Samlors...!

Okay it is early on Monday, I am hormonal, it is gripe time and I need to get this off my chest. If you have your own transport this will be a distant memory for you but as I am not permanent in this country just yet I rely on public transport notably the trusty old samlor.

These guys baffle me.
1. They never have change, which of course is a ploy (Sorry mentioned this before). A 40 Baht fare and hand them a 50 Baht note and they do not have 10 Baht. Say ok I’ll go into this 7/11 and get change and they mysteriously find 10 Baht in of all places their pocket!
2. They only seem to know the airport and the complek (Robinson’s) and that is it.

One time I was checking out apartments and I had a business card and I handed it to the driver. In Thai I asked him if he knew it and he said yes. I knew it was near Rajabhat so the direction he was going in baffled me but I said nothing. He left me to the Irish Clock. (Well at least he knew where it was.) Another time I asked to go to the Full Moon. The driver agreed on 40 Baht… He drove around and around and obviously didn’t know where it was. After an eternity being bounced around Udon he stopped and asked a colleague and we arrived just in time for last drinks. I handed him 40 Baht but he wanted more for the tour of Udon… Not a chance son, learn your bars!

Mojo’s? Nope… Try it in different tones and drop the ‘S.’ to make something like Mojo Bah!

Irish Clock? Nope! Sunday morning I told a samlor driver in Thai, “Restaurant Irish Clock, Soi Sampan.” Blank look! He called over his colleague and he translated Soi Sampan to Soi Sampan. Ah I see I said the pan bit in mid tone and it should have been falling… Oh silly me, lucky your shop steward can understand Thai in an Irish accent.

If you walk out of the Complek they assume you are going to the airport even if you are just dressed in a t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops. I need to learn to be sarcastic in Thai and ask something like, “Where exactly on the planet do you think I’m going dressed like this?” A few days ago I walked out of Robinson’s carrying 2 Tops bags with bread rolls, orange juice and other groceries and once again the king of wishful thinking asked me, “Airport?” I held up the bags to him and asked, “With these? Do you think I’m going somewhere to do a food drop?” Obviously this was met with the same look that a cow gives a passing train. *

Rant over… For now!

* From the song “If dirt were dollars.” Reproduced with the kind permission of Don Henley.

No animals were harmed in the making of this post.

irish Alan wrote:If you walk out of the Complek they assume you are going to the airport even if you are just dressed in a t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops.

and same goes(expept with-out the flippy-flops) for the 'Taxi' Touts at bangers airport as soon as you walk out the arrivals door and you are a male its..." Taxi sir.."where you go Pattayaaaaa". Noooooo i am going to 'Wat Mahathat Temple of the Great Relic' in Bangkok, thanks velly mut khrap

get yourself a small pedal bike Alan, then you can go where you wish with-out all the confusion of a simple samlor ride.

So, I wonder if it would be correct to assume that there is not a requirement in Udon for Samlor drivers to pass an equivalent of

"The Knowledge".... remember that Film it was brilliant another good one from the british film industry, never forget the 'Manor House to Gibson Square' line in it, will stick with me for ever.
(i bet many people don't know what i am talking about and i reckon jimbo will though)

beer monkey wrote:"The Knowledge".... remember that Film it was brilliant another good one from the british film industry, never forget the 'Manor House to Gibson Square' line in it, will stick with me for ever.
(i bet many people don't know what i am talking about and i reckon jimbo will though)

To be honest I didn't, but after consulting Mr Google I have come up with two films called "The Knowledge" - synopses for them:
[list]1. A humorous 1979 film about this learning experience, called The Knowledge, was written by Jack Rosenthal for ITV, and was in 2000 voted number 83 in a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes compiled by the British Film Institute.

2. Carrie and David plan the perfect fling. She suggests they tell each other their sexual preferences, but when it

yes the first one, great film if you ever get the chance to see it, and the second one is probably not my cup of num-char.

Excuse my ignorance, but is a Samlaw a rickshaw,pushbike or Tuktuk motorbike. I asked my wife but because I did'nt pronounce it properly she could'nt give me an exact answer. By the way Alan, I asked my wife why when she pronounces something wrong in English I can still understand what she means, but when I pronounce it wrong in Thai she has no idea what I'm saying?? Her answer was "Dont Know"

Sam-law simply means 3-wheels. It can mean a tuk-tuk or 3-wheel pedal taxis or a similar contraption, as sometimes seen in other places, other than Udon. Such as 2 wheels in the front and driver on a motorbike in the back, where passengers sit in the front.

I am glad to see the thread back on track.

So. Are the Udon Thani Thai numbered pickup trucks that service the established routes about the city "only" called baht buses?

TJ wrote:So. Are the Udon Thani Thai numbered pickup trucks that service the established routes about the city "only" called baht buses?

These are called songtaews!

TJ wrote:So. Are the Udon Thani Thai numbered pickup trucks that service the established routes about the city "only" called baht buses?

Called songtaew (two benches for passengers).

Aardvark wrote:Excuse my ignorance, but is a Samlaw a rickshaw,pushbike or Tuktuk motorbike.

Salor/samlor as Mainer said just means 3 wheels so I think it applies to both peddled and the motorised type. I think tuk-tuk is technically the type you see in Bangkok (and Khon Kaen) as they got their name from the sound of the engine.

Hi all
The knowledge,,, done it, Jack Rosenthal's film was very true to life, Alan even just riding in a samlor deserves a medal, I imagine it is the nearest thing to Lord Bhudda without actually meeting him.
I must say that London Cabbies have a very high standard of knowledge and very professional, I would say that would'nt I, the famous words of the Infamous Mandy Rice Davies. I worked a London cab more than 30 years, now residing in KK. fredro.