kwilco

so re you British? Your comments are stupid enough. probably a Brexiteer.

are you even British???

Over the years there have been several attempts to open a fish and chip shop in Pattaya. They usually pack up after a while. One wonders how big the potential market is and how often it would purchase fish and chips Supplying the right stuff - Cod /Haddock and pickles etc must be a headache. How do you appeal to people outside the British Expat community to increase the market without loosing the general |authenticity" of it? I would be nice if they succeeded where others have failed - what are the odds?

So if they need a hospital it's their fault, it you need a hospital it's someone else's fault?

THis is why ealier I also mentioned that there needs to be a total reform of te police - which is possibly a constitutional affair. For road safety to improve in Thailand the approach is well documented, but it has to be a holistic approach - if you miss out on one aspect then the whole thing collapses like a deck of cards.

I think you can see earlier I posted that enforcement is regional and inconsistent.

curious logic - andf you need to review your knowledge of the Thai first respons=der and emergency services if you think you'll get any proper response regardless of other road users.

few years back a friend of mine was pulled over with dozrns of others for not wearing a het - he had to pay a fine at the station - but they pointed out that a taxi motorsai nearby could take his fine to the station for him - so he paid that way - off went the motosai - of course not wearing a helmet. A friend's wife was also stopped for not wearing a helet - and on the s[pot fine - it was particua=larly annoying as she was driving a car.

most people don't realise that if you just drop a helmet - even if you are not wearing it, it should be discarded and the structural integrity is likely to be compromised.

In the last 20 years helmet wearing has increased - as has the quality of some helmets. THe helmet is now becoming a fashion item amongst younger riders - who are the highest risk group. Enforcement is inconsistent and regional - before that changes significantly it requires a major reformation of the police force. THat would requit=re a constitutional review.

You need hot weather gear - Carbon fibre wear is good. When I'm on a bike I wear stuff that will "erode" rather than tear on asphalt. Apart from hemet, I pay attention to sleeves and legs but the most important this is foot wear - my colleagues noted I would turn up to work wearing heavy boots. I don't find it uncomfortable as the right, or rather safer, clothing acts as a shade rather than a heater. A quick visit to any hospital in a tourist area like Samui will show you what not wearing protective clothing can do - the wounds are clearly marked on the hundreds of tourists haveing their dressings changes. All of whom were on short trips in speedos thongs and singlets

Sorry but it doesn't work like that - an incident doesn't know how far you are travelling and takes only seconds to occur. airflow is a problem especially on full-faces not design for warmer climates but you can't avoid te evidence that most accidents occur close to home. If you want to know what effect coming of a bike at any speed is just imagine filling to the ground from a standing position and using only your head to break the fall. Helmets are only effective against "glancing" blows - on direct blows even at low speed they are ineffective as your brain (layered a bit like an onion) will shake haemorrhage and you'll die. Many accidents the victim seems totally unhurt they just die of brain injury - helmets reduce this but only up to a point . Speed is a factor of about 20% in crashes and it covers all types of injuries but there is a very low threshold for head injuries and any speed is a threat. One of the reasons for the high injury and fatality rates close to home is that the "I'm-only-nipping-down-to-the shops" syndrome kicks in and people fail to take full safety precautions. It's a bit like throwing a dice, the risk is constant per kilometre - it does in increase with distance

There is a general misconception caption that longer journeys are more dangerous than short ones. The truth is that most accidents occur within 10 km of home. Head injuries from a motorcycle can occur regardless of speed, it is the distance from the head to the ground. Full face in the main offers protection against face and jaw injuries

after 3 months in Thailand you need a Thai driving licence. For a start insurance companies expect it.....you may even find others do too.

If the OP has never owned a bike, does he/she even have a licence? THe Thai test is actually reasonably good these days but the problem of any test/training is it only prepares you to start motorcycling. You then need to build up the right kind of experience - as opposed to bad habits - and this comes with time. So Although a small m/cin BKK is useful, I can't see how the OP expects to go from never having ridden a bike to mastering BKK traffic in a matter of weeks. Maybe begin by learning to ride outside BKK? ...or in a quiet suburb? Between 73 and 80% of all peopoe KILLEd on Thai roads are riders (including passengers) of 2-wheeled vehicles - this is around 10 times more likely to happen than in a private 4-wheeled vehicle. That's just the deaths it doesn't include minor , serious or life-changing injuries.

