A songthaew ( th, สองแถว, , two rows, , ; lo, ສອງແຖວ, ; ms, dua baris) is a passenger vehicle in Thailand,

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

, Vietnam, Cambodia and

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

adapted from a pick-up or a larger truck and used as a share taxi or

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

Overview

The songthaew takes its name from the two bench seats fixed along either side of the back of the truck. In some vehicles, a third bench is put down the middle of the seating area. Additionally a roof is fitted over the rear of the vehicle, to which curtains and plastic sheeting to keep out rain may be attached. Some vehicles have roofs high enough to accommodate standing passengers within the vehicle. More typically, standing passengers occupy a platform attached to the rear. In

Chiang Mai Chiang Mai (, from th, เชียงใหม่ , nod, , เจียงใหม่ ), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the second largest city in ...

and its surroundings, locals may call them ''rot si daeng'' ( th, รถสีแดง, literally "red car" — a reference to their most common colour in the area), ''rot daeng'', or sometimes ''si rot''. The Isuzu Faster and Toyota Hilux are example models of songthaews found in Thailand. In addition, some models of songthaews — such as Daihatsu Hijet, Subaru Sambar and Suzuki Carry — familiarly known as ''rot ka-poh'' ( th, รถกะป๊อ), literally translates to "toad cars." The word ''ka-poh'' comes from Teochew (pronounced ''kub-poh''), which means "toad" — reference to their shape. Some are also called ''rot kra-pong'' (รถกระป๋อง, literally "tincan cars") or ''rot-Subaru'' (รถซูบารุ, literally "Subaru cars") — a reference to their brand.

History

Songthaews were introduced in Thailand in the 1950s. Early songthaews were based on Austin A30 sedans. In 1960s, songthaews used British models like Leyland 15/20,

Morris 250 JU The Morris 250 JU (also available, initially, badged as the Austin 250 JU) was a forward control (driver's cab on top of the engine) light van launched by Morris Commercial in October 1967. It was offered with the familiar B series petrol en ...

, Morris J4, and Morris Minor. In 1970s, songthaews started using various models like Mercedes-Benz T2.

Use

Songthaews are used both within towns and cities and for longer routes between towns and villages. Those within towns are converted from pick-up trucks and usually travel fixed routes for a set fare, but in some cases (as in

), they are used as shared taxis for passengers traveling in roughly the same direction. Vehicles on longer routes may use truck bodies and seat around 40 passengers. In

Phuket province Phuket (; th, ภูเก็ต, , ms, Bukit or ''Tongkah''; Hokkien:普吉; ) is one of the southern provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands of ...

, there are several Songthaew (blue wooden buses) services which connect the beach resorts with Phuket Town. The routes operate around every 30 minutes from Ranong Road in Phuket starting at around 06:00 and finishing at around 17:00 (from each end of the route). The price is typically around 50 baht single fare. The bus will stop anywhere along the route and is hailed down by waving. These include the following routes:

Future replacements

In 1990s, Thai government attempted to replace songthaews with modern minibuses. Thai Motor Corporation (THAMCO), BMW, and Italdesign cooperated for designing Italdesign Columbus as songthaew replacement. Italdesign Columbus had bodywork variations, including minibus, pick-up truck, and delivery van.

Gallery

File:Isuzu N-Series songthaew 01.jpg, A medium-sized inter-village songthaew File:Songthaew01a.jpg, A songthaew loaded with students heading home in Amphoe Kantharalak File:Empty Songthaew-Sakon Nakhon.JPG, The interior of a pick-up truck songthaew in

Sakon Nakhon Sakon Nakhon ( th, สกลนคร, ; sometimes written Sakhon Nakhon) is a city (thesaban nakhon) in Thailand within the Isan region, and capital city of Sakon Nakhon Province as well as Mueang Sakon Nakhon District, with a population of ap ...

File:Songthaew in Sukhothai 04.jpg, Toyota Dyna in Sukhothai province File:Songthaew in Lopburi 05.jpg, Toyota Hilux in Lopburi province File:Songthaew in Sukhothai 02.JPG, Isuzu Elf at Sukhothai province File:Songthaew in Bangkok 03.jpg, Daihatsu Hijet in Siriraj Piyamaharajkarun Hospital File:Songthaew in Trat 01.jpg, Mitsubishi L200 in Trat province File:Songthaew in Sukhothai 01.JPG, Isuzu Elf at Sukhothai province File:Songthaew in Ayutthaya 03.jpg, Isuzu Elf at Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province File:Songthaew in Rayong 05.jpg, Isuzu Elf in Rayong province File:Songthaew in Pattaya 19.JPG, Mitsubishi Cyclone in

Pattaya Pattaya ( th, พัทยา, , ) is a city in Thailand. It is on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about southeast of Bangkok, within, but not part of, Bang Lamung district in the province of Chonburi province, Chonburi. Pattaya City ( ...

File:Songthaew in Ayutthaya 01.jpg, Isuzu Giga in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province File:Songthaew in Pattaya 20.JPG, Mitsubishi L200 in

File:Songthaew in Bangkok 01.JPG, Isuzu Elf in Bangkok File:Songthaew in Warin Chamrap 08.JPG, Mitsubishi Fuso Canter in Ubon Ratchathani File:Songthaew in Pattaya Alcazar.JPG,

Datsun 620 The Datsun Truck is a compact pickup truck made by Nissan in Japan from 1955 through 1997. It was originally sold under the Datsun brand, but this was switched to Nissan in 1983. It was replaced in 1997 by the Frontier and Navara. In Japan, i ...

File:Songthaew in Pathumthani 1222 1222-4.jpg, Isuzu D-Max In Pathumthani File:Songthaew Isuzu 8221 8221-7.jpg, Isuzu Giga in Samut Sakhon File:Songthaew Isuzu 4359 4359-108.jpg,

Isuzu NPR The is a medium duty truck produced by Isuzu since 1959. Outside Japan it is known as N series and Q Series. The range was originally mainly available in Japan and other Asian countries. Australia was another important market for the Elf and ...

in Kalasin File:Songthaew Nissan 8543 8543-1.jpg,

Nissan Big M The Datsun Truck is a compact pickup truck made by Nissan in Japan from 1955 through 1997. It was originally sold under the Datsun brand, but this was switched to Nissan in 1983. It was replaced in 1997 by the Frontier and Navara. In Japan, i ...

Samut Songkhram Samut Songkhram ( th, สมุทรสงครามPronunciation) is the capital of Samut Songkhram Province. Etymology The word "samut" originates from the Sanskrit word "samudra" meaning "ocean", and the word "songkhram" from the Sanskrit ...

File:Mitsubishi Strada 381 381-14.jpg,

Mitsubishi Strada The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

in Pathumthani File:Songthaew in Samut Prakan (5).jpg, Toyota Hilux Mighty-X in Samut Prakan File:Songthaew in Chonburi (7).jpg, alt=, Toyota Hilux Revo in Chonburi File:Songthaew in Nonthaburi (8).jpg, alt=, Mazda Familia in Nonthaburi File:Songthaew in Lampang (2).jpg, alt=, Mitsubishi L200 in Lampang File:Inside a Thai songthaew.jpg, Riding in a songthaew in Chiang Mai

References

External links

Public Transit in Pattaya Thailand
{{public transport Transport in Thailand Transport in Bangkok Transport in Laos Vehicles for hire Buses by type Pickup trucks