Driving at night without lights - Thai's appear to consider them unimportant?

[BuaBS]

Thais have better eyes . They can drive their motobike above 60 km/h and keep their eyes wide open without eye protection & blinking.

[Scouse123]

I live in Isaan and drive both motorbike and car. Have maybe seen this "behaviour" maximum 5 times in 17 years.

Particlular quilty! Yep, keep on make me laugh. Maybe you know the particular place they are doing this in Isaan.

I live in Isaarn too, and so do many Foreigners!!!

And have for 20 years and seen a sleepy area develop into a big metropolis that keeps getting bigger.

I also have a car and two motorbikes by the way, something else that you do not have exclusively!!!

And I see this behaviour on a daily basis in and around Kalasin and Roi Et.

What by the way, is " quilty "


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[Chivas]

Simple if you're living here install a dash cam. You dont get arrested and charged if its completely obvious that the other party is at clear fault not even in this country

[lopburi3]

14 minutes ago, Chivas said:

Simple if you're living here install a dash cam. You dont get arrested and charged if its completely obvious that the other party is at clear fault not even in this country

Not simple if someone is hurt or dead however.

[Chivas]

6 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

Not simple if someone is hurt or dead however.

You're moving the goalposts. Go and reread the OP complaining (quite rightly) about thais driving with no lights and his supposed belief that you as a farang will get charged on the basis no doubt that if he hadnt been in the country in the first place it wouldnt have happened.

Now give the dash cam to your insurer and let them deal with it. They are on offer and they clearly are going to refute any claim against their client when said dash cam clearly shows some numbnut driving without lights. Simple as that

Edited October 29, 2017 by Chivas

[Get Real]

5 hours ago, Scouse123 said:

I also have a car and two motorbikes by the way, something else that you do not have exclusively!!!

And when did I say that. Your perception functions seems to be rather close to a medium. 

By the way, I don´t believe them either.

[KhunBENQ]

6 hours ago, BuaBS said:

Thais have better eyes . They can drive their motobike above 60 km/h and keep their eyes wide open without eye protection & blinking.

They can perfectly drive one handed.

Other hand serves as sun protection

[Moonlover]

8 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

And the wonderful Thai traffic law says that you MUST NOT turn on light as long as you can see a car in 150m distance. "must not"/"not allowed"!

Nonsense.

Section 11 of the Thai Traffic Laws states:

''If it gets dark and you cannot see clearly more than 150m, you must turn on the headlight''.

[OJAS]

6 hours ago, Chivas said:

Now give the dash cam to your insurer and let them deal with it. They are on offer and they clearly are going to refute any claim against their client when said dash cam clearly shows some numbnut driving without lights. Simple as that

And what if the numbnut driving around without lights has more than adequate financial means at their disposal to ensure that influential palms are sufficiently greased?

Edited October 29, 2017 by OJAS

[bikerlou47]

One of my past gf's did believe that having the lights on would burn more fuel.
Anything i could say would not convince her.

Their theory is if they can see they don't need them...

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[Scouse123]

And when did I say that. Your perception functions seems to be rather close to a medium. 

 

By the way, I don´t believe them either.

 

 

I find your responses to a sensible post rather stupid and antagonistic.

 

Why would I say I see this as a daily occurrance in Roi Et and Kalasin, as obviously do others here who have responded, if I didn't?

 

 

 

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[NanLaew]

21 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

Besides being to lazy (or no money) to replace broken globes etc. There are some Thais, being a superstitious lot, believe that lights off and a ghost cant follow you home. They also take off the mirrors because you may look in the mirror and see a ghost following.

Also young kids with no license or number plates hiding from police etc.

And there are some people, like the OP, who feel they have a right to demand a change to this quaint, cultural trait of our hosts. These are probably the same sort of people that turn the house lights off and don't answer the door at Hallowe'en back home.

 

20 hours ago, KittenKong said:

 

Douglas Adams, sadly deceased author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, knew all about Thai drivers:

 

" The Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal is a vicious wild animal from the planet of Traal, known for its never-ending hunger and its mind-boggling stupidity. The Guide calls the bugblatter the stupidest creature in the entire universe - so profoundly unintelligent that, if you can't see it, it assumes it can't see you.  "

 

Awesomely accurate and totally apropos description of the growing pool of ill-advised, xenophobic, opinionated and pontifical old farangs that come and make a 'home' in LOS but still haven't twigged that they aint in Kansas any more.

 

Thanks for that!

