Do Thais drive badly?
In any case, this is my first impression as soon as I arrived in Bangkok.
The contrast with driving in France and Spain is striking:
- The drive is on the left
- We see vehicles going in all directions
- There are hundreds of scooters, which do not seem to respect any rules
- Pedestrians are vaguely tolerated, they have no priority over cars, on the contrary
- Cars stop at a red light, but not those turning left
- There are endless and very complex phases of fire, with many lanes crossing, and during this time, scooters cross a little in all directions
- All vehicles, scooters, taxis, tuktuks, etc., start when they want and start from their parking space without taking care of those who arrive
Yes BUT: Since I’ve been in Bangkok (15 days), I haven’t seen any bumps, no accidents. It sometimes goes very well, but it almost always happens.
So I changed my first impression and I now think Thais are exceptional drivers. That said, I won’t have fun renting a scooter or a car. It is better to trust them, whether by getting into a taxi, in a tuktuk or on a motorcycle taxi (I have not yet dared).