Longest Lasting Traffic Light In Bkk

[corkscrew]

Surely this must be the longest lasting red light in Bangkok: the red traffic light that stops westbound traffic on Sathorn at the intersection with Surasak at 6:30 PM on a Wednesday.

If I knew it was going to take this long I would have walked the 6km from where I was to where I wanted to be.

I didn't actually time it but it stayed red through at least 3 musical cuts on 105.5FM. I swear it must have been close to 10 minutes...it seemed like 20.

In your opinion where is the worst place to be in Bangkok traffic and when?

[Thaiboxer]

Victory Monument is a nasty place in the afternoon rush hour. The same goes for Srinakarin Rd. Pretty much any area that is considered "downtown" seems to have the same length of traffic jams. As for streetlights the longest I've been at was 5 minutes, but it stayed green for only 15 or so seconds!

[The_Other_Mac]

I think you've just named it

Those lights hold up the traffic that backs up all the way to the river, over Taksin Bridge, and at least several kms up the Krung-Thonburi road, quite possibly beyond, before the lights cycle. That's inbound evening traffic. In the morning it apparently takes up to two hours to cross the bridge into Sathorn; and this is the place that has the almost-complete Skytrain extension that TRT have been blocking for the last 5 years.

Why do they do it? By letting the pressure out at Surasak onto the expressway ramp, the police help keep Silom moving and stop gridlock that could easily ripple across the streets to north of Lumpini. It also keeps Sathorn itself relatively clear, at least for the business commuters leaving the office. It seems to me that they are keeping their own turf relatively clear, at the expense of those trying to get into the city.

If you hung around until around 10pm, you would witness a different event: Sathorn becomes filled with convoys of roaring, overloaded trucks which head down Rama 4 to the port. These actually pulled over earlier, outside the city on Rama 2, which comes up from the South. They line the hard shoulder for miles outside, and voluntarily sit there for hours. Apparently there is an understanding between the police and the haulage companies: they wait until rush hour is over; the police don't hassle them for being 20 tons overloaded. Of course that in turn means that the road surface is in appalling condition, but hey it's a system.

Several huge bridges are being built, and at planning stage, south of the city centre, which should alleivate the traffic in a few years by providing a more direct route to the port from Rama 2; and later by allowing traffic to bypass Bangkok entirely, en-route to the eastern seaboard.

[Rinrada]

Just sit there ...poo cha cha and countdown......79-78-77-7....................

[350torana]

Victory Monument is a nasty place in the afternoon rush hour. The same goes for Srinakarin Rd. Pretty much any area that is considered "downtown" seems to have the same length of traffic jams. As for streetlights the longest I've been at was 5 minutes, but it stayed green for only 15 or so seconds!

I reckon Victory Monument is bad a bad place to drive anytime . We get those long red light waits in the outer suburbs as well. I counted 15 mins on one red light at a intersection on Ramkamhaeng Rd

[Thaiboxer]

I reckon Victory Monument is bad a bad place to drive anytime . We get those long red light waits in the outer suburbs as well. I counted 15 mins on one red light at a intersection on Ramkamhaeng Rd

I frequently drive on Ramkamhaeng Rd and some of those lights seem to last several minutes. However, many lights will also stay green for while giving you a better chance to get through before they change again. In the States traffic jams seem to pop up in certain spots but there are always clear spots. Here in Bangkok, it's all one big traffic jam. Where we live it takes people on average about two hours to reach the downtown area...a distance of only 20 or so kms.

[Explorer]

Surely this must be the longest lasting red light in Bangkok: the red  traffic light that stops westbound traffic on Sathorn at the intersection with Surasak at 6:30 PM on a Wednesday.

If I knew it was going to take this long I would have walked the 6km from where I was to where I wanted to be.

I didn't actually time it but it stayed red through at least 3 musical cuts on 105.5FM. I swear it must have been close to 10 minutes...it seemed like 20.

In your opinion where is the worst place to be in Bangkok traffic and when?

Is this where you will see people who wanted to cross the road sitting by the roadside enjoying the view of cars passing by and chit chating about what they have done for the day while waiting the lights to change for them to cross? If it is, i've been there before .

Explorer

[corkscrew]

That is a good explanation as to why those lights governing E/W flow on Sathorn is so long at rush hour....it keeps the pressure off Silom and Surawong. Since I live just off Silom I guess I shouldn't complain too much.

I think you've just named it

Those lights hold up the traffic that backs up all the way to the river, over Taksin Bridge, and at least several kms up the Krung-Thonburi road, quite possibly beyond, before the lights cycle. That's inbound evening traffic. In the morning it apparently takes up to two hours to cross the bridge into Sathorn; and this is the place that has the almost-complete Skytrain extension that TRT have been blocking for the last 5 years.

Why do they do it? By letting the pressure out at Surasak onto the expressway ramp, the police help keep Silom moving and stop gridlock that could easily ripple across the streets to north of Lumpini. It also keeps Sathorn itself relatively clear, at least for the business commuters leaving the office. It seems to me that they are keeping their own turf relatively clear, at the expense of those trying to get into the city.

If you hung around until around 10pm, you would witness a different event: Sathorn becomes filled with convoys of roaring, overloaded trucks which head down Rama 4 to the port. These actually pulled over earlier, outside the city on Rama 2, which comes up from the South. They line the hard shoulder for miles outside, and voluntarily sit there for hours. Apparently there is an understanding between the police and the haulage companies: they wait until rush hour is over; the police don't hassle them for being 20 tons overloaded. Of course that in turn means that the road surface is in appalling condition, but hey it's a system.

