Life in the slow lane
Kaona Pongpipat
I got on a No. 8 bus the other day expecting to experience what people have been talking about this past week – a nightmare Taking a seat at the back, I braced myself for some action – the sudden lurching off and slamming of brakes, cursing from the driver, yelling from the conductor pulling up at the wrong spots dropping passengers off in the middle of the road, and the speeding up and overtaking of other buses.
In short, I was looking for Fast and Furious set in Bangkok with the notorious No. 8 – voted the worst bus route in Bangkok for years, including a survey revealed last week – leading the urban race as it plies the route between Memorial Bridge and Happy Land in Bang Kapi district.
But five minutes later, the bus was pretty much where it was before. And even when the road was clear, this privately-run bus line was going ever so smooth and slow.
There's only one obvious explanation: the news of how it ranked as the bus line in most need of improvement in Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt's Facebook page survey has now rubbed off on the operators and the drivers have learned to take more care.
It's unlikely, however, that this sudden change of behaviour will put an end to the bad reputation it has notched up over the years.