Grab cleans up the tuk-tuk's image in Chiang Mai

BANGKOK -- A ride-hailing startup that has played a big part in upending the taxi industry throughout Southeast Asia has now adopted one of the region's most iconic passenger-ferrying vehicles, the tuk-tuk, in an ironic effort to help reduce air pollution.

While tuk-tuks are known for the trails of exhaust they leave behind, GrabTukTuk Electric will provide battery-powered three-wheelers, first in Chiang Mai, the northern Thai city that increasingly finds itself covered in a layer of haze.