The most likely purpose for these seat covers (at least that this driver had in mind) has to do with the interaction between sweat and pleather. The general preference for taxi seating material in Myanmar is pleather (fake leather) over fabric, as the latter tends to soak up the monsoon rains particularly well (which in turn leads to solutions such as this). One downside to pleather becomes obvious in the hot season, however, when passengers’ skin rests against the seat during a ride and then tends to stick rather painfully to the seat when they attempt to disembark.