ศาลาชุมนุม

[nakriian]

Motorcycle Taxi can be called Motodup

This is not really a question, just something interesting I wanted to share. Generally, people who live near borders of countries (that speak a different language than their own), tend to be able to speak some of that other language.

Example: Some people in Brownsville, Texas, USA can speak Spanish (it is near Mexico). Some people in Aranyaprathet (อรัญประเทศ) can speak Khmer (it is near Poipet, Cambodia). Now not all people can speak the other language, but, in general, they seem to know each other's common words.

One of those words is โมโตดุ๊บ or motodup. This is a khmer word, which means motorcyle taxi. Directly translated, it means moto + carry, so it means motorcyle that carry things (in your case, it means a motorcycle that will carry you, the passenger).

So next time you are in Aranyaprathet and you are doing a visa run and you need a motorcycle taxi, you can just say โมโตดุ๊บ ๆ and they will understand. I told several (when I was walking around the market near the border) ไม่เอาโมโตดุ๊บ and they seem surprise I say โมโตดุ๊บ (often, they kind of laugh and repeat the word โมโตดุ๊บ like how he know that).

Special note: The cheapest way (aside from walking, which I do not recommend) from the train station to the border in Poipet is the สองแถวใหญ่ (song thaeo yai). I say ใหญ่ because it is the big one, looks like a troop carrier. The traditional small red trucks fill up fast and leave quickly. But the big troop carrier is easier to catch and for 15 baht, not a bad price. The next best option is the โมโตดุ๊บ and the last option is a tuk-tuk (charge 80 baht +/- depending on your negotiation abilities, patience, pure luck, mood of the driver, which way the wind is blowing, etc.).