Be Strong

Since July of this year, over three million people in Thailand have been seriously affected by the floods. Many people have lost their homes and jobs. Others have been trapped inside their house for weeks and some are going without basic necessities. The driver of this taxi told me that he has been living in evacuee shelters for the past three weeks and his only personal belongings that he has left are in the trunk. For him and for many others, getting through this crisis will take a lot of courage. My hopes are that those directly hit by the floods can be as strong as the tiger whose image is stuck to the back window of this Bangkok taxi.

Let's Swim!

According to some reports in the local media, fifty percent of taxis have recently disappeared from the streets of Bangkok due to flooding in and around the city. A fair amount of cabbies have returned to their home province to avoid the floods, some taxi cooperatives located in areas with high water are closed, and many cabs are parked in high places for safekeeping. As a result, it is becoming more difficult to find taxis to hail in this city. And some drivers are refusing fares because they don't want to venture into flood-prone areas. If you have difficulty finding a cab at this time, don't worry. In some areas it's now possible to swim to your destination.

Thai Hermit

If you happen to spot a figure wearing a tiger skin robe in Bangkok, don't assume that it's another ridiculous trend in this city of fashion victims. Rather, these guys in animal print garb are Thai hermits who live, study, and meditate in forests or caves. Known in Thai as Phra Lersi, these ascetics usually practice traditional medicine and white magic. Bangkok cabbies keep images of Phra Lersi in their taxis to protect themselves from evil spirits. Or perhaps the statuettes represent the taxi drivers themselves who spend a considerable amount of time alone in their cabs away from their family and friends.

Hungry God

Phra Rahu is a Thai god originating from Hindu tradition whose image is sometimes displayed inside Bangkok taxi cabs. He's usually depicted on amulets, charms, and stickers, and cabbies here believe that he's lucky and can help bring in more Thai baht. If you're not familiar with this giant celestial being, you might think that he's nibbling on a cookie or chowing down on pizza. But according to folk beliefs that attempt to explain how eclipses occur, he's trying to eat the sun and the moon. We're talking about a serious case of indigestion here.

Taxi Turtles

At the moment, Thailand is experiencing some of the worst flooding in decades. The deluge of water is creating havoc and many people in provincial Thailand have been forced to evacuate their homes. With high water on some roads, the traffic has been worse than usual, too. Today, while experiencing major gridlock on the way home in a taxi, I wished I were a sea turtle that could swim through the deep puddles past all the cars. Never mind the potential danger. Turtles are a symbol of good luck and longevity in Thailand, so I have a feeling that I would be perfectly safe.

First Place and Runner-Up

Ever since the Thai general elections in July of this year, stickers with the image of the new Prime Minster Yingluck Shinawatra have appeared in taxis. A caricature of her stands holding up her finger to signify that she is number one. And that's true when it comes to the fact that she is the first female Prime Minister in Thailand's history. But for many Bangkok cabbies, she is in second place. Her older brother, ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is still considered to be number one by most of the drivers.

Buddha Swirls

The first time I saw these swirly decorations in Bangkok taxis, it brought me right back to my primary school days when we used to make handicrafts out of bendable pipe cleaners. Back then, we constructed all kinds of things out of them, including various creatures and human figures. These embellishments in the taxis, however, are sacred symbols that represent the Buddha's enlightenment. I wonder if the Thai monks who create these Buddhist insignias have as much fun making them as we did in school when we played with pipe cleaners.

To the Rescue

Until recently, I had no idea what this sticker of a rescue worker walking away with a lifeless damsel in his arms is trying to represent. It turns out that this cartoony image is the logo for the Thai Volunteer Road Rescue Foundation. Truck drivers and cabbies that display this symbol on their vehicle should be commended for helping those involved in car accidents. And all this while, I was just thinking that Thai guys with this sticker are super creepy and morbid.

Plastic City

The general consensus in Thailand is that plastic is fantastic. In many ways, this synthetic material has become a symbol of modernization in this developing country. Never mind all those scientists warning us that plastic is detrimental to the environment and perhaps our health. Many street vendors who once wrapped their treats in banana leaves now use plastic bags, and the convenience stores here should get an award for contributing the most non-biodegradable materials to landfills. In Bangkok taxis, cabbies often protect parts of their car interiors in plastic. In this taxi, the driver even left his lucky charm in the original plastic sleeve that the seller had put it in.

