The Dilemma of Modernist Motorcycling

Just a quick post this morning before I leave for cooking school, about traffic in Chiang Mai. Now Chiang Mai is supposed to be the "Boston of Thailand" and with under a million people, it's 1/9 the size of NYC and 1/20 the size of Tokyo. Yet I had read before coming here a tourist talking about how she was always on the verge of being run over and had trouble crossing the streets. I have to admit I felt a twinge of condescension when I read that, thinking oh, she must be from the suburbs, or an awfully slow walker. Who can't cross a street?

In fact, this place may be a smaller city, but it is lawless. LAWLESS! The motorcycle and tuktuk (and wild dog) traffic on the main roads at nighttime is one of the craziest things I have seen (Tokyo was crowded, but at least they respected traffic signals). There are few to no sidewalks, few to no stoplights, and indeed it is a total act of faith to cross a street. You can't wait for a break in traffic - there is none. You just step into oncoming motorcycles and hope they are skilled enough to all miss you, which incredibly, they seem to be. You may as well just close your eyes and walk across the street, for all the control you have over the situation. I actually can't imagine now what Bangkok will be like.