Our hotel in Bangkok is located on Sathorn Road (Sathon Tai) which is one of the most prestigious addresses in Bangkok, home to many upscale hotels, luxury apartments, embassies and offices. We did not stay at one of the 5-star hotels though. Helaas. But we stayed at the equally comfortable Urbana Sathorn Hotel which is actually an aparthotel as you get your own apartment complete with a kitchen instead of just a room.
The hotel is located just right in front of a pedestrian overpass on Sathorn Road. My parents and I were going on foot to this plush Thai restaurant beside our hotel for dinner when we passed by the traffic jam. It is past the hour of 19:00 and it is rush hour in Bangkok. This popular road is one of the busiest in the city.
I thought that the pedestrian overpass would give me a good view of the whole Sathorn Road and the rush hour traffic, so I climbed it. And it did.
I have had my share of rush hours in the past. When the A2 highway between Utrecht and Amsterdam was still with 3 lanes (it is now 5 lanes), it usually takes me an hour to get to Amsterdam instead of just half an hour now. The worst I have experienced so far, and in all of my travels, was in Manila. I think no one can beat the crazy traffic in Manila. Read: Manila, Philippines to be uninhabitable in 4 years if traffic chaos is not resolved
In Bangkok we have experienced our worse traffic when we went to Asiatique Riverfront Night Market which is located south of the city. We sat in the cab for about an hour and I even managed to fall asleep! Without the traffic it would have taken us perhaps about half an hour ride. But all is fine in Bangkok as taxi rides are cheap, and Asiatique is not reachable with the Skytrain and Metro (MRT).
For my mobility challenged mother, taking the taxi is by far the most comfortable option. We go for comfort obviously.
You might want to read some of our experiences here: Taxi Moments in Bangkok
Travel Period: November 2015
Destination: Sathon, Lumphini (Bangkok), Thailand
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Happy Travels! Enjoy Life =)