Are you asking why is Bangkok traffic so bad?
One thing many westerners ask when they first come to Thailand is “Why is Bangkok traffic so bad?” After all, Bangkok has some of the worst traffic jams in the world.
So, I thought this was interesting — a photograph that has been shared on Twitter and Facebook by boatloads of Thais who are, it seems, quite as outraged as westerners by what is going on in it.
The photo is of a typical Thai traffic jam. But, at the front of the line, is what is causing the jam. A long line of buses that are illegally pulling across four lanes of traffic to pull into a bus stop, thus blocking all the traffic behind them as can be evidenced by the clear road in front of them.
As someone who has lived in Bangkok for a decade, I can tell you – this is normal.
Much of what goes on on Bangkok’s roads is illegal
Not surprisingly, it is also illegal but, as the police most of the time completely ignore it when bus drivers drive illegally, it is no wonder it goes on every day all over the city and helps cause Bangkok traffic to be some of the worst in the world.
The photo was published on Twitter by Woody Milintachinda who is famous in Thailand as the host of the Thai talk show “The Woody Show“.
He discovered it on ZaaNetwork’s Facebook page.
Where was the bad Bangkok traffic photo taken?
The photograph was taken at the bottom of the sky train steps at the Mo Chit sky train stop near Chatuchak Park . I know as I live near there so see this ‘traffic jam’ several times a week.
It also happens when the hundreds of passenger vans that stop here every day do exactly the same thing. Crazy, eh?
By the way, if you want to know how bad Bangkok’s traffic really is, watch this video about Thai police officers now being trained to deliver babies as pregnant women in are giving birth while stuck in Bangkok traffic.
Or read about the new First Car program, which has also been terrible for Bangkok traffic.
