Idled Thai taxis go green with mini-gardens on car roofs

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.

Workers from two taxi cooperatives 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 the coronavirus lockdown.

The Ratchapruk and Bovorn Taxi cooperatives now have just 500 cars left plying Bangkok's streets, with 2,500 sitting idle at a number of city sites, according to 54-year-old executive Thapakorn Assawalertkul.

With the capital's streets deathly quiet, 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 (US$9.09), Thapakorn said. So they have walked away, leaving the cars in long, silent rows.

Some surrendered their cars and returned home to rural areas when the pandemic hit last year because they were scared. More gave up and returned their cars during the second wave.