[NanLaew]

18 hours ago, Chivas said:

Simple if you're living here install a dash cam. You dont get arrested and charged if its completely obvious that the other party is at clear fault not even in this country

Ah yes... the dash cam. A totally western affectation that is ultimately just another nail in the coffin of the quaint cultural traits of Thailand.

 

RIP

[NanLaew]

19 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

...

And the wonderful Thai traffic law says that you MUST NOT turn on light as long as you can see a car in 150m distance. "must not"/"not allowed"!

...

 

11 hours ago, Moonlover said:

Nonsense.

Section 11 of the Thai Traffic Laws states:

''If it gets dark and you cannot see clearly more than 150m, you must turn on the headlight''.

Where's the argument here? If you can see beyond 150 m, leave the lights off. If you cannot see beyond 150 m, turn the lights on.

 

More to the point, what part of Thailand's quaint cultural trait of "up to you" seems so hard to understand here?

[Briggsy]

20 hours ago, Get Real said:

What number? This is a really small amount you are talking about. Sure, it´s wrong, but the problem is not as big as you try to make it.

 

 

Actually the OP is right, in my opinion.

 

I used to work in a large industrial estate in Chonburi. The afternoon/evening shift at a large neighbouring factory used to pour out at the same time I was going home. Hundreds of bikes of assembly line workers. I estimate 1 in 3 had no back light. I was so aghast/amazed at this display of laziness, stupidity or  inconsiderate behaviour, that I used to count them.

 

Just as a social experiment, at the traffic lights, I used to tell one random lightless punter in perfect Thai that he had no back light. The effect was the same as telling him he had a back wheel, a complete lack of interest and confusion as to why anybody might like to point it out.

[lopburi3]

9 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Ah yes... the dash cam. A totally western affectation that is ultimately just another nail in the coffin of the quaint cultural traits of Thailand.

 

RIP

If you consider the extreme road cranage here a "quaint cultural trait" expect we can not have much of a discussion.  I would prefer any such trait to RIP than more people - and that includes Thai.

 

But really do not believe you have any mandate to speak for Thai.  AFAIK they are a prime user of dashcams - as witness any evening news report these days.

[impulse]

A few years back, the taxis in my town in China were powered by poorly maintained 800-1,000 CC engines and turning on the lights would actually cause them to die at an idle.  So, while I think having lights at night is a good use of fuel, they do consume some.  And if you're living on 250-300 baht a day, it all adds up.

 

[lopburi3]

5 minutes ago, impulse said:

A few years back, the taxis in my town in China were powered by poorly maintained 800-1,000 CC engines and turning on the lights would actually cause them to die at an idle.  So, while I think having lights at night is a good use of fuel, they do consume some.  And if you're living on 250-300 baht a day, it all adds up.

 

And years back auto lighting did require a lot of amps to power as they did not use LED lights - these days there is almost no extra electric drain to be concerned with.

[fiddlehead]

A humorous new book that talks about the problem from a bicycle rider's perspective: 

The Hazards of Cycling in Thailand Kindle Edition

by Raymond Greenlaw  (Author)

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075ZNW77T

[impulse]

15 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

And years back auto lighting did require a lot of amps to power as they did not use LED lights - these days there is almost no extra electric drain to be concerned with.

 

LED lighting is still aftermarket for a lot of vehicles.  Cheaper to pay for fuel for incandescent lights than pay the baht for LED lighting.  But, yep, that's changing. 

[Daveyh]

I agree with most of the comments here. However in the case of Get Real's posts I can only surmise he lives in a remote part of Issan with very few inhabitants. A motorbike is an essential requirement to buy food for many, hence they are on the roads almost 24/7. In rural areas I do find that the motorbikes & motorised carts look as if they are about to fall apart & their roadworthiness is questionable in most cases! Driving without lights between let's say "7pm to 5am ish" is almost half of our daily lives ..... it makes sense to switch them on to preserve life! I'll admit safety wise is it not the most important factor contributing to the 24,000 deaths & 1 million injuries that are sustained each year in Thailand, but it has to be addressed collectively by the authorities here. It's a real mountain to climb, but they must get really tough with offenders that break the rules. I think the only way to maximize your chance of protection against prosecution as a "farang" is to have video cams in your vehicle backed up with "first class insurance" ............ I've installed video cams with a 10hr cycle front & rear ...... in the event of any mishap I just phone my insurance company & let the Thai insurance rep deal with it. Safe driving everyone.

[Daveyh]

21 hours ago, BuaBS said:

Thais have better eyes . They can drive their motobike above 60 km/h and keep their eyes wide open without eye protection & blinking.

