PRETTY WOMAN, THAI STYLE

You never know what you're going to get when you flag down a Bangkok taxi, more so during the day when it seems a select breed of middle-aged, owner drivers take to the roads. The standards of the vehicles vary just as much as the standard of driving. Some drivers are good but the majority are downright scary.
This morning I went to a meeting and flagged down a couple of taxi before one would agree to take me and my colleagues where we wanted to go. This particular taxi was fine, but what bothered me was the drivers gaze which was almost constantly fixed on a small television screen on the dashboard. And showing on the small screen was the film Pretty Woman, in English with Thai subtitles. It was obvious the driver was reading the subtitles, watching the movie and trying to keep some kind of grasp on the world outside.
To be fair he managed to get us to our destination in one piece and that's perhaps all I should be expecting from a trip in a Bangkok taxi.