Road carnage: January death toll goes through the roof

[Artisi]

13 hours ago, wavemanwww said:

What gets me is this carnage continues where insane drivers get 200-500 Bah fines ,,,Peanuts for westerners based on their fines from their country of origin, Yet you have a smoko on the beach its 100,000 bah fine and or a gaol term. Thailand has lost the plot!

was there ever a plot (in terms of law enforcement)

[selftaopath]

On 2/3/2018 at 10:40 AM, spidermike007 said:

 

Now, the fines are $200 and up. The last moving violation I got in California was nearly 10 years ago, and it was $517. And some cities allow you to ask to set a date for trial. And some of those cities give the officer a 3 hour grace period to show up. Which means you might have to dedicate most of the day to your "trial". And many of those same cities have only mock trials, and always (100% of the time) rule against you. I have had policemen tell me that. And the fines must be paid in advance, in order to request your trial. So, even requesting a trial, which used to be effective due to the officer not showing up occasionally, does not seem to work anymore. The system is fixed. 

If I'm not mistaken you previously mentioned BIB salary. I can't remember if it was your post of the OP. Sorry, but here's my question if it was your post and thanks for your post. I agree with you with the exception of BIB's pay. I believe they make a salary commensurate of their education/efforts etc. As is typical entry level positions are rarely extraordinary, both here and elsewhere. Do you know or does anyone know the real salary amounts for Thai police? I am lead to believe they start out at or near the rate of a Thai teacher. 

 

Thanks again for your post.

[Humpy]

Dangerous ? what do you mean dangerous ? !!!!!  

 

Time for these bus drivers to be sorted out and the kids shown the dangers of hanging on the rear of buses or riding on the roof ! Perhaps a picture of 6 kids in wheelchairs after being crushed by a rear end shunt might make them think twice.    OK, maybe not....... TIT.

 

 

[tinca tinca]

On 2/2/2018 at 9:13 PM, Orton Rd said:

same as a jumbo jet crashing every week of the year killing all on board- mai pen rai, they seem incapable of doing the most obvious things to change it. Apart from the usual stupidity why do they feel the need to be constantly changing lanes? sometimes every few hundred yards.

not every few hundred yards more like every 2 or three yards........and I do NOT know why they do it......the gain nothing.....they are just BRAIN DEAD...

[wavemanwww]

17 hours ago, tifino said:

not really...  for there is more to be made, from a smoking falang

Well that's the most honest Thai response I have ever read. So what your saying is money comes first an Thai deaths second? Sad!

[WHYWHY]

I don't think people are saying only Thailand has a problem 

However not many othe countries can boast having this number in One Month 

In my country in the State I live in the number of Deaths last year was 100 people 

I'm saying its time something is done about the carnage on the roads 

[StevieAus]

17 hours ago, Thian said:

He didn't get arrested, they just took his car...you can see him handing the keys over and that was in front of his house. 

 

Yes the police is very polite as long as you're polite to them...If you have a big mouth that might change though. All dutch know that there's no way to escape from them, they can call their collegues who are there within some minutes or they can call the helicopter in case you try to escape. 

 

He'll get the car back i guess, after some weeks and a huge fine..maybe he lost his driverslicense if this wasn't his first time for speeding more than 50 km too fast. But for sure he won't be driving for some weeks, also he will have to pay for a course in safe-driving which is not cheap.

 

This driver also was very relaxed and he admitted what he did, he said that because there was national soccer on tv he thought the police was watching that as well haha. 

 

The police always shows the video of how they filmed the driver doing wrong so he can give his reply on that. He will get the fine from the judge because speeding over 50km/hr is a serious crime..under 50 km overspeed is not and that will be only a hefty fine..

That’s good should be more of that here

[spidermike007]

3 hours ago, selftaopath said:

If I'm not mistaken you previously mentioned BIB salary. I can't remember if it was your post of the OP. Sorry, but here's my question if it was your post and thanks for your post. I agree with you with the exception of BIB's pay. I believe they make a salary commensurate of their education/efforts etc. As is typical entry level positions are rarely extraordinary, both here and elsewhere. Do you know or does anyone know the real salary amounts for Thai police? I am lead to believe they start out at or near the rate of a Thai teacher. 

 

Thanks again for your post.

