The crazy Bangkok traffic.

Journal and photo by Neil Dana

Where are you from, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, or maybe Dallas? Well, wherever you are from, if you get frustrated with traffic or road conditions, then I urge you, never drive in Bangkok!! Today, we had to bring our Land Rovers to the dealership in downtown Bangkok, yikes!

Looking at the map, we figured out our route, and it didn't seem like it would be so bad. We could take tollways most of the way and then end up right by it, no problem. Well, there is no way to get around in Bangkok without a problem if you are driving here for the first time. As we left the hotel, we had to make a right turn onto a road which was extremely busy, and they drive on the left side of the road here, so we had to cross two lanes of traffic just to get into the traffic going in the same direction we wanted to head. Luckily, there was a guard there to blow his whistle and try and stop traffic for us. It eventually worked, and we were on our way. So I was leading, and Adam was following behind me, just the two us. We got onto the road, then came to the next road where we were suppose to go right to cross a river, only you can't go right there. We had to go left and then do a U-turn. However, in Bangkok, the opportunity for doing a U-turn, or even making a right turn, only presents itself every once in very long while. So we had to drive about a mile down the opposite direction just so we could turn around and go the correct way.

After that, we drove across the Taksin Bridge and looked for signs to the RAMA IX tollway. "OH, there it is!" I say to myelf, as I try to merge into three other lanes of traffic to move over in time to get onto a road that I am not even sure is the right road, because the sign for the road is just after the actual turn, but seems to indicate this is the correct turn. So I go for it, and luckily, it is the correct turn, and we drive under the expressway for a while before there are signs that actually lead you to the side to pay a toll and enter a ramp up to the expressway, which is a second level freeway that loops around parts of Bangkok, intertwined with other tollways that are a bit difficult to understand at times.

So we pay 40 baht, $1, and get on the toll road. As I am driving and looking at the map, constantly trying to figure out which lane of six to be in for the next set of overpass signs to follow, I narrowly avoid brushes with other cars. Eventually after winding around for 10 miles, I find the correct off ramp and exit. However, when we exit, there is an option to get on another tollway which goes in the same direction as the road we want. The map shows the road we want and the toll road as the same, so I choose the toll road. Oops, wrong choice. Once we pay another 40 baht to get on, we realize this toll road doesn't have any exits for miles. So we pass where we were supposed to see Land Rover and keep going and going and going, and finally, there is an exit! Phew, we exit and are now under the tollway, but we can't turn around, there literally is no way to turn around, so we just go straight under the toll road, filled with tons of traffic, until we can find a way to turn around.

Well, finally, after 15 minutes and a few miles more, there is a ramp that is called the "U-Turn" ramp, so we take it and go up and over the current traffic jam, around and back into the traffic jam going to opposite direction, back towards where we want to go. Well that's good, at least we are going the right way and we should come across the Land Rover dealership within 15 minutes or so. We were supposed to be there by 5 p.m., and now it is already 5 p.m., and we are pushing our luck. So as we near where the Land Rover dealership should be, we realize that it is still on the other side of the road. Well, how the heck do we get over there? By the time we have already passed the dealership, we finally see an option to go somewhere other than under the tollway. We enter, and it is another tollway. So I ask the lady how to turn around and get on the other side of the road. She tells me to get on this tollway and exit to the right and turn around. All right, sounds simple enough.

We get on the tollway, another 40 baht, and there is no exit to the right; what was she talking about? So we go and go and go, and turn onto other loops and are heading in a strange direction so that I have no clue where we are going. I am not using the map at this point, as I am just using my instincts to get us back. So I finally exit after a few miles, and then we deal with turning around again, which is a nightmare in itself, then pay another 40 baht toll, while getting upset with the lady because we are driving in circles. It's not her fault, I know, but I am getting a bit perturbed!!!!!! So we get back on and luckily, I see signs for Rama IX again and we are on the original route we began with, so now I know that when we exit, to stay to the left, and not get back on the tollway, and we will find Land Rover. And sure enough we did. It was about 5:45 when we got there, but they were still there and we were happy to see them. They gave us coffee, sprite, cookies and chips, and we were happy campers. Just another day driving around Bangkok.

Gees!

Neil

D3 in front of the Imperial Palace.

Journal and photos by Neil Dana

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.