When in Rome…
…do as the Romans do. When in Thailand, don’t necessarily do all of the things that the Thais do. Especially when it comes to driving! I finally broke down and rented a scooter on Monday afternoon, although I wasn’t completely sure it was a good idea. I had no concerns over operating the machine, since I drive one in Austin, but I definitely had concerns about that left-hand-side-of-the-road thing and was downright fearful when it came to the other drivers on the road!
You can rent a motorbike pretty much anywhere in Phuket…restaurants, mini-marts, bars, massage places, laundry places, the guy walking on the side of the road. Everyone who is anyone has at least one bike sitting around just waiting to be lent to the next crazy foreigner who thinks he/she is well equipped to drive here. I saw a few bikes sitting outside of an internet café a few doors down and decided to try my luck there. The process of renting a vehicle in Thailand goes like this:
Me: How much for the motorbike?
Lady: How long? 200 baht.
Me: 3 days – 150 baht?
Lady: Okay, you wait just minute. Automatic or manual?
Me: Automatic
Lady: Yes, very easy for you! You wait.
She goes to get the keys, has me fill out a paper with my name, where I’m staying and what day I’m bringing it back. As she hands me a helmet and I get on the bike she asks “You know how drive?” I say yes and she grins, says “have fun, you pay Thursday!” and that is that.
Whole different ball game than at home! For less than 5 dollars a day (which I’ve yet to pay) and not so much as a license check, I have a vehicle and it is just assumed that I’ll come back with it in three days. Things are so easy here!
I wasn’t feeling too good about it at first, as it was right around 5:00, the roads were busy and there was no time to “get a feel” for how traffic worked. I rode one loop around our beach and decided to put it up until the chaos died down a bit. I went out again after dark, when the roads were empty, and started feeling pretty comfortable, getting the hang of which way to look for certain turns, etc. The next morning I went out once more after my run and LOVED it – the roads were empty, I could ride around the mountain with jungle on one side and a gorgeous sunrise over the ocean on the other side. I wished I’d gotten a bike weeks ago!
Now that I felt like a pro at driving on the left-hand side, it was time to tackle the issue of the other drivers. I had no intentions of going into town, I really just wanted the scooter so that I could see a few other beaches and get up the mountains a bit easier. Let me start off with a statistic that I wish I didn’t know: 200 people die every year on Phuket ALONE in motorbike accidents. It makes sense – the roads are winding, hilly and crowded, and half of the drivers are tourists that don’t know what the hell they’re doing. They try to drive in an orderly, western fashion which honestly just does not work here.
The way it works is that everyone looks at what the person in front of them is doing and then makes decisions from that. Blind spot? What’s that? Passing on a curve? Why not? Left lane? The right lane has more space! Car coming headon? They’ll move. I’m not exaggerating one bit. If a road has two lanes going each way, cars will drive right on the center, two wheels in each lane. The motorbikes will just go around them wherever they can get through, and at stoplights the cars will line up in chaotic fashion while the bikes will weave their way up the sides and through the middle to get to the front, only to be re-passed by the cars as soon as the light turns green. Sometimes markets will decide they need more space, and booths will be set up right in the middle of the lane – people can just go around them, right?
Everyone from 12 year old boys to 90 year old women are driving cars, trucks, motorbikes, bicycles, food carts, tuktuks, songtaews – if it has wheels it is fair game. I’ve seen scooters with four people on them, dogs standing on the back, cats sitting on the front, entire restaurant setups attached to the sidecar. Stray dogs are everywhere, and their favorite place to nap is right in the middle of the road. It’s so much fun to look at, not as much fun to drive in! Luckily it’s relatively tame in our immediate area (the beaches are all away from town, and it’s low season which means there are not very many people around) and I’ve come out unscathed.
I’m glad that I rented it, as it’s been fun to drive and really nice to see some other areas, but I will also be a bit relieved to take it back this afternoon. Besides, there is a certain someone who REALLY doesn’t like my riding around Phuket on motorbike, and I don’t want him to keep worrying about it. I’m off to Bangkok tomorrow where I will definitely not be touching any sort of two-wheeled vehicle!
p.s. I’ve added more photos to my flickr site, which again is where I will be putting them all from now on. In case you missed the link last time, it is
http://flickr.com/photos/26728799@N06/
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Tags: Travel
allisonrae
May 29th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Hey Peeps –
Really fascinating stuff. I, for one, am very happy that Thursday is here and you have returned your scooter. You did return it and get “home” alive, right? I’m also glad that I’m not the only worry-wart – thanks Gabe for not making me sound like the only paranoid one 🙂
Can’t wait to hear about your adventures once you get to Bangkok; I really love this blog and I really love you!
Mom
May 29th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Hi Honey, I just wanted you to know that I am enjoying your blog so much, and enjoying all your adventures. Do be careful and know we all love you and want you to have a wonderful time. Miss you and can’t wait for the next blog. Love ya, Granny
May 30th, 2008 at 10:51 am
Hey Allison,
Keep posting- you trip sounds amazing. Although the teaching thing still sounds terrifying to me!
Erin
August 29th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
I would die in three seconds on a motorbike in Thailand. I would forget where the brake was and BAM!! No would be able to figure out if the mess was a Thai person or a forgeiner. I’m glad you made it safe, and I can’t wait to keep reading about your adventures