Thailand is also the country of the ‘u turn’ and vehicles often stop on a main road or busy highway in order to make a complete turn and go in the other direction. This can sometimes be incredibly dangerous as there is a genuine risk of the vehicle which is making the turn being hit from either on-coming traffic or hit from behind at high speed by another vehicle that might not have seen the turn being made.
Sometimes a large part of the outside lane can be busy with vehicles waiting to complete a ‘u turn’ and because of this congestion and tailbacks can often be caused. It can be bad enough when one car or a motorbike stops suddenly in the outside to perform a u turn; but when a bus or large truck decides to do it, a considerable amount of the road on both side of the carriageway can be blocked by the large vehicle trying to complete the manoeuvre.
Consequently if you ever happen to drive on any of Thailand’s busier roads then it is important that you make sure you look out for vehicles that either come to a sudden halt in the outside lane or pull out just in front of you as you are approaching at high speed.