Off-season rains cause worst traffic jams in Bangkok and provinces

[webfact]

Off-season rains cause worst traffic jams in capital and provinces



BANGKOK: -- The off-season rains this morning in Bangkok and several provinces in upper part of the country caused many road accidents in the city streets and on highways and subsequent traffic jams.

In Bangkok, worst traffic jam was reported on the inbound traffic of the Ratchadapisek road.

Several accidents happened on the road at several locations, mainly due to slippery of the road surface after the off-season rain in the morning.

Traffic jam was reported over 15 kilometres long along Ratchadapisek road from Rama 9 stretching to Rama 7 bridge, while Lardprao road was also affected when traffic snarled up and extended Toma’s far as NIDA intersection.

Adjacent roads like Ramkhamhaeng, Phetburi, Sukhumvit, Vibhavadi were all affected.

Office employers complained they all went late to offices by over an hour.

Meanwhile traffic jams were also reported on many major highways, Friendship, Asia, Phaholyothin, Phetkasem, Western and Eastern ring roads due to accidents.

Truck collisions, bus crashes, truck capsizes, private cars, commercial trucks skidding off highways were reported along the side ditches of these highways.

There was no report of fatalities yet but highway police said it was a worst day of accidents with numerous cases of vehicles skidding off highways through out this morning

Thailand Meteorological Department earlier predicted rains and turbulent weather in upper part of the country today due to the arrival of strong cold snap from China.

The combination of the cold snap and westerly wind blowing past the upper part will result in turbulent weather and heavy rains, it said.

It also said after the rains, temperature could plunge 6-8 degrees Celsius.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/off-season-rains-cause-worst-traffic-jams-capital-provinces


-- Thai PBS 2015-01-08

[Thian]

Yup, and of course the cars have to wait on the spot of the accident untill the insurance arrives.

[smutcakes]

They talk as if the rain is some unkown phenomonen that no drivers have ever seen before.

Normal drivers when it rains have the capacity to adjust driving style to meet the conditions.

[ToddinChonburi]

Funny, when it snow 2 inches back home there would be seveal hundred accidents. No one seems to be able to adjust to road conditions.

[boomerangutang]

Having to reside in Bkk must be like being married to a fat hairlipped hag who you stopped loving decades ago.

[siampolee]

smutcakes post # 3.

They talk as if the rain is some unknown phenomenon that no drivers have ever seen before.

Normal drivers when it rains have the capacity to adjust driving style to meet the conditions.

smutcakes!!! Serious error there my good man see below.

Normal drivers when it rains have the capacity to adjust driving style to meet the conditions.

Kindly take 100 lines stating.'' I must remember normality does not exist in that which passes for Thai vehicle drivers minds.''

[BKKBrit]

The problem is the amount of oil-slick that builds up on the roads in the dry season. Two or three years ago coming back from Kanchanaburi the downward slope of the Pinklao bridge was like an ice rink after a brief shower. Nothing gripped the surface and buses, cars and horrendously bikes, were sliding all over the place. So exercise due care on wet roads when it's been dry for too long.

[JOC]

Having to reside in Bkk must be like being married to a fat hairlipped hag who you stopped loving decades ago.

You met my wife??

[marko kok prong]

Actually the road surface does become very slippery after a prolonged dry spell and then rain,this is due to oil,rubber from tyres,chemicals from exhausts ect,however in Australia most drivers are aware of this fact,it seems not to be the case here.

[Bluespunk]

"Several accidents happened on the road at several locations, mainly due to slippery of the road surface after the off-season rain in the morning."

Nothing to do with crappy driving then?

[catmaninoz]

Diesel fumes create road soap.

Fun when you know about it.

[impulse]

Having to reside in Bkk must be like being married to a fat hairlipped hag who you stopped loving decades ago.

Yeah, but can she cook?

[rasmus5150]

And the great solution to this problem..........As reported in an earlier thread......."The event will be launched in extravaganza style with a 3.5 kilometer long colorful parade moving through prime areas of Bangkok.".

My "HAPPINESS METER" just hit rock bottom, thinking about how congested the roads are gonna be in this period.

Edited January 8, 2015 by rasmus5150

[Commerce]

Would be interesting to see pics of the accidents. I bet a fair few were trucks, old 4x4s etc. without tread! I've never had my car slip on a Thai road, as I always ensure tyres are well-treaded. Speed and no rubber - causes the worst of unexpected accidents.

[Cuchulainn]

It's not the weather. It's the morons and arrseholes behind the wheels.

Edited January 8, 2015 by Cuchulainn

[Tatsujin]

Actually the road surface does become very slippery after a prolonged dry spell and then rain,this is due to oil,rubber from tyres,chemicals from exhausts ect,however in Australia most drivers are aware of this fact,it seems not to be the case here.

They're aware of nothing except where they want to go, in as short a time as possible, once they turn that key.

