DualSportBiker

Sure - I am naturally abrasive. Just shaking the branches to see what falls out :) Did I misspell cojones? That's not good. Thanks for both clicks

And the UK... probably others in Europe also

Love being called an idiot by someone who can't get passed their personal experience. Believe it or not, your personal experience does not influence the nature of the larger reality that you live in. I saw multiple deaths of bikers in the UK before I moved here. And that was living in the stockbroker belt of London's SE. That personal experience is irrelevant. If I were equally facile, I would counter that after 35 years of riding here, including ten years commuting in downtown Bangkok by bike, I think it is fine or safe or some other superficial statement. My personal experience riding here is wholly irrelevant. The numbers do the talking. Lots of accidents happen. Many of them are much more severe than they should be due to lack of riding gear. As compared of the number of bikes, or to the number of bike-kilometers, those ugly high numbers turn out to be lower. Riding in the US is more dangerous than here. Riding in France or the UK is safer. Could it be better? Should improvements be sought after? Abso-effing-lutely. But to sit behind one's personal fear of riding, or inability to ride properly and project that others should abstain is a loser's perspective.

I typed it, so no throat needed. Love the fact you went for a penis-measuring exercise - it's always great to debate factual stuff with people who open with arguments from personal experience or argument from authority. Let's nip that in the bud. I have been here for just over 35 years and have ridden and driven all around Thailand for that entire time. See the avatar? That's me riding from Bangkok to have lunch with friends in Chiang Mai. So you can wrap your argument from authority in a dirty taco wrapper and put it wherever it pleases you. I have studied road safety - a did a course with Carnegie Mellon University in Road Safety in Emerging Economies some while back. I contribute to road safety projects in Thailand via Chambers, charities and more. You offer nothing. Just "I've been here a long time and think you are wrong." No data, no analysis, just vacuous words. "That which is offered without evidence can be dismissed without evidence." I've been told by locals that, like you, they know something about riding or driving that I don't or can't because they have been riding/driving for years. They don't like it when I tell them that untrained experience is typically full of bad habits. They don't even accept that there is a strategic side to both riding and driving. But some number of years personal experience is all they need. Don't learn, don't improve, don't study, just have an uneducated opinion and flap it about in the wind like one forgot to zip one's flies up. I would suggest you try your best to get passed the sensational nature of the raw numbers and try and think about the subject rather than just emote and react :)

The great thing about statistics is that it allows you to view data from multiple perspectives. Twice as many Thais died on the road as in the US. Got that. That is a 'raw stat'; comparing two raw numbers. Deaths per 1,000 bikes here is around 0.626 and is 0.73 in the US. As stated above that is because there are 2.6 times the number of bikes in Thailand compared to the US. If China topped the charts in total deaths or accidents, it would be easy to say that was due to the large population. Here we have a larger population of bikes and daily bike-riders. Looking at raw numbers is typically misleading until some 'normalised' data is added for clarity. So I would repeat that 15,000 deaths from 23 million bikes used daily, compares favourably to 8.7 million bikes where daily usage is very likely to be less prevalent. I have looked up usage data and it exposes another huge difference: US bikes have an average of 2,000 miles usage per annum. Thai bikes have an average of 10,000. This allows us to calculate the number of accidents per miles ridden. US deaths per billion motorcycle miles: 364 Thai deaths per billion motorcycle miles: 63 So from this view, Thailand is significantly safer despite the raw number being higher. Those numbers will be inaccurate, but not so wrong as to swing the results the other way. You know the phrase, "roughly right, not precisely wrong." The ratio might might drop from 5.7:1 to say 3:1 You are 100% correct about accounting for road deaths - RTP have some explaining to do... Which idiot told you that? You should tell them to 1, grow a pair, and 2, learn how to ride before trying...

Hard to tell if we are being 'disliked' by someone who can't do numbers, or doesn't have the cohones to ride...

Riding in Thailand is safer than you think. Most people are distracted by the headline stats; ~80% of both road accidents and road fatalities are bikes. 20,000+++ per year is horrendous - no argument there. However, there are nearly 23 million registered bikes here verses 9, 3.5 and 1.3 in the US, France and UK respectively. Bikes here are ridden daily as most users' only transport. Usage patterns in the US, France and the UK are very different. Most use their bikes for recreation, not obligatory daily use. The severity of the accidents here are due to not wearing helmets; 84% of Thai bikers hospitalised were not wearing helmets. More small accidents end up in hospital as almost nobody wears 'all the gear'. When looking at the number of accidents per 1,000 bikes, it turns out that Thailand is very slightly safer than the US . But it is still 3x as dangerous as France or the UK. Riders with genuine experience are more than likely to ride here in complete safety if they stick to some basic principles. Only those who can't ride, or can't understand numbers, or both, think that Thailand is especially dangerous. Oh and yes, one needs specific insurance to ride here, especially as a tourist. That insurance hinges on having the correct permits to ride which the insurance companies are duty bound to confirm/deny before buying. You pay your pennies, you makes your choice...

