Thais not yet in the habit of driving safely

[hawker9000]

"Thais not yet in the habit of driving safely"

 

Ding-ding-ding!  Folks, we have a late entry in the "Understatement of the Year" category!!  

 

The other side of the coin is the vacationing foreigners who rent motorbikes, observe the wild-west driving by the locals, and quickly begin imitating the same egregious driving habits.

 

 

 

[Sid Celery]

Killing yourself on a motorcycle in Thailand.

 

As effective as a Jim Jones cocktail or seppuku, but much more fun.

[Lupatria]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Thais not yet in the habit of driving safely

Great headline to demonstrate how optimism turns to sarcasm.

[Stargeezr]

Thailand should get some Vietnamese people to tell them why wearing helmets on

motorbikes is a good idea, Yes a total waste of time and money but what the

heck.

Geezer

[marko kok prong]

I carried out an interesting experiment whilst in my car the other day,i imagined my oldest son who lives in Australia and has been driving around a year was in the car with me and i was instructing him on the hazards of driving in Thailand. No sooner than i had reached the end of my small soi,than i muttered 'slow right down a motorbike may cut the corner' sure enough one did a young guy who swerved past me all smiles,if i had been going quicker ,a head on. Down the main street, 'watch out for bikes pulling out without looking at the oncoming traffic, box ticked,old lady pulls out not a glance then proceeds to meander down road looking at shops. Bikes going agaist the flow of traffic this was outside the supermarket where a girl managed to squeeze past me and parked bikes,why wait after all.

  Give way to trucks,watch out for dogs,why are the bikes stopping for me when they have right of way[ no idea of road rules but of course you have to give way to the bigger vehicle by the time i got to my friends house i was exhausted by the amount of basic errors plus stupidity plus a seeming death wish by many young guys pushing there bikes far into the red rev zone. I hold out no hope anything will ever change.

[metisdead]

A grammar police post has been removed. 

 

A post containing comments toward Thais which was in violation of this forum rule has been removed:

 

11) You will not post slurs, degrading or overly negative comments directed towards Thailand, specific locations, Thai institutions such as the judicial or law enforcement system, Thai culture, Thai people or any other group on the basis of race, nationality, religion, gender or sexual orientation.

[Krataiboy]

Making people wear a crash helmet only makes sense if they have a brain to damage.

[PerkinsCuthbert]

'Not yet'? Lol, give 'em a chance, they've only had the wheel since the Sack of Ayutthaya, when the Burmese ran off with their elephants.

[scotchonrocks]

4 hours ago, BuaBS said:

Repression to tax/fine people more . And that why we like it much better here. Well untill those f.. speed camera's came to Thailand .

So you prefer unnecessary death and carnage to speeding fines and reasonable surveillance for the protection of all road users.  Be careful what you wish for sir.

[PatOngo]

Driving safely is common sense..........Thai's not in the habit of applying common sense!

[anon467367354]

If you have a helmet do you have to wear it?

[PatOngo]

6 minutes ago, gr8fldanielle said:

If you have a helmet do you have to wear it?

Obviously her head is less worth protecting than her groin.

[Road Warrior]

smily face is 100% and will never improve !!

[Morch]

8 hours ago, jaywalker said:

It's like Eskimos being used to the cold or camels being used to the heat or fish being used the water.

 

The Thai populace is just used to psycho driving habits & daily carnage. Very few know of any other experience.

 

My impression is that even among those who do have an experience with improved traffic situations abroad, applying the often admired standards is not the norm. Luckily, the Mrs. is a bit of freak so less worries, even though her non-stop commentary on other drivers, road conditions and poor enforcement can be distracting at times. Had one memorable moment with SiL in the driver seat, full throttle, turning back and asking me if I feel unsafe. If it wasn't said so sincerely, it would have been a psychotic, Joker like moment.

[connda]

A public service message from Captain Obvious:  "Thais not yet in the habit of driving safely"
 

Thank you.

[lvr181]

9 hours ago, BuaBS said:

Repression to tax/fine people more . And that why we like it much better here. Well untill those f.. speed camera's came to Thailand .

You just traded in 'repression to tax/fine people' to become a possible road trauma statistic?  

 

Oh well, each to his own.

[evadgib]

This afternoon a chevvy hatchback joined my lane without bothering to look, causing me to mutter.... 

 

1km further on he indicated right, then left before turning into a shop car park without looking; causing a motorbike on the inside to skid sharply in order to avoid contact. The biker was wearing a helmet and travelling at sensible speed which is just as well cos he'd have head-butted a power pole if he'd been any faster.

 

I caught the lot on dashcam inc the VRN.

 

With the exception of the helmet & lack of speed (well done to that rider, didn't even fall off or get the hump!) this is an everyday occurrence.

