# BKK Traffic Perils



## gino (Jul 20, 2009)

I haven’t yet decided whether bicycling on the streets or the sidewalks is the most perilous. Each presents its own special risks. The streets are a bit chaotic, with trucks, buses, motor scooters, motor scooter taxis, taxis, private vehicles, tuk-tuks, push carts, pedestrians, an occasional bicycle and an odd lot of customized vehicles vying for space. Right-of-way is governed by the sticker price of the vehicle, with disputes doubtlessly settled by drivers exiting their vehicles to compare payment stubs. Any vehicle has the right-of-way over any pedestrian who obviously wouldn’t be walking if he or she could afford even a 125cc scooter, so must therefore be somebody of monumental inconsequence with no right to delay the progress of more important people. Thais also have a cavalier disregard for the designated direction of traffic lanes. Crossing double yellow lines to pass slow-moving traffic is an accepted practice and it is not uncommon to see a parent with three children aboard a motor scooter traveling next to the curb in opposition to oncoming traffic. Buses often stop in the number three lane discharge and take on passengers who, to reach the curb, must cross two lanes of traffic while watching for motor scooters darting between lanes or traveling the wrong way. 

Surprisingly, I have not seen any accidents and have seen little evidence of prior accidents. Very few cars have any visible body damage and I’ve only seen two body shops, fewer than one might notice driving through Santa Monica. Lest one conclude the lack of accidents is due to superior attention or skills displayed by Thai drivers, I attach a photo of a van driver texting and watching television as he drives down the expressway. 

Sidewalks present their own set of dangers, the greatest of which is the risk of colliding with a motorcycle driving among the pedestrians to avoid congestion on the street or to go the opposite direction without driving several kilometers to the next U-turn opportunity. Sidewalks aren’t what one might charitably term flat and it’s not unusual to find massive obstructions in the middle of a sidewalk, such as automobile-size concrete bunkers for some utility or another that wasn’t contemplated when a nearby building was erected. 

My only mishap occurred on a sidewalk. Riding in the rain, a careless pedestrian whipped around a sky train staircase that occupied about 80% of the width of the sidewalk just as I was trying to snake past. I wasn’t going very fast and my bike has disc brakes front and rear, so I was able to stop abruptly, but my tires didn’t hold on the wet ceramic tile pavement and I went down. Fortunately, my body cushioned the blow, avoiding any damage to my paint job – but not to my knee. 

In practice, I alternate between the pavement and sidewalk, choosing whichever route seems best under the circumstances. 

My daily commute typically involves a combination of sky train, bus, van, สองแถว and occasionally motorcycle taxi. (I take different routes coming and going.) The buses are a bit of a crap shot. Some drivers are quite professional, while others jockey the buses about like sixteen-year-olds with potency disruption issues. 

In addition to the driver, buses are staffed by a conductor, who in my experience is invariably a female standing about half a conductor high and two conductors wide. I am convinced most of them have undergone intensive training at Michael Vick’s farm. Thai is a tonal language and it often seems Thais are less expressive than Westerners, but the conductors manage to be abrasive while ending every sentence with ค่ะ. Someday, I expect somebody will make a fortune organizing cage fights between bus conductors. 

Western rules of etiquette require a gentleman to yield his seat to a lady or to somebody who is elderly or handicapped, but the game is played a bit differently in Thailand. Subway trains have signs directing passengers to yield their seats to monks, children, pregnant women and the elderly. Women and the handicapped don’t make the cut and it is not unusual to see a Thai man grab a seat on a crowded bus or train and ignore a woman standing nearby. I’ve also seen bus conductors direct able-bodied men into vacant seats, while ignoring pregnant women standing nearby.


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## Guest (Jun 29, 2010)

Nice piece of writing, Gino.

Still, Bangkok traffic rules/general levels of courtesy at the wheel resemble those of a sedate English village when compared to Phnom Penh!


