BANGKOK: London has its black cabs, Venice its gondolas, and Bangkok its tuk-tuks, but Thailand’s iconic three-wheeled taxis are going global as foreigners scramble to pick up a piece of Thai culture.

The smoke-belching motorized rickshaws can now be seen plying Britain’s seaside towns, Canada’s golf courses and Tokyo’s neon-lit streets, and manufacturers have seen a surge in global sales and recognition.

“Japan they have Toyota, they have Nissan, so Thailand has a car also — a tuk-tuk,” says Anuwat Yuteeraprapa, owner of Expertise, a tuk-tuk manufacturer which exports 95 per cent of its vehicles abroad.

Anuwat says it is clear why foreign dealers and nostalgic tourists are seeking their own tuk-tuks, known for their white-knuckle rides through Bangkok’s congested streets.

“They are really cute and unique,” explains the 32-year-old entrepreneur, who exports to the United States, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Britain and elsewhere in Europe.

“Tourists come to Thailand and they know the beaches, temples and tuk-tuks. It has become a big symbol of Thailand.”

But as foreigners snap up the tiny taxis, Thais are turning away from the traditional transport, favouring the slick modernity of air-conditioned cabs or imported Japanese cars.

“Thais want to be modern, and there is a cultural phenomenon that happens in most developing countries of rejecting the old and embracing the new,” says Philip Cornwel-Smith, author of “Very Thai: Everyday Popular Culture”.

And he says there is good reason for snubbing the humble tuk-tuk: they are overpriced, noisy and expose city dwellers to intoxicating blasts of exhaust fumes.

“Fundamentally there are some problems with tuk-tuks,” he tells AFP. “They are too big to nip through the traffic like a motorcycle does, and yet they don’t perform all the same functions that a taxi can.”

Although the tuk-tuk, so-called because of the noise it makes when it starts, has been adopted as a Thai symbol, it actually originates in Japan.

The motorized version reached Thailand in 1959, and after a few technical and aesthetic modifications, it became the colourful, open-air vehicle seen careering across Thailand today.—AFP