Thailand taxi companies are growing food on abandoned cars to feed out-of-work drivers

As taxi drivers in Thailand were forced to abandon their cars in search of employment elsewhere due to the pandemic, this has created taxi graveyards. In hopes of feeding out-of-work drivers and other employees, two taxi companies came up with the idea to convert the graveyard into vegetable plots.

Located in the heart of Bangkok, Thailand, workers who choose to remain at Ratchaphruek and Baworn Taxi Cooperatives can be seen tending to the Taxi Cab Gardens grown on the roofs and bonnets of around 200 abandoned cars every day.

Workers built the vegetable plots by stretching black bin liners across bamboo frames before filling them up with soil. They’ve planted a variety of crops including chillies, cucumbers, eggplants, and even a variety of herbs.

According to a CNA report, as taxi drivers rely heavily on the tourism industry, the tight restrictions Thailand has implemented due to the Covid-19 pandemic has left the streets quiet with no light at the end of the tunnel.

This has forced thousands of drivers to abandon their cars to the respective taxi cooperatives, leaving the cooperatives with THB 3 billion (around RM 3.7 million) worth of crippling debts to finance from more than 2,900 unfulfilled contracts. 

Thapakorn Assawalertkun, advisor of the Baworn and Ratchapruek Taxi Cooperative, told the news website that this was their last option and it would help feed workers who decided to stay with the cooperatives during the trying times.

Workers would get to harvest the vegetables for free and the cooperative would even give them a jar of chilli paste to reward them for their hard work. If there is an excess of vegetables, the workers will even get to sell it at local markets for profit.

Like Malaysia, the Thai government has offered cab drivers relief funds to sit out the pandemic. But as the situation continues to drag out, funds have long run dry.