''We don't get salaries,'' explained a driver who asked not to be named. ''We get 10% of the ticket sales revenue while the conductor gets 5%. If we get 5,000 baht a day, I only get 500 baht. There are more than 70 No. 8 buses, as well as plenty other buses from various lines. Think about how hard it is to get 5,000 a day at 8 baht a ticket. So when there's some bus about to take away our passengers, it's typical for us to try to overtake as well.''
''Just this morning I was stopped by the police twice even though I did absolutely nothing wrong,'' said Somboon Saengchai, another driver who is feeling hurt by the widely publicised result. ''There are about 50,000-60,000 people using No. 8 buses daily and who knows how many millions by the year. It's not right to use a few hundred votes as a criterion. This is not fair.''