Traffic in Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok is notorious for its traffic problems. But is Bangkok's traffic really all that bad? Actually, during certain period of the day and on certain roads, the problems are truly horrendous.

The question is, what can you do about it?

For most people, this boils down to finding alternatives to taxis or choosing the right time of day.

• The first and perhaps best alternative is the sky train or the subway. They go to many important destinations in Bangkok, are reasonably priced and fairly easy to figure out. Unfortunately, they don't go to all popular spots.
• Try to pick a time when the traffic isn't as likely to be bad. As with most places, rush hour is the worst time to go anywhere.
• In general terms, the roads don't start to get bad on weekdays until about 6:30 AM.
• They get progressively worse up until about 9 AM and then slowly improve.
• They start to back up again about 4:30 PM with the worst coming about 6:30 PM.
• By 10 PM, they usually aren't bad.
• Weekends (especially mornings and particularly Sundays) are better than weekdays.
• Construction, accidents and the inexplicable can, however, cause jams at any time day or night.

Your last resort is a motorbike taxi. These are recommended only for those with nerves of steel who have an emergency to tend to right smack during the middle of rush hour.

In short, they are scary and dangerous.

Agree on a price prior to leaving as you do with tuk-tuks.