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## Mr. Soap (Feb 6, 2010)

gino said:


> My only mishap occurred on a sidewalk. Riding in the rain, a careless pedestrian whipped around a sky train staircase that occupied about 80% of the width of the sidewalk just as I was trying to snake past. I wasn’t going very fast and my bike has disc brakes front and rear, so I was able to stop abruptly, but my tires didn’t hold on the wet ceramic tile pavement and I went down. Fortunately, my body cushioned the blow, avoiding any damage to my paint job – but not to my knee.


Hurt? Don’t forget to cry “Oi…or Oy โอ๊ย or โอย” instead of “Aow…or Ouch…เอา”. (Especially to a masousse.) 
The latter sounds like “more…more…or want…want…” in Thai. ค่ะ

Mrs. Soap


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## JWilliamson (May 31, 2010)

What is the point of your writing? JW


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## Guest (Jul 2, 2010)

JWilliamson said:


> What is the point of your writing? JW


Why does anyone write? Why did Dickens write? Did anyone ask him why he bothered? Why do bloggers blog?

To inform, to promote discussion, to vent, to express opinion...there are all manner of reasons for writing.


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## Guest (Jul 2, 2010)

Mr. Soap said:


> Hurt? Don’t forget to cry “Oi…or Oy โอ๊ย or โอย” instead of “Aow…or Ouch…เอา”. (Especially to a masousse.)


:lol:


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## JWilliamson (May 31, 2010)

*whats the point?*



frogblogger said:


> Why does anyone write? Why did Dickens write? Did anyone ask him why he bothered? Why do bloggers blog?
> 
> To inform, to promote discussion, to vent, to express opinion...there are all manner of reasons for writing.


thank you for the answer. Now i know why Gino wrote about traffic. JW


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## gino (Jul 20, 2009)

*pas du tout*



JWilliamson said:


> thank you for the answer. Now i know why Gino wrote about traffic. JW


Actually, I hear voices in my head telling me to post pointless drivel.


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## Guest (Jul 5, 2010)

gino said:


> Actually, I hear voices in my head telling me to post pointless drivel.


Somehow, after posting my reply, I knew something along those lines was coming...


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## msbarbarav (Feb 28, 2010)

*Then try London matey, you will come running back tout de suite*

You have not known fear until you ride the back of a motorbike in PP, no road rules, often no traffic lights, entire families plus pig on a scooter next to you..

At least in Bangkok one can walk to work or we take the BTS or MRT in air conditioned carriages, people are reserved but polite and in my experience give up seats. You have a 50/50 chance of finding an honest cab driver but that is universal.

Try London - unadulterated aggression, overcrowding, no aircon, train delays or cancellation, strikes, bomb threats, disgusting teenagers shouting abuse and putting their feat on the seats. I don't think I could do it again, I hated commuting there so much.


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## msbarbarav (Feb 28, 2010)

*Try London!!!*

You have not known fear until you ride the back of a motorbike in PP, no road rules, often no traffic lights, entire families plus pig on a scooter next to you..

At least in Bangkok one can walk to work or we take the BTS or MRT in air conditioned carriages, people are reserved but polite and in my experience give up seats. You have a 50/50 chance of finding an honest cab driver but that is universal.

Try London - unadulterated aggression, overcrowding, no aircon, train delays or cancellation, strikes, bomb threats, disgusting teenagers shouting abuse and putting their feat on the seats. I don't think I could do it again, I hated commuting there so much.


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## JWilliamson (May 31, 2010)

Most crowded cities will have terrible traffic and you will feel it if you have your own car. In Hong Kong i usually take the subway so im unaware how bad the traffic really is. JW


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## Merrill (Apr 14, 2009)

*Compared to Yangon, Bangkok is Nirvana!*

I will admit that when I first came to Thailand, it was one of those OMG moments when I experienced a one hour taxi ride to just go about 3km, but after just returning from Yangon, I LOVE BANGKOK traffic.

