
fredwiggy
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Everything posted by fredwiggy
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I'm only here until I can re-establish back home with my daughter. Yes, there are bad drivers in the US, but not like here. Laws are enforced in the US, with stiff penalties for people breaking them, and the police are a lot less likely to be bribed. People mostly die in the US from drunk driving and texting, just like here. Thailand has lead the world in daily road deaths per capita , or in the top 3, for a very long time, and the thing about that, is that it might never change, as rules here mean very little compared to the US. When you have millions more on the roads, there of course will be more accidents and road rage, texting and accidents. Nanny state laws might be that way to you, but it does save a lot of lives. Fact remains, people here are a lot worse drivers, with more incompetence and reckless behavior, and seeing most are on scooters, that's why so many die daily. Not wearing a helmet isn't a calculated risk. It's not thinking of the consequences and plainly acting carelessly, especially where passengers, including infants, is concerned. You'll never see anyone in the US on a motorbike with 3-4 passengers, with infants, driving without helmets. More than one passenger, you won't drive 5 miles without getting pulled over and receiving a ticket, and more if there are laws regarding wearing helmets, which are mandatory for children. Only three states have no laws regarding helmets, the rest having age specific laws. Up to you if you don't wear a helmet, but when your time comes, you'd have wish you did, and that could come today.
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Easy to say until one of them drives through a red light and runs into you and you wake up (hopefully you do wake up), with broken bones, a head injury and can't remember who you are, all because they were in a rush to cross the road to buy some Somtam. 60 dying every single day, leaving children behind or in temple burns, isn't and has never been a joke. Western influence has given these people the majority of what they have and use daily, but they neglected the influence law enforcement and proper education should have on their driving ability.
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I'm betting many of the daily head injuries that end up in death here might be different if a helmet was worn. Stats in the US have proven this many times. Locals here know the laws and it isn't a matter of IQ but common sense, arrogance and a lack of concern for life itself. Anyone who has a TV and word of mouth knows people die here daily in scooter accidents. I'm thinking foreigners that live here, that wore helmets in their countries, still wear them here. Some states in the US don't require helmets legally, and people die because of it. It's a law here, so there is no excuse to not wear one. They can afford scooters and cell phones, they can buy a decent helmet for driver and passengers. If they don't have their children or passengers wearing helmets, that shows they care nothing about the safety of them. Some wear helmets here so they don't get a ticket, but their passengers don't, even though it's a law also. Not wearing a helmet in a village just going to the local market might seem safe, but if a car or another scooter cuts you off and you and or your passengers, including those infants we seed daily on scooters, hits the ground at 20 KPH, you'll be hurt, and if you don't have a helmet on and hit your head, you can be a statistic or brain damaged just from that relatively slow impact.
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Most accidents happen close to home. People let down their guard thinking it's only a short trip. My girlfriend was bumped off her scooter by an 18 wheeler 100 meters from her house. 3 died 2 years ago on the highway next to her house in the same village, all residents of the village, all on turnarounds on scooters and another walking across the highway. I ran into a scooter with sidecar a few kilos from my house last month. He crossed in front of me without looking a few meters from me. Luckily I and my daughter weren't hurt but the scooter was damaged, 8000 baht repairs. His fault 100% but since I'm a foreigner. First and hopefully last motorbike accident I've had in 51 years.
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No, but I've been driving almost daily in a lot of places, all having foreigners, and I've never seen them doing anything besides speeding, just like they do back home. You'll rarely see any foreigners going the wrong way besides tourists that haven't adjusted to the other side driving. I do see locals doing it daily, and they should know better, and some do but ignore the possible consequences. There are more near misses here than anywhere I've ever driven, and I've put in more than twice the number of miles than the average drivers.
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No, they do it all the time, and concentration is very far from what they're doing, as the accidents attest. Driving into the back of parked vehicles happens daily here, a lot more than we'll ever hear about. I see drivers on phones every day, on scooters, let alone in vehicles. This does happen everywhere yes, but seeing there are more motorbikes here than most other countries, the deaths will continue.
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The only safe method of driving here is staying completely away from everyone, as no one can be trusted. That's impossible so all you have left is defensive driving and trying to stay as far away from everyone as possible, don't trust anyone sitting on the sides of roads or near turnarounds, use your mirrors constantly, stay at or under the speed limit on rural roads and in cities, know there will be dogs and people running into the streets without looking, that a large majority either don't care or are incompetent, and drive only when you need to.
