I regularly ride the BTS and MRT in Bangkok. (The former is the above-ground rail rapid transit, and the latter is it’s subterranean equivalent.) Here is what I often see: strangers showing courtesy and caring for each other. Who thought mass transit would demonstrate the redemption of humanity?
Some of the courtesy is encourage by the system:
There are seats set aside for people who might particularly need them: disabled, elderly, or pregnant passengers; women with children; and monks – out of respect for them. Others sometimes occupy the Priority Seats, but they jump up when a priority passenger boards. In fact, people in normal seats will sometimes jump up and offer their places to passengers on the priority list.
This courtesy and caring extends in other ways. For example, I often see a platform guard help a blind person onto the train. Invariably, a nearby passenger will quietly sidle up and ask where they are going and what help they need. It’s a quiet exchange; this is Thailand and no one would make a fuss. But the offer is made and the needs are met.
It’s not perfect. Not always is a seat offered to someone when I think it should be. The more crowded the train, the less likely the courtesy. The commute home from work in the evening shows less redemption than the morning commute. But I more often than not witness the hope of humanity when I’m about my appointed rounds.