Bangkok To Issaan - A 17 Hour Drive

[SantiSuk]

Our drive home yesterday from Jomtiem to SiSaket was extraordinary and will be of interest for anyone travelling Bangkok to Issaan in the next few days (hence the title to this thread).

In summary, Bangkok traffic was still clearly getting through along what I presume was the 305/33 and on up into Issaan. A he_ll of a lot of BKK refugee traffic was going as far east along the 33 as Watthana Nakhon (10 kilos short of Arranyapratet), then turning north to Buriram. Rumours said it was all Bangkok to Issaan traffic. We hit an accident tailback that was at least 20 kilometres long in the Tha Praya region and had a 4 hour wait until traffic moved and a 3 hour grind to get past the accident scene. In normal circumstances this route would be fine.

Now the detail. My intention was to drive up the 304 from Jomtien to Kabinburi and go over the hills to Highway 24 south of Korat. A lot of traffic joined the 304 from the 304 spur road near Chahchongsao and it was clear to me that two lanes of 60kph traffic was heading to meet two lanes of 33 traffic coming more directly form Eastern BKK to continue on the 304 over the Prachinburi hills. Anyone who knows that route could predict a 2-3 hour 15 kilo hill crawl behind heavy lorries. I elected to go up to Issaan by the most easterly route, so I turned east along the 359 towards Sa Kaeo and joined the 33 before turning left at Watthana Nakhon on the 3198 and thence the 348. This is part of the Chantaburi to Buriram route. In fact by the time we stopped for late lunch at Watthana Nakon refugee traffic was so heavy that I elected to run further along the 33 for 10 kilos turning north just before Arranyaprathet.

For 30 minutes I congratulated myself on a master stroke. The 359 had been busy, but fast and open. The 4 lane 33 was dead quiet after Watthana Nakhon and the 348 heading North was empty on both lanes, until the BKK traffic joined us on that highway when I slowed down again from 140kph to 60kph.

Pride comes before a fall! I should have been suspicious about no traffic coming the other way.

10 kilos later at about 4pm we hit a traffic queue. After 10 minutes I thought it would not be long before Thais would be coming in the 'outside lane'. Sure enough minutes later the selfish b@st@rds had filled virtually the whole of a 2 lane road with three lanes of traffic heading for what by now must surely have been an accident scene. Nothing moved for 2 hours and nobody could ascertain anything about what was the problem, where or how long. We eventually tried to head back along a very narrow fringe in the opposite lane - 2 kilos took one hour and then we were diverted by local 'officials' pointing left and shouting 'Buriram'. Great I thought - we are going to get out of this, and congratulated my wife who had pestered me against my better judgement to turn around to go to who knew where.

Anyway that was a ruse by local administrations/police to get us off the road to minimise the problem of resuming two way traffic. We were shepherded into a local community hall car park and fed and watered. There was official (semi-official) confirmation that lorries had crashed and were taking a long time to remove because ... you got, it rescue vehicles could not get through on either side because the selfish b@st@rds had blocked the road both sides. Lots of village vendors emerged. Two mossie-ridden hours later we were told the road had been partially cleared and we could join the queues. It took nearly 3 hours to progress another 10 kilos past a scene of about three lorries ploughed into each other and the embankment in the only narrow cutting on the only steep hill on the entire 600 kilo journey.

A trip that should have taken 8 hours took 17. Rumours/comments heard during the day included 'the Korat route is closed' - a reference to the 'Kabinburi hills' route. "This is the only open route to Issaan" (unlikely - where were all the blue and white buses then?. "I tried to get through to my shop at 6am but the accident had already happened; jeez - they could not clear it for 12 hours?; explains the queue that must have been 20 kilos plus (maybe even 30) long x 2-3 vehicles. "The police could not even reach the acccident for hours" "it's the Thai way - yes we agree that Thai people are selfish". When a few cars still tried blocking the overtaking lane afresh when traffic started moving I was wishing I had a primed bazooka in the back!

Now for any who have made it this far, the travel advice.

Traffic from Bangkok is extremely heavy into Issaan. When flowing, expect to average no more than 50kph even on four lane roads. The route down 7 to 314, then 314/304/359/33/348 to Buriram is highly recommended notwithstanding my travails. Very dry and I guess it would be much faster than using the full length of the 33. Accessing the 33 from Bangkok is more likely to be flood prone, but I note that the only green warning triangle along that access route (the 305 near Thanyaburi) seems to have been taken off in the last day or two [reference to the highway flood map http://www.thaiflood.com/highwaymap/]. All NCA buses to Buriram. Khon Kaen, Surin and Ubon were taking the 33 and going up through this 'Buriram route'. Curiously I saw not one 'blue and white' bus all day. Presumably they are either getting through on the traditional Highway 1 and 2 route (with substantial delays and diversions having been reported by those TV posters who tried it earlier in the week) or the rumours about the Kabinburi Hills route were false.

If you are going to Korat (or other points in western Issaan) you have to either gamble on the traditional route or go along the 33 and see how the land lies at the Kabinburi junction before turning up to Korat on the 304 or continuing along to take a longer route around using the 348.

Finally Highway 24 was a doddle at 2am (but will presumably be busy with refugee traffic from now on for some time if BKK inundates). The nasty suspension eating potholes east of Surin had thankfully been mostly filled in. Flooding? I saw no areas where there was a cat in he_ll's chance of flooding in the near future along my entire route. Of course I went nowhere near Eastern Bangkok.

