With the recent – and slightly humorous, slightly scary – news that many of Bangkok’s buses are too old to be safely ferrying passengers around the city, I thought posting this picture would be apropos. I also get five points for using ‘apropos’ in a sentence. Anyway, the article in the Bangkok Post referenced a recent report from the Land Transport Department that said after examining 3,154 buses, it found that more than half of them were at least 10 years old, with the oldest being 54 years old. Fifty four years old!! Nothing demonstrates the condition of the buses better than the following picture, which I snapped a few months ago on Rama IV Road:

I wonder if they got their fare back?

I wonder if they got their fare back?

I wonder if they got their fare back?Sure, the picture is amusing, but I have to admit that I rode the air-con buses pretty much everyday for 2 years and always found them to be in perfectly serviceable order. However, the non-air conditioned ones (pictured here) are slightly worse off, many with planks of wood for floors and an engine that sounds like it might die aaaaaaannnnny second. But I think the great thing about this photo is that it truly displays the sense of community that Thais have. If this happened in Canada (in 32 degree heat), the stream of cuss words coming from these people would be astonishing to say the least. The people pictured here were probably laughing about the whole thing.

Still… a fifty-four year old bus is cause for concern. Just for fun, let’s see what was happening in the world the year that bus rolled of the assembly line:

  • Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley and the Comets becomes the first song in a new genre called ‘Rock and Roll’.
  • The vaccine for polio is introduced.
  • The first modern McDonald’s restaurant opens.
  • Disneyland opens.
  • James Dean is killed in a car accident.
  • Fred Phelps certifies his insanity when he founds the Westboro Baptist Church.
  • Joe Hin Tjio discovers the correct number of human chromosomes.

Knowing that Walt Disney himself may have ridden that bus on a vacation to Thailand will hopefully convince the people in power that maybe it’s time for it to be retired.