richard_smith237

Its just one comment.... Just as a Thai would see on reading this forum, there are dumb bigots and deranged apologists.... in between this are the majority of the comments that are balanced and just fly under the radar because they are not inflammatory. The above comment is no more representative of Thai society than Bobs or MalcomB's comments from the fringes of the 'attitude spectrums' are of the generalised attitudes of those on this forum.... Read Pantip.com forum (for Thai's) and we will see exactly the same range of comments... from nasty and bitterly damning, to irrationally apologist - its just a cross section of society, any society in any culture.

dirt bike [ˈdəːt bʌɪk] noun a motorcycle designed for use on rough terrain, such as unsurfaced roads or tracks, and used especially in scrambling. Utterly irrelevant - does any of this imply the vehicle is not 'road legal' ??? The discussion about 'dirt bike' is as irrelevant as suggesting it was a 'race bike' and should have been on the track.... Its a complete red-herring and just going down a pointless rabbit hole of distraction - completely irrelevant. There are photos of the Honda CRF with Tax - it was road legal. Plenty of forum members also ride such a bike on the roads here in Thailand.

Sure, are you also called Richard ??... ... You seem to have a strong familiarity with the nick-name Dick....

While I hope this is the case, "guilty until proven innocent" often seems to be the way with foreign people. And if he cannot prove it wasn't his fault... While forums such as this do have those who'll shout accusations of bias, unfair and targeted treatment - the reality is often different - stories of fair treatment tend not to draw the same degree of attention. We very rarely see the actual outcome of event such as this, there is never any follow up, so we are left with speculation. I would suggest that there would have to be proof that the American was at fault for him to be held to account from a criminal perspective. There are no witness statements that suggest the American was doing anything wrong - he was just riding down the road (apparently) - unless there is evidence such as CCTV or dash-cam footage from nearby traffic there is no evidence from on which to charge, and without witness statements there is no basis to file charges. From the perspective of Thai Policing, I can't see how this can be treated as anything other than a tragic accident.

No it doesn't.... Its just the name for the style of a bike... that by no means implies that it can't be used on a normal road. In fact the style of that bike is specifically for it to be ridden legally on the road to and from off-road locations.

Is there a video? Agreed... She 'could' have very easily stepped out from parked vehicle, into the road directly into the path of the motorcyclist.... Thus - to suggest she didn't appear out of nowhere is a flaw. That said - it still has to be mentioned that plenty of other possibilities exists... from standing on the centreline waiting to cross and getting hit by the motorcyclist who'd departed his lane, to running across the road and while the motorcyclist tried to avoid her, he couldn't - there are many possibilities where fault can be proportioned to either party or even shared.

Somewhat hypocritical when I've ignored your nasty anti-foreigner comments throughout the thread until you called me 'Dick' !!! But, you're not hated, insignificant and not thought of at all is more accurate... at least until you post something silly. Your comments are of value though, its important that those of us without mental health issues, see the bigotry and distorted bias exampled in your comments... Its good to know that such people exist, its easier for us to see the patterns and avoid such deranged mindsets if encountering them in person....

Yup - thats was my thoughts too... The BiB singling out a foreigner from a crowd when nearby loads of Thai's are doing this could have been a trigger point. That said, the video does seem to show a somewhat lantern free immediate environment, so he may have made himself an easy target. His reaction to the BiB was excessive, there is no reason to respond like that, none at all... its only a lantern. He could have release another lantern else where later on if he was so inclined. I'm surprised he got away with just a 3000 baht fine after all of that, it wouldn't have been an excessive reaction to arrest him and keep him in the cells for the night.

a Thai woman has been killed recklessly by a foreigner and you are worried about “nasty” comments about the man who killed her? RIP Ms. Ghia Yawn... You really have to try harder with your pathetic gas lighting... The American did not kill her.... she died in a traffic accident in which fault has not yet been established - until there is criminal liability, killed is far from the accurate term.

Of course - 100% agree.... But you write it as if you have had some miraculous epiphany regarding speed when you are stating the obvious. But... in this tragic event, there is no comment, or evidence of excessive speed and it doesn't take high speed or excessive speed to result in such a tragic outcome. No, but you are too stupid and too intent on shoe-horning in objection rather than to understand the comment. No one is denying or contradicting that - I'm not sure why you are even bothering bleeting on about it.

So you are taking your news from the facebook comments of Thai's who were not at the scene... its no surprise to me that you can be so outrageously dim. The American has not accepted fault... social media (FB) commentators have interpreted that from his actions, thats all. I can't believe I'm even bothering to respond to your incessant idiocy - but you are now pedalling baseless social media commentary as fact. It’s not just idiotic; it’s actively deceptive.

If you are thinking of buying a Motorcycle without a green book - don't, its likely stollen. If you already own a Motorcycle and have lost the green book, you can file a police report and get a new one from the DLT.

Speed kills. That is a fact Dont be so dim... The point is that its not speed that kills in such circumstances... A guy walking slipped over, banged his head and died... thus, it doesn't take much speed at all - that was the point of the comment. Unless you are being so half-witted as counting anything beyond being perfectly still as a form of 'speed' in which case it could be argued that 'movement kills' but to do so would be extremely idiotic - I wouldn't put that past you. Additionally, the only reason you came up with your moronic 'speed kills' comments was to deflect from your drink driving.... No, if you mention excessive speed kills, we'd be in agreement.

