For anyone who knows Bangkok, there is one mode of transport that is synonymous with the bustling Thai capital.

Three-wheeled tuk-tuk, with bright, colorful liveries, race through the streets carrying locals and tourists alike.

Their name comes from the "putt putt" sound of the little two-stroke engines that power them, exploding into bursts of rapid machine-gun fire as they race off into the traffic.

Along the clogged traffic arteries of the Thai capital, the little tuk-tuk is agile enough to beat the jams, while its passengers recline in style in the back.

But 2020 has been a year like no other, and tuk-tuk drivers are really feeling the squeeze.

The lockdown, the travel bans and the ongoing global pandemic has shut down Thailand's tourist industry.

Tawee has been driving tuk-tuk for 40 years, and this is worse than anything he's seen before.

"Before there were so many tourists here," he explains, as he waits for tourists outside Khao San road. "I had so many passengers, but now no one is here; even the hotels are closed, and nobody walks by."

Things have gotten so bad that he's thinking of driving his tuk-tuk back to his village in the countryside to take up farming instead.

The plight of Bangkok's tuk-tuk has not been lost on the cities residents, however.

Vuthithorn "Woody" Milintachinda is a TV producer and celebrity interviewer, who was brainstorming with a friend to find a way to bring live music back to Bangkok under the current strict social distancing regulations.

"We thought about our country, our culture, what represents Thainess, then we decided it should be a drive-in concert," Woody tells me.

The obvious answer, was the tuk-tuk.

The vehicles could transport guests to the venue, then act as socially distanced seats parked in a large open-air car park by the riverside, with a live stage in front.

"It represents Thainess … and we're like … 'Oh Yeah' … that makes sense," says "Woody," who wanted to boost Thai musicians and entertainers who've also seen their industry decimated by the pandemic.

The principle is quite simple. Guests arriving on foot are screened through temperature monitors.

After waiting in a socially distanced queue, they board a tuk-tuk that drives them up to the venue and parks in a long and orderly line, facing the main stage.

Guests remain seated in the tuk-tuk for the duration of the concert but can order drinks and snacks from staff walking through the lines of vehicles.

And at the end of the evening, they're already sitting in their transport home!

It's a novel idea, and a memorable image to see hundreds of little tuk-tuk parked in front a huge well-lit stage, but the feeling of being at a live music event is greatly diminished by social distancing, with none of the adrenaline and shared thrill of being squashed together in a big crowd.

Nonetheless, in these times of social isolation, something is better than nothing.

"I am excited because we haven't been out at all," say "Donut" and "Fah" from the back of their tuk-tuk."This is the first time in several months that I can come out for a concert, so I am very happy."

Watching a concert from the back of a little buggy is not ideal, but the tuk-tuk drivers, the musicians, and the audience all seem to be having a good time, and as the posters for the event keep reminding us, this is "the new normal."