Driving in Thailand: It's a Gas!

The WSJ has an interesting article about drivers in Thailand converting their cars to run on natural gas. Not all of those who have changed over are happy, complaining that their cars have a reduced range, have to wait in long lines at refueling stations and their vehicles are now slower to accelerate. You just can't please all the people, all the time can you?

Over here in the U.S. we've got T. Boone Pickens trying to sell us on natural gas powered vehicles. The only major manufacturer to offer a plug and play solution for a commuter is Honda with its natural gas Civic. You can buy it at a Honda dealer fresh from the factory and for a few bucks more you can get a home filling station. Honda's solution works well for commuters who can simply refuel every night and never worry about finding a refueling station on the road. However, the Civic would really have to be a second car unless you either wanted to make finding natural gas stations on the road a challenge or you rented a gasoline powered vehicle for long trips.

photo source: bangkok traffic courtesy of devinkho/sxc.hu