DualSportBiker

14 hours ago, DezLez said:

Do you honestly think this will happen?

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.

14 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

Test the people who have a driving licence from a country with much stricter road safety and more stringent learning and testing...  Makes perfect sense.

 

More efforts to make foreigners look bad in order to divert attention.  That will help tourism for sure.

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!

On 6/16/2025 at 1:46 PM, tomazbodner said:

Agree. I use JustGrab.

So we don't agree as I use GrabTaxi 

4 hours ago, tomazbodner said:

Grab is considerably more expensive than regular taxi.

Grab Car or Just Grab might be, but Grab Taxi is the metered price with a surcharge. The drivers make more when hired under the taxi booking than they do Grab Car. In fact the amount taken from private drivers of Grab Car is pretty offensive.

The price shown when you book a taxi via Grab is an estimate and in my estimation, always significantly higher than the final price.

Thai taxi costs are cheap - they meter fare has only recently changed after years stagnant at the initial fee. Drive times have not improved, fuel has increased dramatically. When meters were first introduced, fuel was around 8-11 Baht if I remember correctly... There are plenty of dishonest and unscrupulous taxi drivers, but there are also large numbers of honest and hardworking ones. The fares are too low and that is part of, not all, the incentive to lie and cheat for those who are inclined to do so.

Were the fares more in line with the cost of living, the incentive to cheat would be reduced. There will always be those that prey on the newbies in tourist zones, but that needs a different mode of control.

On 6/3/2025 at 6:08 AM, Ralf001 said:

You broke a bolt and thought the best action was to slander the company....

 

Good luck with that !

The owner of YSS is highly litigious as well...

On 5/10/2025 at 3:05 AM, Celsius said:

 

That's ancient.

And? Pretty sure your original question was not restricted to any time-period. 

Less ancient would be the Food By Phone guy. Does that pass muster with you?

52 minutes ago, Guderian said:

This genius was smuggling cannabis INTO Thailand when you can buy it cheaply on every street corner?

In the mid-90s, a group of Poles were busted at Don Muang for bringing in kilos of weed! Takes all sorts!

Seems like I am the only one who has seen an improvement in how ambulances get through traffic. More cars readily move out of the way than before. It all changed after the story about the driver of a car was blocking the way for an ambulance with his grandmother in. 

Perhaps the effect has worn off, in part or in whole. But, just yesterday I saw an ambulance slice through heavy traffic on Chaeng Wattana because most cars got out the way in time. 

The view that Thais will never change is bogus. I've been riding so-called big bikes here for 30 years. Behaviours have changed, but only in the past ten years. Used to be no car would move out of the right lane for bikes, even a huge convoy of obnoxiously bright GS riders would have to undertake. That is no longer the case. I ride alone, and more than 50% of the time cars will move aside. Of those that do, nearly 50% use a signal! Go figure!

For all who think 'Thais will never change' I posit it is you who will not change. You have an opinion and can't entertain the idea of changing it. You might want to look up the implications of low mental plasticity... It's not complimentary :)

20 hours ago, thesetat said:

I think you are deflecting. You post poll ratings at the time when there is a big tariff dispute and people are worried how it will turn out. Those numbers can change greatly if all those countries negotiate a better trade deal, including China. It could also fall to a lot less if his gamble on the trade fails. 

 

US trade deals require 6-10 months just to gather internal requirements from industry and the various departments. Deals will not be struck, these tariffs will either continue into a significant recenssion 'cause he won't back down, or he will back down and all his lackeys will try and spin it as a win.

When the Panda ate Food By Phone they had around 20x FBP's marketing budget and they could not compete. Held out for a while, but had to concede defeat. Then at events the public face of the Panda described themselves as the company that opened the food delivery market here! That was nearly 20 years after FBP opened! I remember being stuck by the outrageous arrogance of the muppet who thought buying the company that kicked off the food delivery market here meant they got to wear the hat that said "first"! They were ten years late and spent way too much on market entry. The owner of FBP did rather well out of their late arrival!

5 hours ago, NoDisplayName said:

No interest.  Nothing I want to say to the locals or hear from them.

 

Lived in China, learned Chinese.

 

Sometimes I'll give 'em a cheery "Ni hao!"

How would you know?

5 hours ago, Hummin said:

I did speak and understand southern Thai okay, but when I got a new gf who speaks fluent Isaan and Central Thai, I lost my interest. To hard and to much energy when I was getting closer to 50, and after 8 years living permanently, I moved back to my origin. There is not much that inspires me to learn either Isaan or Thai really. 
 

