Bicycles and Rickshaws in Thailand Part 5

Northumburi Samlor Rider

Food Selling Samlor

A couple of old Samlors, they looked abandoned.

Food Seller

Transport, Kitchen, Shelter.

Balloon Seller's wares

Corn Seller

Hi

Possibly the last of my Thailand posts for now.  There is a lady at my work in Australia who has developed a love of Thai Elephants, and I have become similarly afflicted, loving the Thai Samlor riders and the street life and food culture they are a part of. All for now, Kop Kram Kup Thailand!

Here is a Video, http://youtu.be/hOtxKjVX2qY

Oh, here are a few web links I found
http://www.frangipani.com/huahin/samlor.htm
http://classifieds.thaivisa.com/real-estate/houses-to-rent/thai-samlor-club-164404.html
http://www.photoontour.com/CityTour_HTML/cycle_rickshaw/cycle_rickshaw_02.htm
http://www.t-globe.com/samlor

Regards

Steve Nurse

Bikes and Rickshaws in Thailand Part 4

At Night in Nonthaburi

Handcart

Street Seller

Hi

Tonight another of my company's employees arrived at the Richmond Hotel, and Richard was keen to go up to "The Rickshaw Street" after work, and after dark for dinner.  Managed to take a few photos, I don't think the flash does the scenes any favours.  I tried some cropping to make the pictures look better but I don't think blogger agrees with the cropping tool: it gives stripy yellow lines across the image.  So here you go.   Images not cropped. Lame-ass photography. What do you want for nothing?

Will post more images later, still have a store of quite good ones.

Regards

Steve

Bikes and Rickshaws in Thailand, Part 3

This post shows a slightly more human side to the bikes in Bangkok / Nonthaburi.  After visiting a small enclave where there are rickshaws a few times I thought I recognised some of the drivers and in fact I hired the driver shown in these photos a couple of times over a weekend.  The fare for a short ride was 10 baht or about 30c but I paid top dollar of 20 baht for my rides, and by the end of the rides he was my old mate.

The drivers seem to have a regular route up and down one particular street between main bus routes and small roadside markets and shops. They don't stray too far and in some directions, large roads and expressways (which aren't broken up by traffic lights) stop these samlors in their tracks anyway. I'd be interested to know where the other Samlor enclaves around the joint are.

   Its a lot of fun riding down the road in a quiet vehicle with only the regular squeak of a wheel or birdsong as an accompaniment. Thankfully for the riders its all flat in Nonthaburi and the single speed but very cool clunkers are up to the job. The flatness has a bad side though, last year's floods inundated vast swathes of Nonthaburi. I made a short video, it is here.

Bikes and Rickshaws in Thailand Part 2

Passenger Samlor

Street Vender on a main street

One of the many types of Samlor

From the back of a Samlor

Under the canopy of a Samlor

Samlor driver outside a Nonthaburi house

Hi

Here are some more results of my treks into the smaller streets of Nonthaburi in search of rickshaws.  I found most of this activity in the streets to the west of the Richmond Hotel .  The Richmond Motel is right on a big road and massive expressway and rail construction site.  There are only 2 ways to the other side, one is to drive about 3k up the road, do a u-turn and come back and the other is a footbridge.  Most of the rickshaw activity is on a street parallel to the expressway about a kilometre away.  There's a street lined with shops and when I went up there, there was a market, and I saw food vending and passenger Samlor, plying there trade mostly up and down the 3k strip.  Some of the food vending duties are done by small hand carts.  I have more photos, I have some videos and will post these in due course.

Steve

Bikes and Rickshaws in Thailand Part 1

A bike ridden by a bean (snack food ) seller at a small pub in  Nonthaburi  (Bangkok)

New versions of the sorts of town bike favoured by Thais.  Prices I saw were about 900 baht, about 30$ aus 

The snack seller's wares.  Very hot chilly was added by some at the table to make eating the beans a Russian Roullette 

A nice town Bike (Nonthaburi)

Up Country in Prachinburi

Nonthaburi, a pub opposite the factory where I work

Kustom!  A bike in Nonthaburi

Hi

I am writing from the Richmond Hotel, in the province of Nonthaburi,  Thailand.  I'm here on a work trip but that has not stopped me getting out and about and attempting to track down unusual bicycles.  After a few days of seeing mainly standard (hardworking Utility) cycles I had almost given up finding any cycle rickshaws (samlor) after I didn't see any on a trip west to the province of Prachiburi. But my hotel room changed and I got a different view of nice looking gardens (over an expressway) and decided to head in that direction on my day off.  And some success, I will post more later!

Regards

Steve

OzHpv Challenge 2012

Lineup of Vehicles

Not Stressed!  Malcolm Butler (middle on chair) is very relaxed despite a head to head battle for Human Powered Vehicle supremacy. 

Late on Saturday afternoon and from out of the blue came this local couple on a Kotzur  Tandem.  They went in the shopping race and had fun.

We saw 3 of Lloyd Charters' trikes during the event, here we see Lloyd and Phil.  Again, not stressed.

Officials wave off Kim Tolhurst and his Cruzbike

Hi

Your correspondent is in Thailand  blogging (ok, posting photos) about last weekend's (Australian) human powered vehicle championship.  Will write more and post pictures of some Thailand scenes shortly!

PS: Monsterbike with me riding it came 3rd overall.  Results are available here.  Thanks Pete!

Regards Steve