At the President Park Hotel in Bangkok (Sukhumvit Soi 22/24), a very unique show happens every day. It is quite entertaining – nowhere else in Bangkok have I seen this type of show. As a hotel guest attempts to cross the street in the pedestrian crosswalk, one of the doorman jumps out of nowhere and carefully escorts the guest to the other side, holding out his red stop sign for all drivers of the various motorized vehicles to see. I know that this busy curve that connects Soi 24 with Soi 22 can be a very precarious crossing - at any time of the day, many cars (especially taxis) and many of Bangkok’s infamous motorcycle taxis can be observed whipping around this legendary curve.

As a veteran of navigating this famous crosswalk, I always remember to look over my right or left shoulder to make sure it is safe to cross. When I reach the center divider or the middle of the crosswalk, I have gotten in the habit of looking over my other shoulder to make sure the coast is clear before completing my passage. Of course, with President’s Parks Stop Sign men working 24/7, it makes the crossing that much easier. Sometimes, I like to just stand there and watch the show!

Tags: Bangkok, bangkok motorcyle taxis, Bangkok taxis, stop sign men

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 16th, 2008 at 5:04 pm and is filed under Bangkok, Commentary, Humor, Thailand. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.