Several huge bridges are being built, and at planning stage, south of the city centre, which should alleivate the traffic in a few years by providing a more direct route to the port from Rama 2; and later by allowing traffic to bypass Bangkok entirely, en-route to the eastern seaboard.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[corkscrew]

Yes...I could have left my car and had dinner on the footpath and been back in my car before the light turned green.

Surely this must be the longest lasting red light in Bangkok: the red  traffic light that stops westbound traffic on Sathorn at the intersection with Surasak at 6:30 PM on a Wednesday.

If I knew it was going to take this long I would have walked the 6km from where I was to where I wanted to be.

I didn't actually time it but it stayed red through at least 3 musical cuts on 105.5FM. I swear it must have been close to 10 minutes...it seemed like 20.

In your opinion where is the worst place to be in Bangkok traffic and when?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is this where you will see people who wanted to cross the road sitting by the roadside enjoying the view of cars passing by and chit chating about what they have done for the day while waiting the lights to change for them to cross? If it is, i've been there before .

Explorer

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Edited November 24, 2005 by corkscrew

[Thaiboxer]

Traffic jams are one thing, but combined with the floods during the rainy season they're a nightmare. Old cars that sit fairly low to the ground (like mine) end up getting turned into submarines. In our moobaan, I can feel the waves hitting the doors as I SLOWLY drive to our house. In some places the water goes well over the curb.

[markuk]

The ones outside Ital Thai building when coming from Sukhumvit 31 - they can cycle every 20-30 minutes at certain times of the day - or maybe the policman falls asleep now and again!!

[Thaiboxer]

I don't know about the policemen falling asleep out there...they would be wasting a good opportunity to collect their tea money from the motorists

Now that it's near the end of the month, I've noticed that the boys in brown have set up several roadblocks near our neighborhood. They mainly target big trucks and taxi drivers though. As long as they don't see my face, they'll probably figure I'm poor by the car I drive.

[Axel]

The ones outside Ital Thai building when coming from Sukhumvit 31 - they can cycle every 20-30 minutes at certain times of the day - or maybe the policman falls asleep now and again!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, sometimes faster to make a left turn and a U-turn before Rachada...

OK, sometimes you're stuck there as well

[EVO]

Traffic lights at the end of Rachadamnern Klang, heading over the Pinkloa bridge can manage a 20 minute cycle in the morning rush hour frequently. When they do go green, they give you 20 secs. Taking into account Somchai is sat at his wheel reading the morning gossip columns and which delays his departure somewhat, it usually means bugger all cars getting through.

Coming back over the bridge in an evening can also be a fantastic challenge. Thursday took my 90 mins to get from Charan Sanitwong/Pnikloa junction to the opposite side of the bridge. Total distance - 1.2 km. Is that a record???

[corkscrew]

Traffic lights at the end of Rachadamnern Klang, heading over the Pinkloa bridge can manage a 20 minute cycle in the morning rush hour frequently. When they do go green, they give you 20 secs. Taking into account Somchai is sat at his wheel reading the morning gossip columns and which delays his departure somewhat, it usually means bugger all cars getting through.

Coming back over the bridge in an evening can also be a fantastic challenge. Thursday took my 90 mins to get from Charan Sanitwong/Pnikloa junction to the opposite side of the bridge. Total distance - 1.2 km. Is that a record???

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes! 90 minutes for 1.2km must be a record. And your litres per 100km was what? Very high double digits?

[EVO]

Not sure what the fuel consumption was, but the Ford Escape sure is damned thirsty!!!! Hos about 320km for a full tank of Gasohol 95!!!!!

[corkscrew]

Daniel Ziv and Guy Sharett in their book BANGKOK INSIDE OUT have their own opinion of BKK traffic hel_l:

"If you want to make someone's life really miserable, tell them they must absolutely go sightseeing around Bangkok's unique Kaset intersection in the north of the city, preferably before sunset, at around 5:30 PM. It's the city's most congested junction during rush hour, and drivers routinely spend thirty minutes to an hour stuck in hopeless gridlock."

[Plus+]

Kaset's not so bad if you come from certain directions at certain times of day, but another point is more interesting - I swear they've been building the underpass there for two years already. It's barely 500 meters long. Imagine how long it will take to build 300 KILOmeters Taksin promising for 2009.

[corkscrew]

Daniel Ziv and Guy Sharett in their book BANGKOK INSIDE OUT have their own opinion of BKK traffic hel_l:

"If you want to make someone's life really miserable, tell them they must absolutely go sightseeing around Bangkok's unique Kaset intersection in the north of the city, preferably before sunset, at around 5:30 PM. It's the city's most congested junction during rush hour, and drivers routinely spend thirty minutes to an hour stuck in hopeless gridlock."

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I still think my neighborhood Sathorn/Surawk intersection is the worst...of course you have to be going west at about 5:30 PM to capture the pure flavour of this purgatory of red lights.

[thaihome]

Daniel Ziv and Guy Sharett in their book BANGKOK INSIDE OUT have their own opinion of BKK traffic hel_l:

"If you want to make someone's life really miserable, tell them they must absolutely go sightseeing around Bangkok's unique Kaset intersection in the north of the city, preferably before sunset, at around 5:30 PM. It's the city's most congested junction during rush hour, and drivers routinely spend thirty minutes to an hour stuck in hopeless gridlock."

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I still think my neighborhood Sathorn/Surawk intersection is the worst...of course you have to be going west at about 5:30 PM to capture the pure flavour of this purgatory of red lights.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I would have to vote for either turing right onto Rama IV from the expressway offramp at 6:00PM or northbound on Narathiwat at the Sathorn intersection at the same time.

TH