Thursday, April 1, 2010

Asian traffic: Everything goes

What do Bangkok and Pattaya (Thailand), Hanoi and Saigon (Vietnam) share? Crazy traffic.

IMG_3421My intro to the wild world of “everything goes” when driving was while entering Bangkok by taxi from the airport. There we were in our hot pink cab, cruising along the highway peacefully, when all of a sudden I spied an unforgettable sight.

A phalanx of three motorcyles full of families… all driving the wrong way up an exit ramp. Speechless, I watched as one driver turned her motorcycle into the highway traffic, while the other two fellows wove through oncoming vehicles to turn onto the opposite lane.

That’s traffic, Asian style. Anything goes but drivers actually watch the vehicle(s) ahead of them. This way, everyone keeps moving, slowly (usually) but with purpose.

Actually it appears to work… fairly well. After all, we did see several nasty motorcycle accidents, with injuries, but that’s another story.