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September 28, 2005
Past few days in Chiang Mai
Over the past few days I've been getting into the Chiang Mai commuting scene. This bike here is my transport to/from work and about town. The first day was quite hair raising—the controls of the bike are a bit awkward, my knowledge of the streets of Chiang Mai were limited to what was visible while driving on a tourist map, and the totally new rules of the road that need fast learning.
Firstly, the bike is an old Honda Econo Power moped with a semi-manual gear box. (I like to call it ‘Tiptronic’, just like Porsches have.) It’s got some power, the brakes work, but the idle is a bit too low and the engine stalls at traffic lights every now and then. There is a front basket which I used to put my backpack while riding, but now my paranoia of theft has killed that.
Chiang Mai is an old ass fucking city. Over the past few several years the population, people’s economic buying power, and of course traffic have all boomed. My impression is that the authorities have since converted many streets to one way fairways to help things out. Many streets. This means traversing twice the distance theoretically necessary, forced going directions you don’t want to go, and getting lost frequently. But, hey, it’s all good!
Traffic behavior is pretty interesting. Physical, government-defined rules are pretty much considered ‘advisory’ by most drivers. This includes lanes, passing rules, stop signs, and traffic lights. That said, there is an unwritten, generally courteous order to the flow of traffic. As fast as you can is not the rule, but the exception. Bigger doesn’t not result in automatic right of way. Any significant open space between you and the vehicle in front is soon filled from behind and the sides. Horns are only used when someone behind you thinks you are wasting the opportunity to go faster and be more courteous of other drivers by pulling to the side so they can get through.
All this does not seem to make it really dangerous, per se. But other habits do—such as families of three, four and even five all riding a single scooter; talking on mobile phones, holding umbrellas with one hand, and the occasional sneaky habit of driving against traffic if it is convenient.
Posted by stu at September 28, 2005 02:36 PM