 

Police must buy their own motorcycles if they are needed for the job. Those who live away from the station must have some form of private transportation so they can respond quickly in an emergency. The cost of the basic equipment like uniforms, decorations, handguns, transceivers, handcuffs, hats and belts also comes out of their own pockets. A good handgun is expensive and costs around 70,000 baht. Some police don’t have a gun because they just can’t afford it. Handguns can be purchased by installment through the police cooperative, however.

“Police and their family members are entitled to a free medical care, medicine and whatever treatment is necessary but only in government hospitals,” said Pol Col Pullop.
 

In June 2015, the Bangkok Post reported that, "Thai police officers are paid around 14,760 baht average, per month (6,800–8,340 baht for entry level) and have to buy their own guns and even office supplies." He posits that one reason salaries are so low is that the sheer number of officers is staggering, roughly 250,000.

 

My opinion is that the government is too cheap to pay them a living wage, and there has always been a quid pro quo in place. We will not give you enough to live on, but we will always, and under any circumstance look the other way, when it comes to the creative ways that you can raise money on your own. 

[LGMV]

if you let people with the mental age of 13 drive on the roads, what would happen?

[owenm]

Yet Australia had a total of 1225 road deaths for total year of 2017, population of 26 million.. TIT.. Thailand can better this by another 200 in only one month.. And as usual the fines never equal the crime.. 200-400bht fines for most motoring offences but caught on a beach smoking and cop a 5,000bht fine and/or one year in jail.. Thailand needs to grow up and realise if they want to ho downhill fast on the road toll, requires swift drastic action.. Not even the current junta govt is prepared to take appropriate action to reverse this trend..

Sent from my [device_name] using http://Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[jackdd]

3 hours ago, selftaopath said:

If I'm not mistaken you previously mentioned BIB salary. I can't remember if it was your post of the OP. Sorry, but here's my question if it was your post and thanks for your post. I agree with you with the exception of BIB's pay. I believe they make a salary commensurate of their education/efforts etc. As is typical entry level positions are rarely extraordinary, both here and elsewhere. Do you know or does anyone know the real salary amounts for Thai police? I am lead to believe they start out at or near the rate of a Thai teacher. 

The police who stops you at the street is somewhere in column ป.1 / ป.2 / ป.3

I don't know why these columns have so many years, but from what i know, usually they are in ป.1 for maybe a year, and then a few years in ป.2, and then ป.3 is the last upgrade for the standard police guy, the higher ranks are for the officers and so on. So the person who stops you usually has a base salary of 15-25k. But as a civil servant they have some more privileges than just their salary.

 

[jamesmith]

it will get worse, not only Thai now, recently I have seen a lot foreigners driving madly, especially those young motor cyclist  .Also as what I said before we have a lot young boy age around 12- 15 riding motorcycle here. 

[Artisi]

5 hours ago, wavemanwww said:

Well that's the most honest Thai response I have ever read. So what your saying is money comes first an Thai deaths second? Sad!

You must have just stepped off the plane - there is no need to say anything - money always comes first, above and beyond anything else or anyone in Thailand. 

[tropo]

4 hours ago, owenm said:

Yet Australia had a total of 1225 road deaths for total year of 2017, population of 26 million.. TIT.. Thailand can better this by another 200 in only one month.. And as usual the fines never equal the crime.. 200-400bht fines for most motoring offences but caught on a beach smoking and cop a 5,000bht fine and/or one year in jail.. Thailand needs to grow up and realise if they want to ho downhill fast on the road toll, requires swift drastic action.. Not even the current junta govt is prepared to take appropriate action to reverse this trend..

Sent from my [device_name] using http://Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

You talk about "fines never equal the crime". How about fines equal the wealth of the offender?

 

"Under Swiss law, the level of fine is determined by the wealth of the driver and the speed recorded".

 

A Swede was fined $1m for speeding. The car is confiscated until the fine is paid in full.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-10960230

 

In the Netherlands, they can confiscate cars too. I don't know if or when they can get them back.

 

https://www.motor1.com/news/21433/20-year-old-dutchman-gets-bugatti-veyron-confiscated-by-police-for-speeding-80km-h-over-the-limit/

 

 

 

[tropo]

50 minutes ago, Artisi said:

You must have just stepped off the plane - there is no need to say anything - money always comes first, above and beyond anything else or anyone in Thailand. 

Maybe it was too long ago since you stepped on a plane. Greed is a worldwide affliction that is no worse in Thailand than anywhere else... 

