A songthaew (, , ; , ; ) is a passenger vehicle in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

and

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

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

share taxi A share taxi, shared taxi, taxibus, or jitney or dollar van in the US, or marshrutka in former Soviet countries, is a mode of transport which falls between a taxicab and a bus. Share taxis are a form of paratransit. They are vehicles for hire and ...

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

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 passenger In urban public transport, provision is made for standing passengers, often called straphangers or standees, to rationalize operation and to provide extra capacity during rush hour. On crowded rapid transit urban lines, while most travelers may ...

s within the vehicle. More typically, standing passengers occupy a platform attached to the rear. In

Chiang Mai Chiang Mai, sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the List of municipalities in Thailand#Largest cities by urban population, second largest city in Thailan ...

and its surroundings, locals may call them ''rot si daeng'' (, literally "red car" — a reference to their most common colour in the area), ''rot daeng'', or sometimes ''si rot''. The

Isuzu Faster The Isuzu Faster is a pickup truck that was manufactured and marketed by Isuzu between 1972 and 2002 over three generations. It was sold under myriad nameplates, most commonly they were marketed under their respective model codes: Isuzu KB for t ...

and Toyota Hilux are example models of songthaews found in Thailand. In addition, some models of songthaews — such as Daihatsu Hijet,

Subaru Sambar The Subaru Sambar is a cabover truck and microvan manufactured and marketed by Subaru as Japan's second truck compliant with the country's strict Keitora (軽トラ) or ''Kei'' vehicle tax class, after the Kurogane Baby. Introduced in 1961 in ...

and

Suzuki Carry The is a kei truck produced by the Japanese automaker Suzuki. The microvan version was originally called the Carry van until 1982 when the passenger van versions were renamed as the . In Japan, the Carry and Every are ''kei cars'' but the Suzuk ...

— familiarly known as ''rot ka-poh'' (), 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 The Austin A30 is a small family car produced by Austin Motor Company, Austin from May 1952 to September 1956. It was launched at the 1951 Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Earls Court Motor Show as the "''New'' Austin 7, Austin Seven" and was Aust ...

sedans. In 1960s, songthaews used British models like Leyland 15/20, Morris 250 JU, Morris J4, and

Morris Minor The Morris Minor is an economy car produced by British marque Morris Motors between 1948 and 1971. It made its debut at the Earls Court Motor Show, London, in October 1948. Designed under the leadership of Alec Issigonis, more than 1.6 ...

. 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 taxi A share taxi, shared taxi, taxibus, or jitney or dollar van in the US, or marshrutka in former Soviet countries, is a mode of transport which falls between a taxicab and a bus. Share taxis are a form of paratransit. They are vehicles for hire and ...

s 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 (; , , or ''Tongkah'') is one of the Southern Thailand, southern Provinces of Thailand, provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, List of islands of Thailand, the country's largest island, and another 3 ...

, 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 Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

, and

Italdesign Italdesign-Giugiaro S.p.A. () is a design and engineering company and brand based in Moncalieri, Italy, that traces its roots to the 1968 foundation of Studi Italiani Realizzazione Prototipi S.p.A. by Giorgetto Giugiaro and Aldo Mantovani. Best ...

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 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 Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, or locally and simply Ayutthaya (historically Juthia or Judia), is one of the central provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are (from north clockwise) Ang Thong, Lopburi, Saraburi, Pathum Than ...

File:Songthaew in Rayong 05.jpg, Isuzu Elf in Rayong province File:Songthaew in Pattaya 19.JPG, Mitsubishi Cyclone in

Pattaya Pattaya is a city in Eastern Thailand, the second-largest city in Chonburi province and the List of municipalities in Thailand, eighth-largest city in Thailand. It is on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about southeast of Bangkok, and h ...

File:Songthaew in Ayutthaya 01.jpg, Isuzu Giga in

File:Songthaew in Pattaya 20.JPG, Mitsubishi L200 in

File:Songthaew in Bangkok 01.JPG, Isuzu Elf in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

File:Songthaew in Warin Chamrap 08.JPG, Mitsubishi Fuso Canter in

Ubon Ratchathani Ubon Ratchathani (, ) is one of the four main cities in Thailand's Isan region, alongside Nakhon Ratchasima (Khorat), Udon Thani, and Khon Kaen, collectively known as the "big four of Isan." Located on the Mun River in the southeastern Isan, ...

File:Songthaew in Pattaya Alcazar.JPG, Datsun 620 In

File:Songthaew in Pathumthani 1222 1222-4.jpg,

Isuzu D-Max The Isuzu D-Max is a pickup truck manufactured since 2002 by Isuzu. A successor of the Isuzu Faster/KB, the first and second-generation model shares its platform with the Chevrolet Colorado. The third-generation model shares its platform wi ...

In Pathumthani File:Songthaew Isuzu 8221 8221-7.jpg, Isuzu Giga in Samut Sakhon File:Songthaew Isuzu 4359 4359-108.jpg, Isuzu NPR in Kalasin File:Songthaew Nissan 8543 8543-1.jpg, Nissan Big M in Samut Songkhram File:Mitsubishi Strada 381 381-14.jpg, Mitsubishi Strada 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 Chonburi (, , IAST: , ) is the capital of Chonburi Province and, as part of the district Mueang Chonburi District, Mueang Chonburi, the List of municipalities in Thailand, seventh-largest city in Thailand. It is about 100 km southeast of Ba ...

File:Songthaew in Nonthaburi (8).jpg, alt=,

Mazda Familia The , also marketed prominently as the Mazda 323, Mazda Protegé and Mazda Allegro, is a small family car that was manufactured by Mazda between 1963 and 2003. The Familia line was replaced by the Mazda3/Axela for 2004. It was marketed as the '' ...

Nonthaburi Nonthaburi (, ) is the principal city of the district and province of the same name in Thailand. On 15 February 1936, Nonthaburi town municipality ('' thesaban mueang'') was established, which only covered Suan Yai subdistrict (''tambon''), j ...

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