[Sviss Geez]

It's not the weather. It's the morons and arrseholes behind the wheels.

Some of the Thai drivers aren't too good either.

[Cuchulainn]

Worst I've ever come across.

They drive like Ken Dodd on ecstacy and park, sorry, abandon, their cards as if sulfuric acid has been dropped on their laps.

[Pib]

Add in motorcyclists who have parked under a overpass and blocking a whole lane waiting for the rain to stop and it just magnifies the traffic jam. And I will have to say the great majority of Thais do indeed slow down when it's raining which decreases the rate of traffic flow. Rain in Bangkok definitely has a BIG impact on traffic flow...can bring it to a crawl or standstill....been there, done that as I drive a vehicle and live in Bangkok.

[rayw]

Yup, and of course the cars have to wait on the spot of the accident untill the insurance arrives.

Yes indeed that is so so outdated and stupid and time it was changed. In most countries you exchange details like vehicle registration number, names and insurance companies and take you own photos if you have a camera or smart phone on you and then if drivable you drive off and clear the road for traffic. The current system here is so totally idiotic in this respect.

If nobody is injured or killed and the vehicles can be easily driven away, then there is surely no need at all for even the police to be involved as indeed I know that is the case in the UK where all the minor accidents (most of them are indeed minor) are sensibly quickly resolved and the road cleared within a few minutes in most cases. Sure some of the few good things like this they do have in the UK still should be looked at and adopted here too, as we all can and should of course learn from each other in an intelligent world.

I remember my car being run into by another care clumsily in a car park and had to wait there over two hours for the insurance guys to arrive and totally destroyed my planned out day. I was really fuming over it as indeed the damage was also quite small. Total stupidity IMHO and also affecting other totally non involved other road users, really crap this is as most folk Falang and Thai would surely agree.

[elgordo38]

They talk as if the rain is some unkown phenomonen that no drivers have ever seen before.

Normal drivers when it rains have the capacity to adjust driving style to meet the conditions.

If they had snow freezing rain and black ice here they would all be in the ditch. Glad I do not own a car. Just got back home safely on my bicycle. Did not see any accidents here in Chiang Mai

[elgordo38]

Having to reside in Bkk must be like being married to a fat hairlipped hag who you stopped loving decades ago.

You could not give me free lodgings and beer in that place yet like Chiang Mai huge condo,s are springing up all over the place. I can stand by the pool on the 5th floor of our condo and count 4 large cranes and 3 smaller ones on the horizon looking toward Maya plaza. Glad I do not have a birds eye view of the rest of the country.

[Johnnie99]

The problem is the amount of oil-slick that builds up on the roads in the dry season. Two or three years ago coming back from Kanchanaburi the downward slope of the Pinklao bridge was like an ice rink after a brief shower. Nothing gripped the surface and buses, cars and horrendously bikes, were sliding all over the place. So exercise due care on wet roads when it's been dry for too long.

We do all agree, I am sure, that the cause of the slippery conditions is occasionally as you say.

The noxious points people are making, however, concern the inability of Thais to recognise conditions which actually change, for example from safe to unsafe.

[mike324]

Thailand has a rainy season that lasts 4-5 months correct? yet people are still surprise by rain while driving?

[janpoo]

Are the off-season rains different then the rainy season rains ?????????? No of course not, the idiots behind the wheels.

[circusman]

The problem is the amount of oil-slick that builds up on the roads in the dry season. Two or three years ago coming back from Kanchanaburi the downward slope of the Pinklao bridge was like an ice rink after a brief shower. Nothing gripped the surface and buses, cars and horrendously bikes, were sliding all over the place. So exercise due care on wet roads when it's been dry for too long.

So you think we are so thick headed we don't already know that ?

[Usual Suspect]

My wife was in a taxi coming back from Issan last night in the rain, & only 10-15 vehicles in front of her, not 1, not 2, but 3 coaches all collided with each other & spun off in all directions she said..!

(Sorry she did not say where this was).., but told me she could not go to sleep due to witnessing so, so many car-accidents due to mad drivers in the rain..mainly SUVs just barrelling by them on the main highway, when they must have been able to see the traffic ahead was moving slowly..BAM..she said these idiots just slammed into the back of other cars..she said she was scared their pick up would be hit from behind also by these nutters..TiT.

[masuk]

The problem is the amount of oil-slick that builds up on the roads in the dry season. Two or three years ago coming back from Kanchanaburi the downward slope of the Pinklao bridge was like an ice rink after a brief shower. Nothing gripped the surface and buses, cars and horrendously bikes, were sliding all over the place. So exercise due care on wet roads when it's been dry for too long.

It sounds like my first experiences of 'black ice' in Holland.

fortunately, I was on a bicycle but not for long!

[phil2407]

Wet season just finished - so surely roads shouldn't be that slippy so soon!

[phil2407]

Wet season just finished - so surely roads shouldn't be that slippy so soon!