Do I Need A Car In Bkk?

[OldAsiaHand]

Agree I would never own or drive a car in BKK.I look at the silly farangs driving cars and figure they aren't playing with a full deck.Maybe they never had one before.

Why??? What is so strange about owning and driving a car in Bangkok? Some people don't live downtown and would prefer to be sitting in there own car for 4 hours per day listening to there own music and enjoying there AC rather than sitting in some stinking taxi or bus.

Cheers. Noodles

Uh-oh. My advice, Noodles, is don't get drawn in here.

This sounds an awful lot like the start of another of those frequent upheavals of class warfare among TV posters that tend to bring out the self-righteous idiots in real force. The I-live-on-less-money-than-you-do crowd here is both antagonistic and tenacious about the moral superiority of their chosen lifestyle.

[grtaylor]

I bought a car here when I worked in a job out at Bangplee (around 25km out of the centre). It was well-nigh impossilbe to get a taxi to go all the way late evening. One taxi to Central City - another one to Thana City.

Now I live in Sukhumvit Soi 6 (3 minutes to the BTS), and work in Soi 15, but my car sits in the condo car park from Sunday evening to Friday. If I go out in the evenings I use the BTS and/or taxis. If I go away at the weekends I use it, and if I stay in BKK I use it to drive around the city when the traffic is lighter.

Now, as regards the "correct" side of the road for driving, most americans seem to be under the impression that the UK is the odd-one-out in the world. Not so! The UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Macau, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, and most ex-British colonies in Africa all drive on the left!

G

[Thaidit]

Well, I am now living in BKK and on Soi Lang Suan, about a 10 min walk to the Chidlom BTS. My work is within walking distance and shopping is nearby. If I don't wander off too far, I wouldn't need a car at all. But there are times and places where having a car would be great.

I can totally function and live without car in BKK, but having one, especially for getting away for the weekend, would be nice. So I am planning to buy a used car from a co-worker for such usage. Thanks to all for the input.

[Skyline]

Well,

I love having a car in BKK.The freedom it gives you at the weekends to get out of town and the ease of the weekly shopping excursion.Ok,the traffic is a pain at times,but i dont think its any worse than London at rush hour.

As for the OP,importing a car from the US would be a waste of money unless its a car of importance to him.Buy one here cheaper, and it would be RIGHT hand drive too!

[Heng]

Need is relative to everyone's own situation. I wouldn't think twice about getting in a taxi alone at 2am. I wouldn't want my maid to however, and certainly no family member. It's not rocket science. Most taxi drivers are honest, but in the end, there are plenty of bad apples -just read the Thai Rath over the course of a year and count the murder, rape, robbery, etc. cases- (after all, they are from the most financially/socially distressed portion of society.... no it doesn't make them bad, but they are simply living closer to the edge).

Yeah, the BTS and subway are great.... I live less than a km from three stations from one of my condos, and a short 3 km drive to the Ladprao Park and Ride from my home-office, and hopefully (knock on wood) near a station on the proposed future BTS Ramakhamhaeng/Sukapibal 3 line (maybe in 20 years?) from my folks house. The big drawback though is still the midnight closing.

edit: oh yeah, my vote goes: car for evenings, nights, and low traffic time (often in the day when everyone else has arrived at work). Car and driver + BTS/subway for day time and rush hour times. Taxis when necessary ("one way" trips to the airport when your driver has been given a holiday while you'll be out of town for example).