of the day,and nearly all are privately owned cars,traveling to or from work.
This can start as early as 6am the traffic starts to build up from 5am and the long queues
start at 6am until 10 am they can extend to 100's of meters long..
Later in the day the build up of traffic starts again from 4-30 pm until 8.30 pm
horn.I refuse to drive here I would find it too frustrating and prefer to walk or use public
transport,taxies are very reasonable and readily available. I also like to bike ride at certain times.
I counted 45 cars in the Soi where we live and it's hardly 150 meters long.
Thai people don't like walking and will sit on a bus that has been stuck in one of the traffic
jam's for 30 minutes not moving,some have no choice but there are some that only have a
short distance to travel,I think the hot climate has a bearing on it,not really encouraging to ask
them to leave the air conditioning behind to walk in the hot outside air.
We were expecting visitors one Friday evening and were a bit worried that they hadn't arrived
we rang them and they said they were stuck in traffic but when they said where they were it
wasn't that far away,close to the local airport,when I last took a taxi there at 4am it took
45 minutes, they arrived 4hrs later unbelievable ! but it's the norm to them.
The damage to people's health in Bangkok from all these unhealthy fumes being released into
the atmosphere must be a major problem to the health authorities.
While fuel is cheap and the government keeps coming up with loan schemes to encourage
people to buy cars the situation regarding overcrowding and pollution is only going to get
worse along with the general health of the people of Bangkok.
There is extensive work going on to alleviate the problem of congestion on the roads,they
are busy extending the overhead/sky train we are on route with this in our area but it
will be a further 4yrs to completion, by this time we will have the opportunity to move
to an area where the air is a bit cleaner and start climbing the longevity ladder again.
At the moment our hands are tied with 3 more yrs of local University study to complete.
no not me !
I am convinced that only the Thai character is suited for this particular environment and
could not envisage any western nation tolerating such long delays in traffic movement and
remain so quiet and tolerant given the same set of circumstances.
I think it must relate back to history and the fact that Thailand has never been influenced
by colonization and has retained its own identity and unique character.
I spent most of my life living in the country district of the UK we had to own a vehicle then to
to get about ,public transport wasn't readily available and in many areas, it would result in walking
long distances to connect with the bus,in these circumstances a vehicle of sorts was a must.
I know of people in London who live and work there that would not bother buying a car
they depend totally on public transport hence the congestion is limited.,they are also discouraged
from driving there with the high cost of parking and having to pay a premium to use certain roads.
