Saraburi stop-off..

[usual suspect]

OK for once I'm not whinging on here.
How many of you drive to/from Issan to visit the family?
Most of you will, when driving back come down thru' Saraburi.
Some will know, many may not that S'buri has a kind of by-pass...
As you descend into the town keep looking forward & across to the right.
When to see the big sign for the Makro store, move to the left and peel-off onto the 'frontage' Rd opposite
Makro itself.
Continue down the Frontage Rd for 1 Km, then be ready for the left fork/turn-off.
Once around this section, proceed onto dual-carr. Rd. (This Rd takes you straight back onto the BKK Road later.)
About 2-3 Kms down this 'new' road is a PTT service area..pull in & have a stop..
..it's got a 7/11, really clean toilets (the disabled toilet has western-style loo..if you in there the latch locks ANTI-clockwise). There's a clean cheap restaurant, clothes shop that's packed with shirts etc..and it's always quiet..no waiting for fuel fill-up.. :-)
Once back on the road proceed to the main BKK highway.
BEWARE THO'... when joining the main road you meet at an exit for the trucks peeling off for the
weigh-station...but after slowly merging with them, keep in right lane on frontage road, 50m on you join main drag and you're BKK-bound again...try it, it's a worthy stop.

[VincentD]

You're probably referring to the bypass ring road extension. It used to be a bypass on the way to Lopburi that got extended to join up with the road to Nakorn Ratchasima. It adds on almost twice the distance than if you would go the 'normal' way to Korat.

Best avoided at the moment as they are busy building a bridge at the traffic light junction.

[VincentD]

Another alternative (if you're feeling adventurous, and have a backup GPS) is to take a left at Kaeng Koi, this will take you to Ban Na. Turn left (not right!) at the junction, and about one km down the road take a right onto 3051. Go down 3051 for 4 km, you will hook up to the Rangsit-Nakorn Nayok road. Turn right to go in the direction of Rangsit, and keep going down till you reach the expressway.

It's a lot quicker this way.

[STEVE G]

Some will know, many may not that S'buri has a kind of by-pass...

If you're heading north, the turn off is sign posted as Highway 2, Nakhon Ratisima and south as Bangkok but it's easy to miss.
Generally it's easy enough to use the old route but it can get congested at certain times of day.

[usual suspect]

No bridge-building at the set of lights on this strip of road 2 days ago..?
Yes it Does seem to hook-up with the Lopburi Rd where it meets the Korat Rd Eastbound of Saraburi.
Steve...the turn-off Northbound is at/just after the CAT excavator dealer's yard..yes easy to miss.
I find it nice just to have a quiet strip of road for a while, & an uncrowded service area.

[STEVE G]

I find it nice just to have a quiet strip of road for a while, & an uncrowded service area.

Yes, those services have just opened recently; I was there about six weeks ago.
Another handy service station that has opened in the last year on the route down from Issan to Hua Hin is the PTT station on highway nine south of Wang noi. You have to leave the main road but you come straight back on again about a kilometer later.
Before I used to find myself with no really easy stop between Saraburi and Samut Sakhon as leaving the main highways around Bangkok can easily get you lost or stuck in horrendous traffic.