Bangkok banishes its feisty green buses 'to improve quality of life'

Almost everyone has a horror story connected to Bangkok’s green mini-buses. Maybe one hit your car. Maybe you scuffed your elbows and ripped your favorite chinos when its maniacal driver lurched to the next stop. (In our "50 reasons Bangkok is the greatest city in the world" article, we referred to them as the "the bulls in Bangkok’s china shop.")

Well the stories may be about to end. From today, the city’s infamous belching mini-buses have been ordered to park for good, reports the Bangkok Post, noting that operators of the privately-run buses caught ignoring the order will face arrest.

"This is to improve the public transit service for the sake of passenger safety and quality of life," the daily newspaper quotes the Thai Minister of Transport as saying.

But somehow we don't think this is the last we'll see of the peppy little green guys. The deadline could be extended on a case-by-case basis for individual operators, says the Post.