 

Where is this paradise you come from where people don't rate money highly? Perhaps a social welfare state where you are looked after even if you're broke. People from those countries are not qualified to make negative comments about people who live in countries where life is extremely tough without money.

Edited February 4, 2018 by tropo

[wakeupplease]

12 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

You must drive on dangerous roads, as I've seen only about 3 serious accidents in all my years of travelling on Thai roads.

Seen plenty of young Thais on m'bikes sure to be statistics though.

You must be in need of an eyesight test 3 serious accidents come on we used to see that on one trip to bk and  the same going home again

[badischer Barde]

On 3.2.2018 at 5:36 AM, DieterWiehe said:

Darwin's theory at work after weeding out the bad apples it may get better in about 100 years

 

Not really...

 

Its often the car drivers fault that those accidents happen. But it's almost always the scooter drivers dying. So it's actually the bad apples weeding out the people to poor to buy a car. How's that gonna help?

 

.

 

A german statistics Prof. once proposed an interesting solution. Cruel, bloody, but very efficient, so typical german, I guess...

 

Replace all airbags with metal spikes. So whatever would set off an airbag would instead drive a metal spike through the drivers head.

True... it might kill a few more drivers at first. But soon they will drive so much more carefully that you'll get a big net gain in saved lifes.

Well... Thailand might be 'the' place to try that theory...

 

But as long as you can turn without looking, run over a scooter, and drive away without anyone so much as writing down your licence plate number there's fairly little incentive to drive like a decent human beeing.

[lvr181]

7 hours ago, tropo said:

You talk about "fines never equal the crime". How about fines equal the wealth of the offender?

 

"Under Swiss law, the level of fine is determined by the wealth of the driver and the speed recorded".

 

A Swede was fined $1m for speeding. The car is confiscated until the fine is paid in full.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-10960230

 

In the Netherlands, they can confiscate cars too. I don't know if or when they can get them back.

 

https://www.motor1.com/news/21433/20-year-old-dutchman-gets-bugatti-veyron-confiscated-by-police-for-speeding-80km-h-over-the-limit/

 

 

 

Now your thinking that the Government should look at how similar 'problems' are handled in other countries, perhaps?  

 

As long as your butt points to the ground, that is not going to happen. The Kingdom is renowned for re-inventing the wheel, sadly. There appears to be NO learning from others. NO consideration of adopting similar principles and tailoring them to meet local needs. While money is king the 'health/wellbeing/happiness' of the country's citizens will never be a priority.

 

After 600 years it is difficult (or is it?) to understand why the Kingdom has not advanced economically along with some of its near neighbours. Nothing is perfect but the Kingdom should be doing better for its peoples.

[Artisi]

9 hours ago, tropo said:

Maybe it was too long ago since you stepped on a plane. Greed is a worldwide affliction that is no worse in Thailand than anywhere else... 

 

Where is this paradise you come from where people don't rate money highly? Perhaps a social welfare state where you are looked after even if you're broke. People from those countries are not qualified to make negative comments about people who live in countries where life is extremely tough without money.

Last time i looked, this site and discussion was about Thailand, so how about sticking with the discussion at hand.  

[thaibeachlovers]

9 hours ago, wakeupplease said:

You must be in need of an eyesight test 3 serious accidents come on we used to see that on one trip to bk and  the same going home again

Why would I lie? I've nothing to prove.

 

I have said before though, that I'd like to know on which roads most deaths occur, as I suspect it's on good roads in high population areas, where high speeds are possible.

[Xonax]

On 2/2/2018 at 5:08 PM, wakeupplease said:

Every time we see an undertake we always say that must be a Thai Driver!

It could also be a foreigner who actually knows, that undertaking is not prohibited in Thailand.

Section 45 in the Thai driving law says:
[No driver shall overtake another vehicle from the left-side unless:
a. the vehicle to be overtaken is making a right turn or has given a signal that he is going to make a right turn
b. the roadway is arranged with two or more traffic lanes in the same direction.]

[jackdd]

18 minutes ago, Xonax said:

It could also be a foreigner who actually knows, that undertaking is not prohibited in Thailand.

Section 45 in the Thai driving law says:
[No driver shall overtake another vehicle from the left-side unless:
a. the vehicle to be overtaken is making a right turn or has given a signal that he is going to make a right turn
b. the roadway is arranged with two or more traffic lanes in the same direction.]

