richard_smith237

Lorry doing a u-Turn in the pitch black in the middle of the night, poor lighting, no lights on the side of the lorry.... Speeding pickup, heavily tinted windows... Repeat nightly in every province across Thailand.... After once driving in towards Chantaburi at night (9pm) it was so pitch black, I had to drive at around 50kmh not to out-drive my full beams..... other vehicles were passing at easily well over 120 kmh.... Never since have I or will I drive on interprovincial roads at night.

He'd do far better to order safety checks on ALL warehouses storing chemicals, flammables etc... Shouldn't this be something yearly anyway.

Utterly subhuman behavior..... I'm well and truly with the 'hang-em-high' crowd on this one.

There’s definitely a safety disparity between the two. “for those who drive well” doesn’t necessarily mean driving with the flow of traffic and lawfully such as competing to get ahead and around other vehicles. As I wrote that comment 'for those who ride well'... I'll clarify.... ..... 'for those who follow the road rules and ride carefully and defensively'. Agreed... somethings 'will be' impossible to avoid at some point. A few years back I saw the brake lights of the car in front, so I checked my mirror then quickly looked over my right shoulder to check if I could change lanes (car approaching fast in right most lane of three), as I turned back the car in front had stopped already and I couldn't change lanes - I also stopped in time but had to brake hard !!... The car in front stopped in the middle lane of a 3 lane road for no apparent reason whatsoever, there was nothing in front of him and no junction. As impossible as predicting the unpredictable is, riding with a genuine understanding that the most unpredictable actions can and will unfold in-front of your eyes makes things just that little bit safer. I haven't so far... But that doesn't stop people turning out of a soi without looking and riding straight towards me on the wrong side of the road.... the reason I have not been hit by a bike pulling out is because I never hug the kerb, instead I 'hold my lane' and ride with the speed of flowing city traffic and when traffic slows, filter through. One think I notice here is that many drivers are well aware that motorcyclists filter through, the vast majority leave space too, but there is always that one in twenty who are oblivious and think they are the only person in the world, leaving the same 'lane space' as the car in front hasn't entered their consciousness !...

So they are not very good drivers also? I really do not understand the point of your post? I know many foreigners here who ride motorbikes - so......? Not sure who you think is trolling unless it is you......... The logic is flawed.... He suggest those who suggest Thai's are terrible drives get a Thai to drive !!.... that's not really very well thought out. One of the very reasons I prefer driving here is so that I'm in control (although around town I can't be bothered with driving very much and the Wife does much of the driving). One of the very reasons I never take a motorcycle taxi is because I don't want to put my safety directly in the hands of someone who significantly under-educated with either no or a plastic rubbishy helmet. I have a motorcycle for my convenience, for my safety when I need get somewhere nearby. Add to this, there are many sub-soi's in Bangkok which have no pavements (sidewalk) and walking along the edge of the road is hazardous... riding motorcycle for these trips is often safer than walking !

So they are not very good drivers also? I really do not understand the point of your post? I know many foreigners here who ride motorbikes - so......? Not sure who you think is trolling unless it is you......... When you subtract motorcyclists from the road fatality stats on a per-captia basis (i.e. road deaths per 100,000 of population) the statistic shows that there are more road deaths per 100,000 people in The USA than in Thailand. Here's the Calcs: USA Population: 331.9 million people. Total Road fatalities 2021: 42939 deaths (5636 of them motorcylists) = Total 4 wheels+ = 37303 deaths. = 11.24 Deaths per 100,000 of population in 4 wheeled vehicles and larger. Thailand population: 71.6 million people: Total Road fatalities: 25,000 (80% of them motorcyclists) = Total 4 wheels+ = 2000 deaths. = 6.98 Deaths per 100,000 of population in 4 wheeled vehicles and larger. Status indicate that the USA is 1.6x more dangerous than Thailand to drive or ride in anything 4 wheels and larger. Now someone will come long and question those stats (facts) and suggest they don't tell the whole story, they'll want fatalities per KM per 100,000 of population etc.. and, as always stats may not tell the whole story. And that (stats not telling the whole story is my point), the person who never rides without a helmet is already significant altering where he fits in the risk profile that the aggregate (80%) status suggest. The road fatality stats which are primarily contributed to by people ride carelessly, recklessly, stupidly and without helmets are not representative of someone who is trained, rides defensively, never drunk, never speeds, wears a helmet etc...

Agree.... I'd like to see more efforts made towards carbon capture. At the point (time) of sale EV's are far more 'carbon costly' than ICE's and take years to reach equilibrium (up to 8 years). I like the idea of EV's keeping the air in our cities cleaner, but capture tech could also do the same thing and a new pollution tech (batteries with heavy metals) is not being relied up.

I suspect its got to be specifically BYD EV's... Why you ask ? Because on the other thread he [ExpatOilWorker] dug himself it a huge hole as more and more information was presented to highlight that his bias was completely unfounded. He [ExpatOilWorker] wants EV's made in China to catch on fire so that he can confirm this bias of his. The more he digs, the more we find that there really is no issue at all (or far less than ICE's & hybrids).

