Since moving to Thailand, I have clocked up a fair mileage just over half a million kilometers.
That means that basically I’ve driven longer and further than most Thai people.
How do I know? - Simple.
I’ve had 3 4x4s since I’ve been here.
The first was secondhand and I covered 80,000 km in it the second and third were new and I covered nearly 250,000 km in each of them. They were all 4x4, the last one lifted and modified for long-distance touring.
I enjoy driving - whatever the country or road conditions - I even like traffic jams..._ I get to sing-along with my favorite tunes on the iPod or Google play.
I love being able to go “off-road” too. I am a member of the local Thai 4x4 club who do various runs into inaccessible areas for charity. The last I went on was flood relief to Surat and Nakon Si Tammarat.
My job involved driving around Thailand too and commuting about 100km per day when not travelling from company to company.
In reality I cover about 40,000 km per year - less than back in Europe but it does means that I have experienced just about every kind of road in every season through out Thailand. I’ve also driven extensively in Laos and a little bit in Malaysia.
In fact back in Australia and Europe my annual mileage was even higher as my jobs entailed even more travelling -
In Europe in one year I clocked up 90,000 MILES = 144840.96 kilometres.
Cairns to Melbourne in about 7000 round trip and I can’t remember how many times I did that trip.
Driving in Thailand can be very enjoyable - so long as you don’t expect everyone to drive like they do in your home country...the driving environment in Thailand is sadly undeveloped and even the best roads fall short on the most basic safety standards.
If you are going to drive here - make sure you are aware of the 5 Es of road safety before making any pronouncements about the drivers - who lets face it are probably far more experienced that most visitors in driving in Thailand.
It has been suggested that repeated trips from Trang to Chiang Mai are the sort of total of driving one can expect on a road trip....not so.
The truth is that most of my road trips are longer than that - I expect normally to cover about 3000 to 4000 km.
I can cover more than 1500 just 5 working commuting and business.
A good road trip for me - can be solo or with friends or sometimes passengers wanting to share all or part of the route. - They will chip in on expenses.
I don’t travel light; as I have a 1-ton truck, it will carry just about everything I need - including camping gear and a field kitchen for if and when required. I also have a bag of 4G sim cards for phones and table and sometimes even the Mac.
Up near the Chinese border the temperature was below 6 at night - it didn’t warm up until about midday - unlike many of the shivering tourists there I had warm coats and extra sleeping bags for the hotels which wanted to charge for an extra duvet.
The vehicle I use now has extra ground clearance, locking differentials AT wheels/tires, winch, compressor etc. etc....thankfully I’ve never made use of the breakdown kit but I’ve had to dig/winch out of mud occasionally - mostly pulling out other vehicles.
It is basically the same as the “tourers” that are used for camping in Australia and it’s taken me to places on Google that very few other vehicles could.......It also has taken me away from the very crowded foreign tourist areas - and as my Thai has improved over the years , I get to meet more and more Thai people through work and just meeting on tops of mountains or at waterfalls etc.
Another thing the truck has enabled me to do is get to know neighbouring Laos - with my “purple book” passport, I am able to pass into Laos with little or no bother - quicker than the foot passengers usually as I can use a different VoA window at many crossings. To make the most of Laos 4x4 is essential outside the towns and a few main roads.
Here are some examples of the sort of trips I like to get in
About 4000km
Chonburi
Kaeng Krachan,
Surat,
Krabi
Khao Sok,
Ranong,
Bangkok,
Udon Thani,
Vientiane,
Vang Vieng,
Luang Prabang
back down via
Udon to
Rayong and back to
Chonburi.
About 3500km -
Chonburi,
Surat,
Penang,
Surat,
Kanchanaburi
Chonburi.
About 3000 km
Chonburi,
Mae Wong,
Tak,
Ti Lo Su/Umphang,
Mae Sot
Loei
Pak Lay,
Saraburi,
Luang Prabang,
Vientiane,
Udon
Chonburi.
About 3000
Chonburi,
Udon,
Ban Chiang,
Vientiane
Luang Namtha,
Boten/china border,
Chiang Rai,
Mae Wong,
Huay Kha Khaeng,
Chonburi
..and I can tell you Google and OSM are very useful. - I’ve found some extraordinary stop-offs by using Google - and the contours overlay on OSM is great for judging the road ahead .
If you need to know anything about driving in Thailand or any planned road trips please let me know.
