Thailand tours in style: buses painted with superheroes, cartoon characters and Buddhas help attract customers in competitive market
- ‘You need to be like a peacock to be noticed,’ one bus driver says of coaches covered with everything from Doraemon to Freddy Krueger to Buddhas
- Many buses get glammed up on the inside too, with speakers and disco lights encouraging passengers to sing and dance
The charter coach owned by Prapas Wongchua, a bus driver in Thailand’s central Nakhon Pathom province, is a hulking, old-fashioned vehicle which groups of holidaymakers can hire for excursions to places such as Buddhist temples, waterfalls and beaches.
It has 48 seats but offers few comforts and even lacks air conditioning, a conspicuous shortcoming in a tropical country. Small fans stir the muggy air in the passenger compartment and his clients try to stay cool by opening the windows.
Yet the vehicle makes up for a lack of luxury in other ways. Adorning its sides are oversized anime characters painted in bright lollipop colours.
Prapas’ name and phone number are emblazoned beside an image of a green-haired nymphet in a blue bikini so people can hire his vehicle, which functions like a taxi. On the front door is a pink cartoon bear, beaming cheerfully and waving welcomingly.
The paint job, by a graffiti artist, set Prapas back 50,000 baht (US$1,660) but it has been well worth it, he says. “Many people like buses with nice paintwork,” the 48-year-old explains. “They enjoy going on trips in decorated buses.”
Standing at a roadside where he has parked, Prapas waves at a colleague who drives by in an air-conditioned bus painted red. “His bus is more modern but doesn’t catch your eye,” Prapas says.
