March 2, 2002: Switched from foot power to pedal power today; rented a bike up near Chiang Mai University. Aside from the 100Baht for the bike, helmet and lock rental, I left only my Mass Driver's License for "collateral". No credit card, no passport, no problem. With what my new license picture looks like, it might be worth pilfering the bike so I'll have to get a new license when I get home. on second thought, I'd probably get stopped at the border...
Cycling isn't quite as peaceful as walking: both have their inherent risks but walking only happens on the street when the sidewalk is impassible or when there's a motorcycle riding down the sidewalk and you're better off in the street. However, there are some survival skills to be learnt to ride a bike here, and I thought I would share a few:
To be "dead right" is not fulfilling, unless you were looking for a good epitaph for your grave marker. Better to just let the ass*&^^ have his way. Actually I learned this before, but it's good to practice. Anger (or even the appearance of anger) isn't much of an improvement, in Thai eyes, over being dead right. Sanctimoniousness seems to be OK, however. BTW, the Thai word for irony or sarcasm, is the same word as the verb "cut". Fitting. It's interesting (but not relevant to this log) how Thais express irony, because unlike in English, their language intonate for pronunciation, not for effect. "You said WHAT?". If you were to call something average looking "suay, suay maak!" (beautiful, beautiful very) — it would be an insult. It is not safe to ride on the sidewalks, for a couple of reasons. First, if there are curb cuts, then it goes to follow there are curbs. If there are curbs, they are 6"-10" high (reduces the number of sidewalks that get flooded during the rainy season)... and they have no ramps (what I've seen of Thailand is not wheelchair friendly), and second, even gravel paths are more ride-able. The sidewalks (where they exist at all) are often like cobblestone, and often have big chunks missing. Sometimes the area at the side of the road is just a shallow channel to carry rain water. Not good to ride in and out of. It's permissible to ride a bicycle on the superhighway. Just as long as you watch out for motorcycles going the wrong way in your lane. You can get lost a lot quicker, and end up a lot further out of the way on a bike then on foot. "Oh, I'll go just a little farther" doesn't hurt your legs like it does your feet. Sunburn seems to come proportionately quicker on the bike. So if I walk at 3mph and bike at 13mph, I seem to burn about four times as fast. You can ride a bike down side streets where foreigners are seldom seen. They appreciate the novelty, I think. What we call the "Breakdown Lane" or the "shoulder" is sort of the "little dog" lane here. That is, the bigger cars, the bigger motorcycles, the more aggressive drivers — take the Big Dog lanes. The others (along with bicycles) get the leftovers. And if you're driving down the wrong side of the road, it's best to stay in the little dog lane. Crosswalks (aka "zebra crossings", elsewhere) are an unimplemented, quaint notion. Most have faded to the point they're just visible, but there are new signs around them that say (two different signs) to the effect "Drivers must stop at crosswalks. B500 fine" and "Pedestrians must use crosswalks, B200 fine". Of course there's nobody to enforce either rule, and neither obeys. Both signs say "Not obey must be finded[sic]..." and the number. Then it said probably "bath" (common misspelling of baht), but everything after the "B" has been painted over in black (the signs are white) to cover the error. The safest thing you can do is to look predictable, and be predictable The next best thing (if you can't be predictable) is to look unpredictableI rather enjoyed riding today. The bike is due back tomorrow at noon, but another 50B and I can keep it until 8pm. Let's make the 7pm: I've no strong desire to ride at night without a light.