Advice on How to Park in Thailand

[chaspul]

[Mod Edit] Moved from disabled parking thread.

May be the wrong thread, but I think that most "Parkers" in Thailand have to be mentally "Disabled". Including expats who copy Thais.

Very short Quiz. (With my answers).

1. Where is the load space "boot/trunk" on any pick up or car? (Answer - at the back)

2. Why reverse into a space, holding up traffic to straighten up at least 2 or 3 times? (Answer - don't know)
Always more difficult due to the sensitivity of what is now rear wheel steering.

Solution - Drive straight into the parking space, maybe it will require one reverse to straighten into space, waiting until you do not impede the free flow of other parkers.

Advantage - With the rear of the car near the traffic lane you now have easy free access to the rear, to unload your full shopping cart of weekly groceries in your vehicles load space.

Aside - This also eliminates the risk of shopping cart damage to either your vehicle or the one in the adjacent space as you push it to the rear of a vehicle reverse parked.

No brainer, unless someone knows of an obscure Thai law that says you must reverse into a parking space.

Chas

[Dannie Boy]

May be the wrong thread, but I think that most "Parkers" in Thailand have to be mentally "Disabled". Including expats who copy Thais.

Very short Quiz. (With my answers).

1. Where is the load space "boot/trunk" on any pick up or car? (Answer - at the back)

2. Why reverse into a space, holding up traffic to straighten up at least 2 or 3 times? (Answer - don't know)
Always more difficult due to the sensitivity of what is now rear wheel steering.

Solution - Drive straight into the parking space, maybe it will require one reverse to straighten into space, waiting until you do not impede the free flow of other parkers.

Advantage - With the rear of the car near the traffic lane you now have easy free access to the rear, to unload your full shopping cart of weekly groceries in your vehicles load space.

Aside - This also eliminates the risk of shopping cart damage to either your vehicle or the one in the adjacent space as you push it to the rear of a vehicle reverse parked.

No brainer, unless someone knows of an obscure Thai law that says you must reverse into a parking space.

Chas

Yes sound advice for most instances and what I follow when I park in the main bays at for example Makro, however if I park under the overhang at the front of the building, I always reverse in because as you have mentioned, the rear is then facing me when I come out with the shopping - I also have the ability to reverse into the space first time (with or without the whistling parking attendant helping me ).

However, I worked in Saudi 10 years ago and following a terrorist attack close to where we lived/worked we all underwent defensive driver training, and we were taught to reverse into a parking area so that if we had to make a quick getaway, we could immediately see where we were going - I doubt this applies to many drivers in LOS!!

[hhfarang]

^ Yes, this is very annoying in the Market Village garage. They block traffic while they go back and forward to get the car straight. I've been there several times when my car was the only one parked "nose in" on a near full floor.

My wife backs in and she is the worst backer I've ever seen; in fact the 3 or 4 times she's damaged the car is when she backed into posts or walls, but she's Thai so there's no convincing her to change.

[Big Boy]

I can reverse park a lot more successfully than drive forward parking. I would estimate I get reverse park right first time about 95% of the time. It takes me a lot longer to get it right with drive forward parking probably due to the length of my truck/turning circle.

Horses for courses I guess.

[Nereus]

Which is better? Reverse out into the flow of traffic that you cannot see, or take a couple of seconds longer to reverse into a parking space where ALL the traffic can see what you are doing? If you cannot reverse correctly, than perhaps you should not be driving at all!

On a recent trip to Bathurst in Australia I came across this reverse method on ALL the main streets of the town. It is law to reverse angle park into the kerb. The streets are wide, and the centre is reserved for lengthway parking of trucks and delivery vehicles. Each time that I had to do it my first thought was: "just image some Somchai waiting for you in Thailand while you did this"!

[Big Boy]

I can reverse park a lot more successfully than drive forward parking. I would estimate I get reverse park right first time about 95% of the time. It takes me a lot longer to get it right with drive forward parking probably due to the length of my truck/turning circle.

Horses for courses I guess.

Sods law - just back from Market Village, and I had to pull forward a few inches to adjust before I successfully parked

Seriously, the parking spaces are so large in Thailand, nobody should struggle to park, especially if its only an average saloon car.