Anime Taxi

Anime and manga are big in Thailand. Anime is regularly screened on TV and it's common to see office workers on the bus flipping through manga comic books. Many Bangkok cabbies are also fans. Just take a look inside many taxis here and you'll find a host of manga and anime characters on the dashboard or in the back window. For many, it's a way to temporarily avoid deliberating on the realities of the daily grind. Some would rather be one of these characters, such as Doraemon, the blue robotic cat from the future who comes back to help others while teaching a lesson or two.

Baby Carriage

Many Bangkok cabbies have their own style when it comes to decorating their taxis. Some prefer to take a minimalist approach with a few talismans sitting on the dashboard. Other cabbies like to mix it up with an eclectic collection of religious and secular paraphernalia. Still others would rather create an environment based on a theme. Take, for example, this taxi which includes decorative elements from a baby nursery.

Taxi Wayfinders

Lately, I've been noticing a lot of GPSs in Bangkok cabs. This could be a major revolution. In taxis without these electronic devices, passengers usually need to provide directions to the drivers themselves.

War and Peace

Over the past few years I've met several Bangkok cabbies who are retired soldiers, including the owner of this taxi. Apparently, the plastic Army man displayed on the taxi meter is a reminder of the driver's past. As I rode along in the cab, I thought about the irony behind the toy soldier who appears to be protecting the Buddha. According to the beliefs of most Thai military personnel, the Buddha protects them.

Buddhist Saying

Yesterday is a memory, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift,

which is why it is called present.

The Art of Improvisation

Thais on the whole are adept at improvising, and Bangkok cabbies are particularly good at winging it. One cabbie that I met was tired of listening to customers complain about the heat in the back of the taxi, so he strapped a fan to the seats with a bungee cord. Another taxi driver needed to prop up the rear brake light that he rigged and decided that a couple of plastic food containers would work best. Never mind that these contraptions aren't overly pleasing to the eye. In both cases, function takes precedence over beauty.

Sound of a Phin

Many Thais are musically oriented which explains why karaoke is so popular in Thailand and why you hear recorded and live music in so many places here. Bangkok cabbies often enjoy listening to music in their taxis, too, and the driver today even had a Thai instrument known as a phin in the back window of his cab. At one point, the cabbie offered to demonstrate how he plays his three-stringed lute from the Isaan region in the Northeast of Thailand, but since he was behind the wheel of his taxi, I told him to wait until after we arrived at our destination. In the meantime, he put in a CD of Thai Northeast Native Melodies and cranked the volume on high.

Taxi Workout

Bangkok has countless gyms and fitness clubs to join, but many locals simply head to public spaces in the early hours of the day to get their exercise. If you're in a park in Bangkok at sun up, you'll most likely see joggers, groups doing aerobics, weightlifters, power walkers, people playing takraw or badminton, and still others practicing t'ai-chi and qigong. Or if you're in a taxi here, you might encounter a plastic toy with a spring that appears to be doing calisthenics in sync with the movement of the cab.

Knit Coverups

Many Bangkok cabbies don't approve of naked gear shifts, unprotected emergency brake handles, or exposed turn signal levers in their taxis. They prefer to clothe their interior parts in colorful knit cozies. And anyway, wives, aunties, and grannies obviously take pleasure in creating them.

Barefoot and Driving

Cabbies driving barefoot is a fairly common sight in Bangkok. Considering that many of the drivers here hail from the countryside where shoes are considered optional, it makes sense. And anyway, this is a way the cabbies can feel more relaxed and carefree driving in Bangkok's mad traffic.

Top 10 Cartoon Characters in Bangkok Taxicabs

1. Tweety
2. Doraemon
3. Hello Kitty
4. Winnie the Pooh
5. Mickey Mouse
6. Garfield
7. Minnie Mouse
8. Pokémon
9. Nemo
10. Taz

Taxi Piggies

Lately, I've been noticing a lot of pig characters in Bangkok taxis. So, one day I asked a cab driver with stuffed toy porkers on his dashboard about the Thai fascination with this creature. He told me that anyone, including himself, with swine decorations was born in the Chinese year of the pig. That's probably true in most cases, but I'm guessing that some Thai cabbies just can't resist collecting chubby little playful piggy novelties.

