BIG INCREASE IN MOTOR TRAFFIC IN SIAM

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 14, 1 October 1929, Page 2

BIG INCREASE IN MOTOR TRAFFIC IN SIAM

LACK OF ROADS FROM CAPITAL MO HURDLE j i GARS TAKEN TO OiSTINATIONS BY WATER. MOTOR TRUCK PLAYS PART IN SOCIAL STANDING. Not long ago there were only a few motor cars in Siam. To= day, there are more than 5,000 cars and trucks in Bangkok , alone, indicating the extent of the revolution in transportation... methods that has been going on in this last existing monarchy. T|,o rapid development of antomotivo transportation in Siam is all the more remarkable because there are no roads leading out of Bangkok and it is therefore injpossihlei to drive to a." neighbouring town or village. Bangkok itself is large. It is scattered over a wide area, and its roads are in. good condition. The city is built on both banks of the river Chao Plnm Menam, approximately twenty miles from the sea. and owing to a natural bar at the month of the river, onlv boats of shallow draught can proceed to the wharves. Larger shins remain outside and discharge them cargo into lighters which arc then towed np +hr> river. Bangkok has been described as “The Venice of the Bast”, dno to the fact that it Is intersected hv klnncs (canals) and that both hanks of the river ■e-p lined with floating houses. T'Tcatdr all hnsiness is done hv water and onlv a- few vears ago thi« was the onlv means of transportation. HIGHWAYS DEPARTMENT. In line with the general policy of development which has been adopted iu Siam, great importance is being attached to the roads and) the activities of the Highways Department are evident in many parst of the tcir.itory. At present, ways and means of transportation are many and varied ; canals, elephants and bullock carts are largely used hut, as is evident in othej- parts of the world, they are gradually making way for antomotl ve tra n sport. By water, shipments take weeks to reach their destinations, while during some periods of the year the canals become so shallow that even lighters are nnahle to reach the inteiioi. I lie- motor truck is revolutionising Transportation in the interior, for it is forcing its way tlirough, following bullock tracks, over paddy fields, through the jungle. PRODUCTS EXCHANGED. When a car purchaser, comes down to Bangkok, instead of bringing money lie lias a large boat filled with hags of rice, which he exchanges for the truck. He must, therefore, wait for the rains to flood the canals before lie can take delivery. After partly dis-asscmbling'His truck lie takes it hack in the isamo boat to his ricefields, a hundred miles or so inland:. Then he must wait for the water to subside before he can use it. During the wet season the rice fields are almost completely submerged! and as the trucks have to he stored on wooden platforms out of roach of the water, there is little interest in truck linying. Trucks can he used for only seven months of the year. At the start of the dry season, however, the farmers again become interested in motor transportation and purchase trucks iu time for the rice harvest. Pride of ownership and prestige play an important part in truck purchases, for the social standing of the Siamese is greatly improved by the ownership of a truck. The ■speed of transportation is important, as the rice crop must he transported to canals while the weather is, favourable. The rice is harvested! during the dry season and unless 'the- entire- crop can he transported to the^ canals before the beginning of the wot season, the field becomes impassable and the crop must he held until the next year.

DOES OWN REPAIR. The. Siamese has a natural gift for motors and does most of his repairs himself, it, is_a common sight to see a car being completely overhauled at the side of a road, which is remarkable when one examines Iho equipment used on the joh. It is possible to import only through Bangkok ami distribute from there. Owing to the dlifficulty in tracing owners once the ears have left the capital, registrations have at ho made before the ears leave .Bangkok and they are then forwarded to the towns. IT a truck were allowed to leave without, a license it would] he almost impossible to trace it again.