A songthaew also known in English as a baht bus, is a passenger vehicle in Malaysia, Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 and Laos

Laos

Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...

 adapted from a pick-up

Pickup truck

A pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area .-Definition:...

 or a larger truck

Truck

A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...

 and used as a share taxi

Share taxi

A share taxi is a mode of transport that falls between taxis and conventional buses. These informal vehicles for hire are found throughout the world. They are smaller than buses, and usually take passengers on a fixed or semi-fixed route without timetables, usually leaving when all seats are filled...

.

It takes its name from the two bench seats fixed along either side of the back of the truck; in some vehicles a third bench is put down the middle of the seating area. Additionally a roof is fitted over the rear of the vehicle, to which curtains and plastic sheeting to keep out rain may be attached. Some vehicles have roofs large enough to accommodate standing passengers within the vehicle, or passengers may stand on a platform attached to the rear.

Songthaews are used both within towns and cities and for longer routes between towns and villages. Those within towns are converted from pick-up trucks and usually ply fixed routes for a set fare, but in some cases (as in Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai sometimes written as "Chiengmai" or "Chiangmai", is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. It is the capital of Chiang Mai Province , a former capital of the Kingdom of Lanna and was the tributary Kingdom of Chiang Mai from 1774 until 1939. It is...

) they are used as shared taxi

Taxicab

A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...

s for passengers traveling in roughly the same direction.

Vehicles on longer routes may be converted from larger trucks for about 40 passengers.

See also

• Transport in Thailand
  Transport in Thailand
  Transport in Thailand is varied and chaotic, with no one dominant means of transport. Bus transport dominates in long distances and Bangkok, with motorbikes dominating in rural areas for short trips, supplanting bicycles. Road transportation is the primary form of freight transport across the...
  
  
• Truck bus
  Truck bus
  A truck bus is a purpose-built truck with a "passenger container" fulfilling the role of a bus. Such vehicles used to be common in Communist Bloc countries and in developing countries....
  
  
• Pick-up truck
  Pick-Up Truck
  "Pick-Up Truck" is a song written and recorded by Belgian acid house musician Praga Khan. It is the third single from Praga's eighth studio album, Soundscraper....
  
  
• Tuk tuk