DualSportBiker

You can see something appear on the road at the position of the rear left wheel just as it veers off right. Not sure what you "he was asleep" complainers are drinking/smoking, but the evidence is right in front of you.

The observers of the video can clearly be heard saying that the black pick up was turning in to a side street. That is why it was traveling slowly. It is permissible to slow down for a turning. Had he not slowed down and overshot the corner, you'd all slam him for driving too fast.

The white pick up was driving too fast, braked too late and being a pick up, ended up pear-shaped. Blaming the driver of the white pick up is not correct.

On 11/30/2019 at 7:45 PM, torturedsole said:

Too true.  The Thai tortoises are just as dangerous as they randomly slow down to nothing for no obvious reason or they arrive at a junction and eventually proceed in fits and starts.  Very dangerous and even more mind-boggling as to what the intention actually is.  I always tell my wife to give them a wide berth and try to not get stressed, though appreciate that it's not that easy.  

On 11/30/2019 at 7:38 PM, unamazedloso said:

pickup was speeding and thebone in front being a typical thai tortoise which is so dangerous in itself but hit the brakes in a pathetic rear drum, no weight in the back ute and this is exactly what happens. 

Anyone speaking of amulets should be shot in the head. That thinking is far more serious of an issue.

On 12/1/2019 at 11:35 AM, AussieBob18 said:

Maybe wrong - but if you watch closely after the accident you will see a dog run across the road.  I dont think the speeding truck was avoiding it, but I think the one in front (the tortoise) may have slowed down because of the dog, and the person in the truck reacted way too late - and then slammed on the brakes causing lose of control.  As we all know, in Thailand there is very little maintenance of vehicles and the trucks suspension and brakes and tyres were probably all in bad shape. 

 

The lesson for all is to own a big car/truck/mercedes - or buy an amulet ????

 

 

18 hours ago, Creasy said:

Do you know who I am ?

Best response to that question ever:
 

The employee he asked got straight on the PA system "Can anyone help. We have a man here who does not know who he is. Seems relatively normal, must be having a turn or something - oh, now he is flushed. Maybe a Dr. also?"

As always Monsieur Joe, a speedy and concise answer. Many thanks.

My Cat O Visa runs out in September. I plan to apply for a new visa in Savannakhet for the fourth consecutive year. 

I returned to Thailand in June and no TM 30 has been presented. I live in a house in Nonthaburi rented by my company from a Thai, a Khun Ying who is rather busy, but surprisingly down to earth and pleasant. 

Is the lack of a TM 30 for my return to the house a barrier to my application next month? Do I need to take any additional paperwork, even as a precautionary measure, with my application? And finally, is the 400K proof waiver still in effect at Savannakhet?

So you propose letting all discretions slide? That is a race to the bottom - no standards, just chaos.

It is harder to stop a motorist from using their phone or making them stop at a crossing. Bikes on the sidewalks are low-hanging fruit, as is parking enforcement. Start easy and work up. Doing nothing is not an option.

4 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I wonder how many of the people who complain about motorcycle drivers follow all the laws all the time.

Do you ever use a mobile phone (not hands free) while you are driving?

Do you always make sure that you don't stop in the middle of a junction you want to drive through?

Do you always stop at zebra crossings?

Do you always strictly follow no parking laws?

How many people follow all the laws all the time? I bet very few people do that - especially in Thailand.

On 8/13/2019 at 12:49 PM, Just Weird said:

"There are too many cabs - not enough fares each to make a reasonable wage".

If that were the case, and clearly it isn't, why are there so many taxis on the road, you think that the drivers are doing it to making a loss?

 

"Add to that that buying a cab means paying 8% interest where normal cars are sold on 0% finance".

No difference.  There's no such thing as "0% finance", the dealer pays the interest charges to the finance company and then factors it into the price that the buyer pays him for the vehicle.

 

"The prices have been fixed for 25 years..."

Meter rates have not been fixed for 25 years!

Instead of coming to your own opinion, you might want to read the reports compiled by transportation consultants for the BMA that prescribe the 'optimal' number of taxis for Bangkok. The last report I read stated there are 118,000 cabs on the roads. 30,000 or thereabouts should have been retired, but are still running. How do you come to the conclusion that "clearly it isn't" the case there are too many cabs? Personal experience? Not acceptable.

Those people are working as cabbies because they can scrape by and have little other choice. I suggest you try talking to them, every one of them for several years as I have (since 1991) to understand what they think.

Taxis remain a more expensive option than many compact and mid-sized cars. You can spin the ticket price any way you want, the facts remain that taxis are disproportionately expensive and cab drivers are disadvantaged as a result.

You don't seem to understand all the meanings of fixed...

Of course they understand they get paid for driving passengers - don't be a muppet. What you seem to refuse to accept/understand is that a long trip to a suburb often results in no fare back. A long trip in heavy traffic with an empty return trip in heavy traffic is just not worth it for them; it's a conversation I've had a dozen times. Add to that that many cab drivers get ripped off by passengers who get out and run away in traffic, or disappear into an apartment block to 'get the money they need to pay' and never emerge again. Ask a cabbie how often he gets shafted for a fare.

