Travelling over 3,000km in a car isn't that impressive. Travelling over 3,000km in an auto rickshaw, however, is something else entirely. This was exactly what the TT Ladies did. The three young women from Thailand — Bom Plengpanich, Aei Jinapuck and Helen Stettler — travelled to India to take part in The Rickshaw Run to raise awareness for domestic abuse in Thailand. The entire journey was filmed by the ladies themselves. The first two episodes are already online, with six more to be released. Guru was able to sit down with one of its members, Thai-Swiss Helen Stettler, to find out more about the experience.
Photos courtesy of TT Ladies
How did you and your team meet and what made you decide to do this?
P'Bom and I studied in the same faculty at university. She had already been planning this for two years. She said it seemed like another epic adventure to go on. But then one person in the team pulled out and she thought of me. She called me up and I agreed to do it. So we went, with no camera crew, just us.
You call yourself the TT Ladies. What does TT stand for?
It stands for tuk-tuk, like the Thai rickshaw. We got it from the original TT Rider, Ray MacDonald, who drove a tuk-tuk from Thailand to Japan. During the trip, we joked that "TT" stood for "Team Thailand" because we were representing Thailand. We were the first Thai team to participate.
You guys did this to raise awareness for domestic abuse?
Yes, that's part of it. We also filmed the whole thing to release on YouTube. The Rickshaw Run only happens in India. People from all over the world participate to raise funds for different causes. There were 84 teams when we were there. We actually met Nicholas Hoult -- from Warm Bodies and X-Men -- who also participated in order to raise funds for the World Wildlife Fund (WFF). We were doing it to raise awareness for domestic abuse and I knew people would ask why we decided to participate just to raise awareness. But we wanted to go through it so we could feel how difficult it was. Our team captain, P'Bom, said that to most people, three women travelling 3,000km through India in that kind of vehicle would seem impossible, so if we finished, it would make women feel empowered. Like we could do anything. India has a high rate of domestic abuse and so does Thailand, so it seemed like it all connected. We were three Thai ladies going there and raising awareness for this. It made sense.
What was it like travelling that far in a rickshaw and only having each other for company?
At first we were wondering if we could do this. Then we saw our rickshaw and it was just this small thing on three wheels that could only drive up to 50km per hour. But we weren't scared. We just decided we were gonna do it. We were already there. We were excited to take the challenge and what we were going to see along the way. And the people were nice, too. They all wanted selfies with us.
Was there ever a point during the trip when you wanted to give up?
Well, the first day was fine and we were all excited. But then it got more difficult as we went on. We were booking an Airbnb every night. Sometimes, the roads were bad and it pissed me off. It was my first time overseas and India wasn't even on the list of countries I wanted to visit! For me, the hardest thing was understanding people. Because of their accents, sometimes I didn't understand their English. But we had no choice because we were already there, so we just went on. We all supported each other. We each had a role. P'Aei took care of filming. P'Bom was like our mother. She took care of our food and the places we were going to stay at. I mainly drove, but we took turns. We were there for each other, so when someone felt like giving up, the other two would encourage that person.
Did the rickshaw ever have problems?
No. We just ran out of fuel. Other teams had broken wheels or they crashed, but we were fine. Our tuk-tuk was cute.
How far did you guys travel and how long did it take you to get to the finish line?
3,283km. It took us twelve days. It was insane.
What do you guys want to accomplish with the show?
People can still donate to the cause. For me, I want people to see our journey in India and how we dealt with everything and how we went through each kilometre on the road. Of course, I want Thai people to enjoy it because there isn't anything like it in Thailand. I also want women to see that they shouldn't be scared to do what they want to. Just go for it.
Watch the TT Ladies on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/RayMacTV or on Facebook at fb.com/TukTukRider, and follow them on IG @ttladies. Donate to their campaign via Asiola at goo.gl/rVXmV9.
