Behind the Wheel in Bangkok

Word has it that Bangkok has a tenth of this country’s people, but a third of its cars. That lopsided statistic leads to lots of consequences. Tedious traffic is the most obvious, but several other odd adaptations result from the Big Mango’s auto addiction.

One is that people here park behind and perpendicular to one another, in order to fit more cars into a small space. In the States you see this kind of arrangement only at sporting events and county fairs, when for two or three hours it’s necessary to use every square inch of ground within walking distance of the stadium.

But at those events you often leave your keys with an attendant, who takes care of moving the vehicles around if somebody has to leave early. Here, the practice is to lock the car but leave it in neutral. If another car is blocking your exit, you just push it gently out of the way and carry on.

Another peculiarity of getting around in this town is the u-turn. Often the only way to turn right when merging with a major road here is to first turn left, then go quite a distance before using a horseshoe-shaped bridge built especially to allow drivers to go back the way they came.

One stretch of Sukhumvit Rd. is often so busy that it can take as long as 40 minutes in a car to get back to where you started…unless you manage to cut across traffic and enter the Kentucky Fried Chicken drive-through. That daring maneuver can shave about 30 minutes off the u-turn process, but of course there’s a catch.

You have to either buy something at the restaurant, or pay $1.50 for the privilege of using their driveway. People who need to do this frequently can buy a sticker for their window identifying them as members of the “KFC Turnaround Club.” Only in Bangkok.