Udon Traffic

[Niggly]

I go to makro at 5.45 am , if if miss that deadline then the next clear run is 9 am. . buy 10am chaos again

Is there ever a quiet(ish) time in Makro when it’s possible to park reasonably close to the door & not have at least 5 people with huge trolleys of goods in front of you at the tills?

[Galee]

The obvious solution to a lot of the problems would be to have 'one-way streets'. Assuming that is that the locals know what a 'no entry' sign means.

[anefarious1]

The obvious solution to a lot of the problems would be to have 'one-way streets'. Assuming that is that the locals know what a 'no entry' sign means.

Totally agree but there is one road that, I think, unfortunately has to be two-way and that is the road that snakes around Nong Sim park. What a nightmare during drop off and pick up hours.

[Niggly]

There seems to be more car drivers than motorcy riders that know the meaning of one way & no entry signs.
Having said that, I regular come across a car driver going against the flow of traffic at my u turn on HWY2. There is a little street out of the village just past & they’d have to drive 100m to use the correct u turn which is a waste. No signage to say you can’t, just driving towards two lanes of high speed traffic half on the hard shoulder which is thought to be safe

[Doodoo]

Did a recent survey and for those driving at night approximately 20% of Bikes and TukTuks have not rear taillights. Interesting to note and a watch out for
Good hunting

[Niggly]

I think I got as close I’ve ever been to being taken out the night before last.

I was tootling up HWY2 after dark at a bit with no street lights, just passing an artic who suddenly pulled across sending me into the miniscule central reservation alongside the armco. I managed to lock all 4 wheels & luckily skidded straight.
It was all down to a ****** bicyclist, in black, with no lights actually in the near side lane. Admittedly the truck should have seen him before he did but seriously WTF.

[Galee]

My latest near miss. An idiot pulled out a few feet infront of me to turn left. Fortunately there was no traffic coming the other way so I could swerve into the other lane. When I drew level I looked across at the other car and realized why he didn't see me. The idiot had a sun screen stuck to his drivers window meaning he couldn't see any traffic coming from the right.

[Drunk Monkey]

Dm up n dog walking ... the RR /AP intersection has been jammed since 7am .

Lots of crazies on the roads Galee .. see em everyday , top 3 worst in my book

red light jumpers
double / triple parkers
idiots who go the wrong way against the flow of the traffic often on a busy highway to avoid a U turn that is a few hundred yards away .. then stare at you with daggers when you flash or pip at em when they are heading directly at you

ALL the above should be heavy fines a one day confiscation of vehicle and be made to re sit a practical test.

Avoid traveling 7 til 9am and 3-30 til 5-30 pm if at all poss.

[Khun Paul]

I go back to the days when vehicular traffic was in its infancy, man with a red flag walking in front to warn others.
Most European countries prior to the two World wars had some sort of motorised vehicular traffic, this country had none.
Over the years Laws in European countries have changed, been rewritten etc to accommodate vehicles and stricter testing was introduced.
In Thailand although 90% of the current Road traffic laws were gleaned from the British Traffic laws by a Prince of the realm here, enforcement and action have always at best been sketchy. Planning as we have seen is almost ad hoc, most roads in the country have in main with exceptions followed on from Buffalo tracks etc, same as most countries, however Road planning may well have been getting better, education of the drivers has not. Passing a test 2 decades ago was easy as just turning up and it has not got much better, true they have written test but does bear zero relation to what is actually out there physically, the Road test ( is not on a road ) and the examiner is just in my book going through the motions. The Police sadly are not much better .
Lights we mention are almost rarely enforced and the lack of a back light I am led to believe is due to not wanting GHOSTS to follow you home. With this complete lack of training, testing, and enforcement, then people doing things wrong are not wrong in their book , we just have to accept that and in some cases NOT move out of their idiotic way and watch them panic and move, while all the time slowing down so you do not actually hit them .

[tamada]

^ Perilous game there KP when you consider that the only Thai highway chicken the locals will countenance is gai-iang, on a bamboo stick,on a bbq stand by the roadside.

[Doodoo]

KP actually Thailand had its first Vehicle around the year 1900 when the Royal Family imported one

[Khun Paul]

Yes ONE !!, my point exactly ...

[Doodoo]

No, read what I wrote THE FIRST

[stattointhailand]

KP actually Thailand had its first Vehicle around the year 1900 when the Royal Family imported one

Dont usually agree with KP ..... but

[tamada]

Yes ONE !!, my point exactly ...

No sir. You specifically said:

I go back to the days when vehicular traffic was in its infancy, man with a red flag walking in front to warn others.
Most European countries prior to the two World wars had some sort of motorised vehicular traffic, this country had none.
...

Now, pull your head in (again).

[jackspratt]

From 1910, apparently.



https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/use ... angkok.jpg

[FrazeeDK]

Look at it as a totally immature driver population. Up until the last 15 years or so most people were unable to purchase a motor vehicle due to unavailability of credit to the lower income masses. In 2006, there were perhaps 9,000,000 vehicles on the road in Thailand. There were about 15.5 million in 2015 and near as I can tell about 12 million more since then. With easy credit you've got people that never drove a 4 wheeled vehicle before driving a car or pickup in their 40's or even late 50's. No decades of experience and ingrained driving habits as most western countries possess. So, maybe in 5-10 years the level of driving will slowly improve... As for motorcycles/scooters and tuk tuks, well, that's the majority of vehicles on the road here and by far the most accidents and deaths. Seeing as how I see kids as young as 9-10 roaring around the village on their parents/grandparents motorcycles (usually 3-4 on a bike) that doesn't bode well for developing good driving habits.

[Charlieb]

I would bet if you take any major city in the US or elsewhere and suspended enforcement of the traffic laws, the drivers there would soon be same as here. They have laws, they are not enforced!

[stattointhailand]

US drivers are even worse than Thai drivers Charlie .... they ALL drive on the wrong side of the road

[tamada]

I would bet if you take any major city in the US or elsewhere and suspended enforcement of the traffic laws, the drivers there would soon be same as here. They have laws, they are not enforced!

I'll take your bet. I can't see too many Americans removing their tail lights or too many Brits deciding to creep the wrong way along the hard shoulder on the M1 Speeding? Yes, that's a given but I doubt that the totally dumb driving dipshittery we see here daily would happen "soon".