A tram-like car service at Asiatique shopping complex reminds 66-year-old Kamala Wattanaporn of her favourite type of public transit when she was a little girl.
At her home in the old community on Charoen Krung Road, Ms Kamala recalls fond memories of travelling around the capital in the tram.
"I travelled by tram since the time when the fares were 20 satang and 30 satang," Ms Kamala said.
"I rode them until the prices rose to 30 satang and 50 satang and the service was halted for good."
Built in 1864, Charoen Krung was the first road in Bangkok, and was known at the time by its English name, New Road.
City Hall has designed its city tour car as a tram to recall Bangkok’s old days.
As the number of people commuting on the road grew, Alfred John Lofton, a Briton who was a captain with the Royal Thai Navy, and his Danish colleague, came up with a plan to introduce a tram service to the road.
They spent three days surveying the number of people travelling on the road and then decided to seek a tram operation concession.
They won a 50-year deal to operate the tram service on seven routes in 1887 on the condition the first tramway would be completed in five years and the rest in seven.
The first tram line ran from Bang Kho Laem to Thanon Tok and was inaugurated on Sept 22, 1888. It was about 12-kilometres long, had four wheels and was drawn by a pair of horses.
The tram wasn't a hit. High fares and passengers' sympathy for the horses kept people away from the service.
The tram operators couldn't afford the losses and were forced to sell the business to Bangkok Tramway Co, a British company. The new operator, however, kept the horses and fared no better with the business.
In 1892, the tram service was taken over by a Danish company that switched to an electric cable system. Shortly after, the tram started attracting more passengers and became highly profitable.
Intrigued by the handsome profits the tram operator was earning, a group of Thai officials set up a new tram company called Rot Rang Thai Thoon Co to compete with the Danish operator. The newcomers soon secured a concession to operate trams on two routes.
Both companies used the same tram models, but the Danes painted their trams yellow and the Thais painted their trams red.
The companies were later ordered to merge their businesses and their trams were soon adorned with yellow and red.
The tram service concession expired on Jan 1, 1950 when the tram system was handed over to the government.
Within 20 years, the trams fell out of favour as more cars arrived on Bangkok roads.
One by one, the tram routes were discontinued and replaced by bus lines. By Oct 1, 1968 all of the trams were gone.
The tram service had two classes of seats, Ms Kamala recalled. The first class fare was higher and had a cushion, while second class riders had to travel on a wooden bench.
Ms Kamala said whenever she entered the tram, she would dart to the corner of the second class zone and face the tail of the tram.
"I loved watching the two sides of the road from that particular angle," she said.
Although various mode of mass transit are available today — public buses, the BTS skytrain, MRT subway and the Airport Rail Link — many Bangkok residents in their 60s miss riding the trams.
