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Published: March 26th 2018
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As promised, I take some time to share with you my experience on driving in Thailand. :-)
If you want to cover a lots of grounds in a short while, and stop at many places, the most convenient way is with a car.
After some of my previous trips in which I drove, some friends asked me: "How many MONTHS did you spent in that place to see and do all of this...". Most of the time, it's always 2-3 weeks maximum...
Here are some points to consider.
a-Price: it's true that it will cost you more to rent a car than take the bus. In Thailand, I rented a small Honda for 3 weeks, and the cost was 800$ including full insurance. That's not that expensive, comparing to other countries. But if your budget is low, you may find it too expensive.
b-Road quality. The time to go from point A to point B in any country depends on the road quality. Do you have paved roads in good conditions or dirt roads? Are there real highways that bypass big cities, or you need to cross a lots of small villages with peoples cows and goats everywhere? In Thailand, the road are in very good condition, (very few potholes), and highways are being constructed or improved all over the country. With that in mind, I figured out very soon, how far I could go in 3 weeks, at a good, but still relaxed pace. that s how I did 3200Km, and didn't find it too hard.
c- You need to be prepared. With GPS it's easier than before to find a place in a foreign country. GPS is not sufficient though! Study your maps in advance to know the roads you're going to take. I even used google maps to see screen shots of some highway interchange in Bangkok, to anticipate what I would face, and I did not regret it. When you take an exit, and there you have 2 seconds to decide which of the following 4 possible roads you need to take, you might miss it!
d-Language: I was surprised too see how little english the average Thai is able to speak!! For my part, I learned a little base in Thai Language and I needed it!! So, consider you're on your own.
e-Left side and narrow lanes: you drive on the left side, which is an adaptation if you're used to drive on right side. Also, lanes are really narrow, so the distance between you and other vehicles on sides, is far less than say, Canada.
e-Dr Jekyll and Mr Hide. Thai people are in general very friendly. But some, when they take the wheel, become monsters!!! There are very good road regulations, but they are not really enforced!! You will see some police doing road blocks to check trucks or maybe your passport, but no highway police. Result is this: on 2 lanes highways, left lane is for trucks, and they should not exceed 80km/h. The trucks respect this in general and will rarely exceed 90km/h, so you can follow trucks a little while. But there are also a lots of trucks, not exceeding 45-50 km/h so you want to change lane. Right lane is for cars, and limit is 90km/h. But there are many cars, going well over that speed, (150-190km/h). so, if you need to double a car, watch out for the racers behind that you can miss easily at the speed they are going!! Other point, is that many will double a car anywhere: they won't wait for the way to be clear in front. They will engage facing you and hoping you will move away to let them pass. But this is if you don't have motorcycles and scooters on your side, preventing you to move sideways!!! Let's say, you need to drive very defensively!!! But you kind of get used to it at a certain point, except, that you're more tired than usual when you stop to drive. It's for you to decide!!!
I hope this will be helpful for you!!!
My next blog will be in Pranburi / Khao Sam Roi Yot park.
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