In Yangon, there is no such thing as AC in a taxi, it's the windows open, fumes pouring in, stick shift, passenger beware ride from hell. I've traveled through-out Asia and I use to think that the motorbike traffic in Ho Chi Minh was nuts (it is) and that crossing the street was like dodging bullets, but the motorbike driver really didn't want to hit you, so you closed your eyes, held your breath and you made it to the otherside of the street, not the other side of the next life. In HCM, each day I was covered with the grit of pollution on my ride back and forth to school. 

In Yangon, the taxi's are circa 1980's, taped together, gas chambers on wheels. The traffic was insane and the buses spew out noxious fumes, traffic laws may be obeyed, but then I was so scared, I did not know when it was time to move forward. The traffic in central Yangon (even with fewer vehicles) was the worst I have ever seen. After a taxi ride, I was sick to my stomach from the bucking, fumes, impossible traffic system, and did I say fumes! People crossed in the middle fo the street and on more than one ocassion, I thought that we would soon make someone into roadkill!

So, Bangkok may have really bad traffic, it may take you an hour or more to just go a few km, but at least you have AC, no fumes, and you can put your head back and go to sleep and wake up in the same spot. If you have time, go to Yangon and you will pray that you can get in a cab here in Bangkok and idle yourtime away in comfort.





msbarbarav said:


> You have not known fear until you ride the back of a motorbike in PP, no road rules, often no traffic lights, entire families plus pig on a scooter next to you..
> 
> At least in Bangkok one can walk to work or we take the BTS or MRT in air conditioned carriages, people are reserved but polite and in my experience give up seats. You have a 50/50 chance of finding an honest cab driver but that is universal.
> 
> Try London - unadulterated aggression, overcrowding, no aircon, train delays or cancellation, strikes, bomb threats, disgusting teenagers shouting abuse and putting their feat on the seats. I don't think I could do it again, I hated commuting there so much.


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## gino (Jul 20, 2009)

*Bangkok Bicycle Adventures – Part III*

Actually, the newer buses in Bangkok are air conditioned, but there are a lot of old buses still in service that aren’t. But the fares on the older buses are lower. 

Most cabs and some vans are converted to run on LNG, which is less noxious. But a friend who commutes a fairly long distance on a motor scooter showed me a white jacket that had turned grey with traffic fumes and dust after only a week. 

I took my bike out last night, intending to do twenty kilometers, but got caught in a torrential downpour. Riding in the rain isn’t terribly unpleasant, as it is warm, but I began to worry about my phone, so cut my ride short and ducked into a restaurant to dry off and check my gear. 

I’ve tried a lot of cases and holsters for my phones over the years, most of which I’ve not liked at all. The ones with large alligator clips dig into my skin, particularly if wearing a shirt that doesn’t tuck in, and break easily. The holsters that rotate manage to turn around and the magnetic latches don’t hold the phone inside when upside-down. The models with metal clips slide off the belt easily, especially when climbing into bucket seats. 

I finally found one that I like made by Tamrac. The 3814 fits an iPhone 3-G perfectly and an older Blackberry a little snugly. It has a sturdy belt loop, so won’t come off when riding or running and is completely enclosed with a zipper, so the edges of the phone don’t get banged up or nicked. The downsides are that it muffles the ringer slightly and it takes a bit longer to get the phone out.

I was a little worried, as it isn’t designed to be waterproof. I was so soaked that I took off my T-shirt in the men’s room and wrung out maybe six or eight ounces of rainwater, but the phone was dry.


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## JWilliamson (May 31, 2010)

*Hahaha*



gino said:


> Actually, the newer buses in Bangkok are air conditioned, but there are a lot of old buses still in service that aren’t. But the fares on the older buses are lower.
> 
> Most cabs and some vans are converted to run on LNG, which is less noxious. But a friend who commutes a fairly long distance on a motor scooter showed me a white jacket that had turned grey with traffic fumes and dust after only a week.
> 
> ...


Started about buses and which has A/C or not but turned into what feels as the main point which is cell phone holders. Interesting how you point out all the models and kinds of holsters that can do a soso or good job in holding your IPHONE! I never thought i would read a article on this subject. By the way i put my phone in my right jean pocket. JW


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