Love riding in front in both Bucharest (my hometown) and Bangkok...like was mentioned about the Netherlands, in Bucharest it's an expected thing to chat with the cabbie. In Bangkok I usually keep headphones on throughout the trip, because my Thai doesn't extend enough to answer more than the usual 20 questions about meself and after a while it got boring. Also, the constant lane switching they love to do here wouldn't make my stomach feel too comfortable if I was rolling around in the back.