Few comments about driving in Thailand

Driving in Thailand is supposed not to be too different from driving in your home country, except getting used to drive on the left hand side, as in Thailand, vehicles run on the left side.
Let’s point out for people used to drive on the right hand side like in many European countries, that all car commands are reversed except pedal board : hand brake on the left, gear-lever on the left.. but pedals are at the same place..clutch pedal on the left, brake pedal in the middle and accelerator pedal on the right…. That’s already something!!
The second point to consider is the incredible lack of discipline of thai drivers : overtaking in curves, traffic lights hardly respected, cars going ahead with amber nearly red light, unrespected stop signals, cars in the best case considering them as a “non priority” signal...
All this has to be taken care of with coolness and courtesy.
The worse part is overtaking : it is common on a double-track road to have some car overtaking, creating a virtual third track either between the 2 cars or on the side.
A small anecdote to show how anarchic is the overtaking habits : as we were driving on a double track road, a car overtook us. It was itself overtaken by a third car and at the same time a 4th car overtook us on the left side, on the sideway.
So, not less than 4 cars abreast on a double track road.. Yes it is possible.. this can happen in Thailand.

Then the last difficulty is the huge variety of vehicles, tuk-tuk (rickshaws), bikes, motorbikes with side cars or even anything fixed on the left side (the width is then equivalent to a car width), people pushing karts, cars, pick ups, 4 wheel drives, lorries, buses, all this running at different speed.. but it is surely the huge number of motorbikes (quite often without any lights at night) which is the most dangerous. 

Roads conditions

With 170.000 kms, the thai network of roads is quite dense mainly of course around the capital.
The road conditions may vary according to the location but generally speaking the conditions are quite good. But beware of the road sides which are not well maintained. The numbering of roads is done according to a rather simple system : The main roads (mainly coming out of Bangkok), have a one-figure number. Those are 4 track motorways. The roads exiting from those motorways have two digit numbers, the first figure being the one of the motorway. The smaller roads have 3 to 4 digit numbers.

Thai driving tips from A to Z

Motorways : in fact they are only highways. You may then find crossroads and there are U-Turns to go back (you normally have to turn right to then go underneath or above the motorway and reenter on the other side)

Milestones : You will find them on most of the roads in the Kingdom. They indicate the marking off and the road reference. The city or location names are written in Thai.

Crossroads : On most crossroads, turn to left is possible even when traffic light is red. There is not, as in our home country a green arrow but a blue panel with a white arrow. Beware!! In the crossroads there is, as in our home country, a pre selection on the right hand side to turn right and on the left hand side to turn left. But most of the time there is no materialization on the ground. So be careful to drive as near as possible of your future direction.

Helmet : Wearing a helmet is compulsory for bike drivers. A lot of controls are made and you risk a fine of 200 to 500 bahts in case of violation. But more than the fine, the risk of accident should incite you to wear the helmet. Every day in Phuket island which is not so wide there is a fatal accident involving a bike or a motorbike and the dead person is not very often in the car..

Petrol and gasoil : Many modern petrol stations are implemented on the different roads. They never are self-service stations. To fill up, just say “full”, otherwise tell in baht the amount you wish. You will be offered window cleaning in between. This is free of cost but you may give a tip of 10 to 20 bahts which won’t of course be refused.
On small roads in the countryside you still can find old manual petrol stations where they still fill the tank helped by a crank!
In Thailand 2 types of petrol are available : regular grade petrol (octane number 91), costs about 27B/litre and unleaded (octane number 95) 27B/Litre. There is also gasoil which is about 25B/liter. These prices are the ones in use now (July 2006). Beware : as everywhere, the price of petrol and gasoil fluctuates quite regularly according to oil crisis. Check prices at the time of your trip on the forum.

Traffic lights : Before turning from green to red, the green light blinks first, then goes to amber and then red. In the crossroads when lights are flashing, you may find on one rank flashing red lights and on the other rank flashing amber lights. Flashing red lights mean this road doesn’t have priority. Generally speaking, traffic lights are hanged on top of the rank they concern and not aside as in our home country. Note that little further on the side you have a traffic light giving the same indication as the one located above your head (because the hanged traffic light is not visible for the first vehicles stopped at the signal).
Beware of stopping at the first traffic light and not at the second one which is normally located after the crossroad! Don’t laugh, it is sometimes not so obvious.

Speed limit : in towns, maximum authorized speed is 50 kms/h, in the countryside 100 kms/h. Thais don’t respect speed limits.

Police : Policemen are not really interested by foreigners. Courtesy and smile should allow you to go quickly through seldom controls.

First aid rescue team : Such a service doesn’t exist in Thailand, except maybe in BKK. In case of accident, the first car driver on the scene takes without any special care the injured people in the car and drives them to hospital.

Parking : as in our home country there are alternate unilateral parking rules. Beware of wheel blocks in case of violation of parking rules. In Thailand they use a chain linking a wheel to the outside mirror, not really esthetical but very efficient.

Stop : No particularity, except the fact thais consider them as “non priority signals” in the best case.. so, be careful…

Direction panels : They are written in both, thai and latin alphabet

Priority : In Thailand, the basic rule is “biggest goes first” : buses and lorries have priority on cars, which have priority on motorbikes and bikes.. Might is right!!!!

Have a safe trip !!!!