Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Back to news
news
Community
Thai phone boxes turned into bike repair stationsThai Bike Repair phonebox.jpg

Thai phone boxes turned into bike repair stations

Charge your phone and pump your tyres for free with novel new phone box upcycling
by Sarah Barth
Sat, Mar 12, 2016 06:49
5

Thai officials have scrapped plans to remove around 4,000 phone booths around the country and come up with an altogether more heartwarming plan - turning them into bike repair pitstops.

Plans were to remove thousands from Bangkok alone, but a creative approach has been to turn them into repair stations, marked with a white bike sign on top and including a full set of tools, from pumps to adjustable and hex wrenches, screwdrivers, bike hangers, as well as a 12-volt USB port for charging battery equipment or your phone.  

There are currently five of these booths around Thailand, with four in Ayutthaya and one in Bangkok, but the plan is to launch 20 stations around the country by the end of the year. They also aim to install Wi-Fi in the booths in the near future.

Running on solar power, every booth is open 24 hours a day and can be used for free.

Thailand has not always had the best reputation for cycling.

Last year we reported how a cyclist who was attempting to set a record on his round the world trip was killed on a Thai road this week, in front of his wife and two year old son.

Juan Francisco Guillermo, 47, had embarked on a five year, 155,000 mile journey in November 2010 and was just nine months away from finishing when he was hit by a pickup truck and killed instantly.

According to a recent study from the University of Michigan, Thailand has the second-highest traffic fatality rate in the world, with 44 deaths per 100,000 population.

The only country with roads deadlier than Thailand’s was Namibia, which had 45 deaths. Iran was ranked just behind Thailand with 38 deaths, according to researchers at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

 

Thailand

Add new comment

5 comments

Avatar
hawkinspeter | 8 years ago
0 likes

Thailand is such a beautiful place, but I'm not sure I'd fancy cycling in Bangkok. Chiang Mai would be fine although I'm sure you'd need to acclimatise to the heat/humidity during summer.

The traffic in Bangkok is almost a tourist attraction in itself. The main roads seem to have 7 lanes going each way and when the lights turn red, you get a huge swarm of motorbikes gathering at the front of the traffic. I'm sure they do have traffic rules, but I just have no idea what they are - probably something like "if it's not your day to die, you can just do whatever you like".

However, one of the most amazing sites is seeing some of the street dogs crossing the main roads. How do they learn how to do that? As a tourist, I'd be more inclined to hire a Tuk-tuk to get me across a main road that cross it on foot (not that a Tuk-tuk provides any protection other than the skill of the driver).

Avatar
ianfra | 8 years ago
0 likes

I live and cycle in Thailand. Chiang Mai to be precise. Sarah highlights the negatives - ie the extraordinary high numbers of road deaths in Thailand. But there are always stories behind the headlines. It is true that a lot of people get killed on the roads here and that is mainly due to the thousands - millions - of motorcycles on the road, most of them ridden by untrained people who do not wear helmets. They are crazy and every year I see quite a few injured/dead/dazed motorcyclists lying on the road. Our experience as an expat cycling group here (Facebook: Road rider Chiang Mai) is that it is as safe as anywhere else. In 7 years I have had one near miss with a car and one road rage incident. That's not bad when you cycle an average of 22,000 km a year. For the positives, I would emphasse Chiang Mai as the perfect training location during the European winter. Those of you who are retired could live here on a 3-month visa for as low as 500 UK pounds a month, even less if you are stingy. There are 14 decent bike shops and rides every day of the week. There's a chaingang twice a week too and some races. The temps during, say November through to February are quite decent and that is a period when a lot of expat riders come here for their winter base miles: Riders from Sweden, Holland, USA, Australia, UK, Belgium, Denmark and Germany (+++) have been here during the past winter. You can ride hills, mountains, the flat and undulating roads. And you can even join me in my velodrome sessions where I can supply your track bike. So, Sarah, come here and look at the positives.

Avatar
congokid replied to ianfra | 8 years ago
0 likes

ianfra wrote:

thousands - millions - of motorcycles on the road, most of them ridden by untrained people who do not wear helmets. They are crazy and every year I see quite a few injured/dead/dazed motorcyclists lying on the road. 

 

I was in Chaweng last year and saw someone who had come off his bike lying, possibly dead, on the road. No one seemed to be very concerned.

What are those bikes powered with? There were thousands of them everywhere I went and I noticed some shops had litre sized bottles of coloured liquid for sale, which I was told was fuel. Whatever it was, the air stank on every main street.

I'd have liked to cycle round there, but traffic was very heavy and away from the coast the terrain was rather mountainous. My rental was up a steep road outside of town, which was great for views but difficult even to walk up.

Avatar
Milkfloat | 8 years ago
0 likes

What is going to happen to the other 3980 boxes? The byline states that 4000 will be converted into repair stops, then the main body states the number is actually only 20.

Avatar
cqexbesd | 8 years ago
0 likes

Quote:

a 12-volt USB port

 

Well some poor phone might be in for a surprise...

Latest Comments