A topic like transportation could easily get lost in the nostalgia of bygone times and a yearning for the ways of a different age. So that's what I am going to do.
I'll start with this symbolic photograph as the old and the new line up against each other. There is only one possible winner.
This mural (above) is on a wall in the main market of Petchaburi in Thailand where I live. It shows a bridge over the adjacent Petchaburi river with the historic Khao Wang hill with its palace behind. The bridge is populated with bicycles and samlor's ("three wheel" tricycles used as taxis). I thought about recreating the same view photographically now but a new building blocks the view of the hill so it didn't seem worth it. The traffic on the bridge would be motorbikes and pickup trucks.
Perhaps amazingly the samlors have hung on and still ferry the elder generation around the market. The younger generation all use their own motorbikes. The samlor riders are all as old as their trikes and I suspect the tradition will fade away with them. And with them will die the personal touch of people who know all the routes, all the shops and almost all the people. I often see them taking a passenger somewhere then waiting for them to finish their errand before pedalling them on to the next stop. They are also trusted to transport people's goods around without the owner, like with these eggs (below).
An old photograph of unknown age on display in the market showing a samlor in a rainy town centre:
But something else less obvious has been lost from the town's transportation which is now only evident in the murals on display in the market area alongside the river. According to the artworks, the river used to be a major thoroughfare for a wide range of boats especially as part of the market. These images give the impression of a river busy with boat traffic.
But now there are none. I only recall ever seeing a single boat on this river and that was an oared long-boat with a crew of six or seven young men practicing for a race. I do not know why the switch to land-based transport was so complete but a river running through a Thai town without any boats on it looks a bit dead, particularly as there are still many steps down to water level.
However, in effect I am just a tourist with an unrealistic view of how I would like things to be. For the local population having the buying power to own the convenience of motorised transport is a great step forward. The loss of a convivial market atmosphere is a small price to pay for the practical benefits of modern transport.
Petchaburi belongs to motorcycles.