There is a bad habit of people in the event of a crash to play the "blame game" this actually isn't helpful when it comes to understanding road safety. There is also a desire to apportioned blame to one party and claim that to beasolution. It is in fact very unusual for any one party to be totally "at fault" in a crash from a dispassionate objective point of view.

see where you're coming from., but it has to be said - and yes traffic engineering was an unexpected part of a degree.

Firstly let’s start by pointing out that “bad driving” is a purely subjective expression. The OP is an example of everything that is mistaken with foreigners perceptions of driving in Thailand and is manifested by a reliance on anecdotal evidence and a misuse of heuristics. I’d say there is an almost universal and unquestioning misinterpretation of what is happening on Thai roads. This is promulgated by all forms of the media but accepted by both expats and the Thai authorities it goes against everything that science has proved about road safety and is sadly tainted with a large dose of racism. Rather than really considering the reality, critics resort to a litany of clichés and regurgitated anecdotes. One of the factors is that people tend to have a narrow view of what constitutes "good" or "bad" driving. They may judge other drivers harshly based on their own personal preferences or experiences, without considering the context of the situation. For example, someone might think that a driver is "bad" for cutting them off in traffic, but they might not realize that the other driver was actually making a safe lane change to avoid an accident. Another reason why people misinterpret driving behaviour is that they often focus on the negative aspects of driving rather than the positive ones. This can lead to a perception that there is more bad driving on the roads than there actually is. In reality, most drivers are actually quite law-abiding and considerate of other road users. Finally, people's perceptions of driving behaviour can also be influenced by their media consumption. News reports and television shows often focus on accidents and incidents involving bad driving, which can give people a distorted view of how often these things happen. As a result, people may be more likely to notice and remember negative driving behaviour than positive behaviour.

"they" - don't tell you are resorting to racist stereotyping?

Yes 1) people pretty much keep to the speed limits, unlike back in the day when I learned to drive The fact is that most countries used to have similar death rates to Thailand (BTW – deaths per 100k is NOT the only way to look t it) So you have to ask WHAT happened – are todays younger drivers in the West less stupid than we were? – I don’t think that is the answer 2) you get in the right lane at the approach to a junction or roundabout, according to the signage, and you will probably come out on the right road. Indeed – road markings and signage are down to traffic engineers – I don’t think Thailand has anyone trained to do this job. The fact is that road markings and signage in Thailand are at best haphazard but much of the time non-existent – so choosing a lane is seldom and option 3 – I find Thai drivers to be VERY tolerant – they run to a different set of manners and courtesy to what we unquestioningly call “manners” in the West – it’s a different code – but once understood, you’ll find driving so much easier. Every country has aggressive and looney drivers they are there in the same numbers – there’s no “racial difference - the difference is the roads at home make it very difficult for them to give full vent to their aggression

It's a bit worrying that you don't appear to understand this isn't relevant to my point. I can show you videos and photos like this from every country in the world - the UK has whole TV shows about crashes but has one of th lowest death rates in the world

It is my considered opinion that generally speaking foreign drivers are in fact worse than Thai drivers. Why because they fail to adapt to the Thai driving environment. Thai drivers have been driving here all their lives and are aware of the vagaries of driving on Thai roads - Western expats are unaware of their own failings, have a false sense of entitlement and consider their driving to be superior to everyone else's. It is a drawback of good safety at home that drivers fall into a false sense of superiority and consider them selves to be "superb" drivers - they simply don't realise that it is the holistic road system - from cradle to grave that is keeping them safe DESPITE themselves

"self evident" is what I have a problem with - read my bit on perception, confirmation biases etc " "The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers." – Dave Barry – Author/ columnist - Pulitzer Prize for Commentary When it comes to road safety, the notion of "seeing is believing" is certainly not the case. Confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance are the two main obstacles to clear thinking when it comes to road safety, and it is important to overcome them."

Ok - how do you come to that conclusion? Why do you think "they're foolhardy, reckless and selfish. Way more than other countries"?

stupidity in driving doesn't go by nationality - every country has a similr share of idiot drivers - the heart of a good road safety sytem is protecting road usrs and preventing the stupid from being stupid.