Although being behind the wheel of a car or riding a motorbike in Bangkok is not the safest thing I could think of, there are a few advantages of owning a vehicle in Thailand. Here are 10 good things about driving in Bangkok:
1. Early in the morning (or even at odd hours during the day), you can always buy a quick snack or a garland of scented flowers from vendors selling their products at major intersections.
2. As it never snows in Thailand and the cold season doesn’t bring along drastic weather changes, if built properly (with nobody stealing building materials), the roads in Bangkok keep their surface fairly pothole-free (just remember what roads back home look like after a heavy winter when sand and salt has been poured in tons over the icy snow).
3. There’s always someone to fill your gas tank at the petrol station. All you have to do is stay in your car and play on your iPhone until the tank is full, pay up and drive away. You might even get a complementary bottle of water.
4. All petrol stations have public toilets and rest areas available for everyone, not only customers. No need to beg for the bathroom key from a grumpy attendant! Not to mention the different convenient stores, coffee shops, and snack and lottery ticket vendors that dot the stations.
5. If you’re not in a rush, a taxi ride can prove to be quite a prolific time spent reading your book or Kindle. Let the world drive by and just enjoy a good book in the air-coned cab.
6. The hitchhiking culture is literally non-existent in Thailand so you don’t have to feel bad for not giving a poor teenager a ride (nor do you end up dead in some obscure klong after you’d been carjacked by the hitchhiker).
7. Most taxi drivers (with a few exceptions in touristy areas) turn on the meter and not try to rip you off. On the contrary, it is drivers who sometimes lose commission when passengers get out of the taxi and run away without paying.
8. If you work in the suburbs, from your point of view, all the morning traffic can get stuck in the inbound lane, while you couldn’t care less as you cruise by in the outbound lane, as most drivers go into the city for work.
9. Alternative fuels such as LPG and NGV have made commuting for car owners a real bargain. Prices for these fuels are up to three times cheaper than regular petrol, thus making the initial investment for an extra tank worthwhile.
10. There’s a method in the madness as most participants in Bangkok’s traffic are used to drivers breaking traffic rules, thus somewhat reducing the chances of accidents.
How about you? Is there anything good about Bangkok traffic?
Nice try!! No there is nothing good about the traffic in this city. When will they learn to manage the lights properly?
That’s No. 6 in my “10 annoying things about Bangkok traffic” list.