So we got trapped between two opposing policies. MFA will only stamp one time and it specifically states "Valid for perpetuity". The local Amphoe want a fresh stamp, 30 or 90 days. So it looks like Mrs. DSB needs to head to HK to start from scratch! Thanks for the heads-up. I am assuming that I can enter on 90 days, get the Amphoe papers soon after, and then submit with a buffer before the 90 days expires. Do I have to submit at least 30 days in advance?

A right-royal pain the in the backside! HK, 1999! Painful choice. The application process is online now, payment at the consulate in Savannakhet or Embassy in VT. Does anyone know how much for Cat O 90 day marriage visa? Need to have crisp notes - just like the Dollars for VOA. Cheers.

A right-royal pain the in the backside! HK, 1999! Painful choice.

Dr. Jack, the 12 month extension and reentry permit - application being made at one's local Immigration office? And assume with sufficient time remaining. Is any supporting doc required for either? As for 90 day reporting, that means both in-person at an Immigration office, or online (is it working?) Thanks :)

Well, the only party that is genuinely new since I last had this chat with him is the winning-and-banned party of an orange hew. However, putting that one to the side, this Thai national with 40 years of inside and high-level political experience disagrees with you. Not knowing your background, I'd have to place my bets on him being right. Of course, we can't place bets for fear of being knicked! 55

A mate of mine is the son of a Senator - was in power for 30 years located 2 hours from Bangkok. He was a minister for a brief while in the 90s, so a genuinely powerful man. He knew his old man was corrupt and understands how corrupt the entire system is. He hates it with a passion. Ten years ago his old man popped his clogs and his son briefly considered running in his place. He pulled out after a couple of months of planning and testing the waters with his old man's cohorts. What he told me was that you can't run a campaign here without spelling out how you will pay (off) your team. They want to know what schemes you have, what they will generate and how much their cut will be. No young politician with good intentions can make headway here - DOA.

Yes. My wife and I have one with SCB

I took my nephews to a hospital and asked a doctor to guestimate how many fewer bike patients he would see if they were wearing helmets or proper shoes. He started with 'well over half' then ended up and 'perhaps 70-80%'. My nephews now ride Harleys and Beemers and follow the mantra, all the gear, all the time.

The test is as useful as goose poop on a pump handle. As for training, most Thais I talk to tell me they see 'nothing to learn'. Have you ever wondered why when Thais are two-up the younger one is typically riding and the older on pillion? This is a function of seniority. Having someone take you reinforces their age 'superiority'; I have a chauffeur! It is almost as if thinking about skills, experience and responsibility were foreign...

Unfortunately, you have missed out on the fundamentals. Thai mobile ownership is 1.36 phones per capita verses 0.36 laptops/desktop PCs per capita. It is not an age thing directly, just the simple fact that almost everyone has a smart phone (98.2%), and very few have access to a laptop or desktop (36%). If you were spending millions of Baht on a development team making products for your customers, where would you focus efforts? On the 36% or the 98%?

5% up - period up to now. 30% down - forecast.

Wow - the adventurous expats order fried rice or chicken rice! Verges on the embarrassing!

Arrived just 22, now just shy of 60. Only two others I know who arrived at ± the same time, same age, and are still here. Still debating if I am an old hand. Perhaps it is up to Thais to decide...

Had to owl stew, not beef 'cause he don't give a hoot!

Reading and writing are optional. The ability to engage in a serious conversation in Thai takes time and creates insight. Being an old-hand means very unlikely to be taken for a ride by a local. If you don't understand the language, you can't gain insight.

The answer is on the screen:

It can and does happen. I have significant exposure to the changes. When I started riding motorcycles upcountry here, there was no way in hell any car would move out of the way of a faster bike. That behaviour persisted until the mid 2010s when there was a clear and distinct change in driver habit. I won't bore you with how change was effected, but now when I ride a slight majority move out of the right-hand lane when I approach. A good half of those signal before they more left. On top of that, behaviour around ambulances has improved significantly here in Bangkok. Again, this was not the case for many years, but now there is every chance that almost all drivers will move out of the way. Could they do better? Sure - they seem to not notice until the ambulance is upon them, but they do move. Your negativity and unfounded belief that Thais will not change is one of the assumptive behaviours Thais ascribe to us all. I have to make an effort to differentiate myself from you and your ilk.

Not all visitors here do come from countries with 'much stricter road safety...' Many come from places with perhaps not equally lax, but sufficiently lax to warrant better controls. BUT, the current Thai tests are not better controls. The written test has mistakes in it in the English version and the practical test is a parking test!