Wow! .............. & even without looking too!! Amazing Thailand. Ha! It really amazes me that they can ride motorbikes staring straight ahead unaware what is occuring around them ....... <deleted>? ;-)

 

[tifino]

 

in the good old bad old days, your dashboard lighting was directly linked from your vehicle's lighting circuit.

No dashlights were your physical real time reminder to ON your lights...

 

now with the advent of those blinding LED day Running Lights, you'd think from the front that the oncoming car is sufficiently lit (well, they do anyway)

In reality they don't have the mind to realise their lit dash is there only becasue the engine is ON.

From the rear, it is all in blackness

[bheard]

What number? This is a really small amount you are talking about. Sure, it´s wrong, but the problem is not as big as you try to make it.
 
 

When you run into one of 'em you'll see just how big the problem is . . .

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[NanLaew]

2 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

If you consider the extreme road cranage here a "quaint cultural trait" expect we can not have much of a discussion.  I would prefer any such trait to RIP than more people - and that includes Thai.

 

But really do not believe you have any mandate to speak for Thai.  AFAIK they are a prime user of dashcams - as witness any evening news report these days.

The carnage is appalling. Undeniably so.

 

The shared belief that having a tail light and rear-view mirrors makes one liable to be pursued by or see a ghost is what's quaint.

 

AFAIK, the bulk of Thai-owned dash cams are at any given instant in one of the following modes:

 

• Broken through heat exposure.
• Memory full and/or corrupted, not logging.
• Not plugged in, not charging.
• Flat battery (see above).
• Turned off.

 

Otherwise they are as much use as the amulets hanging from or, the tiny stupa's arranged below the equally redundant and totally superfluous, ghost-spotter rear-view mirror.

 

[Rimmer]

43 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

The carnage is appalling. Undeniably so.

 

The shared belief that having a tail light and rear-view mirrors makes one liable to be pursued by or see a ghost is what's quaint.

 

AFAIK, the bulk of Thai-owned dash cams are at any given instant in one of the following modes:

 

• Broken through heat exposure.
• Memory full and/or corrupted, not logging.
• Not plugged in, not charging.
• Flat battery (see above).
• Turned off.

 

Otherwise they are as much use as the amulets hanging from or, the tiny stupa's arranged below the equally redundant and totally superfluous, ghost-spotter rear-view mirror.

 

We must be an exception then, we have two CRVs each fitted with two dash cams. (only 2 cams are Thai used and owned though )

• All four are not broken through heat exposure,
• The memory clears automatically when full,
• They stay plugged in and come on when  the engine is started,
• The on switch is always on

 

One would also wonder where all the facebook vids of road rage farangs chasing Thais come from as well

[Get Real]

1 hour ago, bheard said:

When you run into one of 'em you'll see just how big the problem is . . .

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Oh, I understand that. I was talking about the amount of them. It sounds like it´s an amazing amount according to all the posters here.
Still 17 years in Isaan, in many small villages too. Guess I must be extremely lucky to not see a big amount of this problem.
It can also be that I choose to not pick on everything like most of the people seems to have a need for here. Just a lot of sad people.

[Get Real]

3 hours ago, Briggsy said:

Actually the OP is right, in my opinion.

 

I used to work in a large industrial estate in Chonburi. The afternoon/evening shift at a large neighbouring factory used to pour out at the same time I was going home. Hundreds of bikes of assembly line workers. I estimate 1 in 3 had no back light. I was so aghast/amazed at this display of laziness, stupidity or  inconsiderate behaviour, that I used to count them.

 

Just as a social experiment, at the traffic lights, I used to tell one random lightless punter in perfect Thai that he had no back light. The effect was the same as telling him he had a back wheel, a complete lack of interest and confusion as to why anybody might like to point it out.

I guess you are right about the pointless activity in trying to tell somebody that it´s something wrong. Just doesn´t work here.
However, I am still amazed over the amount you are talking about. Just have to go see the optician, I guess. 

[Briggsy]

30 minutes ago, Get Real said:

I guess you are right about the pointless activity in trying to tell somebody that it´s something wrong. Just doesn´t work here.
However, I am still amazed over the amount you are talking about. Just have to go see the optician, I guess. 

The 1 in 3 would represent young-ish, lower eschelon, almost all Honda Wave riders. Clearly in terms of the whole motorbike population of Thailand, that number would be not as bad.

 

I even considered the back bulbs were deliberately removed. But I don't think so. On old Hondas, the back light bulbs go every 3 years or so. I think they just never replaced them.

 

Ironically, what did the factory in question make? Motor parts!

[InMyShadow]

Sadly they truly believe it will drain the battery

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