.
I do hope that these "new" drivers receive thorough training in both driving and manners.
I also hope that these new tuktuks are electric, and not such a polluting and noisy bubbling discotheque on wheels as is often the case now.
Even more tuk-tuks, and thereby stimulate tourism…. I suspect a reduction. Many people are more annoyed by those noisemakers than they like it.
The average tuktuk driver is not exactly the shining example of an honest person. How often do you hear or read that someone has been scammed by such a figure…
In addition, those tuk-tuks, especially the somewhat older ones that the owner has tinkered with without any form of technical knowledge, are quite smelly polluters.
Often that is attributed to the two-stroke engine, but usually it is not that, but the owner who has screwed up that two-stroke engine.
A two-stroke engine CAN even run more economically and cleaner than a 4-stroke.
Do you remember the old ladies mopeds of the brands Puch and Tomos? Which drove about 60-70 kilometers on a liter of petrol. These were two-stroke engines. The modern counterparts do not even reach 40 kilometers on a liter. Or the old Vespakar? Do you remember that?
A kind of closed tuktuk, yes, also with 3 wheels and a 2-stroke little boy for the drive. With a liter of petrol, that thing came nicely 40-45 km away, with a speed of around 55 km / h original. If you were to increase it to, for example, 80 km/h, consumption quickly doubled, and with it, of course, pollution.
The same goes for the tuk-tuks in Thailand, and since the average Thai always wants to go faster than possible, those tuk-tuks are performed far too often, and therefore polluting rattling stinking cages.
No, I think there are really better investments to be made to stimulate tourism.
As far as I know, the tuktuks run on LPG both in BKK and elsewhere, for example Korat. Stepped up? That's fine. But extremely fast, agile, and absolutely part of the Thai urban street scene. In BKK those carts often take me past the traffic jams to where I need to be. Then in combination with the moped taxi. And always inquire about the price in advance, haggle and agree. Scam? It may well happen, but how much work does the Amsterdam city council have to decriminalize its taxi industry?
I think this plan can only work if the tuktuk drivers also become more reliable. Every year my wife and I go to Thailand and it gets worse and worse with the tourists being harassed. So ask for extremely high amounts or not initially, but during the journey. Then trying to go to places where they get those gas coupons. I actually enjoy using the tuktuk, but for the reasons mentioned above we use it less and less. It's such a hassle! So in our view the government will also have to address this.
Do those Tuk Tuk's have a meter these days?
If not, a taxi is probably cheaper, safer, faster and more comfortable.
If not, the taxi is only safer, faster and more comfortable.
I was in one of those tuktuks in 2013, but they were all scammers. I asked the driver to take me to Center world, but after 1 km he stops and asked if I want to go to some kind of jeweler because he would get 5 liters of fuel if I am inside for 5 minutes and I don't have to buy anything. I fell for it because we actually bought something. Then we drove towards our destination, but after a few kilometers he begged again if I wanted to go to another agency, then he would get 5 liters of fuel again.
And so it goes on. It really is an operating gang.
This year I was in Bangkok again, and I fell for it again. This time I was approached by a young guy who asked where I wanted to go. And with his smooth chat in good English, I sat in his friend's tuk-tuk and yes, after a few kilometers it is again please please 5 liters of fuel when I go somewhere for information etc. Never again a tuk-tuk in Bangkok for me.
Crooked reasoning, the tuktuk driver just told you how and what about the fuel and that he wants you to visit the jeweler, but explicitly stated that you don't have to buy anything.
OK, it's true, he hopes you buy something, but that's something else. He will undoubtedly receive petrol or commission for it, but whether you subsequently bought something or, as you say yourself, fell for it, is entirely up to you.
The fact that many carelessly 'step in' says more about the passengers than about the drivers. Yes, I've also fallen for it (without quotes) that the driver first drove around for a few kilometers, which turns out, the requested address to him turned out to be less than 100 meters as the crow flies from where I got on.
Oh well, just keep smiling and there are worse things in the world.
I think most of them run on LPG. What also displeases me are the exorbitant prices they charge.
I thought I saw that the tuk tuks are equipped with LPG tanks.
