Avoiding driving on crowded roads during a long weekend such as Songkran might be a good idea. But travelling on weekdays, though smaller traffic jams, may give you a different experience _ some of them beyond your imagination.
The long Songkran holiday has passed, and I bet those who used the roads last week will not forget their tough journey as major highways leading to all provinces were madly packed with vehicles. With double or triple the usual travelling time, I'm sure both drivers and passengers must have been frustrated and exhausted once they arrived at their destinations. Driving back to Bangkok, more or less, is the same boring and frustrating journey.
There's nothing new in the newspaper's headlines during Songkran _ airports, railway stations, and bus terminals were congested and chaotic. The number of deaths on the road during the week-long festival also makes a new record. Even on Koh Chang island in Trat province, thousands of cars had to queue up for 4km, waiting up to eight hours for the ferry to take them back to the mainland.
It has been this way for decades. Some say Songkran has become one of the country's biggest races among holidaymakers who fight to get out of town by hitting the road first, or trying to get the best seat on a bus. Once they have escaped, they still have to fight for a table at a restaurant, or entry to the places they plan to visit. Then they hit the crazy roads once again to get back to work.
Many tourists find that travelling during long holidays is a real nightmare and would rather avoid such situations. They, including me, choose to enjoy peaceful moments in town and plan to travel on weekdays instead, when it's much easier and quieter. But after a few trips, I found it may not be as pleasant as I thought. First, although the roads are not too crowded and parking spaces are easy to find, I find that many shops and restaurants are often closed. After hectic weekend sales, a number of them, particularly the famous shops, prefer to take some rest on weekdays.
Once, my family and I planned a day trip to visit the Ban Mai market in Chachoengsao province. I had heard the market is jam-packed with people from Bangkok and nearby provinces, especially during weekends.
So we decided to go on a weekday to avoid the crowds. Surprise! What we found was an extremely quiet market _ one that was still sleeping after a big party at the weekend. Only a handful of shops were open and shop owners were surprised to see customers like me and my family strolling down the almost-empty marketplace. They told me I should come back at the weekend when most of the shops are open.
I did not blame them. After a bustling business weekend, I would love to take some rest too.
Another trip was in Kanchanaburi. I visited a waterfall on a weekday _ a few days after the long holidays, which saw the crowds flock to the park. At first I was glad to have a chance to enjoy the waterfall in complete serenity and peace. But what I came across was a huge amount of garbage littering the whole place. Most food shops were closed. Only one food stall remained open and grilled chicken was the only choice. The chicken was also over-grilled, dry and hard to chew. I was sure the food vendor had kept grilling it while waiting for customers to show up.
One summer, I spent a holiday at Ao Manao in Prachuap Khiri Khan. I arrived there on Sunday and found my hotel was located right next to a Sunday market. It was a bustling and noisy market with a wide range of food on offer. A day later, I went back to the market and found it was gone. After scouting around for hours, I found it difficult to find something to eat as the area had few food shops open on weekdays.
Happy holiday moods can easily disappear if you get to the right place at wrong time. From my experiences, I try to avoid tourist destinations that are too lonely and quiet during weekdays. However, extremely crowded places, no matter whether on weekdays or weekends, are not my choice either.
Peerawat Jariyasombat is a travel writer for Life section of the Bangkok Post.