On 8/9/2019 at 5:28 PM, Bangkok Barry said:

Well, no-one forced them to take the job. Jeez! And if they actually accepted passengers instead of shaking their head then those passengers would give them money. So many drivers don't appear to understand that basic concept. They would rather drive on, empty.

Makes sense. Application of logic - FAIL.

A guy I know sells world-class brakes; used in the top levels of 2 and four-wheel sports globally. He pressed the technical manager at the national Honda motocross team to try his pads and rotors. The response was just as logical: "Your brakes are too good, our riders will end up going too slowly."

That muppet is the chief engineering manager for a team that competes internationally. Admittedly they don't come close to the front outside of Thailand, but...

3 hours ago, otherstuff1957 said:

I have heard that some Thai people don't want their kids to learn to swim, because they will become comfortable near water and will drown more easily!

I spent time talking to a bunch of villagers who were constructing an illegal u-turn on the highway north of Suphanburi town. I'd been riding on back roads and rejoined the highway where they were working. The next official and sign-posted u-turn was under 2 clicks away.

I asked why. Their response was simply 'cost and time'. "Who will use it?" I asked, "Everyone" they responded. Then I told them to make sure you take responsibility for everyone who dies here. I tried to explain that drivers approaching this spot will not be looking for people crossing the road - there are barriers and no sign that says u-turn. Drivers will take longer to react and accidents will happen. 'Cost and time' was the response. I asked them to calculate the cost they would save and they obviously could not. So I did the maths for them using their base numbers; 2,000 meters to the real u-turn and whatever km/l they told me for their small bikes. I asked them how many trips saving 2 Baht were worth the life of their kids, grandkids or neighbours kids? They ran straight to fantasy - there will be no accidents, we are careful etc... The truth is they just don't ever consider the impact of their actions beyond their immediate needs - however pathetically petty those needs compute out to be.

So, there are u-turns everywhere, and not all have signs.

3 minutes ago, Isaanbiker said:

My biggest concern are always the U-turns. Whenever I ride over 140 km/h, i always slow down when I see a U turn. That has saved my life a couple of times. 

 

If I wouldn't do that, I'd be dead by now.

 

  

13 minutes ago, WeekendRaider said:

to me this is another situation where in Thailand an issue is viewed too simplistic.

while I don't see why anything bigger than a Yamaha 300 XMAX is ever needed, except for the police... I also at the same time believe 125 CC scooters, they way they are used in Thailand, are too small.   that's from the view that most of the time all of these bikes should never have more than one rider, normally.  or only used very locally only.

"I don't see why..." That's nice - thanks for sharing.

How do I get to Chiang Mai for lunch with my wife, clothes and a BBQ on a 300 cc scooter? How do I ride from Chiang Mai to Piang Luang off-road in the rainy season on a 300 scooter? You think it is OK for the limits of your imagination and desires to constrict what others do?

I don't oppose stricter tests, graduated licenses, heavy fines and confiscating bikes as methods to control quality of road users. I do oppose nanny state ideas limited by the fears and lack of imagination of arm-chair muppets.

It's best to think before writing...

Thailand has always had a massively larger riding population than driving. The ratio of car to bike is changing as affluence increases, but it will be be a bike-riding society for years to come. Though I doubt much thought went into designing roads and junctions before the year 2000, bikes were not ignored or excluded.

Restricting big bikes to racetracks is a ridiculous idea. The accidents are not bike or engine-size driven, they are a result of scant skills, lax attitudes, poor policing, a general lack of a moral framework around road-use. Actually look at the stats. 88% of the accidents are small bikes. Should they be restricted to inside a gated community with speed bumps?

Bikes are as safe as the rider and the other users nearby. You can have a highly trained biker community and still have too many accidents from drivers who are reckless. Both rider and driver quality need improvement. Blaming or banning, a type of vehicle will only scratch the surface of the problem.

6 hours ago, MaxYakov said:

Big bikes should be restricted to racetracks. The ordinary motor vehicle infrastructure was not designed with them in mind. You don't see formula 1 cars on the roads very often. Big bikes are just splendid for dramatic, horrific demonstrations of suicide on ordinary roads.

I filter just fine on a 650cc and ride with so many others that do just fine thanks. Perhaps you are filtered by your own skill on a bike?

Few mature riders want to ride on expressways here, the pleasure of riding a bike is the twists, the views and the independence. These are not found on straight boring highways with large trucks and speeding minivans. I've ridden here for 28 years and only commuted for a few. Now I, like the many I ride with, only ride on weekends and on trips out of Bangkok.

Big bikes in Thailand are a wondrous thing; thousands of kilometers of mountainous roads with twists and rises and views of less-buggered countryside.

42 minutes ago, digbeth said:

I've done sportsbike and touring, unless Thailand got rid of the rules preventing bikes on bridges, expressway and motorways, big bikes aren't worth it.

Granted it's only affect getting out of Bangkok mostly toward the south and east like Pattaya and beyond. The non-expressway/motorway route towards Pattaya is atrocious 

 

For riding around Bangkok, anything bigger than 250-300 cc you can't filter between cars and will be stuck behind trucks or bus billowing heat and smoke at you.