And for some of you, it could be okay to know the fluent Thai you claim to speak and understand is on pair with a 5 year old Thai, maybe. Only one we have met who works with Thai for the last 12 years she says speaks and understand Thai well enough without complications. 
 

all credits to those of you who is willing to make the effort, but think twice before you claim you are fluent. 

I don't make such claims. Almost every new Thai I talk to does :)

16 hours ago, Magictoad said:

I don't think everyone is a clueless idiot just because they choose not to integrate with the native population of any given country. Supposing I lived in Germany for a 10 years or Russia? Why should I bother to integrate with either peoples? It would make me the novelty and possibly force me into loads of unwanted conversations.

If one were to live anywhere for 10 years, would that be being forced to? Or a choice? I am guessing that for most people, moving anywhere is a positive choice; "I moved to xyz for the [insert your own personal reason] climate, food, cost of living, ease of doing business, access to a large regional market, my employer paid me to be here...] Does it make sense to make such a move harder by refusing to simplify and improve every interaction one has? Colour me stupid, but I would not want to ensure everything I do is harder, less reliable, possibly fraudulent or misguided just because I lack the respect to learn even a little of the local language. I would absolutely want to reduce the chances I get taken advantage of and maximise that which I understand. 

I don't think people who don't are idiots. I think they are lazy, potentially arrogant, fooling themselves and willingly disrespectful to their hosts. Worrying about being perceive a novelty is ridiculous - how vain can you get?

21 hours ago, atpeace said:

Just perused the link.  Amazed you found that simple.  I do think that learning how to read and write might be a better option while at the same time learning how to speak. A couple friends have done this and had success.  

We all learn differently. Personally I have given up on reading Thai several times, but my spoken Thai is really quite good. Or at least it is if I believe how Thais react to me. I only started to learn to read Thai after 20-odd years...

4 minutes ago, JackGats said:

It's an unrewarding language to learn. The time you spend (waste) on learning Thai is time you could spend on lots on more rewarding things.

 

I still can't follow the news headlines in Thai or read a Thai newspaper unaided after learning Thai for 5 years. The reason is 1) I'm getting older and my memory is no longer what it was 2) Thais don't answer me back in Thai never mind how better my Thai is compared to their "English".

Balderdash. I reap rewards daily from my knowledge of Thai, as do the others I know who also speak fair-to-middling quality Thai. Your statement might well be driven by peeve as you can't master it.

20 hours ago, Chris Daley said:

I have worked in English schools since they day I arrived.  I never need to speak Thai to anyone.

Really? You never go anywhere - just stay in the school? 

You know all those bigots back home who bitch about people not learning English, or French or wherever they go and "don't integrate"? You are feeding the same fire of pushback by Thais who see idiot tourists behaving badly, violent expats kicking doctors, Indians sleeping on beaches. They can spot expats who show sweet FA respect through not making the effort to learn any of their language. To a great extent I benefit from your slovenliness as I do speak Thai, and well enough that every Thai notices.

I have travelled all over Thailand for the 34 years I have been here. For the past 20 I almost always take the back roads and rarely stay in hotels that cater to tourists as a result of that. I get the occasional Thai who does not understand me, but that is usually because they are listening for English and is quickly resolved. When I travel with my Thai wife, nobody waits to talk to her in my stead. Once it is clear that talking to me is as easy as talking to another Thai, I get the inside line on all that I care about, where to stay, eat, drink, visit, scenic routes, temples of note. Thais absolutely love when people take an interest in their town, shop, food or even their life, but will not let themselves struggle to communicate. Once you can let them talk, they will. In that regard, they are no different from anyone and anywhere else.

Stay in your bubble, develop a negative opinion of the locals because you reject both the need to and the way to understand them. But don't be surprised when you are treated as an ATM or told, correctly, that you are clueless about Thailand. And don't bother to have an opinion on that which you can and will never understand. 

7 hours ago, wavodavo said:

Why do people always blame the roads when a serious fatal accidents happen.? How about looking at the actions   of the drivers e.g. Poorly trained, maybe unlicensed , unskilled , affected by drugs or alcohol , talking on mobile phone .driving stints too long without a break also unroadwothy and  poorly maintainrd vehicles . Many of these bus accidents happen in the early hours of the morning so drivers probably nodding off. So don't always blame the roads the driver just has to drive to the conditions.

I am not blaming the road, just highlighting it is an additional factor in this specific case. Why did I leave the rest out, because we are (mostly) all aware of all the other issues that contribute to accidents. There were already a bunch of comments wailing about the same before I joind the party. However, among the contributing factors, road layout is one which is often overlooked. I took a course in Road Traffic Accident Reduction in Emerging Economies with Carnegie Mellon a few years ago. I too was surprised how much road design is a factor. But hey, learning stuff is only for people who don't instinctively know it all already...

