saltire1

3 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

I don't think your experience and common sense will prevent Somchai on yaba, running a red light in his 10 wheeler and, cleaning you up in the process...

You can do the best you can but at the end of the day, your fate might be in the hands of some untrained, uncaring local !!

I remember an experience at traffic lights.  When my friend moved off we were hit by a doped up idiot.

Oh and that happened in Canada.

That is not excusing the state of driving in Thailand.  

Out of about 50 countries I have experienced, Thailand is by far the worst.  The reason it rates so highly is not the actual driving but, in fact, it is the attitude of drivers AND the authorities. 

Basically nobody has the courage to introduce laws and penalties that will actually influence the drivers.

It seems Dr Wittaya Chartbunchachai may be based in Khon Kaen.

If so has he taken note of the pathetic state of that city's street lighting?

About 30% of the installed street lighting is either broken or has not been switched on

More lights seem to have been installed for cosmetic purposes with no thought to providing suitable levels of illumination.

Come on Doc give the Khon Kaen govt a push to help road safety

Well done BiB for spending all this time and effort in finding her.

Now...how about the Red Bullock?

1 hour ago, Lysdexic said:

Thai Immigration staff are far more efficient, polite and accommodating that their American counterparts.
Perhaps if you didn't fling feces you might not encounter so many chimpanzees.
Just a thought.

Absolutely correct.  Solutions to delays are many and varied but one way to lessen the negative effects of delays is to have friendly staff.

I remember many years ago arriving in the middle of the night in Don Mueang after a long flight.  I was greeted by a female IO who, on looking at my passport pic and then at me pointed at my passport pic and said "young man" and then at me with "old man" followed by a huge smile.  Must admit that cheered me up.  Having gone through immigration in about 50 countries I rate Thai and Chinese immigration highly.  UK, US, South Africa not so much.

21 hours ago, markytarky said:

So, then you will have 11 million vehicles with invalid registrations. What then? 

f they know the address to mail the ticket, surely police can have easy follow up.

Unless the address is wrong or the name is wrong or........

4 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

wow. almost up to USA standards. Good job Thailand. But the way, what is a rile?

Apparently just as dangerous as a Rifle - especially in the hands of idiots like this.

Yes it is getting as bad as the US.

3 hours ago, farang62 said:

I don't believe there is a Thai word for "maintenance"?

There are two words "no profit"

4 hours ago, SuperTed said:

Fascinating - Thai road fatality rates per 100,000 vehicles are 25% LESS than the South East Asian average. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate

Cold comfort to those who have lost loved ones to the roads.

But Thailand’s high road death rate per 100,000 population has to do with Thai wealth - everyone here can afford a motorbike. Our safety record is not that bad, and will continue to improve with helmet and seat belt enforcement, truck inspections and the massive ongoing investment in new roads.

One of the few areas where the current government deserves some credit.


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

Unfortunately in Khon Kaen that investment does not seem to be going into simple things like improving street lighting.  Much of the current lighting is either missing, broken or not fit for purpose - ie it has been installed for its cosmetic appearance rather than for its purpose.

It seems a very simple way of making some improvements to road safety but the local government completely ignores it while it widens roads and speeds up traffic in the resulting darkness.

Add to that the motorcyclists who have no rear lights.

These in themselves are small things to fix but are not even attracting any effort from the local authorities or the police.

6 hours ago, bluesofa said:

That does remind me of being on a truck trip across Africa thirty years ago. One mother sent her daughter on the trip a parcel, to be collected at a local post office in central Africa somewhere.

On the customs declaration on the outside of the package, the contents were clearly listed: Clothes, underwear, sweets, £50 cash.

The only item missing was...

 

I was with Zambia customs in the early 70s and witnessed the arrival of a large wooden case (about half the size of a 20ft container) of household goods and furniture arriving from Dar es Salaam.  When opened it was found to be completely empty.  The people didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

3 hours ago, Oziex1 said:

These are the guys who return misplaced valuables?  

 

Hmm!

I guess there were some misplaced items that they gave away by mistake - their brains

20 hours ago, Darcula said:

 

Concerned about high fines? Don't break the law.

The Thai public have lost confidence in the police.  THAT is why they treat the law with contempt.  Why should they obey the laws when the enforcement agency (police) so blatantly do not.

Get the police off their backsides and out of their comfortable offices to patrol the streets.  I have visited over 50 countries worldwide and have NEVER seen a country so lacking in a visible police force.  Fix the police and that will go a long way to reducing the road carnage.  Oh yes and a real driving test would help.

1 minute ago, amdy2206 said:

It does not really matter which car you have if you drive outside the limits. Stupid driving causes accident4s - if it rains slow down!!! 

The problem with so many of these drivers is that their limit comes into effect at 10kph.  ?

9 hours ago, inThailand said:

You don't get brakes with a new Ferrari? Or the driver doesn't know how to use them? 

Thai drivers first reaction to an impending collision is to swerve.  I guess they do not brake because that would wear out the brake pads - a bit like Thai motorcyclists who disable their rear lights to save on fuel  ?   

6 hours ago, robblok said:

The police did nothing.. I mean one would say a weapon and attack with one would result in a serious charge. If they don't charge people for it how will it ever change. 

Exactly.  The police are the main reason for the current situation regarding violent conduct.

4 hours ago, z42 said:

Well, seeing as they'll be without Japan's highly competent and highly diligent police force, and that the drivers on  the roads will still be Thai nationals driving akin to the criminally insane, I am not holding out much hope for this venture. Would give an easter egg a run for its money in the hollowness stakes, sigh

Maybe a good starting point would be to introduce some Japanese police experts to set up a traffic department staffed with properly trained officers. These officers should be mobile - not just setting up roadblocks - but actually patrolling Thailand's roads and stopping drivers who break the traffic laws.

I am sure that Japan would be very happy support such a project.

Something else that would help would be effective street lighting.  In Khon Kaen city it seems more than 30% of the street lighting does not work.  Another 30% seem to be installed for decoration and not to give effective illumination.

There are so many basic things that could be changed to improve road safety like maintaining the road markings which seem to disappear on new roads within a few months and are never replaced.  When new roads are built the white lines from the old roads need to be removed before applying new lines.  Of course that will only help if Thai drivers are taught to drive within lanes and not astride the lines. 

6 hours ago, tingtongtourist said:

another lesson why not to buy into the big scam that is called insurance.

as it says here, typical insurance from home not cover you after 2 or 3 months abroad.

 

sometimes they tell you, sometimes not. doesnt really matter, as for most claims from incidents in Thailand they could find several reasons not to pay anyway

Sooo stupid.  Read the policy.  The policies are always dated and are for fixed time.  This looks like he did not extend his policy after it expired - for whatever reason.  But don't blame the insurance company.  I have worked for an insurance company and have had several claims with insurance companies and whenever I have made a claim WITHIN THE TERMS of the policy I have been paid out without problem.

9 hours ago, YetAnother said:

tourists are cleaning up Thailand; haha

Why have these local govt officials not organised teams to clean up the environment?

That is what every other country does.

The emergency vehicles cause much of the problem by driving at all times with emergency lights on.  That means that the only indicator of a true emergency appears to be the sirens.

These vehicles should only use emergency lights when there is an emergency.  That would make it much clearer for the idiot drivers and also for the police to prosecute.

Cause and effect failure again.