Transport in Bangkok

I have decided that the transportation in Bangkok deserved its own blog post.

First, let's talk about the different forms of common transportation:

1. Cars - of course there are plenty of cars here, but the average family can't necessarily afford a car.

2. Scooter/motorcycles - are incredibly common. Often these function as the family car putting 3 or 4 people on them, very few with helmets, including the young children. These vehicles do not seem to abide by rules like others. They zip in and out of traffic, onto the sidewalks and going down the road in the wrong direction. 

3. Public transportation - there are several variations. We road the sky train which is basically the subway above ground and found it very clean and easy to use. There is also a subway as well as buses that appear to have been through battles with windows blown out.

4. Boats - yep, boats. Bangkok is situated on the Chao Phraya River, a large, twisting river with lots of small tributaries which create islands and peninsulas meaning that often times, a ferry or water taxi is a way of transportation. 

5. Golf Cart - yep, again, golf carts. Tammie and her family are situated north of the city, and just around the corner is a huge gated community where many of the residents drive golf carts. There are special parking places for golf carts at stores and even in the mall parking deck. We rode and even drove the golf cart multiple times: to see the school, to the grocery store, to the post office, to the massage place, and even several miles down the road to the mall.

6. Taxis - last, but certainly not least. And who would have thought it, but this category actually requires a further break down:

A. Taxis - just the regular ones, although, in addition to yellow, they come in yellow and green as well as pink and pink and orange.

B. Motorcycle Taxis - where you hop on the back of a motorcycle with the driver. We saw many people of a wide variety of ages doing this. What most impressed me was that most women casually sat sideways on the back, often checking their phones as they moved along the highway.

C. Tuk-tuk - is really just for the tourists. The ones here are brightly colored and decorated. It is basically a scooter with a covered row behind it, kind of like half golf-cart, half scooter.

D. Trucks - I'm sure they have a different name, but that's what I'll call them. The locals use a system of pick-up trucks with a cover over the back and benches down the sides on the inside to move back and forth, most often for short distances.

Now, I'm quite certain I missed out on forms of travel, but hopefully this gives you an idea of the roadways here in Bangkok. 

I am infinitely glad we are not driving here (minus the golf cart in the gated community). The roads are jam-packed with people as scooters zip past in all directions and roads are confusing even when using a GPS as there are raised expressways, roads underneath and beside the expressway, all with different exits. It is so complicated in fact, that frequently, road signs will point to things like the "U-turn Bridge."

As the city is a sprawling one, spread out over a great distance with a whole lot of people, traffic is a big problem. For example, on Friday morning, we had to be downtown at 8:30 in the morning for a cooking class, meeting, by way the crow flies, 14 miles from here. A driver picked us up at 6:45 and drove us to the last Sky Train stop on the line, the one closest to us, about 10 miles from us. This took over an hour. The Sky Train was fast and fairly easy so that 13 stops later, we ran off the train at 8:32, but thankfully caught up with our class.

At 1:30 on Friday we chose to travel from the cooking class to one of the tourist spots (more on that later), less than 7 miles away, and it took us an hour by taxi.

So, you ready to move here? Ok, well don't let it all sound bad. Despite the crazy transportation and loads of people in traffic, the Thai people are a kind, patient, generous bunch. They seem to take it all in stride. I saw no one screaming from behind their steering wheel or flashing hand gestures at other drivers. A horn was rarely heard amongst the traffic, and drivers frequently and quickly let other drivers out in front of them. 

Every cloud has a silver lining and the Thai people make an incredibly bright lining around a dark cloud.