I didn't know the Thai driving law is also valid in our home countries

[Artisi]

8 hours ago, Xonax said:

It could also be a foreigner who actually knows, that undertaking is not prohibited in Thailand.

Section 45 in the Thai driving law says:
[No driver shall overtake another vehicle from the left-side unless:
a. the vehicle to be overtaken is making a right turn or has given a signal that he is going to make a right turn
b. the roadway is arranged with two or more traffic lanes in the same direction.]

You have to make allowances for some people, especially those who know everything about <deleted>.

[Chris Lawrence]

On ‎3‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 12:13 AM, snoop1130 said:

 

A total of 1,452 people were reported killed last month at the scene of accidents. This compared to 947 in January 2017

 

On ‎3‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 12:13 AM, snoop1130 said:

But these figures will rise significantly when those who died in hospital as a result of accidents are added. 

 

Experience shows that the figures could increase a further 50 - 70% at least. 

After all the work done nothing really changed.

 

My condolences to the families and friends who lost a loved one. May the rest in peace and hope their lives are not in vain.

 

Very sad

[lvr181]

47 minutes ago, Chris Lawrence said:

 

After all the work done nothing really changed.

 

My condolences to the families and friends who lost a loved one. May the rest in peace and hope their lives are not in vain.

 

Very sad

"After all the work done nothing really changed." Have to ask, what work was done (rhetorical question)? If there was some done, I would bet that the Government has learned nothing from it!

 

Just a bunch of 'moronic motor mouths' try to placate all and sundry, with no idea about what to do and lacking in commitment to make, whatever they promised, better. 

 

Merely patting themselves on the back!

 

Condolences to all the families and friends who have suffered through the pathetic attempts of Government and the sometimes idiocy/carelessness of drivers and riders.

Edited February 5, 2018 by lvr181
Spelling correction

[JAG]

14 hours ago, tropo said:

You talk about "fines never equal the crime". How about fines equal the wealth of the offender?

 

"Under Swiss law, the level of fine is determined by the wealth of the driver and the speed recorded".

 

A Swede was fined $1m for speeding. The car is confiscated until the fine is paid in full.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-10960230

 

In the Netherlands, they can confiscate cars too. I don't know if or when they can get them back.

 

https://www.motor1.com/news/21433/20-year-old-dutchman-gets-bugatti-veyron-confiscated-by-police-for-speeding-80km-h-over-the-limit/

 

 

 

If that was the case here then the police would be:

very wealthy, and all be driving around in "supercars".

[ChristianBlessing]

On 2/2/2018 at 10:50 PM, wotsdermatter said:

Please, tell us if you travel in Europe< Canada, and the USA, if you see many police "managing traffic" because when I travel in other countries it is a rare occurrence to see police unless they are hiding somewhere with their radar guns or controlling traffic at collision scenes, etc.  While Thailand has a poor record other countries do not necessarily fare better, regardless of reports from worldwide agencies.

My home is in a very rural area in the US. When I'm there I often travel on an interstate highway to the nearest large city about 150 km away. Along that route I am likely to see 3-4 highway police cruisers patrolling the road. Their job is to enforce traffic laws, and their presence acts as a deterrent to violating traffic laws. The statistics on traffic safety in the US are valid, reliable and abundant. I'm wondering what evidence you might provide that convinces you that other countries do not necessarily fare better.

Edited February 5, 2018 by ChristianBlessing
add context

[MrY]

On 2/4/2018 at 3:30 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

You must drive on dangerous roads, as I've seen only about 3 serious accidents in all my years of travelling on Thai roads.

Seen plenty of young Thais on m'bikes sure to be statistics though.

 

OTOH, we counted 13 accidents (2 witnessed first hand, 11 scenes of accident, most still active) in one day driving from Jomtien to Mae Sot on one rainy day. YMMV

Edited February 5, 2018 by MrY

[Airbagwill]

On 2/3/2018 at 3:16 PM, jak2002003 said:

It is getting that way.  However, on the road issues, I would rather have it be like big brother police state than get injured or have loved ones killed on the roads as a common thing, as it is here in Thailand. 

The difference is that for every one person in 100k KILLED in the EU, about 10 are killed in Thailand.

Are those extra 70 or so deaths per day a justifiable cost for those perceived "freedoms" in Thailand?

[Ron19]

An off topic post and an answer to it have been removed