Means of transportation

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Don't worry, they are many and cheap. Of course, you can walk, it's pleasant to come accross people. Beware! if you walk accross the Bangkok streets, you have no right of way. Use the bridges for pedestrians Anyway, it is so hot that you won't go very far. Ricksaws, athough they are forbidden in central town, there are still many in the suburb and the province. Driving such a machine is a hard job and deserves good wages, however scanty. I tried to ride one of those ricksaws : wow! Though it was empty, I found it very hard.

If you use the Bangkok buses (3,5 baths for those with no "air conditioning") with the help of a city chart, you can manage your way through the town based on the bus numbers (each driver is free to equip deco and music in his bus - some are fitted with enormous sono). The somewhat odd look of this means of transport sometimes faces tricks like red lights? Well, you will escape this by taking the first to the left (since they drive on the left), first to the right and again the right, then the left and you find yourself again on the way. Does it need gasoline? Then it means stopping with all passengers at the station! You must know that buses don't run along the smaller bye-streets ("soi"), then you can end your trip on a motor-bicycle taxi for a few extra baths.

As the city is plagued with traffic jams, if you are in a hurry take the sky train, a little more expensive but it can take you from Tchatoutchak (a week-end market) ( north) over a long route towards Sukkumwit road (south east) (far enough to avoid the bottlenecks) and from National stadium (west centre) to the end of Sathorn road (south) that is the Chao Phraya river.The BTS (sky train) chart is free in every station. An efficient way to avoid traffic jams: the boat bus, unfortunately it doesn't go everywhere. But on the Chao Phraya you can have a nice drive between the last BTS station and the north terminal of the boat bus. On the klongs you can have a more athletic trip: Indeed some bridges are not too high and the boat roof must be lowered to go on. But the boat bus pilots are clever! The long tail are sampans fitted with 2.5L engines turbo Diesel style. The propeller shaft (length: 3-4m) comes straight from an engine with a slant of 15 ou 20 degrees at the stern - which is the explanation of its name: long tail. It is costly and uncomfortable but fast. Well, don't let yourself be fooled by this tourist-trap.

The tuk tuk, known all over in Thaïland, is of no interest as it is too expensive for tourists and, moreover, it's just at the level of the exhaust pipes of all other vehicles. By the way, they all haven't undergone technical checking and tests since their manufacturing which makes them all the more unsafe. Given the fact that tuk-tuk drivers are granted with gas tickets, they will certainly insist to drive you to the tailor and then the jeweller next door (just let yourself be tempted once, for the touristic experience).

The taxis meter are almost always decent and inexpensive. Nevertheless, avoid taking them at night along Silom road as they will work out a wonderful package fare (just without "meter") and charge you at least twice that real fare. The best is to leave Silom by the north-east (towards Lumpini park) and to catch one in front of Robinson. The most daring tourists will take the pick up buses as they ply on routes that are just mysterious except for Thaï people. I tried myself but had to ask for help as I can't read thaï. To go out of the town there are 2 coach-terminals : one in the north (morh chit) near Tchatoutchak (week end market), another south-east (ekamaï) on Sukhumwit road. The coaches are often ahead of time-schedule, cheap but driving style and methods on these regular lines will leave a fair place to luck and prayers if you want to arrive in safe condition. These roads are indeed sometimes better than our motorways but they also happen to turn into adventurous tracks because of roadworks. For instance, if a motorist want to overtake a car on a two-lane road (coaches mostly having a faster pace), with another car arriving in front, then the coach will hoot and flash its headlights... so everyone will have to huddle and let the coach go along. Besides, it's easy to rent a pick up with driver to go in the open country.

The train can be cheap or expensive according the comfort you are looking for and may have a mean delay of one hour - untill even 7 hours for a 10-hour journey (considering these as usual delays). Given the time you spend eating, you may want taking your meals there: it's much more enjoyable than with the French Railways and much cheaper too. But beware: sensitive travellers are advised not to have a look at the bridges spanning traversés hilly part of the countryside... Finally, the most hurried or wealthiest travellers will rather take the plane but this is not my cup of tea. You better visit the site therefor: Thaï airways.

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