History of Trishaw (Cyclo) in Vietnam

Trishaw (or cyclo, rickshaw, xich lo) is a light three-wheeled vehicle with a pedal that is popular in Asian countries, including Vietnam. It’s invented by a French man named Pierre Maurice Coupeaud (1872-?). He was borned in Péreuil, southwestern France, and was a graduate student of the University of Mining in his country, and a fan of football and cycling. In the late 1920s, he moved to Phnom Penh, capital city of Cambodia within the French Indochina Federation (a French colony including Vietnam and Laos also). Three years later, he founded a company specialized in production of bicycles and sport items. He also improved road vehicles in the city at that time, including hand pulled rickshaw.

In the 19th century, the hand pulled rickshaw was invented in Japan. In the early 20th century, it became very popular across Asia, and worked better than a carriage. However, it had some problems, such as passenger’s safety or humanitarian issues. The image in which a skinny man pulls a rickshaw carrying a colonist, is often used to criticize colonialism. Sure, it’s seen in Vietnam during the French colonial period.

For that reason, Pierre Maurice Coupeaud researched to improve the hand pulled rickshaw in France. He imagined a pedal where the passenger sits inside and the rider would use his legs to spin wheels. By this way, the passenger could enjoy the whole ride and the work of the rider became easier. The first experiment was led by two winners of the Tour de France.

When returned to Phnom Penh, the request of Pierre Maurice Coupeaud for using this new vehicle was approved by the government. In 1935, he established a small group of trishaw riders to serve passengers here.  

After the success in the Cambodian capital, Pierre Maurice Coupeaud wanted to do the same thing in Saigon (today Ho Chi Minh city). However, local authorities here were not interested, so to convince them, he launched a brilliant marketing idea. He invited two Vietnamese professional cyclists who won many competitions, to ride the new model of rickshaw (cyclo) alternately from Phnom Penh to Saigon. They started at 4 pm on 9th February 1936, and arrived in Saigon at 9:30 am the next day. Meaning that it took them 17 hours and 20 minutes to finish a distance of 240 kilometers, faster than any rickshaws at that time.

Following the race, Saigon authorities still thought that the trishaw was as dangerous as hand pulled rickshaw, and considered carefully about a permission. Later, as an experiment, they allowed 20 trishaws only in the city. In 1939, the number of rickshaws was up to 200 but much of them served French colonists or high-class people. Traditional hand pulled rickshaw gradually disappeared on the streets of Saigon because it’s less competitive.

Over time, trishaws or cyclos were presented soon in Tourane (today Da Nang), and Faifoo (today Hoi An) because these cities were provincial/regional capitals. After the colonial period, the trishaw became very popular because anyone could ride it.

After the invention of motorized vehicles, many people used them instead of human-powered trishaws. Xe om or ‘motorcycle taxi’ became more competitive because it’s faster. From the 1990s, leaders of major cities in Vietnam prohibited this vehicle, due to traffic safety reasons. Nowadays, it serves tourists in sightseeing tours at Hue, Da Nang, Hoi An, and other touristy cities.