Thai taxis turned into mini gardens to raise awareness of drivers' plight - in pictures

Roofs of idle fleets in Thailand are being transformed into vegetable plots in an initiative that looks more like an art installation than a car park

Miniature gardens are planted on the rooftops of unused taxis parked in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021. Taxi fleets in Thailand are giving new meaning to the term "rooftop garden," as they utilize the roofs of cabs idled by the coronavirus crisis to serve as small vegetable plots and raise awareness about the plight of out of work drivers. (AP Photo / Sakchai Lalit)

These taxis have been idled by the coronavirus crisis. AP

The vegetable patches have a variety of crops, including tomatoes, cucumbers and string beans. AP

The initiative is being used to raise awareness about the plight of out-of-work drivers. AP

The result looks more like an eye-grabbing art installation than a car park. AP

The Ratchapruk and Bovorn Taxi co-operatives are planting the gardens. AP

Many drivers surrendered their cars and returned to their homes in rural areas. AFP

The taxi industry in Bangkok has struggled amid the pandemic. AFP

Bangkok is now preparing to open to vaccinated international tourists in what promises to be a boost to the local tourism trade. AFP

Taxi fleets in Thailand are giving new meaning to the term “rooftop garden”, as the roofs of cabs idled by the coronavirus crisis are utilised to serve as small vegetable plots.

Workers from two taxi co-operatives assembled the miniature gardens this week using black plastic garbage bags stretched across bamboo frames. On top, they added soil in which a variety of crops, including tomatoes, cucumbers and string beans, were planted.

The result looks more like an eye-grabbing art installation than a car park, and that’s partly the point: to draw attention to the plight of taxi drivers and operators who have been badly hit by coronavirus lockdown measures.

The Ratchapruk and Bovorn Taxi co-operatives now have only 500 cars left plying Bangkok’s streets, with 2,500 sitting idle at a number of city sites, according to executive Thapakorn Assawalertkul, 54.

With the capital’s streets deathly quiet until recently, there’s been too much competition for too few fares, resulting in a fall in drivers’ incomes. Many now can’t afford the daily payments on the vehicles, even after the charge was halved to 300 baht ($9), Thapakorn said. So they have walked away, leaving the cars in long, silent rows.

Some drivers surrendered their cars and returned to their homes in rural areas when the pandemic first hit last year because they were so scared, he said. More gave up and returned their cars during the second wave.

“Some left their cars at places like gas stations and called us to pick the cars up,” he recalled.

With new surges of the virus this year, the co-operatives were “completely knocked out”, as thousands of cars were given up by their drivers, he said.

Thailand’s new infections have ranged just less than 15,000 in recent days after peaking above 23,400 in mid-August. The government hopes the country is easing out of this wave, which has been the deadliest so far, accounting for 97 per cent of Thailand’s total cases and more than 99 per cent of its deaths. In total, Thailand has confirmed 1.4 million cases and more than 14,000 deaths.

The situation has left the taxi companies in financial peril, struggling to repay loans on the purchase of their fleets. Ratchapruk and Bovorn co-operatives owe around 2 billion baht ($60.8 million), Thapakorn said. The government has so far not offered any direct financial support.

“If we don’t have help soon, we will be in real trouble,” he said.

The taxi-top gardens don’t offer an alternative revenue stream. The co-operatives staff, who were asked to take salary cuts, are now taking turns tending the newly-made gardens.

“The vegetable garden is both an act of protest and a way to feed my staff during this tough time,” said Thapakorn. “Thailand went through political turmoil for many years, and a great flood in 2011, but business was never this terrible.”