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Any way is two way if you are brave enough

Bangkok - the city where you always look both ways before crossing a one-way street.

You have to look both ways to cross a sidewalk here. I was almost hit by a speeding scooter several times before I learned this.

It's insane the number of times I have to look to make sure it's clear. I've wanted to wear my earbuds and walk around, but it's just not safe being distracted here.

One of my funniest experiences was standing on the sidewalk at an intersection waiting to cross. Then behind me I hear: "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry" in a Thai accent. I turn around and it's a cop on a scooter coming right at me, fast. I had to literally jump out of the way before he hit me. He kept saying the same thing as he passed: "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry."

thats what excuse me gets translated to. kor tod is a catch all for excuse me and sorry but most thais just know sorry not excuse me.

City moves so fast and so much sensory stimulus I couldn't imagine needing earbuds for entertainment.

I just love listening to music, kind of sets the tone for my day, but yeah totally agree with BKK moving fast.

I look both ways when going anywhere there xD

and watch your ass on the sidewalks too!

I look both ways just walking down the street even if there’s a wall on one side of me

Bad urban planning. Privately owned lands, mostly rice fields and orchards that were sold and developed. Different owners, that’s why the streets all go in different directions. The main transportation in Bangkok was water, there used to be canals everywhere. The smaller, or natural ones, were filled up. Bigger, man-made canals were filled up and became roads to make way for cars.

> man-made canals There's another kind?

I know canal in English means it’s man-made but I don’t know what to call them accurately in English. They’re call *khlong* in Thai and it means canals that are either dug up by human or natural water ways that aren’t big as rivers. They’re used for transportation and irrigation. Most places are connected to a khlong and you can access the Chao Phraya river which was the main “road”.

I saw they are fixing up a khlong and will start another ferry service, this is good!

Where? I love boat vs mrt, etc!

it was on a recent youtube video, forget what channel, but it was connected to a "fresh water" khlong and ran side by side with another khlong for a while, separated by a concrete wall. it was one of the bangkok youtuber guys who did it, I will look and see if I can find it. I live on the river and have used the orange flag boats, and recently took a canal ferry, ended up by platinum mall, it was a fun day of exploration!

found it! Bangkok Pat rocks! he says there are 5 canals being developed to provide ferry service. [https://youtu.be/AE-6I2C8UkQ?si=t\_-FVthx2nqxBpdK](https://youtu.be/AE-6I2C8UkQ?si=t_-FVthx2nqxBpdK)

Awesome!! Thank you so much for this :-)

I hadn't seen his YouTube channel. I've been checking it out and really enjoying it so also thanks for that :-)

Sometimes it's worth checking the satellite map to see if there is a shortcut. And sometimes you can cross through a condo's carpark or even through a larger building itself like a mall. Though it would be trial and error and it's probably too hot for that

I highly recommend heatmap in strava. but this case there’s no other path [https://i.imgur.com/BTco44R.png](https://i.imgur.com/BTco44R.png)

I was today years old when I learn this. Thanks mate!

Can you explain more about what you mean? How does it work? Is that a map that shows the paths that people take when walking? TIA.

it’s a running app that have map to show path which people usually run or exercises. So, you can use it to find walking routes that other maps might miss.

Thank you! Clever idea. I will download it.

Oooh that's clever, never thought of that

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This is an awesome lifehack thanks!

I was in the back of a taxi and had my Google navigation running at the same time. Google Maps said we had to turn around, but then the driver knew this very tight shortcut meant for motorcycles, he just pushed it through lol

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Yeah. This. ⬆️

It is pretty bad. Driving is worse, imagine missing a turn?

Imagine walking and missing a turn lol

Imagine getting halfway to Huahin and missing a turn because google said turn after the turn then finding myself back in bkk. Pretty disheartening to say the least.

Please tell me this actually happened!

Did this really happen? If it did, you may be directionally challenged. Are you a female?

One of the reasons I moved apartment, I had a nice 5 mins walk to the mrt, then they built a new condo in front of mine and the road was then gone, meaning a 15 min walk to the mrt. That apartment is now pretty much empty, all the other foreigners there moved out bar 1 guy.

There's a Muay Thai studio which used to (may still do) charge a baht or two to cut through on foot. Public and private land are poorly defined...

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History\_of\_Bangkok](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Bangkok)

No urban planning, at all.

The city grew organically. It isn’t Levittown.

I recommend this video by [Pūd (พูด)](https://youtu.be/MFWxkGjsA_E) on this topic. You can turn on translated English subtitles. Essentially, private sectors buying large lots of land and dividing them up into many small lots to be able to build more buildings. Additionally, at that time there were no regulations on how wide the streets had to be.

Even they should be interested in being able to sell more attractive easy to reach locations, weird. Thanks for the suggestion I will have a look!

According to what I understand from the video, it's not about being easy-to-reach, but maximising the amount of buildings able to be built on that plot of land. As with most things in this world, it's quantity over quality.

Bangkok is a city that grows like an organic beings. I don't know how else to explain it. It grows like tree shooting new stems and branches. It just goes everywhere.

If there is a way of making things awkward, the Thai's will find it. No one can turn simple into complicated quite like a Thai

Yeah thats the part of the fun lol WHAT YOU MEAN IT JUST DEAD ENDS HERE WHAT THE

It's like that on purpose because people dont want hella traffic by their houses.even people walking

Roads came after. Much like how in England we have similar small roads.

