Driving

For quite awhile I have been thinking about how I can approach telling the story of driving in Thailand. There is no good way to do it. It is a book unto itself. Usually foreigners video tape out the windshield of the car and put it onto Youtube. You can go there and find plenty of video. It just does not do it for me though. You can not describe all the problems encountered on a normal drive into the city. The sheer number and types of vehicles is the beginning of the experience. Then the total disregard for lanes is an issue. But worse is the fact that no one really pays strict attention to which side of the road they should be on. Crossing the street, pulling out into traffic or just driving straight down the road you must always be prepared for vehicles coming the wrong way. Infrastructure is crap so never expect traffic lights to be operational. There are many that have never worked since I got here and many that were out for months but have suddenly started working again. There are 3 traffic circles (round abouts) in this town. Each one has about 5 roads coming into it. It is suicide for motorbikes. Motorbikes, bicycles, samlores, tuk-tuks and motorbikes with side cars are death traps and far to maneuverable. When cars, trucks and buses are stopped at a light the smaller vehicles weave their way to the front and pull in front of the bigger vehicles. When the light changes there is a thunderous rush of motorbikes to get in front of other vehicles. Of course the motorbikes are slower so they are overtaken and now cars and trucks must negotiate their way around these things. The cars, trucks and buses frequently cross over the center line into oncoming traffic to go around the slower smaller vehicles. Vehicles coming the other way have to move over and make room. However, when a car moves over there is frequently a motor bike riding along side so watch out! Don't make a turn without looking either because the motorbikes may be trying to pass you on the shoulder. It is a lot like a video game but when you lose you really do lose.