Keep that motor running

In the West, car-owners take the precaution of turning the motor off when they step away from the vehicle. Here, Thais keep the engine running, sometimes for hours at a time.

When I came home from work, I noticed that the engine of a car in the condo carpark was going. It was sitting about 10 metres from where tenants enter the building.

I could see no sign of the owner, but that is nothing unusual for Thailand. Motorists often leave their engine idling, then disappear.

Even when they are close-by, they like to leave the engine on. The other day, a family was moving out.

The tenants lifted their fridge, television and other belongings onto the back of a pick-up truck. This took more than an hour. They left the engine going all that time.

Mum's shop is close to a convenience store. Some nights, a large Coke truck arrives. Men park opposite Mum's shop and unload cartons of drink, which they take over to the 7-11.

They can be away from the vehicle for lengthy periods, but leave the engine going, until the air is full of putrid smoke.

Thais who leave the vehicle running then walk off are evidently not worried that an opportunist thief might jump in and make off with it.

They seem more worried that if they turn the engine off, they will save gas - far better to waste it, after all - or that, in this cold, wintry climate of ours, the engine will stall next time they turn it on.

An hour later, when I went out to pick up food, the silver Honda in the condo carpark was still humming.

We were running out of drinking water, so I took this opportunity to fill up our bottles from a purified water machine. The stench of diesel fumes from the car's exhaust was almost overpowering.

As it happens, the food place had not finished our order, so I went back upstairs. I spoke to my Thai boyfriend about the car.

'Why is it that Thais love to leave their engines on?' I asked.

Boyfriend Maiyuu knew immediately which car I was talking about.

'When I went down in the early evening, the engine was running even then,' he said.

This was now after midnight, which meant the car's engine had been running non-stop, fouling the air, for more than six hours.

When I went down again to pick up our food, I asked the security guard about the car. He sits about 30m away, but looked indifferent, as if he hadn't noticed.

I thought if he wasn't prepared to turn the engine off, then I might have to do it. Leaving it on was bad for the air, and potentially unsafe. Apart from that, it was just too bewilderingly Thai.

'Have you thought about turning off that engine? Where is the owner?' I asked.

The guard listens to a Walkman constantly. He had to pull the plug out of his ear to hear me.

I repeated my question.

'Where's the owner?'

'He's asleep inside,' he replied.

'What, inside the car?'

'Yes.'

What can I say to that? I can't open the door and turn the engine off if the owner is inside. He might get a fright.

Why would someone do such a thing? Maybe he likes to leave the engine on for company. Perhaps the sound is reassuring.

Or maybe he parked the car, then instantly fell asleep at the wheel. He was obviously unworried about the stench coming from the vehicle, or that tenants who think too much, like me, might get upset. As for the ozone layer, he's probably never heard of it.

I kept walking. The security guard put the plug back in his ear, and life in this strange place returned to normal.