I have to drive a friend from Korat City to Swampy tomorrow (Wed 28th).

His flight is at 8PM and me and wife have decided to book a hotel in Sukhumvit Soi 13 rather than face the turnaround and drive back.

We need to get him there by 6pm for check in. The drive normally takes 3 hours, what time would you recommend I leave Korat to make the 6PM time?

Has anyone been down the main highway from Korat to BKK or Swampy since the coup started?

How many checkpoints an I likely to go through and how much traffic can I expect at each one... also will it be a nightmare from Swampy to Sukhumvit??

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

If you're going directly to Swampy, it's faster to take the Eastern Outer Ring Road tollway, which cuts off left off highway 1 before the highway makes the final turn to Bangkok. Consult google maps. Drive time avoiding Bangkok metro will be about 3.5-4 hrs. that time of day (allow 5 to be safe). Cop stops are mostly in Korat province leaving Korat and (near Pak Chong) and mostly nearing BKK.

Yes the rush hour traffic jam.Give yourself 5 hours if not more.If your going from Korat.