Modes of Transportation in Southeast Asia / by Lucas

In Canada, you see about four modes of transportation. The car and pickup truck, the bus, the semi truck, and the motorbike. In Asia, that's a different story. There are more types of vehicles in Southeast Asia. Here they are in order from most popular, to least.

-The motorbike:
motorbikes are very popular, and weave in and out of traffic like rats.

most aren't quite as nice as this one!

- The scooter:
scooters are very rare in Canada (from what I've seen). When you think of a scooter, you think of the things you do tricks and stunts on. . Scooters in Asia are like motorbikes, but without gears! Scooters and motorbikes are very similar. They look very similar and are hard to tell apart, and there are about the same amount. Scooters as well as motorbikes are the best choice of transport because they are able and allowed to weave in and out of traffic. Whenever we are in a bus, stuck in traffic, I'm always jealous to see the scooters and motorbikes cruising through, no problem. they even ride the side walks to get around traffic!

                           

- The bicycle
people carry a surprisingly large amount of stuff on there bikes, like food, blankets, goods and equipment. Kids ride on bikes too and from school all the time. Sometimes we even see 4 or 5 kids on 1 bike!

Bikes are a very popular mode of transport. Almost like scooters and motorbikes!

-The Tuk Tuk (three types):
Tuk Tuks are a common and odd sight that are the substitution of taxies here in Asia. its weird, there seem to be three types in the three regions we have been in.
In northern Thailand, they looked like this:

these were not very comfortable at all and only barely had enough room for all of us.

In southern Thailand, they looked like this:

I never got the luxury of riding in these things, but my sister and my dad did.

They were the least comfortable and smallest of the three types.

In Cambodia, they looked like this:

Even though Cambodia is poorer than Thailand, these were diffidently the most comfy and luxurious of the three. There were two seats, and plenty of room for all of our bags.

- the songthaew
The songthaew is a pickup truck converted to haul people under cover.  They work the same way a bus does but are smaller and people sit in the back of the pickup.  We took them in northern Thailand and southern Thailand.  The cool thing about the songthaew is that you can hang out the back while its driving.  We did this on the way to a place called Mae Salong and in Chiang Rai.

Me and my dad on the back platform hanging on to the ladders

us crammed into the back of a Songthaew with other passengers

- the car/pickup truck:
Honestly, I don't think there is a picture needed for a car. They are all just regular cars. there are very few fords, lots of Toyotas, and the rich drive Lexuses.  Pickup trucks are mainly used for transporting all sorts of stuff including people! Sometimes you can see trucks packed full of people who barely have enough room to stand up!

pickup truck driving a truck load of workers back from the fields

- The minibus:
 The minibus is the worst mean of travel of the bunch. They may be luxurious, but there is a huge limit to the amount of space that they have. Whenever I get in one, I'm squished up against either side and my legs are folded in half.

 minibus fully operational

I love this pic! A minibus with the seats taken out, fully loaded
with bananas from front to back! wow!

-The bus:
 As far as transportation goes the bus is the best. Not the fastest, but the best. In most of the buses, there is free Wi-Fi, and reclining seats. Buses are the most comfortable by far.

"Our VIP limousine Express bus"

- Trains:
We have only been on one train so far, but I loved it - it was a  night sleeper train. We ate and slept on the train! It was awesome!

our 2nd class train (the one next to us looked like it was from the future)

Ours didn't hav aircon, but it was comfortable enough. Lots of fans though.

our luxurious beds 

-Rickshaw (bike taxis or cyclo in Vietnam):
These carriages are meant for one or two people, and are pretty cool. I've never ridden in one, but I always feel bad for the people driving them.

this pretty blue coloured rickshaw is one of the nicer ones we saw!

- The Harley cart:
this is just a big Tuk Tuk, but for luggage, goods, and equipment. Not for people.

this is an ugly looking one being used for construction!

-That thing that's like a tractor mutant:
Unfortunately, I didn't get any pics of this but it was amazing. To be honest, its sort of weird.  We saw a few of these outside of the cities mostly.  They look like they are used for heavy work like farming and construction. They were mostly very slow.

We saw lots of these in Cambodia, but didn't get any good pic's. This one's off the web

- and the push cart:

The push cart is exactly what it sounds like. A cart that people push through the traffic. It looks like pretty hard work, but all they push in it is food and stuff.

pushcart

pull cart. (some were as big as a semi trailer!)

Long tail boats:

Long tail boats are a very popular thing used for tours and "cruises" through nature.

The most luxurious longboat we have ever been on (about 5 of them)

logging truck:

..........😅😅😅😅🤣

A bit smaller then in Canada!

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