MaxYakov

14 hours ago, Get Real said:

I guess that clarifies that there is much more than 100% out there.

13 hours ago, sirineou said:

also the impact effect  according to this article is anything between 1520 to 10 years 

Don't they proofread this things before they publish them?

Dash it! Someone stole the dashes.

1 hour ago, TunnelRat69 said:

We need a Sarcasm Emoticon would stop a lot of rediculous answers to posts we are only joking about with.

 

What? TVF's emoticon selection is one of the best and largest on the planet!

(A wee bit too obvious, this one?)

Video: Are Thai police "fit" for purpose - national chief finds out!

Depends on what your definition of "purpose" is (not the definition of "fit"). So, I counted three pushups. Did the Chief say "Get down and give me three!"? I'd love to see a transcript in English of their dialogue? Anyone?

21 minutes ago, billsmart said:

11 mm? I never heard of an 11 mm pistol - or rifle. I just looked it up on the Internet, and there are such pistols, but I'd think they are very rare.

 

17 minutes ago, transam said:

Military side arm..

11mm = .433071 cal.

Would that be Napoleon's army or Washington's? Maybe General Custer? Let us know, please. 

8 minutes ago, steven100 said:

I always thought you never discuss politics or religion when drinking .....

I'll have to add land to that .... 

I think you have to add many more items than just land.

I hate it when this happens at a "drinks party". It spoils the whole ambiance of the venue. R.I.P., the victims.

1 hour ago, Thian said:

UFO's and their masters are protected in Thailand, did you forget the raid of the UFO with 6000 soldiers/policemen while there was "nobody" to be found in there??

 

It's pretty silent about that case lately.

Are you referring to the Case of the Unfound Abbot? If not, hum a few bars and maybe I'll remember. 

On 10/21/2017 at 9:19 AM, Thian said:

Every minute i see a motobike (or car) without licenseplate in BKK....and they are not new...

 

Also every minute i see motorbikes driving on main roads without any lights, every 5 minutes a car without lights...

 

I think the new radarguns will solve this soon....

Why / how? Are they going to be arrested for traveling faster than light? Their vehicles impounded as illegal starships? Will the RTP have to deal with a "starship gap" and buy a lot of them from China to catch up (as it were)?

Anyway, I digress so back on-topic: That's what I like about 7/11s - lightening-fast service! (pun intended)

Why, looking at extraction rig, am I not surprised at the outcome?

18 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

Old but not that old - sorry - Thailand is 31st in world per April 2017 Wiki:  The point is addition is a real concern everywhere - you find the same screen staring outside of Thailand.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_smartphone_penetration

Wow! Sweden jumped to #2 (with UAE  still at #1) according to the Wiki link. Gee, I wonder why that happened.

Another motorbike / pickup collision at a U-turn - statement by the pickup driver:

"While he was making a U-turn, a scooter, ridden by Mr Pisarz, suddenly tried to overtake his vehicle, cutting in front of him. Relying on a statement by this witness, Pol Lt Col Potwad said, “He told us that the driver of the other vehicle had been driving so fast that he was not able to stop in time and ended up colliding with his SUV at high speed.”"

Farang Deaths - Edward Anthony Pisarz - Sukhumvit Rd. Chon Buri - August 10, 2017 [link]

Looking at both the left-side damage to the pickup and the absolutely demolished condition of the motorbike, I'd bet the pickup performed the U-turn and collected the motorbike which was traveling at high speed in the opposite direction (similar to this accident) - not necessarily as the driver states. The driver's statement would not eliminate the possibility that his U-turning in the path of the motorbike caused the collision. Just that the "driver of the other vehicle had been driving so fast that he was not able to stop in time".

Yes, I'd bet the deceased was much chagrined to find the pickup suddenly in his path and in close proximity (for the  few seconds or less he had left to be alive).

