Cars Bring Bangkok To Standstill

[webfact]

Cars bring Bangkok to standstill

By Billy Adams

BANGKOK: -- Government tax rebate for first-time owners boosts vehicle sales in a city where rush-hour traffic can last all day.

They still call it rush hour, only now it lasts most of the day. As car sales soar, there's a noticeable drop in the number of places you can get them out of second gear.

Bangkok, long-standing poster-child for urban gridlock, is driving itself to a standstill.

And Thailand's Government has been doing its bit to accelerate the process.

Last year, over seven million vehicles fought for space in an area supposed to accommodate just 1.5 million. Then new Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra fulfilled a popular election promise to give first-time car buyers a generous tax rebate.

The scheme was supposed to end at the New Year, but has been so successful it's been extended to March, by which time Bangkok will be home to a further 500,000 cars.

"The congestion is very bad and next year it's only going to get worse," says Dr Thongchai Panswad, a sustainable transport activist who founded the Thailand Cycling Club to promote travel on two wheels. We need to do a lot of things, but most of all we need to reduce the number of cars." [more...]

Full story: http://www.nzherald....jectid=10858163

-- The New Zealand Herald 2013-01-10

[Thai at Heart]

Bangkok in traffic jam shock....

[ignis]

Maybe they want to make it another Hub ?

Thailand's 1st Hub of Gridlock

[Squigy]

In a year's time all these rebated cars will be causing gridlock in the second hand car yards along with loss of face!

[noitom]

Just think how much money the Thais burn on petrol.

[MunterHunter]

Wont be these new cars on the car dealership lot (they are not allowed to sel lthem for 4 years i think it was) - but there will be a load of other used and abused cars there!

[Humbugged]

They had to get rid of all those drowned cars somehow.

So nice of the government.

[MaxLee]

And imagine there will be another Megaflood coming, and the Japanese car industry upcountry along with the newly bought cars are getting soaked under water again,....

.... there's gonna be another cheaper first car buyer policy, in order to COMPENSATE the Japanese automobile industry and the cycle continues....

[thelegend]

Want a long term busy career opportunity? Train now as a Repossession Agent......... all these 100000 baht babies will be comming back!!!!

[pedro01]

I really haven't noticed any difference. Maybe it's just the routes I take.

[maturebrit]

I really haven't noticed any difference. Maybe it's just the routes I take.

hahaha if people think BKK is bad they should try Jakarta....twice as bad

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect App

[FarangTalk]

I really haven't noticed any difference. Maybe it's just the routes I take.

hahaha if people think BKK is bad they should try Jakarta....twice as bad

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect App

Or Manila. Phnom Penh is steadily getting worse too.

[seajae]

Maybe if the drivers had to pass actual driving tests before they were allowed to drive it would help, some basic training like:

You have to stop at red lights.

You must drive on the left hand side of the road.

You do not overtake on double lines and cars on the other side of the road do not have to move off the road to allow you to do it.

You do not have right of way just because you start the car.

On a one way road you can not travel in the opposite direction because it is easier.

If you are on your cell phone pull over, dont just drive very slow and use every lane.

You do not turn right from the left hand lane .

and this doesnt even start on the bike riders, oh well, we can only dream.

[Curt1591]

Maybe if the drivers had to pass actual driving tests before they were allowed to drive it would help, some basic training like:

I have always contended that Thai drivers are their own worst enemies.

I think it's because most start "driving" motorcycles, then transfer those habits to cars.

[hellodolly]

Wont be these new cars on the car dealership lot (they are not allowed to sel lthem for 4 years i think it was) - but there will be a load of other used and abused cars there!

there will be a lot of these cars for sale next year when the buyers discover they have to make monthly payments on them.

[householder]

I really haven't noticed any difference. Maybe it's just the routes I take.

hahaha if people think BKK is bad they should try Jakarta....twice as bad

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect App

Or Manila. Phnom Penh is steadily getting worse too.

Yangon is pretty dire too - government made import permits more accessible, which flooded the streets with cars. Now they have belatedly acknowledged the problem and are building overpasses at a snail's pace. One junction has a signal change time of 22.5 minutes for one flow of traffic! Par for the course now are lots of single occupant 4x4s driving around.

[likewise]

Hmm, the scheme will be extended to March which will add another 500.000 cars to the roads.....Then next paragraph says : We need to do a lot of things, but most of all we need to reduce the number of cars."!!!

[steelepulse]

When is the crackdown on gridlock going to start? There's been so many successful crackdowns on everything else that surely BKK will be gridlock free in 90 days after a crackdown is declared!

[muratremix]

Extending scheme until March? They really want to sink Thailand in a debt crisis much like Greece. Then, Thaksin family can takeover thailand at a bargain price!

[belg]

i gamble, for the less fortunate, next year or election : free motorcycle or tax rebate...

[pipchatel]

For me I am utterly convinced that once a Thai's gets behind the wheel of a car, they CEASE to be Buddhists. The more expensive the care, the worse they get. They would rather hit the old lady selling noodles than let her cross the road.They would rather Hit a child trying to cross the road at school times. Same same with Bikes

Poor Thailand

[rogeraee]

It is well known internationally that Bangkok is the largest Car Park in the world at anytime of the day. And you do not even have to pay to park, but must remain in your car.

[Hunter88]

It's about selling cars. Not being able to drive them.

[smedly]

In a year's time all these rebated cars will be causing gridlock in the second hand car yards along with loss of face!

I just wonder how many bought these cars on finance and once the 100k rebate runs out won't be able to make the payments

[EkkamaiMan]

Good to see a politician lowering taxes.

[Nickymaster]

In a year's time all these rebated cars will be causing gridlock in the second hand car yards along with loss of face!

I just wonder how many bought these cars on finance and once the 100k rebate runs out won't be able to make the payments

Most people have bought these cars on credit and they can't sell the car within 5 years.

This scheme is going to put many of those greedy car buyers into trouble.

[stevehaigh]

Thai's don't mind gridlock, more time they can sit in aircon and show off their new car to passers by

[CMTourist]

In a year's time all these rebated cars will be causing gridlock in the second hand car yards along with loss of face!

I just wonder how many bought these cars on finance and once the 100k rebate runs out won't be able to make the payments

Most people have bought these cars on credit and they can't sell the car within 5 years.

This scheme is going to put many of those greedy car buyers into trouble.

This concerns me too. That in less than a year a lot of people, possibkly hundreds of thousands, will be struggling with debt repayments, will be facing repossession and at the very least be looking at an "asset" that due to there being a huge number of similar cars of similar age, will be depreciating rapidly and easily in excess of the 100k they "saved" by buying it.

It only benefits the Japanese car companies so far as I can tell.

Mind you, the US did the same thing with its "Cash for Clunkers" programs, which also seemed to be a direct transfer of funds straight to Japanese car companies.

[MunterHunter]

Sounds liek a good opportunity to buy a second hand car, send it to the provinces and sell it (or use it if your not BKK based)

[Katipo]

I bought my car to get out of Bangkok in the weekends. Now even just getting out of the city can take 1-2 hours on a Saturday morning.