Motorcycle madness

And today, traffic as we know it, came to a complete standstill in the capital. An accident occurred on the busiest of busy roads, Sukhumvit. Just past the Asok junction the whole ordeal took place. A big tourist bus filled with school children was turning left from the third lane into Soi 23. A pick-up truck on the second lane, probably too busy to watch the traffic, penetrated the side of the bus. Thus blocking three of the four lanes of this busy road, there shouldn't be any problem I hear you think. Think again. The colleague of the driver of the bus, also driving a bus, wanted to aid his fellow worker and pulled up next to him. No not in the first lane which was free, but in the fourth lane, blocking all traffic. The only ones able to maneuvre between the buses where the motorcycles. Knowing this is one of the busiest junctions in Bangkok, it really messed things up. Eager I watched the evening news to see what they would say about the whole mishap and to my great disappointment, it didn't even make the news. That's how far the congestion has come in this vast city, not even worth mentioning if it all stops.
Maybe worth mentioning is that none of the school children were hurt.
This again proves that the fastest way to cross the city is on the back of a motorcycle taxi. In the beginning I was quite cynical about them. I saw them float through the crazy Bangkok traffic and I thought to myself I hadn't come all this way with a death wish. Sitting on the back of a motorcycle swerving between cars, buses and trucks at 80 km/h. If they hit something you just get catapulted into the air and god knows where you might land. But after observing them for a while, I thought I might give it a try. Let them take me on a straight stretch when there isn't much traffic. See how they drive and how they react. There is a big difference watching them from the sidelines or really being on the back.
These days I take them quite regularly. They really do know how to react in this midtown madness, apparently there is a logic to the whole traffic system. Although I still haven't figured it out. For instance when a car uses his turning signals, it doesn't necessarily mean he is going to make a turn. It can mean a lot of things. But it seems the motorcycle taxis know what they mean. Experience and practice, I guess. Another good reason to call on their services are their low fees. They take me to the supermarket for 15 baht. A taxi has a fare starting at 35 baht and a tuk-tuk charges me 40. Sometimes you just have to take the risk and try something new.

You just have to.