richard_smith237

I stand corrected then, i was told this by one of the ladies the first time i failed the written test. Why doesn't this surprise me.... that the people actually administering the tests misunderstand the rules !!!!.... ????

Actually, I over egged that.... the Theory is ridiculously simple... (46/50 at the first attempt)... But, I wouldn’t be so confident to pass the practical... I’m sure silly habits would get in the way (one handed driving / crossing the arms / not using mirror enough / reversing one handed etc / drifting over a speed limit etc).... it’d take far more concentration than driving normally does !

erm... anyone with brains surely has sufficient self awareness to recognise they’d fail a UK driving test very quickly without first studying for the theory test and then practicing to get rid of the habits we’ve all adopted over the years or driving. But.. if you are so confident... give it a go.. https://www.safedrivingforlife.info/free-practice-tests/practice-theory-test-for-car-drivers-1-of-2/

Thats what I’m wondering... Because holding a ‘training course’ by renting a hotel ball room / convention style, putting on food, providing rooms etc.... is going to cost and the 120,000 baht for a few days of this doesn’t seem excessive. However, if all this was simply a fabrication... then...

Be cautious of re-sellers.. I recall selling a car a while back... I arranged to meet with a guy in a car-park and he started taking photo’s all around my car. I realised quite quickly that he wasn’t the one selling the car, but was simply going to re-list it for a ’bumped up price’... (and if you have priced properly in the first place it won’t go for a bumped up price !). I’ve found the same with property, when I’ve listed our house we get loads of interest... the first question to ask is are you buying yourself or are you an agent.... (agents are time wasters here).

Any time I’ve sold something here in Thailand, be it a watch, car, motorcycle etc... I’ve always written the Ad in two languages... In English, then Google Translate into Thai (and asked the Wife to check it).. I also always put the number down for a Fluent Thai Speaker (Wife) and and English Speaker (myself)... that opens things up a bit as Thai’s do prefer to deal with Thai’s unless the prospective buyer has semi-decent English. I’ve not encountered any difficulty because I’m not Thai.... there are usually simple ways around a lot of hurdles.

No... all simple enough but there is paperwork involved.. Plenty of threads on this forum about that. I’ve sold 6 cars cars here in Thailand... one at a ‘tent’ (I was travelling back the UK for a couple of years and needed a quick sale), the other times I was in no rush and sold privately. It can take a week to a couple of months.... I do recall selling a car and some Westerners can get quite angry if you don’t agree to their low-ball offer !!!... other than ‘dealing’ with some *idiots and times wasters... selling a car privately is easy enough. *Idiots: One Western guy got angry, and started hassling me telling me I need a course in 'business 101’ because I wouldn’t drop my price by 25% for him (car sold for the price I wanted a few weeks later) A different car, a different Westerner kept hassling me to lower the price... I had to get firm and ask him to stop bothering me, the price is fixed. He got angry and sent insulting messages - I had to tell to get lost and that I wouldn’t be selling the car to him even if he offered the correct price !!!... Thai’s are different... some ask plenty of polite questions, go away, ask more questions, confirm 100% interest... and then you never hear from them again !!!

and he's a train driver He may get demoted to ‘Bus Driver’ after this.....

True that... And when you subtract the motorcycle deaths and evaluate the remainder (4 wheels or more) deaths and place them on a ‘per-capita’ perspective there are more road deaths in the USA than Thailand... Don’t believe me ?... run the stats yourself... USA Population: 331.9 million Thailand Population: 71.6 million. USA Road Deaths: 42,915 (2021) Thailand Road Deaths: 14,737 (2022 - official figure) - WHO Estimate 25,000 USA Motorcycle Deaths: 5,579 deaths per year (2020 figures). Thailand Motorcycle Deaths: 76% Motorcyclists 18,750 deaths per year. USA Vehicle Deaths per Capita: 11.3 (vehicles of 4 wheels or more) Thailand Vehicle Deaths per Capita: 8.7 (vehicles of 4 wheels or more) Of course this rudimentary evaluation doesn't include facets such as mileage per per vehicle occupant which would be more accurate (but the info is a lot more difficult to impossible to source)... But the stat does highlight that to ‘drive’ Thailand is not quite as ‘dangerous’ as we often believe when evaluating the raw information.

It was when I was popping out to see some mates at the same time the InLaws were heading back from an afternoon over at our place that I encountered the most astonishing example of “I’m the only person in the world”.... Being lovely folk the InLaws were insistent at dropping me at the BTS instead of me getting a taxi to it... as we approached the BTS, FIL was in the middle lane and was going to drive past the BTS, so I told him its here, this is the BTS I want to take.... So he stopped !!... Middle Lane and blocking all traffic behind !!! I had to tell him to pull over and I’d get out at the side of the road.. I figured he’s either a very clever man and wants rid or me, or he can’t drive for s#it !!!!...

I was recently in a provincial ski area in Japan in a van driven by a Thai friend. The sign posting was not clear and we were following google maps which took us the wrong way down 100m one way street. I would have panicked, stopped, done a 15 point turn on the narrow road to face the correct direction then trace back to the junction and follow a different (correct) route. But, our chilled driver simply ignored the one-way sign (we were already committed) followed google maps without any issue whatsoever. In short - I’d have made things more difficult, he, simply continued on and got away from the one way street more quickly which IMO was the better option after making a mistake. Anecdotal - yes, but mistake happens and sometimes not giving too may ‘f£$K’ about the rules is a better option !...

have you eve been told your a sanctimonious <deleted> ? Damn... I thought the use of apostrophe to differentiate ‘your' form 'you are' has been covered in this thread already... ???? You may need to learn the meaning of ‘sanctimonious’, this was not sanctimony, it was good old fashioned mudslinging. Throwing mud in your direction after you slung the dirt at another poster who was in fact correct, while you on the other hand were wholly wrong in your understanding of Thailand's Traffic rules regarding giving way to the right when entering a traffic island. All in jest of course... don’t be so thin skinned !!!...

