Thailand, Khorat to Lopburi

OK, so I booked on a bus to take me from Khorat to Lopburi. 16 seat.er minibus which they use a lot over here. Seemed simple enough. The bus was only half full so plenty of room all round. Result! But two minutes out of the bus station the driver pulls over to the kerb and suddenly the bus is full. Funny thing was that none of them had tickets and each and everyone of the new passengers paid the driver 20 baht (about 40p) to get on.
So my rucksack and day sack are suddenly on my lap and the air con starts to struggle!! And as the journey continued so  this carried on. And as people were dropped off and a space was created, he simply picked someone else up. People just stood on the side of the road and flagged him down. I kid you not, he must have turned over at least 80 if not a 100 people. But let's say 50 for calculation purposes equals a 1000 baht,  equals 20 quid. A day! 6 days a week that's a 120 quid.  The drivers sole intention once he was out of sight of the bus station was to make as much money on the side as he could. And quite honestly it went like clockwork. People on and off as smooth as you like and no deviation from the route whatsoever . The other funny thing was that when we pulled into the bus station at Lopburi only the original passengers were left on the bus!! And he wasn't the only one, they were all at it!! Interestingly, and bearing in mind that I have grossly underestimated the figure, I understand that what this driver gets in his back pocket each week is what an average bus driver can expect to earn in a month. Good scam eh!!  And having spent a considerable part of the journey observing bus driver behaviour along the route, lastly I would say that if you at all nervous about being in a bus with a driver who has no regard for passenger safety at all, perhaps Thai buses are not for you!! Out and about in Lopburi tomorrow!
Much love,
Glen