Taste Thailand's 'specialty': Traffic jam!

Sitting impatiently in the car and watching the scene of hundreds of cars lining up in front, this is definitely an experience that anyone who comes to Bangkok (Thailand) must go through at least once.

Traffic jams in ANGKOK are a daily occurrence.

During the training session of coach Kim Sang-sik and his team in Bangkok, Mr. D., a reporter from a television station in Vietnam, was carrying a lot of luggage and hurriedly walked from the gate to the field, grimacing: "The traffic jam is really crazy". This reporter said that he went from MPC (short for SEA Games 33 Press Center) to the training field of U.23 Vietnam, located on the campus of a university. "I measured on the map and saw that the distance was less than 15 km. I was careful to take a taxi 1 hour earlier than the team's training time, but in the end I was still late", Mr. D. exclaimed regretfully when he did not have time to record an interview with a U.23 Vietnam player before the training session. He could only smile and lament: "I have experience in Ho Chi Minh City, but I couldn't avoid it when I came here. I have heard a long time about Bangkok's specialties, now I can feel how terrible it is". Mr. D's case is just one of the awkward situations due to traffic jams that Vietnamese media in general had to face while covering the 33rd SEA Games in Bangkok.

Bangkok streets at rush hour

PHOTO: NHAT THINH

The Thanh Nien reporters arrived in Thailand on December 1, and were present at the "hot spots" of the 33rd SEA Games to bring interesting news and behind-the-scenes stories to readers. In the past few days, we have been traveling on many roads in Bangkok and have had the most authentic experiences about the traffic situation here. The road system in Bangkok has 3-4 layers in some places, from overpasses, elevated highways (4 lanes each way) to metro trains. Yet traffic jams are still a daily occurrence!

On the way to the work location, we almost always find ourselves stuck in a situation where hundreds of cars are lined up in front of us. Once, the Thanh Nien reporter team booked a car with driver Jaratsapsiri Songpol, who has 10 years of experience behind the wheel. Songpol immediately showed that he knows every detail of Bangkok's roads by constantly steering into internal roads and side roads to avoid traffic jams. However, Songpol's "car" could not avoid moments when it stood still. At times like that, Songpol pulled the handbrake firmly and answered our question about traffic jams: "In Bangkok, there are a lot of motorbikes and especially a lot of cars, so traffic jams can happen at any time. However, the time frame from 4 pm to 0 am is the busiest of the day." "Anyway, did you notice that there was absolutely no car horn sound?", Mr. Songpol excitedly introduced and was a bit disappointed when we replied that we already knew about this. After a while of chatting, we finally arrived. It took us nearly 1 hour to travel a distance of about 14 km (from Rajamangala Stadium to MPC), even though we left at 10 am, which is considered off-peak time.

U.23 VN ALSO EXPERIENCED "SPECIALTY"

Previously, on the first day in Bangkok, U.23 Vietnam had experienced the harshness of traffic here. The hotel where coach Kim Sang-sik and his team stayed was less than 6 km from the training ground, expected to take only about 15 minutes to travel. However, according to the members of U.23 Vietnam, in reality, it always took the team 35 - 40 minutes to get there.

However, this only happens when U.23 Vietnam goes to practice. Before and after each official match, the bus carrying coach Kim Sang-sik and his team is always supported by a motorbike arranged by the Organizing Committee. A Thai police officer just led a team car to the field, put down his kickstand, smiled and said "hello" in Vietnamese to the reporter. He shared: "We are quite busy these days. One of my important tasks is to ensure that the athletes' groups move smoothly and safely."

Temporarily saying goodbye to Bangkok and traveling nearly 100 km to Chonburi, where the Vietnamese women's team is stationed and plays at Chonburi Daikin Stadium, we clearly feel the atmosphere is no longer stuffy because of the heavy traffic like in the capital of Thailand. Chonburi is airy, the scenery is much more peaceful than the bustling Bangkok. Here, coach Mai Duc Chung's team moves to the training ground and the field without encountering any obstacles.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nem-trai-dac-san-thai-lan-ket-xe-185251205225603938.htm