Videos to come later today (or tomorrow).
Chiang Mai, Bangkok, and final day in Hong Kong: Click HERE
Slow-boat up the Mekong River and The Gibbon Experience: Click HERE
Cambodia: Click HERE
Hong Kong plus the rest of Vietnam: Click HERE
Showing posts with label Bangkok. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bangkok. Show all posts
Monday, July 26, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Inspiration comes in funny places
Last night, after failing to get onto the Metro (due to my refusal to wear my soaking wet t-shirt) I was fortunate enough to find a motorbike driver to take me home for 120 baht (30 baht less than before I tried getting on the metro). Since it was rush hour, and the traffic was at a crawl, I was happy to get a motorbike instead of a tuk-tuk or taxi.
While the cars were moving along at a crawl, we were weaving in and out of traffic at quite fast speeds. I did my best to keep my shoulders tight, because mine were more broad than me drivers, and I was worried we could clip a mirror of a car! This wasn't the first time I was sure it would happen, but the motorbike drivers seem to know what they're doing. Also, in Bangkok (as opposed to every other city I've been in) the motorbike taxi's seem to be licensed, since they all wear bright vests that are green or orange.
In any event, I came up with a business idea while holding on for dear life on the back of the bike:
Motorbike taxi's in North America.
In most major North American cities, traffic is atrocious. In recent months I have been to Toronto, New York, and Chicago, and none of them were fun to navigate during rush hour in a car. There are also very few motorcycles and scooters (i.e. motorbikes). The idea would be to offer rides to executives, business owners, professionals, etc. that need to get from one place to another quickly. Many U.S. states have laws explicitly permitting two wheel vehicles to pass between to cars on a road. I'm not sure about Canada though. In places where such a law is in place, a motorbike taxi could get someone from A to B much quicker in rush hour traffic. I think people would be willing to pay a premium for such a service if they were really in a rush.
This just came to me last night, so it's not fleshed out at all. Ideas to improve upon (or challenge) the idea are welcome.
While the cars were moving along at a crawl, we were weaving in and out of traffic at quite fast speeds. I did my best to keep my shoulders tight, because mine were more broad than me drivers, and I was worried we could clip a mirror of a car! This wasn't the first time I was sure it would happen, but the motorbike drivers seem to know what they're doing. Also, in Bangkok (as opposed to every other city I've been in) the motorbike taxi's seem to be licensed, since they all wear bright vests that are green or orange.
In any event, I came up with a business idea while holding on for dear life on the back of the bike:
Motorbike taxi's in North America.
In most major North American cities, traffic is atrocious. In recent months I have been to Toronto, New York, and Chicago, and none of them were fun to navigate during rush hour in a car. There are also very few motorcycles and scooters (i.e. motorbikes). The idea would be to offer rides to executives, business owners, professionals, etc. that need to get from one place to another quickly. Many U.S. states have laws explicitly permitting two wheel vehicles to pass between to cars on a road. I'm not sure about Canada though. In places where such a law is in place, a motorbike taxi could get someone from A to B much quicker in rush hour traffic. I think people would be willing to pay a premium for such a service if they were really in a rush.
This just came to me last night, so it's not fleshed out at all. Ideas to improve upon (or challenge) the idea are welcome.
No shirt, no service (aka my day in Bangkok)
Yesterday, for my one and only day in Bangkok I decided to meet up with someone I had met earlier in Luang Prubang. We started off in Chinatown, but unfortunately the corner of Chinatown we started in was the industrial one. All the store front were machine shops, auto mechanics, etc. It's like this in Asia - it's as if there are few or no zoning laws. You have these storefronts near the centre of the city that are more industrial than anything else. All the big cities I've been to (i.e. Hanoi, Saigon, etc.) are the same. Hong Kong wasn't much in this way though.
Anyway, we hopped on the metro and went to the park. At first you think this is an ordinary park, even with a nice lake and all, and then it happens. You see a large four foot long lizard! There is hundreds of them just swimming and strolling around the park. They are not behind a fence, and as far as I can tell there is nothing technically stopping them from walking right out of the park!
Now I knew to expect this, because my friend told me the novelty of the lizards is why I might enjoy the park. She was right!
All of the sudden we saw some storm clouds in the distance so we decided to go find somewhere to have dinner. I have never seen darkness descend on a city so fast. The clouds moved so quickly, that within a couple minutes they went from being at the edge of my field of vision to right on top of us. Needless to say, I got absolutely soaked by the time we found a restaurant. After a delicious dinner, my friend had to go back to her apartment to make a phone call back home to North America, and I wanted to go back to my hostel to get into dry clothes.
After talking to three motorbike drivers, I finally found one willing to go to my hostel (we were kind of far). He wanted more than I was willing to pay though, so I decided to take the metro closer to my destination and find a motorbike taxi there (even though it ended just two stops in the direction I was going).
Well, they wouldn't let me on the subway! First I went through security (to get on the subway in Bangkok you must pass through a metal detector), and thought I was OK after I explained my disdain of wearing wet t-shirts, holding up my soaked t-shirt for effect. Then I saw another security staff, who asked me to stay put while she called over another person. He in turn called over someone else, and I tried to explain to them that while I had a shirt, I really don't like wearing wet t-shirts (honestly, I really don't. The metro in Bangkok is air-conditioned, which sucks if you're wearing wet clothes). I told them I didn't want to cause trouble, and that I would rather take a taxi if I had to wear my shirt. They agreed I should take a taxi, so I did (more on that later).
Apologies for the picture formatting... I rotated it on my computer, but when I uploaded the picture it wasn't rotated upright anymore...
Anyway, we hopped on the metro and went to the park. At first you think this is an ordinary park, even with a nice lake and all, and then it happens. You see a large four foot long lizard! There is hundreds of them just swimming and strolling around the park. They are not behind a fence, and as far as I can tell there is nothing technically stopping them from walking right out of the park!
Now I knew to expect this, because my friend told me the novelty of the lizards is why I might enjoy the park. She was right!
All of the sudden we saw some storm clouds in the distance so we decided to go find somewhere to have dinner. I have never seen darkness descend on a city so fast. The clouds moved so quickly, that within a couple minutes they went from being at the edge of my field of vision to right on top of us. Needless to say, I got absolutely soaked by the time we found a restaurant. After a delicious dinner, my friend had to go back to her apartment to make a phone call back home to North America, and I wanted to go back to my hostel to get into dry clothes.
After talking to three motorbike drivers, I finally found one willing to go to my hostel (we were kind of far). He wanted more than I was willing to pay though, so I decided to take the metro closer to my destination and find a motorbike taxi there (even though it ended just two stops in the direction I was going).
Well, they wouldn't let me on the subway! First I went through security (to get on the subway in Bangkok you must pass through a metal detector), and thought I was OK after I explained my disdain of wearing wet t-shirts, holding up my soaked t-shirt for effect. Then I saw another security staff, who asked me to stay put while she called over another person. He in turn called over someone else, and I tried to explain to them that while I had a shirt, I really don't like wearing wet t-shirts (honestly, I really don't. The metro in Bangkok is air-conditioned, which sucks if you're wearing wet clothes). I told them I didn't want to cause trouble, and that I would rather take a taxi if I had to wear my shirt. They agreed I should take a taxi, so I did (more on that later).
Apologies for the picture formatting... I rotated it on my computer, but when I uploaded the picture it wasn't rotated upright anymore...
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