Transport

A Thailand Bike Adventure: 850km from Bangkok to Lampang

Over the Songkran break this past April, two biking buddies of mine, Andrew and Bill, set out on a pretty audacious adventure – to bike from Bangkok to Lampang (near Chiang Mai) over 8 days. First of all, I’m totally jealous. That seems like an incredible ride that I would love to do – but which, at my current level of fitness, would probably kill me. Second, that’s a pretty long ride, but the part that is most impressive about it is that they did it in April – the hottest month of the year.

Greg2018-05-10T06:43:45+00:00Bangkok, Biking, Health, Thailand, Transport, Travel|0 Comments

Technology to the Rescue: Working With Thai Police to Save a Stranded Friend

When you come to Thailand on a vacation, you hope that your trip will be smooth sailing. No problems, no hiccups, no wrinkles...just your itinerary the way you planned it. That's usually what happens - but not always. A few weeks ago a visiting group of friends had what you'd call a problem...and a hiccup, and a wrinkle - all on the same night! Thankfully, with the help of modern technology - and especially a few friendly Thai policemen - we were able to rescue them from what could have been a very long and very bad night.

Greg2017-01-15T14:42:05+00:00Asia, Holidays, Thailand, Transport, Travel, Video|10 Comments

Shaking up my Commute – Riding a Bike to Work in Bangkok

Update 2018: This whole experiment lasted about six months. It was fine while it lasted, but let’s be honest – it’s just a numbers game. As I’ve said before, riding a bike in Bangkok isn’t deadly, but it isn’t safe, and the more often you ride, the higher the chances are of something happening. With a toddler at home and a nervous wife, I decided to just submit to The Man and take the BTS to work.

If you’ve read my site before you probably know that I ride my bike a lot in and around Bangkok […]

Greg2018-06-27T05:24:49+00:00Bangkok, Biking, Health, Transport|14 Comments

Taxi + Bike Rack = Taxi-Bike Thailand. Finally.

UPDATE March 2016: Mr. Tao doesn’t seem to be answering his phone anymore. Boo.

If you’ve read G2D before, you might know that I often join a small but dedicated group of friends in exploring Bangkok and its surrounding area on bicycles. It’s a great way to see the city and get to areas that most foreigners – and a great many Thais – never get to see. The problem, of course, is that I don’t have a car, which means I not only have to ride to our destination, but also back home, which limits the distances […]

Greg2016-11-17T15:47:49+00:00Bangkok, Biking, Transport|0 Comments

A Bike Ride in Pictures: Samut Sakhon to Samut Songkhram

One thing I enjoy about Bangkok is getting out on my bike and exploring the hidden corners that one rarely sees. That does the trick most of the time, but sometimes I get ambitious and plan a longer overnight trip, which is what I did this past weekend. In retrospect, it was probably a bit too hot for the route we chose, but sunburned, muddy, and very, very tired, we arrived at the hotel with a sense of accomplishment and a hint of amazement that we actually made it. Some pictures below, many courtesy of Andrew. […]

Greg2016-11-17T15:47:51+00:00Biking, Health, Thailand, Transport|0 Comments

Bring the Car Around: Uber vs GrabTaxi in Bangkok

Taking a taxi in Bangkok is a crap shoot. While the current flag fall of 35 baht (about USD $1.10) is among the cheapest in the world (and long overdue for a raise IMHO – it’s been the same for years), the fleet that patrols Bangkok’s storied streets is…uneven, at best. Most guide books and travel websites have warnings about taxi scams, and the longer you live here the more likely you are to know someone who’s had an experience so bad they’ve sworn off taxis forever…but soon find themselves white-knuckled in the back seat again, because, well, […]

Greg2016-11-17T15:47:52+00:00Bangkok, Transport|22 Comments

Taking a Steam Train Out of Bangkok

A lot of time people feel the need to get out of Bangkok and catch a break from the constant buzz of traffic, the crowds, the highways, and the cement. Oh God, the cement. Some people go to great lengths to catch a break, like a friend who will gladly travel all night in a crowded minivan and half a day on a boat to spend one night on a beach. I’m a bit ~~lazy~~ more pragmatic, in that if I leave town, it needs to be easy, cheap, fast, and worthwhile. A few months […]

Greg2016-11-17T15:47:52+00:00Bangkok, Thailand, Transport, Travel|5 Comments

Bangkok’s Biggest Graffiti

Another week, another bike ride. Following on my previous post where I mapped (probably) all of the future rail routes in Bangkok, I decided to have a bit of fun and get creative with my next ride. Well…more creative than normal. Making routes around Bangkok in Google Maps is something that I really like doing – it’s a matter of using the map view to find a rough route from A to B, and then zooming in to refine the route using satellite view and street view to find short-cuts and obstacles you can’t see on […]

Greg2016-11-17T15:47:55+00:00Bangkok, Biking, Transport|0 Comments

Finally, a (Mostly) Accurate Map of Bangkok’s Transit Future

Over the past few years I’ve become quite interested in what lies behind the scenes in Bangkok, most especially the plans for the city’s transit system. The existing train routes are embarrassingly inadequate for a city the size of Bangkok, but there are big plans in place. For years now I’ve been trying off and on to find a good map that lays it all out in a realistic fashion, but it’s been difficult. So, I decided to make my own damn map on Google Maps based on a combination of maps, diagrams, and websites across the web.

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Greg2018-03-23T03:22:04+00:00Bangkok, Transport|90 Comments

Do You Live More Than 2km From a Bangkok Rail Route?

When visiting friends ask me how Bangkok is laid out and what the best way to get around is, I tell them one thing: buy cards for the BTS (skytrain) and MRT (subway), fill ’em with cash, and you’re golden. Bangkok is a city that – at least since the BTS opened in 1999 – has expanded, grown and evolved very much in line with the routes that the electric trains take, as many cities do. But I also usually tell my friends that, unless they want to be particularly adventurous in Bangkok, almost everything they could need […]

Greg2016-11-17T15:47:57+00:00Bangkok, Transport|0 Comments