57 minutes ago, Briggsy said:

This is the small stretch of the 304 that descends from the Isaan plateau down into Prachinburi. I have never known a small stretch of road anywhere in the world have so many horrific accidents with so many fatalities.

 

I would love some of these accidents to be fully investigated. The level of negligence combined with brainlessly dangerous driving is beyond credulity.

It's a pretty badly laid out section of road and often quite busy. It could do with a significant upgrade and some escape tracks for this very purpose.

RIP.

Are any of the land borders to Burma/Myanmar open for non-Thai and non-Burmese travel? And if so, given the fluidity of the situation over the border, are there any up-to-date resources to check on a week-by-week basis?

1. Mae Sai, Chiang Rai - Tachileik: 
2. Mae Sot, Tak - Myawaddy: 
3. Ban Phu Nam Ron - Htee Kee:
4. Ranong - Kawthuang:

I have a Thai friend in Mae Sot who ships product to Myanmar - says it is open for transport, but can't confirm/deny non-Thai passage. 2 and 3 are my targets, just need to pop over in May. I would be driving...

Most grateful for any information or resources 

What a tragic way to learn a simple lesson. He needs to tell that story to a camera and have an influencer post it. You would be doing Thailand a huge favour were you able to get that done. You can IM me his number and I will see what I can do as this topic is one I lose sleep over...

34 minutes ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

My Thai sister-in-law gets in the back of the car and buckles her seat belt knowing that I wont move unless she does. My wife (her sister) is already in  the front passenger seat buckled up.

 

Once moving. I watch my SIL in the rear view mirror as she surreptitiously unclips her seat belt thinking I wont notice.

 

I pull in and park on the shoulder and say to my wife "Seat belt warning" pointing at the dashboard, (usually the parking brake warning light since there is no visual warning for rear seat)....and make a  show of checking my wife's seat belt until hearing a 'click' from the rear seat. At which point I release the parking brake and carry on driving. 😏

 

In retaliation, if my wife is driving and the SIL is in the front passenger seat, she never wears her seat belt although  my wife always wears hers. 

 

In contrast, a builder doing a job in our house asked for a lift. Climbed in the back seat, located the seat belt anchor and clipped up. I said (through my wife) "That is the first time ever that a Thai  has got in my car and secured their seat belt without being told" He then told us that, a  few months previously he had been driving his twin-cab pickup on a good road, with thick trees on both sides. The grade was slightly uphill, road dry with sunshine and approaching a blind sweeping bend to the right. Without warning, an SUV at speed came around the bend sliding into my man's lane and collided head on. He estimated the impact to be around 120 kph. His airbags blew, the windshield shattered he 'came to' pickup hard against the verge metal barrier. His first thought was for his wife but he could not see her as her seat back had folded forward. It transpired that their daughter with infant son on her lap (no seat belt) had been sitting behind her mother and had been thrown forward, by the impact, into the front passenger seat back breaking the locks and folding it flat. She then exited the vehicle through the windshield into the windshield of the SUV killed instantly along with infant.

 

Lifting the back of his wife's seat he found her, a petite woman, jack-knifed into the footwell, bruised but otherwise uninjured. She had not been wearing her seatbelt.

 

The driver of the SUV had also been un-belted and had been thrown through his  windshield and killed.

 

My builder said he learned that day that seat-belts can save lives and always wears one when in a vehicle and has taught his family members the value of 'buckling up'

6 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

 

I cannot recall the last time I had a passenger in the car with me.

Understood, defs your decision in that situation. Would you were you with passengers? It would be reassuring to know you take others' safety to heart...

2 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

 

I dont give a <deleted> if I die.

Do you care if your corpse bounces around and injures/kills another passenger in the car?

I got into a cab here, put my belt on immediately and the driver then said, "Why are you insulting me and my driving skills?" So I would posit that some here do think that it is a reflection on the driver. Given that most men around the planet over estimate the quality of their driving skills, your observation is far from wrong.

3 hours ago, Don Giovanni said:

Do Thais just not like them?

Are they averse to wearing them?

 

Does putting your seat belt on in Thailand as a passenger make the driver lose face by insinuating that he/she may have an accident, and therefore isn't capable enough behind the wheel?

 

I've even heard stories of Thais cutting the seat belt buckles off in a new car as they believe that something supernatural will protect them anyway, so why bother?...

 

I also know plenty of Thais who never wear their seat belts, even when driving home drunk...

 

The Don.