Yes.... the woman was completely wrong to attack the car park attendant - utter entitlement and spoilt b!tch syndrome with a superiority complex right there!!... That said - some carparks here can be a nightmare... It seems they are initially well designed until carpark staff put out thousands of cones to re-divert car-park traffic in the manner they think is better. I’ve often found myself looking for an exit and being forced to drive about a little bit until I give up and ‘nip-down’ a one wayer... (central world car-park is somewhat like this)

Erm.. ???? As we’re on an automative thread, you let your foot slip off the clutch with that one... Have you never been told, mouth into neutral, brain into gear ??....

From the Land Traffic Act. Emphasis mine. "Coming from his right" means the people inside the circle. Exactly..... Drivers wanting to ‘enter’ the circle (i.e. waiting to get onto to traffic roundabout) must first give way to vehicles coming from the right... Its an extremely simple concept. I don’t know how so many posters can some how completely misunderstand this, its as if they have arrived here, gone native and become consumed and influenced by an inside-out logic - its baffling.

Was a bicycle parked closer to the rear of the truck than the motorcycle ? ????

The guy who told you that in that bar in Patana... was he in previous in the Special Forces by any chance ?......

Ah ! Then all is okay This is exactly why I have a dash-cam... there is going to be a time in Thailand when something pulls out in front of me and stopping in time or taking avoiding action is impossible. This is a risk to any single one of us, and not having a dash-cam in our vehicles places us at risk of difficulties in the event of a serious accident in which fault is difficult to establish. For this reason I also have a cam’s on the bike.

I think thats rathist againth people with thpeech impedimenth !!!... ????

Its 7pm now... and Google Maps (which is fairly accurate) tells me the journey will take 35mins by car. I’m not sure taking the rail-link is going to offer any time saving... unless you’re travelling at 6pm on Friday of a long weekend... Thus... if you want a trouble free hassle free journey... take an AOT car - which will cost about 1200 baht... Some people try and save 100 baths here and there and thats up to them. A regular taxi may cost about 5-600 baht including tolls.... but the issue with taxi’s, especially from the airport is that there is a risk of getting kn0bhead, so you’re taking a minor risk... its still less hassle than the rail link though IMO.

Its difficult this one... Because there are many many more visible examples of terrible driving, rule breaking, drivers and riders placing themselves and others in dangers situations than I see in my home nation. For example: On a 30 min ride home from the airport in Thailand I’ll cringe and grit my teeth numerous times as I see something dangerous and daft.... In comparison on a 2 hour ride in from the airport in the UK, I may see one manoeuvre that the driver (friend / family / Taxi etc) comments on and I think its perfectly fine !!!... That said, the vast majority of drivers in Thailand drive well - but there are more dangerous drivers here than I see in the UK... Compared to other countries (i.e. Middle East) Thailand is a pleasure. I drive daily in Thailand and driving here really doesn't bother or worry me at all... so its not as bad as many of us make out. But, the daily news does tell a different story. Not wanting to Thai bash - but, I do think there are more dangerous drivers in Thailand than in the UK. And... to offer a positive light, I find the level of non-confrontationalism here more relaxing, but only up to a point... In general, most people don’t get upset when another road users makes a mistake, in the UK, people get upset and aggressive.... BUT... there are some ‘unhinged characters’ here who’ll go well over the top in response to a ‘papped horn’ !!! So, I’ll Vote... for the most part no better, no worse... but at the extremes, worse.

His words... "Yes it has been known before . There was an explosion caused by a mobil phone one time that I have read about when the user received a call while filling up the tank". From someone who is usually the biggest stickler on this forum for specifics, details what exactly was written and said, someone who dissects and runs autopsy on comments down the specific meanings, semantics and who often argues from such a perspective it surprises me that you are so off the mark with that response..... Those comments do not mean ‘likely’ !!!!... those comments are just what they are, pointing out that there was a media report that indicates an explosion was caused by a mobile phone...

Yep... he hasn’t said these actions are ‘likely’ to cause an explosion...

Which posters have ‘asserted’ that leaving a car running or using a phone while refuelling is ‘likely’ to cause an explosion ???... The opposing opinion to yours from other posters (myself included), is that an explosion is a possibility, even minimal... so why take the risk when there is no inconvenience whatsoever not to use the phone or turn off your engine for 5 mins ?.... Airlines tell us not to buckle up when the plan is refuelling... the risk is also minimal, so why?.. Would you also argue with the Airlines as well as Industry wide requirements at petrol stations just because a risk is ‘minimal’ ???

We agree... the dangers of using a phone while refuelling and leaving your car running while refuelling are exaggerated.... Does that mean there is no risk ? Does the inconvenience of not using the phone outweigh this potential risk ? Does the inconvenience of not turning off your engine outweigh this potential risk ? You see... when there is even a minute risk that something could happen and the universal measures and precautions which can be taken to avoid this minute risk are completely non-invasive, it makes sense to me to do so. Civilised life is full of these ‘non-invasive universal measures and precautions’ that we take to avoid a minute and almost imperceivable risk...