9/11 as masterminded by numerous members of Al-Qaeda who were World travellers and educated in Western Universities and they communicated by E-mail and Bin Laden was very rich and could bankroll it . They didn't "live in caves" , they had internet access , but some of them did have beards though . Indeed... when someone 'cherry picks' flawed information and ignores other facts it tends to scream 'conspiracy nutter'.... The issue I have have with a lot of conspiracy theories is that they completely ignore the facts debunking them. Its interesting watching the 'fake moon landing' conspiracy videos which in the throws of heavy bias can be quite believable, however, when watching the videos which counter the conspiracy theories the explanations presented very quickly debunk the whole fabric of the conspiracy idea and destroy the feasibility of each individual thread of suspicion. Conspiracy theorists tend to remain within their chamber and are unlikely to seek out alternative view points such as 'counter conspiracy' videos and information. I don't know why, but suspect this is because on a subconscious level they've put effort into their beliefs and don't want to be wrong.

And how do you think the cookers are in Indian restaurants? 5555 Significantly cleaner than that biohazard !!!!!!

Not as necessary in Bangkok because there are loads of excellent Indian Restaurants which deliver. That said, I've made excellent Indian curries from scratch, the issue I find though is the tomatoes - I just can't find good enough tomatoes to make the sauce to the standards I want (when making food myself). There's a good Indian supermarket on Sukhumvit-71 (NSK Indian Store) for raw materials (for those in Bangkok of course). Other options are something like this https://www.spicebox.co.uk/ When back on UK visits (a couple of times per year) I pick up a handful of these 'curry mixes'. I've also found the YouTube videos 'The Bombay Chef' (by Varun Inamdar) to be extremely useful for Curry pre / recipes.

Nah 'Screaming' is absolutely correct. No he's not, not by a long shot - I know plenty who ride a motorcycle in Thailand and they are most certainly not fools, they have carefully considered the risks they face. Interpretation so far: 'Screaming' and 'Ivorbiggun' would consider themselves fools if they were to ride a motorcycle in Thailand as they have no experience. The mistake they make is to project their inexperience on everyone else.

Some more feasible than others. - Epstein suicided - Highly questionable (= Feasible conspiracy). - 9-11 planned in a cave ??? (OBL was from an extremely wealthy background - est. US$5 bn family wealth), you've already altered the rhetoric to suit your bias (= Conspiracy nutter !!). - SarsCov-2 (Covid-19) - Lab escape / mistake theory is most feasible IMO (= Feasible conspiracy) - SarsCov-2 (Covid-19) - Deliberately planned (= Conspiracy nutter !!). - Princess Diana - Tragic accident (conspiracy nutters want a conspiracy). - 9-11 Broadcasting - loads of confusion & Chaos, plenty of reporting mistakes made on the day (it was reported elsewhere that #7 was burning and at risk of collapse - the BBC made a mistake and reported it as collapsed) - A simple error in the chaos does not indicate or prove a scripted conspiracy as some wish to suggest (= Conspiracy nutter !!). It could be said that we should 'think' about events reported to us. It could also be said that some events are more feasible than others. Conspiracies exist, but not everything which could be questioned is a conspiracy, sometimes the answer we already have is the answer.

There's the theory that the USA went into Afghanistan to remove the Taliban from power because the Taliban outlawed the growing of poppies/heroin and that the poppies /heroin drug trade flourished when the USA went into Afghanistan . Fentanyl then took over as the street drug and replaced heroin and because heroin was no longer a profitable drug, the USA departed from Afghanistan ? Conspiracy theory or fact ? I can believe agencies such as the CIA sanctioned and aided the drugs trade in some nations as a means to fund their war against a common foe & of course purchasing weapons from the USA at the same time = good business. Such conspiracies are perfectly feasible and won't land someone the name of a 'conspiracy nutter'.... However, being a flat-earther will...

Only a fool makes such sweeping generalisations... In this case it seems clear that the deceased simply cut across traffic without looking. For those who ride well, the influence of the above behavior has no bearing on their risk profile. When others ride, drunk, speed, ride carelessly, use their phone etc it elevates the accident and fatality stats, however those stats are aggregate and are not representative of the risk faced by individual riders who are careful, wear riding gear, ride defensively, never while drunk, never speed, never take a chance etc etc... Thus: The blanket sweeping statements such as the above are fundamentally flawed and suffer from a lack of critical thought.

