Formula 1 Drivers, Bangkok

Ummm, yeah. You'd gotta be nuts to be a tourist and want to drive in BKK. Taxis are cheap and you'd get run off the road unless you know the rules of the road. Here's the main rule: THERE ARE NO RULES! OK, they do have lights. But the paint they lay down to distinguish one lane from the other does not really mean anything. All the taxi drivers I used went basically down the middle of the painted line. The reason is that they may be in one lane, but they MIGHT need the other lane soon. So, they straddle the lines and only move if they have to, as when a bus bullies itself around. I watched a bus almost run us over - it knew we were there, but didn't care. The taxi driver said something in his native tongue and shook his head, but he knew his place so was giving the bus just enough room to do what he did. Then there are the motorcycles. The pay NO attention to lanes and will zoom up to the front of every traffic light. At every red light, there will be nothing but motorcycles in front ready to race around all the cars to get to the front of the next queue. I'd wear a helmet and a suit of armor if riding around on a motorcycle in Bangkok. There are motorycycle taxis as well - good luck and make me your beneficiary.

I don't know how to call.You can see the picture. If you go to the street market like Flower Market (Pak Klong Tard) Sam Peng or China Town (Yao Wa Rat). Beware the cart drivers. They can hit you anywhere and anyhow. Just let's them go first. I don't know why they have to run so fast.

Happened to us 2x. every time we had only a 100 baht note and the driver always says they have no change and will show you that they have an empty wallet or only large bills. so you're kind of stuck saying, ok, just keep it.
so, we got smart and always had an abundance of 20 baht bills with us and 10 baht coins to help

Cross all roads with care. Though looking normal, once in a while when you least expect it, unofficial taxis (tuktuks) and unlicensed buses disobey all traffic rules and dart out of nowhere and can knock you down.

Be aware that most of the taxi drivers here drives like a Formula 1, even those tuk-tuk drivers like it! Crazy to think but maybe they're driving fast to have another costumer! You can even saw the bum of the other car and you would have a seat belt on you...fasten your seatbelt to fly high!!!haha

Flying taxis eh...hmmm... sounds like something from the future right in Bangkok. Well... flying in a sense anyway. Whether you are in a TukTuk of Taxi remember to buckle up. Taxi driver drive extremely quickly, and traffic accidents are amongst the leading causes of death in Thailand. Hold on very tight when in TukTuks, you can fall right out of those. Be careful!!

Here's an important Thai word:
SLOW DOWN - CHAH LOHNG (the chah is pronounced with a high tone and the lohng is pronounced with a normal tone).

Oh, and this phrase is very good to know:
PLEASE BE CAREFUL - DTOHNG RA MAT RA WAHNG (the dtohng has a falling tone, the ra, mat, and ra all have a high tone, and the wahng has a normal tone and is spoken very quickly).

And if the driver continues to drive horribly/dangerously say: BAO BAO (relax), HYUT (stop), and JAK BPAI (I'm leaving).

Just make sure to add the masculine/feminine endings to the end of each statement you say (KRAP for men/KAH for women).