Green-thumbed Thai cabbies turn taxis into gardens amid Covid-19 crunch

Bangkok: With demand for taxis drying up in Thailand and thousands of drivers leaving town, one Bangkok cab company has turned its vehicles into mini vegetable gardens, hoping to take the edge off the coronavirus crunch.

The Ratchapruek Taxi Cooperative has taken hundreds of cars off the road in the past year amid a slowing economy worsened by months of lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which has left many drivers with insufficient income to pay the lease on their vehicles.

The cooperative grows vegetables on the roofs and bonnets of 300 of the disused cabs, providing its drivers and members with food to share while sending a message to the government to do more to help with the hardship.