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In America we buy gas by the gallon. Back in the 70s during The Gas Crisis there was an ill-advised attempt by the government to switch over to the metric system, which fortunately didn’t last long. As a country we really aren’t too skilled at math. Trying to retrain us to think in tens just didn’t work. But did confuse the issue of how expensive gas had become. I’d kill for those prices these days.
In Bangkok, you occasionally run across an actual gas station. I’ve seen a few in and around Chiang Mai too. Pretty much anywhere else in SE Asia, gas is sold by local entrepreneurs sitting in shacks alongside the road. The gas comes in 1-liter bottles, usually in a liquor bottle, the brand instantly recognizable even with the label removed. Those are called fifths in the U.S. So I guess a fifth of a gallon equals 1 liter? If so, I think I just came up with the perfect way to teach the metric system to my countrymen!
Not an unusual shot for me to take, I think I have a shot of the local gas seller from just about every SE Asian country I’ve visited. This one is from Cambodia, just outside Siem Reap. The local version of a stop and rob, the vendor was doing a brisk business in gas, oil, and assorted knick knacks. If he’d been smoking, this would have become a 5 star photo. Timing really is everything.
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ChristianPFC said:
I think in the US they sell gasoline/petrol by the gallon because their cars consume that much it’s not worth fiddling with liters/litres.
Bangkokbois said:
You’ve got a point there Christian. The last car my brother bought he bitched about having only a 14 gallon gas tank – it was way too small in his opiniion.
lukylok said:
You must watch the bottle ! Spirits are sold usually in 70 cl or 1 l format. So your one fifth of a US gallon is a little more than 70 cl. And far less than his GB equivalent !
The bottle I see usually in Thailand are the 1 l ones. Or 50 cl ….
Couldn’t we once and for good get rid of these antiquate measures ? Lol!
If even the anglo-saxons cannot agree over the atlantic !
Bangkokbois said:
I’m so confused!!!!!!!!!!!1
🙂
But then that’s my normal state of mind, so no worries.
I think you’re on to something there Lucky – get rid of gallons, get rid of liters, standardize a bottle of booze and we’ll all switch over to the bottle system.
tim said:
i wonder how much of each bottle is gas ,, and how much is piss !!!
im sure its been done .. more than one way to make money im sure.
Bangkokbois said:
If the piss was from someone who’d spent the previous night drinking what passes for local whiskey it’d probably have an even higher octane rating.