3 hours ago, Moti24 said:

I think you're missing the point.  Look at the video, again.  Other motorcyclists slow down and look, ready to stop, but it only took one idiot to ignore what should have been common sense.  Even in Thailand, it is illegal to overtake on the inside, but that is another issue.  In this instance, only the motorcyclist was at fault.  The pickup driver could do nothing about it as the motorcyclist was travelling too fast.  You are not wrong with information in your post, but your constant defensive driving remarks were not fitting for this situation.

 

I no longer like driving in Thailand, nor do I like riding my motorcycle, but they are necessities for everyday life.  Unfortunately, here in Thailand, travelling on the road is a lottery.  Until the Thai drivers are educated to a competent standard, it will always be a lottery.

 

Have a nice day.

Thanks for the reply. I have already faulted the motorbike operator for speeding and misreading the road situation in a previous post. However, from the video I'm not sure he was actually speeding and if so by how much. It was a survivable hit (at least for the passengers) considering none of them had helmets. And the motorbike was near the center of the lane and should have been at least visible.

Anyway, from your apparent attitude, I can only hope that you are not the one assigned or volunteering to be educating the Thai road users.

In my humble opinion (which seems to be supported by the horrific motorbike road casualty rate) motorbikes are the "road disease" of Thailand and they are or have become necessities for too many people, but not a necessity for all. Motorbikes usage is a major reason why the horrific road casualty rate. Some 75% of fatal road accidents involve motorbikes.

Everyone who uses the roads in Thailand should already be aware of this, even you, but I'll link it anyway.:

New Year road deaths surge in Thailand despite safety campaign - Reuters - January 4, 2017 [link]

From the above link:

"The Department of Land Transport said 426 people died in 3,327 accidents between Dec. 29 and Jan. 3, up from 340 in the year-earlier period. 

Thailand’s road death rate is the highest in the world apart from war-ravaged Libya, according to a 2015 World Health Organization report."

What are you doing personally to avoid speeding motorcyclists (or other vehicles) that are "travelling [sic] too fast" for you to do anything about them, as you allege* was the case in this collision?

* = How do you know if the pickup driver had even attempted to clear the #1 lane of oncoming traffic before entering it? Is that in the video also?

Have a Safe Day.

56 minutes ago, Moti24 said:

Thanks for the good laugh!  Best I've had today.  

 

Your post is the biggest load of crap I've read in a long time; defensive this, defensive that! 

 

You're in Thailand now!  ****in wake-up and accept things as they are!  

 

I could go on, but I can feel my blood pressure rising, trying to understand how naive you are.

I do accept (and react to) Thailand and anywhere else in the world as they are, knowing I cannot change them - which I believe should adequately explain my ridiculous survivalist attitude.

However, in Thailand, due to the several untoward factors which I should not have to elaborate on to a long-term observer of Thailand such as yourself, I have to be "ultra defensive", especially since a bicycle (or even a motorbike) offers little to nil crash protection, leaving little latitude for human or machine error - that of yours or others.

You are a "long-term" and "observant" expat, right?

You do operate a motor vehicle or cycle or are even a pedestrian in Thailand 365 days a year rain or shine, right?

So can we assume from your reply that, if you operate a motor vehicle on Thailand's roads you are an "offensive driver",  or at least someone who does not believe in "defensive driving", right?

How's your blood pressure doing now? 

Someone actually watches Thai TV?  OK, I guess so, but I know I certainly don't miss it (for the last three years now).

On 10/19/2017 at 9:43 AM, quandow said:

I don't know the rules here - does this mean she's free to come back?

I would say absolutely free to return, providing her passport is valid to catch a flight (or Toyota Camry or whatever). I wouldn't be expecting her any time soon, however. 

On 10/19/2017 at 7:17 AM, Si Thea01 said:

i have to disagree.  Given the poor steering lock (Turning Circle) on pickups, they have to take a wide berth when effecting a U turn. The driver was not at fault, he was given right away by the police officer and was travelling slowly when the clowns on the motor cycle, at speed, rode past stationary vehicles and impacted, without any apparent braking, into the front o/s of the ute.  No helmets, three up, clearly speeding and you want to bung it on the driver of the pick up.  The truck didn't look left, didn't know they could see.  Sorry, couldn't resist that.

