Thai Cultural Differences - Transportation

Back again~ This time I'll be talking about different ways Thais get around. This one will probably be quite short, but I think it's quite interesting. It was also one of the first things I noticed when I came here.

Public Transportation

• Buses go just about everywhere
• A 30 minute bus ride is about 10-30 baht, or 1 U.S. dollar
• The train is the fastest way to get around, but there aren't many times it runs
• If you're wearing a student uniform, you get a cheaper fair
• There is no school bus system in Thailand
• There are many kinds of buses:
• Public buses - are very slow and have no AC, but I personally like this the best
• Vans - have AC and are the fastest kind of bus here, but they're often crowded
• Travel buses - made for going to certain tourist attractions
• Tour buses - groups rent these out for trips and they are really fancy-looking

Personal Transportation

• Most Thai families use motorcycles to get around
• They only use the car for longer distances
• Pick up trucks can be used to transport many people as you can seat people in the truck bed
• Almost all Thais use manual transmission (I have yet to see automatic)
• The driver sits on the right

Traffic and Road Control

• Generally there is always a bit of traffic
• Keep a look out because people will do just about anything to avoid traffic
• I have never seen a speed limit sign here
• Rarely do the police pull drivers over for violations, unless an accident was caused
• All road signs are written in Thai with English right below
• People drive on the right side of the road