Yes this can happen to you
HOW ARE YOU GOING WITH REFLECTIONS?
First of all you have to know that these should not be your concerns. Your fears should rather go by "How's my reflexes?" and even "How's it going with seeing in the dark?" Because changing sides of the steering wheel, traveling friend, will not be your greatest difficulty. The problem is the way the Thais drive. We would rate it as two points below the Chinese driving (which scores fairly high in circulatory chaos), and a few five below india. In short: complicated, yes, but not impossible. Let's leave it at that ad "You like driving?" there was no way it could be shot here.
The reasons that make driving in Thailand a high tension exercise they are several. To begin with, at difficulty driving on the left, you have to add more than unlikely to use turn signal by other drivers, as well as the absolute disdain for keeping position lights in good condition in some cars and above all, in many motorcycles (they have them melted down, which means you have to be constantly scrutinizing them so you don't run into them at night).
Here, the laws of physics must work differently...
However, perhaps the reason that will make you fear the most for your integrity are the overtaking, that are produced on both sides, indiscriminately, and sometimes even at once. It is not uncommon to see a motorist overtaking on a two lane highway up to three cars in one pass... or three buses. Nor should you be surprised that the same thing is done by a truck driver, whose speed limitation (which is attributed, mainly, to its dimensions) only you worry about; the he will seem to believe that he drives a single seater , and he will brush past you as if you were at Le Mans.
The roads are generally are passable and in reasonably good condition , but it is not uncommon to find holes in the asphalt or constants lane decreases due to work zones (of which they will notify you when you are practically on top, so be careful). They are also very common traffic jams caused by police controls , but it will be rare that they stop you. Should that happen, they will probably just make you roll down the window and move on.
Speaking of jams: driving in bangkok is a mistake ; exit and enter it, an ordeal that can last HOURS . If you still have to do it, take a look at Google Maps and avoid the areas of the route marked in red (ie with traffic delays) looking for an alternative route.
Mistake! Mistake!
NECESSARY STOPS
We already have the belt adjusted, eyes wide open ... and we are ready to pour gasoline and catch something to eat. Don't worry, Thailand will provide: on the sides of the main roads there are countless service stations most modern, with much cheaper gas than in Spain. Each usually has a small supermarket , normally a SevenEleven, although if it is a Caltex , you're in luck, because it's a cheaper supermarket and also they serve a precooked meal that, against all odds it's scandalous! They'll heat it up for you right there.
The complex is usually completed with a fruit stand, a coffee shop, a fried chicken kiosk and two or three restaurants , which are usually practically the same in all seasons; Some also have book, clothing, or gift shops . Most establishments serve Thai food, although if you are near a more or less large city, you can also find a Burger King, a McDonald's and, above all, a KFC , obsession in much of Asia. Likewise, near some of these stations and practically on the edge of the asphalt, there are also small street markets, sometimes covered, with traditional specialities.
Fried Chicken Obsession
Time to go to the bathroom? Nor should you have concerns in this regard, as it is usually very clean and careful. However, if you don't know how to deal too well with thai toilet (which dispense with the toilet seat and make the drain rest directly on the floor), it may not be a very good idea to enter with sandals. These have, unlike, for example, the Chinese, an elevated structure to support the feet, as well as a small water tank next to it, accompanied by a shovel. You will have to use it to get rid of the remains. But it is not completely necessary to carry out the entire ritual: for those who prefer to use the "traditional" bathroom, there is the option of enter the handicapped when there is no other user who needs it.
The markets are cheap and allow you to try the specialties of each place
EXOTISMS ON THE ROAD
We have already talked about what is necessary: now let's talk about the extraordinary ! We will start with "spirit houses" , a golden altar that you will find in practically all service stations. He himself resembles a small temple on which rests a kind of gold colored oriental deity and humanoid in appearance, sometimes with the head of an elephant or with a multiplicity of arms or heads, for example.
They accompany her smaller figurines , namely: servants, dancers, elephants, horses, and even one grandparents couple , always cheerful (sometimes, they are the ones who preside over the "house"). They're all there like "entourage" of the main spirit, that kind of deity we were talking about, which is the one who takes care of humans that inhabit the station (or the house, if the temple is at the entrance of one). Therefore, constantly offerings are made , which are basically of four types: incense, candles, flowers, and food and drink. I didn't miss you see fanta bottles with straw , ready to be drunk by these guardian beings.
Sometimes the service stations themselves seem replicate the offerings to giant size because they are decorated with huge elephants or fruits. In fact, the taste for gigantism will accompany you throughout the trip, and it will not be uncommon for you to find either life size spirit house animals or strange figures that resemble, what do I know, a bird, stationed by the side of the road... and with ten meters high.
The houses of spirits, a constant in Thailand
They will also be constant Buddha representations that can be seen for miles, and that you will find in religious complexes on both sides of the road (it is worth going down to see them!) In addition, you will find signs notifying you of the most noteworthy of the place you are going to pass: beaches, natural parks, waterfalls, traditional villages, markets on the water ... or the possibility that there is elephants crossing the road
Another image that will stick in your retina will be that of the photographs honoring the royal family, usually framed in big ostentatious gold frames and decorated with garlands of flowers, like those used in offerings; You will see them on bridges, in official buildings and on the road itself. And without a doubt, you will not be able to stop looking at the very curious themed thai trucks and buses , either with the type of paintings used in fairground attractions, full of stuffed animals (on the outside), with lights or -above all- Paying homage to the Michelin man as if he were a god!
Thailand, you may have guessed it, is a certainly psychotropic scenario . On your way, you will cross roads that seem to split the jungle in two and tropical landscapes guarded by towering palm trees; you'll see motorcars with freezers full of ice creams on which a family travels ; you will discover that Up to four passengers can travel on a motorcycle s, that the load of a van does not have the same physical limit than in the western world. And, still tired by the stress of driving in these lands, you'll be glad you chose the car as a means of transportation to explore this fascinating offshoot of magical realism.
You won't get tired of seeing them
In the end, it will be worth it