Hagglers' Heaven

Aside from the 'snail rail', Thailand offers some other interesting modes of transportation.

Meet the 'tuk tuk', a motorized tricycle that is responsible for the majority of the air and noise pollution around Thailand.

Inside a tuk tuk.

Getting stuck in traffic in a tuk tuk is bad news for the lungs...

Since these are not metered taxis one would have to negotiate with the driver before hopping on.  I think J pissed off his fair share of drivers by low balling them as most would just shake their heads and drive off without a word.  So when they say '100 bhat', don't counter '40 bhat' if you don't want to get the evil eye.  This was one aspect of Thailand I wasn't comfortable with.  Why can't they just go by the meter or fair price, instead of jacking up the price and hoping for the best.  One example was when I was buying a table runner at the Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok.

Vendor: 350 bhat.

Me: Whoa.

Vendor: OK, I give you good price, 250.

Me: Hmmm...

Vendor: OK 200.

J: 175.

Vendor: No no, 200.

See the difference between me and J?  I don't even need to counter, and the guy lowers the price on his own.  J tries his best, but must lack that 'charm factor' : )  Later when we were walking through a different night market, I saw the EXACT SAME runner and out of curiosity I asked how much she was selling for.

Lady: 650 bhat.

WHAT!?!  You see what I'm saying?  They're just throwing a number out there and seeing what sticks.  For all I know, the runner's probably not even worth 50 bhat.  Makes one very wary, though I'm sure some people enjoy this game immensely.  Thailand is certainly not for the 'thin-skinned'.