Abstract
Any discussion of automobile dependence today will usually involve some reference to Los Angeles. As an archetype for cities that have tried to build their transport systems almost totally around freeways – and failed – it is almost unparalleled. However, the Asian region is rapidly developing its own archetype of urban traffic dysfunction: the Bangkok metropolitan region. Interestingly, by a perverse coincidence, the similarities between Los Angeles and Bangkok today also have some deeper historical significance.