I drove to Ratchaburi for the footie yesterday, and was very surprised to encounter the relatively new 120kph speed limit along several stretches. However, it is so very Thai, it can never work.
The new speed limit is not for a stretch of road, it is for a specific lane on that stretch of road. My first encounter sort of confused me (list follows for Tapatalk users):
- Lane 1 - 80kph
- Lane 2 - 100kph
- Lane 3 - 120kph
- Frontage Road - 80kph
- Lane 1 - 100kph
- Lane 2 -120kph
If Thai drivers drove properly it could almost work, but if you want to drive at 110kph, there is only one permissible lane. You can't pull left to let somebody driving 120kph past you unless you drop your speed.
Then you have Somchai driving his 1930s pickup in the outside lane at 60kph because the road in front of him is always clear. Don't even get me started on tour buses cruising in convoy in the outside lane all going as slow as the slowest bus in the convoy, and not even getting close to 120kph. Effectively a 3 lane highway becomes a single track road with nothing in lanes 1 and 2.
So the BIG headline that Thailand has increased it's speed limit to 120kpm is bollox. It can only work if you drive Thai style (undertaking/determining your own speed limits), which has been happening since time began.
I often wonder if the people who make these rules actually drive.