 

Even as a rider, I dread the day big bikes become legal on the expressway and motorways, there's enough idiots on the road, and even on road that bike are illegal on like the middle of Bangna or Vibhavadi, there's idiots on sportsbike weaving between already fast 90+kph moving cars. Big bikes shoudn't filter between moving cars on highway.

 

Even if big bikes become legal on motorways, for sportsbike anything bigger than 600 cc is pointless, there's not enough road with good surface to enjoy a 1000cc race replicas. out in the mountain with curvy roads you can enjoy, 1000cc will get you killed. big 1200+touring bike laded with luggage is okay for touring I guess. 

2 minutes ago, intherealworld said:

Have you been drinking,

as i have no idea why you have quoted me ?

That would be a problem you need to solve, along with some grammatical improvements...

Can you all stop with the conspiracy crap?

These charity events happen all the time. The police are there, foundations are there, some charity run by someone looking to get cheap name-recognition is there. Free helmets of dubious quality are given away. It is not a fake picture, it's a fake impression. 

Giving away helmets is not a solution. You know that, the police know that, the foundations know that, the charity knows that. The sole purpose is to be seen to do the right thing as long as it is cheap and easy to do. Actual effort and a thought-out approach is not needed; just put parsley on the dish.

17 minutes ago, Nong Khai Man said:

Oh ! Yeah The BIB Must've been giving them away FREE On that day....

1 hour ago, pennine said:

I thought it was in Vietnam.

1 minute ago, nchuckle said:

But look at those helmets.... Cheap helmets for cheap heads.

1 hour ago, intherealworld said:

The truth is not required in Thailand.

it kind of messes the day up,  if they face up to it.

 

 

There have been statistical analyses of Thailand road incidents for many many years. They are only useful in determining if progress has been made and who to fire when progress is too slow. We all know how that will never happen. It is also of no surprise to anyone that there is variance in distribution of incidents in a country with variance in socio-demographics and land use. Can we have some actionable recommendations please? Can we have a government that will act on those recommendations? Can we have a government that will admit that after 30 years of failing to make anything better in any measurable way, a new approach is needed?

What is needed is concrete action, and that has never happened. More committees will not solve the problem. What is needed is total overhauls of

• The structure and hierarchy of all agencies that 'touch' the road systems
  • Police, tesakhit/tesabahn, highways department, water works and more
• How fines are applied and processed, how the funds are collected and distributed
• How all agencies are incentivised to do their jobs
• Rider and driver training
• Vehicle insurance law
• Pre driving-age training, i.e., get to them early

I know, dream on, it will never happen, they don't care... Doesn't mean it should not be said.

Safe riding/driving y'all.

3 hours ago, davidst01 said:

In your experience, do you think its a good time to buy USD cash and hold it as speculation? What about the gbp?

David old boy, I have no real experience to speak of. I was guided every step and missed heartbeat of the way by a team at ANZ in Singapore. Since I got a regular heartbeat back once I stopped doing that I have not given it a second thought! I must refrain from giving advice on a subject I am clueless on... I was just sharing how scary the whole experience was...

I played the currency market for four months in 2010. I just happened to have money in US, Sing$ and GBP at the time and was watching the variation in ER for a while. I've never been so stressed.

Even with a direct line to my bank's treasury team, it was painful to do. I traded up to 100,000 USD per trade and held one specific currency from between two days and two weeks (not planned, just that was the cadence.) Eventually I consolidated all in to one currency and tied that chapter of my life off never to repeat it. I came away 24% up having been 50% up and 10% down all within the space of the last three weeks. Remember the scene from Apollo 13 when they have to align the LEM without guidance computers? Every day was like that.

The stickers used to be round, some while back. They were called Bai wong-ghom "ป้ายวงกลม". The phrase has stuck. I wonder if there are other languages where well-known phrases don't keep up with the real world...

I like the system in Singapore. You get issued a fine for speeding or like me, parking a bike on the sidewalk. Pay within ten days or the fine multiplies by ten! Fail to pay within the second ten days and it goes up by a factor of ten again, and you will go to the clink for a while - no exceptions except for those out of the country. Any takers on what percentage of fines go unpaid during the first ten days?

24 minutes ago, wayned said:

Smaller inverter type unit!

Unlikely. If comparing unit to unit... he could easily have had a smaller AC before...

FYI

95% of an AC's cost is running the compressor. A small unit needs to use the compressor more than a larger one. Even though its rated consumption is lower, it will consume more power in total.

Inverters only save if they have spare cooling capacity. Their motors are variable-speed where at 80% output, they consume just 50% of rated power consumption. However, they can also run at 120% output which consumes over 150% of rated consumption. Put into too large a room and an inverter will cost more to run.

A school 200 km outside of Bangkok I tried to sell to bought 500 inverters of the same rated BTU as those they replaced. They regretted that decision; savings only came at the cost of comfort. Rooms were hot unless they set to lower temperature than before, but then the savings all but disappeared.

If you want to upgrade to an inverter, buy a larger capacity unit than that which you are replacing. 10 to 20% should prevent disappointment.