I could bitch and moan some more about Thai driving selfishness (ok I already have) and the complete absence of any national road situation information or even radio information - I met not one Thai along the route who had a clue or seemed to care about not having a clue about what was going on. But I also have to balance this with the noticeable lack of rage from a population of victims who had just loaded up the pick up with their only prized possessions (motorcycle, TV and fridge typically) and the extreme friendliness and kindness of Thais who offered to share their victuals in circumstances where it was not clear how long we would be 'imprisoned' by low fuel and no clear route home.

I passed and exchanged words with 3 or 4 falang drivers. Not one was in the 'blocking lane'. Well done guys (and girl) - let's keep to our western standards of road decency!

[MrRed]

An excellent informative post especially for the many that will be thinking of going on this route over the next few days.

Good to hear you made it home safely in the end done the same route you took a few times but never in that timescale!!

Are we there yet?

[Gladiator]

Bloody Hell - what a horror strory. My worst nightmare!

[Sam Drucker]

. . . until the BKK traffic joined us on that highway when I slowed down again from 140kph to 60kph.

After 10 minutes I thought it would not be long before Thais would be coming in the 'outside lane'. Sure enough minutes later the selfish b@st@rds had filled virtually the whole of a 2 lane road with three lanes of traffic heading for what by now must surely have been an accident scene.

. . . you got, it rescue vehicles could not get through on either side because the selfish b@st@rds had blocked the road both sides.

"it's the Thai way - yes we agree that Thai people are selfish".

Seeing that the speed limit is 90kph and you readily admit you were driving 140kph, you have the nerve to be calling the Thai drivers "selfish b@st@rds"? Take a look in the mirror. If you don't care enough about yourself or your passengers (presumably loved ones) to drive at reasonably safe speeds, then think about the other people using the public roads that you are endangering. How would you feel if your unnecessary speeding killed somebody? What if you killed a kid?

Thai driving leaves a lot to be desired; driver education and the concept of "defensive driving" is not taught here, so they don't know any better. You don't have that excuse. So who's being selfish?

[SantiSuk]

Must still be Sunday - the evangelists are out.

[NanLaew]

. . . until the BKK traffic joined us on that highway when I slowed down again from 140kph to 60kph.

After 10 minutes I thought it would not be long before Thais would be coming in the 'outside lane'. Sure enough minutes later the selfish b@st@rds had filled virtually the whole of a 2 lane road with three lanes of traffic heading for what by now must surely have been an accident scene.

. . . you got, it rescue vehicles could not get through on either side because the selfish b@st@rds had blocked the road both sides.

"it's the Thai way - yes we agree that Thai people are selfish".

Seeing that the speed limit is 90kph and you readily admit you were driving 140kph, you have the nerve to be calling the Thai drivers "selfish b@st@rds"? Take a look in the mirror. If you don't care enough about yourself or your passengers (presumably loved ones) to drive at reasonably safe speeds, then think about the other people using the public roads that you are endangering. How would you feel if your unnecessary speeding killed somebody? What if you killed a kid?

Thai driving leaves a lot to be desired; driver education and the concept of "defensive driving" is not taught here, so they don't know any better. You don't have that excuse. So who's being selfish?

What rhymes with Drucker?

[Fookhaht]

Thanks so much to the OP for the report. I debated long an hard about a trip to Pattaya this long weekend, finally deciding against it. Your report confirms my suspicions about the horrendous traffic conditions outside the flood areas.

[bangkoktonni]

i drove from sukumvhit to amnat chareon in 11 hours yesterday,

the route we took was the tollway to don muang, we turned of after the airport and took the road to lam luk la, then we turned off to khlong 2 rangsit and headed to nahkon nayok, instead of going up the mountain through kabin buri we took the road through the khao yai national park

from there we used the signs to head to korat where highway 2 was still useable, we then took our normal route to amnat via prathai, buriram, roi et, yasothon, amnat chareon

[SantiSuk]

Good information BangkokTonni. That's another route that will always be dry at both ends given its elevation.

There is also another higher elevation route in between the 'Kabinburi route' and the 'Buriram route', running north of Sa Kaeo (highway 3462). Looks a bit twisty on southern end. Anyone ever used it?

If floods come down the east side of Bangkok routes out of BKK to Issaan might be limited to these four roads going north out of Prachinburi and Sa Kaeo provinces - Khao Yai (2090), Kabinburi (304), Sa Kaeo (3462) and Buriram (348).

If there is to be a major evacuation of Bangkok half of that traffic will be Issaan-bound. These routes will always be subject to crippling accidents if left as heavily trafficed two way routes. I guess it would take too much resource to enforce a planned one-way operation over a couple of routes.

Edited October 24, 2011 by SantiSuk

[Bkkbound]

Reminds me of the worst journey I ever made out to khemmerat in NE Ubon, its always been a 10hr trip from bkk which I do fairly often, don't ever try it during Sonkran, 20hrs and it could have been an epic movie,police officers guiding traffic and extorting money, whole sections of road in total gridlock,how anybody thought they could get back into BKK would have been fascinating as all traffic lanes were directed out... multiple accidents and to crown it off multiple police check points after dark and a number of them had drunk more rice whisky than appropriate..

Normal western standards do not apply here..

[whoppe78]

I took my same taxi driver form Airport to Surin on the 18th of Oct and it was smooth trip. Turned off one time to detour but it took around 9 hours only.