 

 

[oldlakey]

11 hours ago, overherebc said:

Related to your post.

I know a few Thais who are regular visitors to Australia and  NZ, I've asked them about driving there. 

None of them have ever had a ticket or been 'pulled' by the cops because, in their words, you have to be very careful because the police are always watching you and waiting for you to do something wrong and they have police cars and cameras 'everywhere.'

 

But we knew it worked did we not, but nice to finally have irrefutable proof from a Thai or two

[oldlakey]

11 hours ago, BuaBS said:

Repression to tax/fine people more . And that why we like it much better here. Well untill those f.. speed camera's came to Thailand .

I hope you have a long and happy life, but please try and bend over backwards to spend it all in Thailand

[oldlakey]

8 hours ago, marko kok prong said:

I carried out an interesting experiment whilst in my car the other day,i imagined my oldest son who lives in Australia and has been driving around a year was in the car with me and i was instructing him on the hazards of driving in Thailand. No sooner than i had reached the end of my small soi,than i muttered 'slow right down a motorbike may cut the corner' sure enough one did a young guy who swerved past me all smiles,if i had been going quicker ,a head on. Down the main street, 'watch out for bikes pulling out without looking at the oncoming traffic, box ticked,old lady pulls out not a glance then proceeds to meander down road looking at shops. Bikes going agaist the flow of traffic this was outside the supermarket where a girl managed to squeeze past me and parked bikes,why wait after all.

  Give way to trucks,watch out for dogs,why are the bikes stopping for me when they have right of way[ no idea of road rules but of course you have to give way to the bigger vehicle by the time i got to my friends house i was exhausted by the amount of basic errors plus stupidity plus a seeming death wish by many young guys pushing there bikes far into the red rev zone. I hold out no hope anything will ever change.

The only thing that changes are the names of the replacements, for the dead

[oldlakey]

6 hours ago, PatOngo said:

Obviously her head is less worth protecting than her groin.

Earning potential

[jaywalker]

11 hours ago, BuaBS said:

Repression to tax/fine people more . And that why we like it much better here. Well untill those f.. speed camera's came to Thailand .

Don't worry. 90% of them won't work in a week or two, provided they actually install cameras & not just empty boxes that look like cameras.

[Airbagwill]

Utter rubbish promulgated by the media who, like the authorities  have know idea what they are talking about and therefore no idea what to do

[overherebc]

59 minutes ago, oldlakey said:

The only thing that changes are the names of the replacements, for the dead

Where I am at the moment a short drive to the local corner shops market I am reluctant to drive even the short distance between say 4pm and 6pm because of the locals out on the motorbikes buying food from the stalls etc. No care in the world about which side of the road, stopping, turning, pulling out without looking, no number plates and can be sure no licence or insurance.

Need I go on?

[oldlakey]

3 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Where I am at the moment a short drive to the local corner shops market I am reluctant to drive even the short distance between say 4pm and 6pm because of the locals out on the motorbikes buying food from the stalls etc. No care in the world about which side of the road, stopping, turning, pulling out without looking, no number plates and can be sure no licence or insurance.

Need I go on?

No, that wont be necessary I can see where you are coming from

[Jsinbkk]

Removes the feeble minded from the gene pool and makes organ transplants readily available. What's not to like?

[overherebc]

6 minutes ago, Jsinbkk said:

Removes the feeble minded from the gene pool and makes organ transplants readily available. What's not to like?

A harsh comment but in a way it does sort of fit.

One of the problems being that it may remove 'an innocent' (wrong place, wrong time) who may have had a bright future.

Let's face it, Einstein was an uneducated orphan.

[oldlakey]

10 minutes ago, Jsinbkk said:

Removes the feeble minded from the gene pool and makes organ transplants readily available. What's not to like?

You have got to feel for the potentially late developers though

[ZeVonderBearz]

I'm not interested in people wearing helmets, it's their life and they know the potential dangers, let them do as they wish. I do have a problem with people riding with their children on the back of their bike without a helmet, this is where the law should step in and fine the parents. Also the parents who buy their wee ones bikes to ride around should also be fined. I genuinely don't think most Thais see any issues with the way they or those around them drive. 

[riclag]

 

I was approaching a traffic light that was counting down with(4 seconds) . I slowed down for the change to red.The car behind sped up and went through the already red light. I laid  on the horn .My Mrs. started explaining I shouldn't do that and it might aggravate the driver and prompt them to come back or stop and retaliate .No, its wrong ,we could be involved in a  accident because someone runs a red light,I replied.She said up to them lol.

 

People are not held responsible for their disrespect of the rules of the road.The policing is a joke. 

Bring in  foreign consultants to set up common sense laws and implement penalties  to enforce them, ie three speeding violations in a year,you loose your license for a year etc etc.