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This will never end as there is little to no driver education here. A non caring attitude and lack of concern for life itself has many taking really stupid chances driving, especially on unprotected scooters and a majority not wearing head protection. Parents driving scooters haphazardly with no helmets is passed down to children doing the same.
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To add, many people worldwide will never know most of the best music that's out there, as pop gathers a lot of people because of the shows, and many teens look up to trashy pop starts because they see them making millions selling pap with little heart and only flash and light shows and dancing. There are many excellent progressive rock bands with excellent musicians that will never make it to the "Rock Hall of Fame", and even some older bands still aren't in it while some crapola is.
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Fact is, most Thais will never know the majority of good music or movies. even seeing western movies are very popular here. Older movies aren't shown, and only the musicians, who get a lot of their tablature from western music, know older western music, besides those who have foreign husbands or long term boyfriends, who listen to music in their autos. My girlfriend here likes a lot of the music I have, which is more Cd's than most can imagine, with people and bands like Mark Knopfler, Neal Casal, Enya, Dire Straits, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Simon and Garfunkel, Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, The Troggs, April Wine, John Cougar, Pat McGee, and many others, most of which most Thais will never hear.
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A large majority of people, especially the younger crowd, know who James Bond is, both by the two movies filmed here , Tomorrow Never Dies and The Man With the Golden Gun, and the latter ones now that have been in movie theaters here, with Daniel Craig. Thais love western action movies, as movies here pale by comparison to western ones, and they're on Mono 29 daily. In fact I'm watching Moonraker with my daughter now, and she knows who James Bond is as I have all of the movies, and we're watching them in order, as she loves action films herself.
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Things thai people do that make no sense
fredwiggy replied to angryguy's topic in ASEAN NOW Community Pub
Or keep it open for just one that isn't in the trade. -
Video Cheap Thai Massage Leads to Infection Horror: Doctor Warns Tourists
fredwiggy replied to snoop1130's topic in Thailand News
You have to realize it's the chance you take and sometimes price you pay when you are interacting with women, and men, who are intimate in some way with hundreds if not thousands of tourists, along with citizens and expats, some of whom are certainly carrying diseases, infections and plainly, STD's. Thailand has a high disease spreading rate, which was known decades ago, so again, you're playing Russian roulette being in that scene. Not to say there aren't clean legitimate massage places, as my friend here in Sisaket province has a wife who runs one, but it's a legitimate one that has locals and foreigners alike going in for just massages, and the place is clean. -
Things thai people do that make no sense
fredwiggy replied to angryguy's topic in ASEAN NOW Community Pub
My ex wife and girlfriend now didn't bother killing flies until I explained to them what flies do, along with mosquitoes. Then they got their own fly swatters and electronic tennis rackets. My girlfriend now is an expert fly and mosquito killer with that racket and swatter. I once sat outside her home with a fly swatter and killed 102 flies in a short time. I know insects have their purposes, including mosquitoes, but there are way too many that aren't doing what they're designed to do but just annoy people, especially those who naturally attract insects because of their scent. Gnats, flies, mosquitoes, black flies, ants, centipedes and others which are way too over populated and just there annoying people trying to eat or enjoy outside activities. When I first moved here, staying at my ex wife's mom's house while our house was being built, and saw them eating, daily, with flies landing on the food. I was the only one trying to get them away. Like you said, they won't kill insects, but will eat them, like puppies and kittens but hate and let dogs and cats roam free, causing problems not being fixed. Buddhism might be the go to religion here, but as far as practicing it how it's meant to be, that falls by the wayside and greed and a lack of common sense takes over. -
Or you fell for the allure of a pretty Thai woman who suckered you in and then tore you down, as that's all she knew and was good at keeping it hid for quite awhile. You stayed, at least for now, until you can escape to a better place where you're child will have a better future. ....................Yes, you guessed right and it is boring, as is much of the country outside of the beach areas.
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Whatever he's making in his retirement is more than the average local makes here anyway. Just to live here you need to make at least the minimum, or at least the locals think you do. No one knows how much a person has unless they spend haphazardly or for showing off, which isn't appreciated by anyone anyway. And some live beyond their means, showing off even if they're making less than it seems. Most locals will accept anyone who's respectful to them, greeting them with a Wai and a smile. Those that don't accept you if you behave well don't deserve your thoughts, as prejudice is everywhere and those that are prejudiced are going to be that way no matter what you have, and jealous besides. Locals appreciate when a foreigner blends in, goes to markets and buys their wares, and offers them all a smile when you're out and about. Share your fruit if you grow any, offer a lending hand if you see any in trouble.
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