Please
enjoy your hire car in Thailand.
In
Thailand as a foreigner you will be called a Farang, (pronounced
Falang) and as a Farang any accident you are involved in,
will be viewed as your fault. If you are involved in an accident,
the other party will want the damage paid for, hospital bills
paid and compensation. If the police are called and you do
not have the money to pay, you can be arrested and your passport
held by the police until the debt is settled. If you are on
a 30 day visa and go over your 30 days because the police
are holding your passport, you will be in more trouble because
you did not leave the Kingdom on time.
ROADS:
There is a reasonable road network comprising many highways
and 52,000km (32,300 miles) of national and provincial roads.
All major roads are paved. Driving in Bangkok is far worse
than London or New York, if you want to get around Bangkok
easily try the BTS sky train, the new Underground rail system
or even the river taxi boats, you can use the metered taxis,
but you will take your life in your hands if you use the Tuk
Tuks.
Click
here to hire a car in Thailand
Traffic
drives on the left.
MOTORCYCLES:
Motorcycle hire is readily available in all towns, and on
the larger islands, it is the main means of transport for
the Thai's, the motorcycles are mainly the 125cc, I have seen
5 people on one bike, and another delivering 11 cases of beer,
so do not be shocked with what you see. Most cars will drive
the same way along a one-way street, but please do not expect
motorcycles to do the same.
DRIVING
LICENSE: International Driving Permit required. IDPs are
valid for 3 months, after which a Thai driving licence is
required. In the UK you obtain your International Driving
license from either the AA at www.theaa.com or the RAC at
www.rac.co.uk or in the USA at www.international-license.com
MAPS: Maps of Bangkok are available, on arrival, from the
tourist office at Don Muang Airport. Road maps of the entire
country are readily available from book and magazine shops.
DRIVING:
At times you can be forgiven for thinking that there are no
rules of the road in Thailand, but there are, it is just that
nobody adheres to them, and they are not very often enforced,
unless it is a farang driving.
TRAVEL
TIMES: The following chart gives approximate travel times
by road (in hours and minutes) from Bangkok to other major
cities/towns in Thailand.