I thought you were claiming that a Thai came out of a side street and hit you a couple of weeks ago? If you are going to make up stories and least try and remember them. Valid point... I forgot about that... while riding my scooter, a young lad who pulled out without looking and clipped my number-plate. Yup - you've got me bang to rights there Malcy... just so many incidents.....

It was in the news not so long ago how a man slipped on the steps at a resort and died after hitting his head. Thus - it doesn't take much speed at all to knock someone over, and they can easily hit their head on the ground. So... very poor fortune I'd say.

It is in English but offers no new details 🙂 Better pics though... Its in Thai - your browser might be 'auto-translating' the article.

One road incident in well over two decades Malcy... Take your dumb gaslighting elsewhere or get better at it...

Again more usual rubbish from you - there is nothing in this article (in Thai) that is not already mentioned in the Op. So don't try and pedal a Thai article that most people wont be able to read as if you are some culturally astute phenom when in reality there is no new information at all.

I had a similar incident... I was turning right, shortly after coming off a junction fly-over - a mini-van had travelled the wrong way down a bus-lane to pass all the traffic, instead of driving to the left of the fly-over (where all vehicles had to go)... The other vehicle had no insurance, was operating an illegal mini-van route, I witnessed someone come in and pay the police some money. The Police initially said it was my fault - they were siding with the bribe. I was calm, polite, stubborn - refused to accept fault - mainly because the other driver was faking injury and I didn't want to be on the hook for compensation. I didn't accept the polices decision and they clearly unconvinced themselves (I had lot of scene photos) - ultimately the police got angry with the other driver who kept lying - the issue was nudged up to regional level and we had to go to a different station. I was treated very politely and told: 50/50 - my insurance will pay for my car only and there is no possibility for a compensation claim. Job done - an interesting process and I while I could see the police were initially corrupt, I was able to prevent that from impacting me.

Admittedly, there are plenty of unusual occurrences in Thailand. However, they are a far cry from the exaggerated, disparaging national mindset you so often attempt to depict with your bigoted sweeping generalisations.

No they have not.... They've followed SOP for any road incident where a death exists. There has been no clear indication of fault in the reporting or actions of the Thai Police. I don't think so, not in my experience of over two decades here, my non-Thai (western) friends would argue the same. .... there is plenty of first hand anecdote which highlights that the police are simply indifferent. I have long highlighted that the Police here simply follow the path of least resistance. I've been involved in traffic incidents here and have not been treated unfairly or with negative bias. You gave in... perhaps unfair, but had you pushed it the police would very likely say 50/50.... there is also the 'cultural facet' that the (seemingly) wealthier party pays, especially if the other vehicle has no insurance - its very likely this was the case and the 'arbitration' of the police simply pursued the course that it would have had the incident taken place between two Thai's... This is often handled differently than we are familiar with in the West and the uninitiated will cry 'victimisation' when really, the response is culturally predisposed. This might highlight a lack of understanding of how things work here with regards to cultural disposition in the event of an incident - often the poorer party gets away with a lot of things, that does not automatically mean the foreigner is at fault as some imply - it just means the foreigner does not understand why fault is not allocated in the 'black and white' manner it may be back in our home nations.

....it's hard to be of balanced mind when one lives in a completely unbalanced country!!! At least you accept that your mindset is unbalanced... It could be argued that your bias is unhealthily distorted and way beyond and disproportionate to the imperfections encountered in Thailand.

Erm... some rather bizarre processing going on there GG... on a quiet road its not uncommon for riders to ride alongside each other. I'm not sure where your 'phone thing' comes in... he wasn't a grab rider ! Whats the relevance of that if a pedestrians steps out ??? Do you think he was on the wrong side of the road ? Whats the relevance of this ?... Are you accusing him of riding illegally and not having a license ? Also not, an IDP (permit not license) is not required for Americans as the Driving / Riding license is already in English. Why ? most riders trained overseas are far better educated to ride safely. Additionally, a rider could have decades of experience here and a pedestrian could step out in front of them at the last second at any time, training is somewhat moot when that happens.

My 'musings' are based solely on my experiences whilst living in Thailand for many years. As I assume yours are. I can't help/change my own subjective reality, can I rich?... Valid point - but you allow your bias to heavily impact your observations rather than intelligently view each situation based on its individual merit. In this case you use your bias to make wholly inaccurate and outlandish statements - if you were of balanced mind, you'd be capable of making balanced observations.

Wrong - there is no implication there at all. In 100% of road traffic accidents in Thailand involving a road fatality and more than one vehicle, the driver (or rider) of the other vehicle is 'automatically' charged with 'reckless driving causing death' - thats simply SOP for any such incident. When no fault is founds, the charges are automatically dropped. If fault is found, charges are pursued. --------------- For example - IF you are driving carefully, within the speed limit etc... and a drunk motorcyclist rides into the back of you at speed killing himself and you have dash-cam footage to show all that... You will still be initially be charged with 'reckless driving causing death' - the charges will of course very quickly be dropped once processing takes place.