What did you do before working as a bus conductor?
I left the countryside [Rayong] to come and seek a job here in Bangkok. I have always wanted to serve ordinary people like me; blue-collar workers who don’t have the privileges of rich people. I first worked at Pata Pinklao as a security guard. I got B8,000 per month, which was pretty high pay for 27 years ago. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out and I quit 5-6 years later.
How did you become a bus conductor?
I was lucky after leaving my job at Pata that BMTA was hiring more workers. I passed the general knowledge test and got a job there, where I was sorted into route 79 from that day. The salary just started at just B3,370, which was much lower than the job at Pata.
When did you begin reciting poetry and telling stories on the bus?
On the first week I started working there was very bad traffic, so that’s when I sung a poem for the first time. After that, most bus drivers thought I was crazy. They did not want to work with me. Even my girlfriend dumped me because she was so upset and ashamed of me. But life has to move forward. Eventually, some passengers started to like it.
What kind of stories do you normally tell?
It’s almost always about dhamma, ranging from poems and songs to folklore. For example, during the Asian financial crisis in 1997, I sang a song written by one of my passengers encouraging people not to give up on life.
Are there any passengers that don’t like you?
Of course! Haters gonna hate. They just shut their ears and fall asleep. In the past I have been shouted at wildly. But it’s fine. I don’t care because what I do doesn’t hurt anybody and is not illegal.
Do you have any memorable experiences with passengers?
Yes. One woman was crying on the bus, so I asked her why. She answered that she was so touched by the poem i had just read. She didn’t leave the bus, even when it finally reached the bus depot. Then, she asked me to take her anywhere that could make her felt better. So I took her to Pak Khlong Talat [Bangkok Flower Market]. She told me that she had just fought with her husband, who had taken their child. She had nothing left and wanted to die. If she had not heard me sing that poem that day, she says she would have jumped off a bridge into the river.
How has your life changed since word spread about your bus recitals?
Oh, it has changed a lot. I have been offered many opportunities to appear on TV shows. I would never change my job. I will keep practising and telling stories. I’m proud of what I do to adjust people’s attitudes towards Bangkok’s buses.
