04 February, 2007


IT'S A BOY!
Born in a taxi in a Bangkok traffic jam


Nation Newspaper, Bangkok, Feb 4, 2006. Traffic policemen help a woman deliver her baby in a taxi yesterday, as the vehicle taking her to hospital was trapped in Bangkok traffic during the morning rush hour. It was a boy. Many traffic policemen are trained in midwifery to prepare for such an emergency.

Comment: Fancy being greeted into this world by two Daleks. The kid will probably grow up bonded to video games.

I wonder if the other people stuck in the traffic thought to turn off their engines to give the baby more oxygen for its first breaths. Many people turn off as a matter of routine. They know how long it will be before they can move, therefore many cars are fitted with toilets, and roadside snack-vendors do well.

It's a repeat of the 1990s when there were massive roadworks and congestion due to the building of the first Skytrain. Now, several new Skytrain extensions have begun. One day they'll help absorb commuters, but for now it's hell on wheels - again - not to mention pollution. Public transport infrastructure never quite keeps up with private vehicle sales, unfortunately.

It recently took us 2 hours to get from the city centre to the new airport, so I'm not surprised at the birth in the taxi. That's one of the reasons we prefer Chiangmai.

2 comments:

  1. Better giving birth in a taxi than a tuk tuk eh?

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  2. I'd rather not give birth at all, frankly. I suppose a tuk tuk would be better than a motorcycle taxi, though... it has no soothing Thai pop music to drown out the hooting.

    ReplyDelete