How has this week’s traffic treated ya, now that the Thai kids are back in school? As a parent who has to endure the heart-tearing stress of being stuck on Sathon Road every morning and afternoon, I think I deserve a trophy for my patience, or a year’s supply of Vicodin.
For working parents, driving their kid to school is perhaps the only time of the day they can catch up with their little one. Thus, no matter how horrendous the traffic is, they are willing to do so. While it might be good for the family, when everyone does it, it becomes a bigger problem for society. Did you see the front page of Daily News the other day? Thai Traffic Police specifically had to ask parents not to cuddle and kiss their children in front of the school because their display of affection causes so much traffic!
My son’s school has around 3,000 students. There are a few other schools in the same area, so let’s say there are 10,000 students in total on that block. If even half of those kids are chauffeured to school in a private car — well, that’s 5,000 cars.
But what other choices do we have? Every year, we hear about little children being left behind in the school van. The BTS breaks down every now and then. And there’s something about the rainy season here — it always rains during the most inconvenient part of the morning, so unless you drive from your home to your destination, you’ll be soaked from top to toe.
I’ve heard over a thousand times about how Japanese children walk to school on their own. That sounds good in theory, but if we implemented that here, the kids would either pass out before reaching school because of the heat and the distance, get run over by those selfish motorsai riding on the pavements, or get abducted.
As you can see in our cover story in this issue, drivers in Bangkok can be incredibly annoying and ignorant when it comes to driving etiquette.
– They think they can park anywhere they want just because they switch on the emergency lights.
– When you give a proper turn signal, the car in that lane, instead of slowing down to let you in, will speed up and block your way.
– They let people off the car in the middle of the road, never mind the fact that the door can swing into an oncoming motorcycle.
– They take selfies when they’re speeding so they can show off how cool they are to their friends on social media.
– When they get flagged by the traffic police, they get mad and go rant on social media, saying these policemen are greedy and heartless.
Driving in Bangkok traffic is like a free dhamma session. You get to practice patience and compassion. You learn the art of letting go. Instead of punching that idiot motorcyclist who crashed your side mirror and fled away, you calmly remind yourself, on repeat, that you believe in karma and will let karma run its course at its own speed, instead of making it happen right then.
Now that’s a soul cleansing experience that doesn’t cost a thing. g
This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.