A while ago also read an article about that a few students converted a few tuk tuks so that they could now run on LPG, precisely to prevent pollution!
I think I'm lucky. They don't want to go shopping with me. They do think I'm a bit stressed and show me a beautiful folder of a massage shop where I could relax completely. Nowadays when I take a Tuk Tuk I let an older boss drive me and it usually goes smoothly. I find it quite striking that the drivers tell the customers that it pays them pennies / liters if the customer goes shopping. Isn't that fair???? In the context of the environmental summit in Paris, it would be a nice move if the new racing monsters were electric. Then Thailand gets another round of applause abroad.
It would be better to check the existing tuk tuks better because of the still prevailing corruption, which, for example, is still flourishing on Phuket. In order to stimulate tourism, it might not be wrong to conduct a survey into the actual wishes of tourists. Most high prices for tuk tuks on Phuket, the double pricing system, and the continued ban on sun loungers and umbrellas, and the ever-changing visa rules and everything related to this, is certainly not an advertisement for a country that wants to stimulate tourism .
You can assume why that the original tuktuk with 2-stroke engine is quite polluting.
Especially since maintenance is not the strongest point in Thailand.
However, what should be taken into account is the fact that the cylinder capacity of the original tuktuk is less than 600 cc, compared to a car with a 1500 cc engine, the pollution seems to me to be a bit less than expected.
If I'm not mistaken, almost all tuktuks run on LPG.
That also makes the assumed pollution a lot less.
The new tuktuks all have a 4-stroke engine and LPG as fuel.
I assume that the government will only register tuktuks that are equipped with the 4-stroke engine and LPG.
So the pollution story doesn't really hold.
I will not make any statements about the expensiveness and level of service.
I don't live in Krungthep, don't want to live there and only go there when absolutely necessary.
The tuktuks in my hometown all have LPG as fuel.
And are increasingly equipped with a 4-stroke engine.
And there are now almost 400 taxis in Khon Kaen.
Too much.
Resulting in "meter problems", so to speak, and suddenly the tuktuks are no longer more expensive, and usually much faster from A to B due to the great maneuverability.
Sat in a tuk tuk once 23 years ago and
made nauseated by the air pollution.
I prefer to go with the BTS or MRT. Aircon and no traffic jams.
Also a fixed rate.
This is another typical example of the Thai government
thinks they know what tourists like, but completely misses the point. They should be much tougher on taxis that refuse to turn on their meters.
Dear editors, no tuk tuks have been sold with a 20-stroke engine for 2 years.
Even the older types that are still driving around have long since been converted to 4 stroke (more economical, more power)
Most had a 350cc two-cylinder two-stroke and now a 660cc daihatsu three-cylinder four-stroke.
Some are being converted to LPG and I have already seen a few electric ones in Bangkok.
I do not use it myself because with a length of almost 2 meters I am completely folded
looking at a roof edge is not fun. http://www.thailandtuktuk.net/thailand-tuktuk-engine.htm
Fortunately, a Dutch entrepreneur is busy supplying electric tuk-tuks.
Good luck from this place.
Sincerely,
Lodewijk
Why can't many people ever be positive?
The tuk-tuk is the symbol of Bangkok, almost even of Thailand.
Every tourist wants to take a picture with it.
Everyone makes a row with it - an experience in itself.
Everyone has fallen for it and been lured to a location you didn't really want.
Everyone has an increased heart rate during the ride - that's fun, isn't it?
everyone thinks, 'not so healthy' but cycling is better?
You know all this and still want to drive it again? – Quite stupid, isn't it?
And that whining about safety. If you don't dare, then just don't.
And the whining about pollution. So that only comes from those tuk-tuks?
And the whining about 'corruption'. More than half of the taxis refuse to turn on the meter. A taxi will just as easily take you to an unsolicited address. A taxi can easily drive you around half an hour longer than necessary - you don't know the way anyway and he can always blame it on the traffic.
I am so tired of that….
We recently drove around Bangkok four times in a tuk tuk. Slightly more expensive than a taxi but much more agile and faster. The drivers were all very polite and humorous. Maybe we were lucky, but you can also really hit it.