Bangkok Headbanger

When I got into a taxi today, the first thing I noticed was the driver's big hair and eyeliner. He looked as if he was on his way to a Bon Jovi concert circa 1984. And with the stickers of skulls and crossbones on the steering wheel and a black bandana tied around the rearview mirror, the cab itself was a throwback to the days of glam metal. When the driver popped in his Best Hair Band Hits of the 80s CD, it was confirmed that it was going to be a head-banging ride back home.

Happy Buddha

One of the goals in Buddhism is to achieve a certain level of happiness. The monks depicted in the statuettes, however, apparently haven't found joy yet. But the driver of this cab wanted to ensure that the Buddha would be content, so he painted smiling red lips on the golden face of his Buddha charm.

Law of Attraction

According to the "law of attraction", money draws in more money. I guess that this is the theory of Bangkok cabbies who decorate their taxis with coins. Apparently trinkets and lucky charms attract more knickknacks, as well.

Poultry in Motion

In Thai culture, chickens are symbols of luck and prosperity and they're also believed to offer protection. But this is the first time I've seen statuettes of fowl with fake foliage tied around their necks. I asked the cab driver about his poultry garnished with silk plants, but his answer was vague. I'm confused: does this have something to do with black magic or is this display in honor of a popular dish in Thailand, Pad Ka-Prow Gai (Chicken with Holy Basil)?

DIY Cabby

Want to jazz up the interior of your car, but don't want to spend a fortune at a shop that does custom interior trim work? Don't worry, you can do as this Bangkok cabbie and make designs on the door panels using colored tape. This DIY mentality is common among Bangkok taxi drivers. In most cases, they need to be frugal out of necessity. But it never ceases to amaze me how resourceful cabbies here can be.

Hello Kitty Taxi

In the West, Hello Kitty products are mainly aimed at pre-adolescent female consumers, but in Thailand everyone adores this Japanese cat. Here secretaries carry pink handbags printed with images of this white feline, middle-aged ladies wear crystal jewelry in the shape of its iconic face, and fifty year old men driving taxis have big decals of Hello Kitty plastered on the back windows of their cabs.

Blackbird Fly

Blackbirds have long been a symbol of remembrance, sorrow and mystery, and they're sometimes associated with all things evil. These enigmatic creatures often appear in classic literature and of course, there are several songs that allude to them, including a well-known Beatles song and the jazz standard, "Bye, Bye Blackbird". I asked the driver of this taxi about his black feathered friend and he explained to me how it helps him to conjure up cold hard cash.

Taxi Revolution

Stickers of Che Guevara, the Argentine revolutionary, are commonly found in Bangkok taxis. This stylized portrait of him has, of course, become a universal symbol of rebellion. For Bangkok cabbies, his image represents the promise of economic and political reform. In a country like Thailand where there's a huge gap between social classes and where there have been major uprisings in recent times, it's not surprising that Che is a hero here.

Breakfast of the Gods

As if he were a waiter reciting the specials of the day in a restaurant, the driver of this cab listed the various provisions in the small bowls on his dashboard: red curry, stir-fried greens, steamed jasmine rice, and iced tea. Every morning, this taxi driver puts out food in his cab as offerings to the gods that he worships. I asked him if he changes the menu on a daily basis and he told me that he always feeds them the same thing because these are their favorite foods.

Animist Cab

In addition to idolizing gods that resemble humans and animals, many Thais worship trees, plants, and other entities from the natural world. These animist beliefs have their origin in ancient times, so it's fascinating to see these practices carried on today in the modern day context of taxi cabs. In this particular case, branches from a sacred bodhi tree have been tied together with various strings and cloth that function as blessings. But when I see these bound and twisted branches and consider the possibility that it contains a soul, I can't help but think that it must be in agony.

Buffalo Taxi

As Thailand becomes more industrialized and as more farmers here utilize mechanized equipment, water buffaloes are becoming a less common sight in Thai rice paddies. But why has this Bangkok taxi driver banned them from his cab? In actuality, he's not literally prohibiting this animal from entering his taxi, although I'm not sure if one would fit in the passenger seat anyway. In this culture, anyone who is considered to be dimwitted is called a buffalo, and so this driver is trying to be funny with his window sticker. But in my opinion, it's unfortunate that this hard-working animal who has been the companion of Thai farmers for centuries has become the butt of a joke. I'm glad that this taxi driver has barred guns and knives from his cab, but I wish that he and anyone else who makes fun of buffaloes, for that matter, would change their attitude.