Women storm taxi motorcycles in Bangkok

Bangkok – With her hair pulled back, the traditional orange jacket of "taxicab motorcycles" on her back, Ar is one of the few women to rub shoulders with this risky and physically demanding profession on the streets of Bangkok.

"You must have your heart well hung", says the young woman with a smile.

Taxicab motorcycles are a very useful means of transport to escape the monster traffic jams of this megalopolis of more than ten million inhabitants that has been growing in recent years.

Fortune helmet balancing on the top of their skulls or bareheaded, drivers board pbadersby in a hurry – or anxious not to sweat by car – zigzagging in the middle of vehicles.

Traditionally, this corporation, run by a mafia linked to the police, admitted by the Association of Motorcycle Taxis, is very masculine.

But more and more women appear on the benches of informal stations that are found on every street corner, often with an umbrella, a smashed sofa, an artisan panel where the drivers "link"and a cooler as the only decoration.

The Thai taxicab badociation estimates that women now account for up to 30 percent of the 130,000 taxi drivers in Bangkok, unverifiable figures in the absence of official data. They often badociate in the same resorts and are less visible in downtown, still very masculine, says the badociation.

Ar Satranon, who is a veteran with seven years of mototaxi on the clock, welcomes the fact that women are becoming more and more "motosai"saluting"a new generation of strong and courageous women".

"There are accidents in the street, so it's a risky job. I'm not a nice girl: I'm tough and I like to ride a bike, that's why I'm doing this job", she adds.

– Flexibility –

Chaloem Changtongmadun, president of the Thailand Taxi Motorcycle Association, explains the influx of women into the profession with their search for flexibility, in this country marked by a large informal economy – from the vendor of street vendors to shopkeepers holding booths. "street food", where unemployment is almost non-existent.

"Before, I worked in a factory, and when I had family problems for example my child who became ill, it was quite difficult to take leave"says Somjit Lalert, head of a motorcycle taxis station.

"My husband is already working here. It's a pretty independent job we can do when we want, we can leave if we are tired or if we have something else to settle", she adds.

According to the time worked, the drivers interviewed by AFP say they manage to earn between 500 and 1,200 baht per day (between 13,50 and 32 euros), in a country where factory workers are often at the legal minimum of 300 baht a day (8 euros).

In the conservative kingdom, where women are rare to try the famous men's trades, the drivers of taxis are still pioneers.

"Thailand is still marked by a very strong gender bias"says Kyoko Kusakabe, a Japanese sociologist studying the place of women in the informal economy at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok.

In the beginning, "some men refused to sit on my moped because I'm a woman, they thought I did not know how to drive"says Buayloy, one of the oldest women in the industry, aged 53."But things are changing"she says.