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Bangkok Exit Route - North
 Satellite Image |
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Risk 1: Elevated toll roads are absolutely forbidden for motorcycles. The traffic sign indicating the "toll road entrance lane" is not very clear. If you enter a toll road by mistake, you have a 99% chance of being chased by the police, which would cost 300B - 2000B depending on your bargaining skills.
Risk 2: The "main road" of the Viphawadi-Rangsit Road is forbidden for motorcycles. The "frontage road" is complicated, congested and time-consuming. Some motorcyclists dare challenge this ban and ride through the main road - 50% chance of being flagged down and fined. In the 4.5km section alongside the Don Muang Airport, the main road and the frontage road merge together, but there's no explicit traffic sign.
Risk 3: The law says that motorcycles must stick to the outermost left-hand side lane. You do this on the congested frontage road and you go crazy - slow vehicles, incessantly stopping buses, in-coming/out-going vehicles at numerous side road junctions, etc, etc. There have been reports that motorcycles which overtook a stopping bus (thereby leaving the outermost left-hand side lane) were flagged down and fined.
Risk 4: Although the legal basis is not clear, a common understanding among the traffic police is that, where the shoulder of the road is broader than 1m, motorcycles must ride on that shoulder like a bicycle, and stay out of the outermost left-hand side lane. There have been reports that motorcycles were flagged down and fined for not riding on the shoulder of the road.
The Phahon Yothin Road is less troublesome, yet its high concentration of the traffic police is on the par with the Viphawadi-Rangsit Road. [See also Don Muang Airport]
Thus a good reason to look for alternative routes, avoiding these two major highways.
In the satellite image on the right, the red line represents an alternative route (mostly Khamphaent Phet Road). It starts near the Chatuchak Market, runs parallel to the Viphawadi-Rangsit Road, and continues to Ban Sai in Ayutthaya Province.
The route is straightforward except the 2km section alongside the Don Muang Airport, where the route is split into two one-way roads.
The northern half of the route (north of Rangsit) is a comfortable country road.
From Ban Sai where the route hits R 3309, you may either get on to R 347 (west) , get on to R 32 (east) , or ride along the Chao Phraya River all the way to Ayutthaya.
 Map 1 - 21 KB |
 Map 2 - 94 KB |
Notes on Map 2 - Don Muang
A 2km section of the Kamphaeng Phet Road is designated as one-way (may change in the future). When entering Bangkok, there are no complications - you can just ride through.
When exiting Bangkok, you must take a detour on the adjacent Choet Wutthakat Road (cluttered with shops and offices).
Measuring the distance from the junction with R 304 (Chaeng Watthana Road), at KM 4.0, turn left, then immediately turn right to enter the Choet Wutthakat Road. You can't miss this turnoff as the lane ahead is blocked with a "no-entry" sign.
Then, at the end of the one-way section (KM 6.1), turn right, then immediately turn left to return to the Kamphaeng Phet Road. You may miss this turnoff if you're not careful.
Notes on Map 2 - Rangsit
Again, when entering Bangkok, the route is straightforward.
When exiting Bangkok, you can either:
1. enter R 346, make a U-turn where you can, turn left into a small road around where the overpass begins.
2. go straight under the overpass until the pavement ends, continue 150m on an easy dirt road, turn left into a narrow paved street.
Or else, now that the hardest part of exiting Bangkok is over, you can get on to R 1 or newer R 347 and continue northwards.