[Homer]

2. Why reverse into a space, holding up traffic to straighten up at least 2 or 3 times? (Answer - don't know)

Generally, it's done in parts of Los Angeles because the driver has never questioned whether other's needs were less important than his. Try backing in when there are several cars behind you, then the odds are somebody will either head into the space or pull up behind you so you have no choice but to continue forward. Or get out of the car for a discussion. Such discussions can be entertaining for the observers.

[HHTel]

Aside from being a necessary skill for a road test, knowing how to park is a necessary skill for life.
If you reverse into the spot, you can check out the space you’ll be reversing into before you reverse into it. Whereas, if you drive forward into a space and then go shopping, once you return you will be forced to back out into a space in which things may be constantly changing; you will have no idea if there are cars coming, people about to walk behind you, kids, dogs, or any other vehicle about to reverse as well because if you went forward then your visibility is probably going to be poor; if anything it will be a lot worse than it would be if you’d initially backed into the space.
In addition, if you go forwards into a space, when you come back to your vehicle there could very well be different vehicles parked beside you than were there when you left. This means, larger vehicles than yours could now be totally blocking your view leaving you with zero percent visibility and basically leaving you no choice but to blindly reverse out into the unknown.
Legally, we must not reverse unless it is safe. This means that if you drive in forward, then you need a spotter to reverse out.
Any motoring school will instruct you to reverse into a parking space and drive out.
Unless it's a very large parking area, it's almost impossible to drive forward and not have to straighten up your car.

I was a member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists and if I had driven forward into a parking space when doing my advanced driving test, then I'd have failed.

Edit: The above doesn't apply to angled parking bays where it is normal to drive forward and your visibility when reversing out is less impaired.

[Big Boy]

Try backing in when there are several cars behind you, then the odds are somebody will either head into the space

Exactly what I witnessed last weekend at Market Village.

[HHTel]

Yes, BB, that is just plain bad manners, but shouldn't be an excuse for others to drive badly.

[STEVE G]

I'll reverse onto a parking spot if I have to, to get into a tight one but generally I'll just go to an area with no cars and slam the thing straight in and get walking as I can walk across a car park far quicker than messing around parking.
I leave the spots near the entrance for the elderly and infirm, and Bangkok HiSo's who're scared of the sun!

[Gregjam]

They have the right idea in many of the Korean car parks where you drive gently in at an angle and stop when your wheels hit the large kerb stones which also stop people cutting across sparsely parked areas. Easy access to the back of the car when you return and although you have to reverse out you are not at 90 degrees to the flow (if they follow the arrows which even careful design can not always solve) and can see enough to get out safely on your own. Does rely on other cars giving you room which might also be a problem here too.

Like others who have already posted I always reverse into a space in MV, Makro or anywhere the parking is at 90 degrees as getting out will be easier. Most of the large pickups would have major problems getting out if driven into the spot unless they had assistance be it electronic (sensors) or an attendant.

Unfortunately there will always be lazy or inconsiderate drivers particularly when it is busy. Then it is up to you if you want to argue with them. I am lucky and can avoid going anywhere near MV during busy times or use the bike instead.

[Big Boy]

Yes, BB, that is just plain bad manners, but shouldn't be an excuse for others to drive badly.

Actually it was karma. In the thread where I reported it, I'd stated that the car in question basically parked up for 40 minutes waiting for a space to come. This caused total gridlock behind him. It was so funny when a space appeared, and he pulled forward to reverse into it when a car drove forward into the space before him. OK, we all had to wait a further 20 minutes foe the next space to appear, but it was worth it.

[Frank Hovis]

I'm with Gregjam on this one - angled parking where you drive in and reverse out is very easy for those with an inability to reverse and steer, turn the steering lock to lock or otherwise execute any kind of complex manoeuvre.

Although it reduces the number of cars parked in a line (by about two) it also allows the lane between parked cars to be smaller.

I also agree with BB - The parking spaces here are vast so why can't some people manage to park a Honda Jazz in a space where two could fit?

[STEVE G]

One problem with reversing the higher four wheel drive pick-ups is that the tailgate is so high, you can't see much behind them and although you can thread them between two cars with the wing mirrors, there is a blind spot directly to the rear. The later ones with a reversing camera are a lot safer to back up.