"The driver was not at fault, he was given right away [sic] by the police officer ..."

As both a defensive driver of 50 years experience (Not in Thailand) and as a defensive cyclist with nearly 10 years almost daily experience as an urban Bangkok cyclist I have to disagree. BTW, it's "right of way", or maybe you intended "right away", as in "right now"?

I also witnessed a very similar and serious motorbike accident 30 feet from me where the operator did not stand up afterwards either. It also involved a car driver that did not clear the lane he was turning into and collected a high-speed motorbike in the process. The situation was also supposedly under the control of a parking lot entrance flagman who really was not in control of all approaching traffic. One reason for that was that he did not even have a flag (although he did have a sort of uniform)!

That having been said, here's why I disagree:

1) Given clearance by a RTP who probably wasn't or could not possibly be aware of the entire situation in this case does not absolve one from checking the lane one is turning into for oncoming traffic. The pickup driver was in the best position do this, being higher up and  better able to evaluate the situation in the #1 lane. There's a pretty good chance the pickup driver was either not a defensive driver or may have been distracted.

I have evolved a shorthand rule for this over my 60 years of operating both motor vehicles and bicycles: Avoid unnecessarily causing another operator to use their brakes. Why not? Because they may not use them or their use would be ineffective or even impossible. In order to properly apply this rule, one has to be completely undistracted and in predictive mode (i.e. doing their job, paying attention to business). Many drivers have been killed by proceeding into intersections by not applying this rule and being T-boned by a red-light runner.

I, of course, fault the motorbike operator for misreading or ignoring the road situation and speeding. This is endemic and very predictable w/r motorbikes at all times.

The RTP traffic officer was operating at a severe handicap by not having awareness of, and the ability to control, the #1 lane. This situation could be corrected either by having a second officer assigned or a piece of portable equipment that does not yet exist that would provide a stop-traffic signal in all three lanes, but only when so desired and then all lie flat when it is desired to let traffic proceed.

My biggest fear in urban Bangkok or anywhere on any road these days is the possibility of a distracted driver texting or talking on their mobile phone and not reading the road situation for several seconds and/or having the vehicle drift. Mobile phone use while driving is a serious problem and is well-known to cause horrific accidents.

13 hours ago, bangrak said:

Thai women are mostly saying: 'up to you', ...as long as the money follows!

The rest is BS to me, no saints, no more than the ladies from the countries we come from.

Basically less 'expensive', because of the local standards, compared to that of our home countries, ...at least until they have been able to evaluate the depth of our pocket.

We are all wealthy, in their simple dreams, plus because of the stupid bragging of many of us men here, and should, all, have a, large, ATM tatooed on our forehead!

Mind you, nothing better to expect from other countries of origin, Philippines, Cuba, Russia, et al, you name it, what d'you expect? You're 50, or 70, the dame is 25 or 30, and you expect her to 'love' you,  your, decayed' body and, stiff, mind?

Get a grip on yourself (well, erm...)! LOL 

Shouldn't that be "stiff body and decayed (decadent) mind"?

2 hours ago, SpicyMeatball said:

The phrase "###king moron" doesn't just apply to Trump!

That's right, applies to some TV posters as well. Especially ones who feel a compulsion to politicize a traffic accident thread.

41 minutes ago, wirat69 said:

So explain to me why Thai drivers need 3, sometimes 4, lanes to do a U turn, please

In order to collect an unaware or scoff-law motorbike operator and teach them a lesson? Ever been tempted?

I go through the cop-controlled intersection at Sukhumvit Soi 11 almost every morning and I rarely see any vehicles making a U-turn in more than two lanes (and it's a good thing they don't, too!). I also rarely see someone attempting to blow through it in the left-hand lane when the traffic has been stopped, although I don't believe the control cop there is any better positioned top stop left-lane traffic than this one was.

