“Cha cha” we shouted “slowly slowly”.
The taxi driver couldn’t, or at least didn’t want to, hear us. It wasn’t surprising considering the volume of the contemporary mor lam music screaming out of the radio, the syncopated rhythms and off-key singing cacophonous to our Western ears.
We had been on a night out in Bangkok drinking cheap and incredibly alcoholic cocktails, the neon noise of the city swirled and we decided that it was high time we went home to bed and future hangovers.
The driver nodded as we jumped in, giggling at some forgotten joke. Barely had our buttocks graced the cracked faux leather seat covers when the car lurched from standing still to warp speed, music ramped up to the very highest thresholds of human tolerance.
We launched onto the highway and weaved our way through the late night traffic, narrowly missing lumbering cargo trucks and enormous multi-coloured busses. It was like Grand Theft Auto.
Suffice to say, by this point we were quite sober.
I tapped the driver on the shoulder, he turned his entire body to look at me.
“Watch the road!” I screamed pointing at a pick-up truck that we had missed by a matter of millimetres.
He shrugged unconcernedly, muttered something about stupid farang and turned back to watch the road.
“Cha cha”, we tried again. This time our throaty yelling must have made an impression because he turned the music down, uttered a stream of Thai, pointed to the roof of his car and smiled a toothless and piratical grin.
He was pointing to the blessing his taxi had been provided by a monk and painted above the driver’s seat. He was protected, was the unspoken message. No need to worry. Mai pen rai.
We accelerated again, clearly the driver wanted to make up for lost time.
We just wanted to get home alive.
Ha! Ha! We lived to tell the story!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Only just 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just…
LikeLiked by 1 person
This sounds so familiar 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, I had a lot of stories to choose from…
LikeLike
Have you tried the ‘ol motorcycle taxi yet? 😉
LikeLike
It’s funny, I used to use them all the time but having seen the guy get run over and then having the boy has made me shy away from them. I have the fear!
LikeLike
I understand. I thought I was going to die!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahaha brilliant! taxi drivers are fascinating and daring creatures, over here they act more like psychoanalysts and often tell the best stories, but it’s always surprising how they manage to survive their own madness. I’m really liking your blog so far!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks! And yes, they are always a heady mix of insider knowledge and extreme craziness.
LikeLiked by 1 person