Absolutely agree... when standing on the centre-line we can often get accused by those with the loudest voices on the fringes of spectrum of having extreme views - almost as if it is only the extremes which exist and if our views do not represent one extreme then they do the other. I've of been accused of being a Thai-hater because of my observation are not in alignment with someone else view that 'we're guests in this country' and shouldn't have formed any opinions other than wholly positive. I've also been accused of wearing 'rose tinted glasses' when taking the balanced view and siding with the Thai perspective. With conspiracies its similar - in reality there is whole range of views and the view point for most of us falls around the balanced centreline. With the moon landings most believe they occurred, perhaps some footage was fabricated - thats a possibility, but we went to the moon. This view seems extremely bias for someone who does not believe humans went to the moon. This view also seems bias for for someone who believes 100% that there was no fabrication etc to the extent that the accusation may be levied of being a 'moon-denier' etc. Regarding conspiracies theories.... we can't band all together and call all supporters of conspiracy theories 'conspiracy nutters'.... But there are some 'silly debates' where the people most certainly are and that depends on the data available vs trustworthiness of the data source. - People who disbelieve we went to the moon = 'conspiracy nutters' - People who believe the earth is flat = 'conspiracy nutters' - People who beleive there was something more to JFK shooting = Not nutters. - People who beleive the CIA are involved in the 'world drugs trade = Not nutters.

That depends…. In some cases they’re just conspiracy nuts and very deserving of the moniker.

The 'manly comment' is a bit odd... is there something manly about paying a bill ?

Not defending the teacher in the 'other thread'... BUT.. there is a significant difference between consensual sexual relationship with a 16 year old and sexually abusing an 11 year old girl. It will be interesting to see how the charges and punishment levied on the teacher compares with that of the abbot.

The excess solar with used to charge the EVs, is just that, excess, and FREE of added cost, as didn't cost any extra to get or have, it's just there Our solar system would have cost the same, whether we have EVs or not. Since charging the EV didn't cost any additional money, NO money was spent to charge the EVs. That may vary from household to household. Was your decision to have Solar panels installed influenced by your ownership of an E.V. ? i.e. Did you have solar power before you purchased an E.V. ? A friend of mine has just purchased an E.V. he's now looking at getting solar power installed and also looking at a battery set up. It's going to cost a decent sum - thus, the power charging his car comes at a cost. I suspect some people are being very efficient with the truth when stating that their solar generated energy costs them nothing.

If I were out on a 'ride' obviously I'd have to 'ride in the rain' with everyone else. But, I've down-graded my bike and only have a 300cc scooter which is for convenience only and not the fun of riding. Thus, if it looks like its about to rain I don't use the scooter - most of the accidents I see are from people who have approached something with a little too much speed, applied the brakes and the front wheel slides out from under them. ABS is also essential IMO.

The test is somewhat superfluous, even if the questions were logical with sensible answers there is a disconnect between an exam and what happens in a car because there is very little if any training. In the UK we were told that we only truly learn to drive a car once we have passed our test. i.e. taking lessons and driving gets us to a certain point, the rest of the learning we do ourselves and primarily take 'hints' and 'make observations' of the road traffic around us and mirror that behavior. If a nations roads are made up of people who have flicked on the eff-you switch and are driving carelessly, selfishly, dangerously, then anyone else around them is picking up on that and mirroring much of that behavior.... ... as a consequnce the driving standards of society on a whole diminish to the extent we see in Thailand where it is quite normal it see a range of issues on a daily basis from the utterly dumb to the outright dangerous. I want to also complement Thai drivers - its astonishing that there isn't more road rage. Perhaps there isn't because everyone knows how many other are armed and minor confrontations escalate to nuclear in seconds.

Not so much as F-it... but being practical. There is no point getting a second car - we did have two cars and did 1000km in 1 year in the second which was utterly pointless. Thus - a motorcycle for me has been extremely useful when nipping out to the shops, going to play sports, running nearby errands etc. And yes, proper safety gear to an extent depending on where I am going. Local Soi and Subsoi journeys (i.e. within 1-2kms) - Quality open face helmet (Bell) - MC Gloves, - Solid footwear (trainers) Beyond local Soi's (onto main roads) - Full face helmet (Bell or Shoei) - Rev'it MC Jacket (with back, elbow, shoulder armour) - MC Gloves (with sliders) - Urban MC boots - Rev'it MC pants (or Rev'it MC jeans) - if travelling a distance. *By main road I mean anything such as Petchaburi, Rama IV, Sukhumvit etc in Bangkok. Also other strict factor: - No drinking when riding - No riding at night (or limit to very local journeys - to many other drivers are drunk or have dark tint and can't easily see) - No riding in the wet (roads are too slippery) - No chancing or jumping lights - No speeding - Keep bike well maintained - Don't ride while distracted (angry etc) Sticking to the above rules limits the risk of being involved in an incident - and IF an incident were to happen wearing gear limits the severity of impact.

Per capita ???? ???? ???? ???? yeah, like you really crunched the stats and didn’t make up a load of rubbish based on your bias….

So 'Farangs' who ride a motorcycle in Thailand are stupid, Thai's who ride a motorcycle in Thailand are not ?... Where is your 'safety / stupid line' ??? what about crossing a busy road ? Could it be that some 'farangs' who ride a motorcycle have carefully evaluated the risks and recognise that their risk profile of popping to the 7-11 or nearby sports area etc is not as high as a young kid who street races the major roads while drunk at night ?