K-pop fans to the rescue! Why Jessica Jung, Super Junior and other Korean idols’ fans in Thailand are buying ads on tuk-tuks across Bangkok

Jun 29 , 2021

Bangkok’s tuk-tuk drivers, short of the revenue usually earned from tourists, are making money from banners of K-pop stars like Jessica Jung. Photo: Reuters

After protests against Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, Thai K-pop fans pulled their billboard ads celebrating stars’ birthdays from public transport

Instead the ‘Tuk Up’ service on popular messaging app Line, designed by a student, helps drivers all over Bangkok recover income lost due to travel restrictions

Bangkok “tuk-tuk” taxi driver Samran Thammasa, 39, had never heard of K-pop star Jessica Jung before the coronavirus pandemic, but now the singer’s Thai fans are helping him survive the loss of tourist customers.

His bright green three-wheeled motorcycle rickshaw has been mostly empty for more than a year now. In the past few months though, he’s earned about 600 baht (US$19) a month by featuring K-pop ads on his vehicle.

“The extra income may not be a lot for most people, but it is for us,” he said, glancing at a shimmering vinyl banner of Jung.

Jessica Jung, one of the K-pop stars whose ads are cropping up on the sides of Bangkok’s tuk-tuks. Photo: @jessica.syj/Instagram

Drivers of Bangkok’s distinctive tuk-tuks have been hit hard by the pandemic’s devastation of Thailand’s all-important tourism industry, left haunting corners of empty city streets and complaining of mounting debts.

Samran used to earn around 1,500 baht (US$47) a day ferrying foreign tourists around Bangkok. Nearly all of that disappeared as visitor numbers fell by 85 per cent in 2020, and Thailand is not expected to lift its strict border controls for months yet.

But unexpected help came this year from Thailand’s politically disaffected and K-pop-obsessed youth when they stopped buying ads celebrating their idols’ birthdays and album launches on public transport, instead giving their money to grass roots businesses, including tuk-tuks and street food vendors.

A woman takes a picture of a billboard wishing happy birthday to a K-pop singer Jimin in the subway in Bangkok, Thailand in November 2020. Photo: Reuters

Over the last few months, young fans have mobilised to put up banners of their favourite K-pop idols on the vehicles for a month at a time, providing a new source of income for struggling drivers.

Samran and many others now drive their empty tuk-tuks around Bangkok with a banner of a different K-pop sensation each month, stopping for young Thai fans to take pictures and use their service, often with tips.

Tuk-tuk drivers, their vehicles decorated with banners of K-pop stars, wait for customers in Bangkok, Thailand in May 2021. Photo: Reuters