Today, seven local companies make all bar the Chinese engines here, but the Thainess comes as in so many other objects through the application of Thai aesthetics. The early ancestors of the tuk- tuk and many of its 30-plus international variants are somewhat ugly. The Thai tuk-tuk is a rather beautiful take on the Detroit automotive look: all bulbous farings, excess chrome, go-faster stripes and a face made of eye-like lamps and a nose. Brilliant colours and flashing starburst lights are only part of the appeal.