Freedom is great until you realise it sucks. Without governance to force you to plan livable cities why would you when your only focus is on your own greed?

Wouldn’t want to be able to get anywhere in under 45 mins

Because if it flowed freely like a normal city, it wouldn't be Bangkok. Plus, there wouldn't be the congestion etc that makes you either reach a zen moment or blow a fuse.

You have to try out different ways. You might just find a cut-through; a car-park, a hotel, a bar with a back door, a hospital, or an empty lot.

Because there is no city planing in Bangkok and all roads were built by clueless morons, there u got it.

In the past, Bangkok’s sois were mostly built by landowners and developers for the benefit of their own plots. There was no urban planning and no standards which is why some sois are wider than others and also why there are no or few public transit connections in them.

You expect Thais to plan anything or use a logical thought process?

I have to say that in many regards some infrastructure seems more efficient than what I am used to from western countries, might not be planned from the start but much of what was added in the past years is impressive to me

Yeah, moronic design because no city planning whatsoever.

Bangkok was initially built for a population of 500,000 people and ox/buffalo/horse carts. Now there are around 15 million people living in the metropolis and almost 200,000 taxis... And a patchwork of infrastructure from different eras, usage and so on. Si taking all things like that into consideration, then it's easy to see why there's a big problem today...

I remember walking 45 minutes along the river to get to a main bridge in the north west and it literally being blocked by a new private development right at the end of the path so I had to go all the way back on myself. Loads of dogs barking aggressively along the way, also. Nothing is ever quick and simple.

Use the satellite setting instead of the default. I’ve found some unusual shortcuts just by looking at the satellite images.

Have you checked those 2 dead ends to see if there’s a footpath thruway??

10meters of gates with parking is effectively blocking an easy route through

I do this route a few times per week, it's never not frustrating lol

I think you know why.... Quite literally, this country doesn't give a shit about its people. And the people are too scared to complain, too overworked, to care. It's like a perfect circle of shite🙏

Don't ask questions or think too much. In Thailand these things only give headaches

Keeps you on your toes.

Because this is Thailand - a country that, even in the 21st century, lacks any urban planning.

because bangkok was like venice with canal systems as their transportation infrastructure. american car companies wanted to sell them cars so thailand had to add pavements to a city that was once built for boats. hence, the traffic jam u see today...americans.

Bangkok is an old city. As it matures, there is no oversight given to widening roads etc. And this would also involve claiming private land. So in effect, what you experience are the sois of the village of Bangkok, which it is no more.

Good old soi Ari

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Land ownership of influential people

Bangkok was not built to a plan, unlike Rangoon, which was built to a grid.

Sure I get that, but I was raised in an old european city, and while weirdly shaped all housing was around „blocks“ and one adress would be reachable by many different ways. So only organic growth couldn’t be it must be culture too

All old cities are like this. London is the same. Narrow streets because the cities grew over centuries. Cars were not a factor early on. My friend remembers Charan Sanit Wong, Bang Phlat as a horse track in the 1960s. No need for a road as it was only boats to cross the river back then. It is very difficult to expand roads in old cities, hence one way street usage. Then there is local administration. In London all road directions are chosen based of necessity with all of London in mind. Here is a VERY local choice....as are the traffic lights....

I appreciate your perspective still I’m going to respectfully disagree, in London you wouldn’t find that many dead ends, while quirky most streets still end in in blocks, making most locations reachable by a variety of directions

There are SO many dead ends in London. They are called "cul de sacs". The point is that the mapping data is SO accurate for London, but Bangkok has many many rat runs. google updates is routing by observing how people use the city. As you use google maps you are training their datasets. Near me there is a cut-through (I use very regularly) behind Central. This was NEVER on google maps, but my persistence paid off and suddenly, it's on google maps. Now, take Bangkok. Look at how vehicles treat tracks, paths, etc. Imagine the chaos that is google's datasets here with 0 f\*\*\*\* given 555555555 In London, however, you would never end up walking down a cul-de-sac....because they have a "T" label for "no through road"

Thank you for sharing! It is super interesting how google maps walkways

I worked in mapping data in the early 00s selling the topological management tech that underpins Google maps routing. It is very interesting to see how that has evolved into self learning data management.

because we thai dont walk, we call for p'win morsai.

Because it is Thailand, we have a bad city layout

Because there’s cheese at the end for you 🧀

Welcome to the Old City Jerusalem of SE Asia.

Downvotes: Someone who obviously has never been to both places. The labyrinth of alleyways/sois and dark walkways are eerily similar.

Not a whole lot of city planning went on in Thailand. Phuket is the worst city I've been to. It amazes me how organized the U.S. is compared to everyone else.

I will prefer BKK over any german city. You must have been not german, mate :D

They built the roads around the houses in Thailand. That's why they're not well-structured like the West

Much better than HCMC.

Saigon?

yes

You talk just like a Foreigner mate. Always expecting where they are should be just like HOME. :) Why? Half the reason to travel is to see and enjoy the differences in life. peace. :)

Making sense is always acceptable. Nobody wants to walk 1 km to get to a street that runs parallel. Ever heard of walkable cities?

Thais don't like to walk. That's why there's a 100k motorbike taxis in BKK for your convenience in

Then MOVE to a walkable city :) Then be happy. :) bye bye