Passengers aren’t all that the vans are carrying
Travelling in a passenger van from Bangkok to Trat on December 28, I experienced firsthand how public-transport companies and drivers do not take the interest of passengers as seriously as they should.
Soon after beginning the journey we made a brief stop outside the Mor Chit Bus Station, where I observed the van driver receiving cash payment at a roadside shop. The transaction was presumably for delivery to the provinces of items including four live fighting cocks held in cardboard boxes, which the driver placed among the passengers. For five hours in the packed vehicle, passengers had to endure the foul smell of chicken excrement.
After arriving in Trat I developed a sore throat that lasted for days. It might have been a virus – I had sat right next to one of the boxes containing the cockerels.
I would ask the ministries of Transport and Public Health to consider the danger of carrying extra goods in public vehicles that might hinder or block the movement of passengers during an emergency, and the health risks of transporting animals in an air-conditioned public vehicle.
I have heard from other travellers that it is common for public-transport drivers to seek extra income by making inter-provincial deliveries – at the expense of passengers’ safety and health.
Lee E
