Saturday, March 23, 2013

Be Not Afraid

Stickers with the slogan, No Fear, are still popular among some Bangkok taxi drivers. Could this be the mantra of these cabbies? After all, it must take a certain amount of courage to drive a taxi in this city. Some of the other motorists on the road are insane and one can only imagine what it must be like to deal with some of the passengers. Another theory behind these stickers is that these cabbies want to communicate to their customers to have confidence in them and their driving skills. Either that, or the cabbies simply have an appreciation for this corny style left over from the 1990s.   
   

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Golden Boy

Gumonthong is a Thai spirit in the form of a baby boy who is believed to bring good luck to his animist followers. His name basically means, "golden boy", hence the fake gold that adorns his upper body and traditional Siamese top knot hairdo. Worshippers, including the driver of this taxi, like to make offerings of red Fanta soda to him (in this case, in a yogurt cup). And apparently, he likes to ride motorcycles, too.   

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Lotus Quotation

Today, the blue lotus in the taxi reminded me of a wonderful quote from the Buddha:  "As a lotus flower is born in water, grows in water and rises out of water to stand above it unsoiled, so I, born in the world, raised in the world, having overcome the world, live unsoiled by the world".                       

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Clever Cabby

Thais can be extremely resourceful. They can often take something very basic and turn it into something extraordinary. The driver of this taxi was even able to transform his Toyota Corolla Altis into a fancy car when he added some bling to the logo on the steering wheel.