I fault everyone on this one, including the pickup driver who's responsibility was to avoid collecting a vehicle. They put their vehicle into the path of an oncoming vehicle.

Thailand has a serious case of what I call a "motorbike disease" which is contributing about 75% of their road casualties.

Was he arrested for vehicular homicide (his)? I suspect that simply being on the road in Thailand can result in hallucinations (or actual events resembling them).

25 minutes ago, bannork said:

It is interesting which acronyms become, or are pronounced as words- Unicef, Unesco, etc. It seems acronyms are only pronounced as single letters when there are few letters, is 3 the maximum? TWA, BBC etc.

Thanks. I believe an acronym or an initialism is actually a word if it is pronounceable as a word without confusion such as your UNICEF and UNESCO examples. The RADAR acronym and the SWAT initialism I don't believe can be considered to be anything but words as well.

I'm sure there are short ones that are considered words as well (because they can be pronounced as unique words without causing confusion) and ones that get split such as "DTAC". Your BBC example is basically unpronounceable and pronouncing TWA is dodgy at best. 

Take the (fabricated) SCAM initialism for example (to pretend to say on topic):

SCAM = Scurrilous* Criminal Activity Method

* = or should it be "Successful" or "Stupid" (or some other "S" word)?

14 hours ago, tryasimight said:

QANTAS is not a word...like BA is not a word.

Queensland And Northern Territory Aerial Services, the worlds first commercial airline.

From the people who brought you heathens the Hills Hoist and Victa lawnmowers.

Actually, QANTAS [wiki link] is a true "initialism [link] and can be considered to be a word, like NATO (another initialism) according to www.dictionary.com.

As to "BA", another initialism if referring to British Airways: It's a sound only a sheep or a Scrooge would make and is usually pronounced by English speakers as two words which are the letter "B" and the letter "A" ), yes?

4 hours ago, coulson said:

What are preventative appliances?

Maybe one of these? (Google may not be your friend):

Five Anti-Drone Solutions that Could Change the Game - DroneLife [link]

Then there is this (the miniaturized Browning 50s were the most difficult part ):

35 minutes ago, 55Jay said:

Somchai forgot to put out the ISO certified safety barriers.

 

Errrr ... no. It appears to  be either a cheap, disposable sobriety test, an example of some very fertile sub-road soil or a total failure of local road maintenance. Where was that, BTW?

On 10/6/2017 at 9:28 PM, jackdd said:

I'm always wondering the behaviour of Thais at U-turns. They nearly always try to merge in the outer most lane after a U-turn and thus having to cross all lanes.

As in the picture attached instead of going for the middle lane (being the car) and thus at least keeping one lane free, they go for the outer most lane. And especially i never understand the motorbikes. I'm in the situation as on the picture every day. The car is "shielding" the inner lane from any cars, but the motorbikes are waiting until they can somehow find a spot, often risky, to go across all 3 lanes. I just try to find a way in between the motorbikes waiting there and just turn around in the shadow of the car sticking to the inner lane where i'm sure nobody will go because the car is blocking the lane.

A lot of Thai MV operators are not good tactical/defensive thinkers (albeit, I haven't noticed this "outside lane" tendency on U-turns). This may be because they have a destination that is near the U-turn and want to go to the curb lane immediately during the U-turn rather than cut across lanes of traffic while moving and/or even be forced to proceed past their destination by left-side traffic (if they had U-turned into to the inside lane)?

I ride a bicycle and carefully use "vehicle shielding" as a defensive cycling ploy, but you won't find me navigating a potentially dangerous U-turn with MVs because It would probably require my being in the inside lane with potentially fast-moving cars.

However, with "vehicle shielding", one does not want to be caught in a "discover check situation" or near a "shield vehicle" that could itself be hit  and pushed into you. These unlikely scenarios could result in "checkmate, game over".

I'd go down to the nearest light and either make two right turns (or a U-turn) there or use the pedestrian crosswalks to effectively make my U-turn.

PS: Good observation and description, BTW.