NorthernRyland

Wife is watching the Thai news right now and they said the shooter was behaving like another country which is known for these kinds of acts. I wonder which one that may be... ????

I've seen Pai overrun with them and particular parts of Chiang Mai but if you live in the northern part of the city (CM) where I live you very really see them anywhere except maybe a 7-11 at a gas station. My other house in Samoeng (tiny little town in the mountains) has no Chinese (for now). I only know about my little part of the country but there are clear tourist heavy destinations they go to and the rest of the areas are completely normal. I'm sure other expats can report the same thing. Simple rule is just avoid major tourist locations and life is normal.

there was that one rich mixed race Asian kid that went on the shooting because he couldn't get girls and the media started using the term with everyone for some reason. Makes no sense most of the time.

Sure they can. "He watched too many American movies and listened to American hip-hop artists. Foreigners are ruining the culture of Thailand." See it's easy.

Just because the government puts out the idea of purely legal citizenship doesn't we need to accept it as true or just. The nation state is relatively new concept anyways and if you ask me it's tearing at the seams due to internal conflicts. Not saying to mistreat anyone but I'm lying about these things anymore.

Hey I'm doing my best here

Thailand has finally arrived.

There are specific destinations which are on their radar so once you know where those are it's pretty easy to avoid them, which you should, like the plague!

actually now that I see that picture maybe they were right. Look at the nice clothes those people have on compared to the sweatpants and oversized t-shirt the average American is wearing today (because they're fat slobs). Those people probably didn't say <deleted> and <deleted> 5 times in every sentence either. In every major American city there are people completely destroyed on drugs dying a slow death living on the streets. Not saying it was weed but whatever bad things they thought were going to happen clearly already did.

Most hilarious thing I read in a while. ????

it was 20? damn. worse than I remember.

good question. I have no idea. Some years ago a drunk driver ran over about 5 cyclists in San Sai area as they were doing their morning ride in the early hours. These were middle aged Thai people that were probably going very slow and in a group occupying the whole lane so when a car went around the bend he couldn't see them. People die in my home state of Colorado more often than you would think and I see lots of dangerous things happening there too. Drivers are much more careful but the rules are strict so no one is driving defensively as they should and mistakes happen.

The reason Thailand is not now or ever probably going to be an England or Japan is because the people are not "engaged" properly in society, to put it broadly. Notice how they behave with each other at an intersection with no light. Do these look like people who could work together and be productive? Watch how people dodge soi dogs that the owner won't keep in their yard. Not only are the owners oblivious to their fellow citizen but the people are indifferent and uninterested in fixing the problem. The list goes on and on. Adults talk out their problems and find solutions but I all too often see them pushing and shoving their way through things without fully engaging. Not communicating, cutting corners (figuratively and literally), ignore problems instead of confronting them etc.. etc... Until they can sort those cultural issues out it won't matter how many fancy iPhone they import or how big and shiny their malls are because they're all window dressing over the real nature of the people. (respect for building the malls though even if they were taught by foreigners initially)

That was a quote from a repair man in South Carolina for one year when I had a job there. The accent is priceless and I'm very fond of it and remember it always. This was in regards to cycling in South Carolina and how terrible their drivers are. Lo and behold 12 months after I left, my boss (a professor at the university) was involved in a hit and run and badly injured, broken hip, shoulder etc.... I rode my bike to work every day (never had a car even) and did all my errands with the bike plus some rides around the city area and survived. Honestly I'm more at ease in Thailand since the drivers expect you. In S.C I was always the only guy out and could tell people were uneasy with what to do about me.

yeah the scooter was just the typical aloof person not taking driving seriously but the truck was purely malicious. He saw them in the road and though "<deleted> these injured guys blocking my way, get out of the road" and decided to plow right through. He would have totally ran over the injured guy and killed him if he didn't hit the other guy first.

No excuses for them and it's actually worse because they should know better. what happened there? did they go over the median and hit the car in the other lane?

useless police could be telling them but they go home at 5! Many probably don't even know.

When you're not dealing the obvious problems, Thailand is actually an amazing place to ride a bike. Why? because all drivers are accustomed to motorbikes so you can ride on virtually any road. Try that in America and you'll have a much more stressful and less fun experience. MOST Thai's do actually pass safely and yield, it' just the sizable minority which is allowed to completely run wild and bring down the rest of us. Again, Thai police are scum for not doing their jobs. All of this could be solved by harsh punishment for traffic violations but we all know that will never happen.

I know it sucks, I feel bad, I really do. But as usual if she would have just waited 10 seconds to clear the curve there was plenty of space to pass.

They're importing technology and business structures which makes them appear to be more advanced than they are. Motor vehicles are too advanced for their current state of emotional development even. Without strict supervision and enforcement driving safely is simply beyond them.

but they showed you!

Sorry I don't want to get in to a fight over this guy because it's not really about him. I posted my first and only rant against Thai drivers yesterday because I had a particularly bad day with them and this was after the forum member died so it was a salient topic. It's a good time to reflect back on how serious the situation is here and what Thai people are really like on the road.

It wouldn't matter if it was his fault, not likely though. Many Thai people behave like uncivilized savages on the road. I don't care if that's racist because it's the truth. Just in case you forgot here's an example. The truck driver had zero intention of stopping because he has no respect for others. These are the people that inhabit Thai roads and you need to deal with them on a daily basis. Savages.

and it gets worse every year. I'm in Mae Jo and the roads continue to get more crowded every year. No parking, dangerous, stressful etc... not nice. I have a house in Samoeng and I'm gonna start staying up there more often and let my wife hang out alone in the city during the work week more. Long term I'd like to move out entirely and not see the city more than once a month. If I could get my wife away I'd try to any of the smaller northern cities like Mae Hong Son, Phayao, Nan etc...