Road accidents involving foreign tourists using rented motorbikes on the rise in Pai

 

 

Hospital staff and local residents in Pai district of Mae Hong Son have called on concerned authorities to regulate motorcycle rental service providers following an increase of road accidents involving tourists using rented motorbikes.

 

The problem was raised at a recent forum on sustainable tourism in Pai, which is one of the top tourist destinations in the North with about 500,000 visitors a year, including some 100,000 foreign tourists.

 

Most tourists were not familiar with driving on mountainous streets of Pai while many of them were inexperienced motorcycle riders, the forum was told.

 

Full story: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/road-accidents-involving-foreign-tourists-using-rented-motorbikes-rise-pai/

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2018-03-17

Looking at the 2 photos, stupidity could play a large part.

In the first photo they are all over the road and even driving on the wrong side of the road. In the second, no shirt even, never mind a crash helmet, and too far out in the road.

If they really want to cut down on tourist m'bike accidents, make them produce a m'bike licence and insurance covering m'bike accidents. Tourists without m'bike licences would have a problem getting travel insurance that covers them riding m'bikes.

 

Sadly, I doubt anything will actually change. Can't fix greed or stupidity.

I suspect it's not only about having a driver's licence, as I hear Pai is famous for more than just driving around.

 

A smoke of opium/marijuana, no helmets, driving on the wrong side of the road and inexperienced drivers......

What can possibly go wrong.....?.....

I believe that 90% of these foreign tourists do not have international driving licence for motorbike, I also believe that motorbike rental shops will not refuse 90% of their customers for that reason claiming they would go bankrupt. 

I’ve been driving over 400,000 km in this country and i gotta admit, sadly, that foreigners on motorcycles are the worst drivers, and by far..

17 minutes ago, Miaow said:

I’ve been driving over 400,000 km in this country and i gotta admit, sadly, that foreigners on motorcycles are the worst drivers, and by far..

 

I've been driving a car in Thailand for more than 15 years and more recently also a motorbike... 

 

When driving a car I was sure the majority motorcyclists ride without any concept of consequence of the risks they place themselves in with their dangerous chancing... now I ride a motorcycle I am convinced that many motorcyclists are simply downright dangerous. 

 

Inexperienced tourists may be the problem in tourist areas, however, everywhere else it is the carefree, careless and downright dangerous manner in which the majority of motorcyclists ride which is the problem.

 

Ask any car driver, how many times they've had to emergency brake to avoid a motorcyclist who's just cut them up...  not how many times in total... just how many times today!

No surprise there.  The last time I was in Pai, it wasn't the Thai drivers that I worried about.  There are a lot of foreigners on motorcycles who have no idea how to handle one. Seems many think its a glorified bicycle: no helmets, not dressed in a manner to deter 'road-rash', no technical skills -- yeah, that's a recipe for an accident. That, and a sort of stupid ignorance by many of the tourists who think that the middle of every road is a sidewalk on virtually every street.  No surprise at all.

2 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

 

 

Ask any car driver, how many times they've had to emergency brake to avoid a motorcyclist who's just cut them up...  not how many times in total... just how many times today!

Well today was exceptionnally high because i drove to chiang mai this morning, maybe a couple dozen times already, but usually when not in tourist area, about 6-8 times a day easy...i found tourists pedestrians quite dangerous as well tbh...

2 hours ago, connda said:

No surprise there.  The last time I was in Pai, it wasn't the Thai drivers that I worried about.  There are a lot of foreigners on motorcycles who have no idea how to handle one. Seems many think its a glorified bicycle: no helmets, not dressed in a manner to deter 'road-rash', no technical skills -- yeah, that's a recipe for an accident. That, and a sort of stupid ignorance by many of the tourists who think that the middle of every road is a sidewalk on virtually every street.  No surprise at all.

Don't they call road rash a Pai tattoo?

6 hours ago, Curmudgeon1 said:

Don't they call road rash a Pai tattoo?

 

No

Most tourists were not familiar with driving on mountainous streets of Pai while many of them were inexperienced motorcycle riders, the forum was told.

 

Could this be said of the locals as well?

If you ride like the locals, you'll die like the locals !

Its illegal to rent a bike to someone without a license. This law should be enforced every time someone is cough driving without a license.as well as fining the driver.

21 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

... In the first photo they are all over the road and even driving on the wrong side of the road...

That's what the Thai kids were doing when I broadsided their scooter on my motorcycle 40 years ago in Loei.  But they also managed to sneak up stealthily next to a truck and run a stop sign - they had experience.

 

These "twist and go" scooters with the CVT should not be given to morons, or anything on two wheels with an engine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Majority have to be the Chinese. They are the worst on bikes and a terror in Chiang Mai.. I wish they would stop lumping the Chinese in with everyone else as tourists as it is unfair. They are only their own breed of destruction where most others have common sense on bikes.  

On 3/18/2018 at 4:27 AM, pattjock said:

Its illegal to rent a bike to someone without a license. This law should be enforced every time someone is cough driving without a license.as well as fining the driver.

you know how the Thai get their drivers license?

you know how shit Thai drive?

So now they wonder how it comes tourists get in accidents, ones with no experience with motorbikes? Same as Thai with driver license ! They dont care about a thing. 

The more tourist come, the more shops there will be if they all want to do motor driving. So i dont care about those tourist drivers.

Majority have to be the Chinese. They are the worst on bikes and a terror in Chiang Mai.. I wish they would stop lumping the Chinese in with everyone else as tourists as it is unfair. They are only their own breed of destruction where most others have common sense on bikes.  

You gotta be kidding...a lot of farangs have absolutely no common sense on bikes


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See it all the time in Pattaya, too cheap charlie to pay 10 baht to a baht bus, no we can rent a motorbike for 150 Baht a day.

 

They didn't ride a bike in the last 3 decades, but they are now a real expat because they don't have to use the rip off baht bus, however that bike cost them more.

 

They also forget that in Thailand you need 4 pair of eyes if you want to survive in traffic.

On 17/03/2018 at 12:20 PM, rooster59 said:

Road accidents involving foreign tourists using rented motorbikes on the rise in Pai

 

So all those road accidents involve foreign tourist only, no Thais involved, right?

Drunk stoned tourists that have never ridden a motorbike before-in the mountains at that-who would guess ?

9 hours ago, Miaow said:

You gotta be kidding...a lot of farangs have absolutely no common sense on bikes


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How long have you been here and how often do you go to Chiang Mai? It has progressively gotten way worse since the mas tourist movement of the Chinese since the movie "Lost in Thailand." Chinese are the worst, but I do see the other tourists with boo boo's as well. Mater of opinion as we really need to see the official numbers of who crashed.

49 minutes ago, holy cow cm said:

How long have you been here and how often do you go to Chiang Mai? It has progressively gotten way worse since the mas tourist movement of the Chinese since the movie "Lost in Thailand." Chinese are the worst, but I do see the other tourists with boo boo's as well. Mater of opinion as we really need to see the official numbers of who crashed.

Built my first house in Lampang  18 years ago, i  drive to chiang mai at least 5 times a year nowadays, but used to drive there every second weekend for about 10 years... Drive down to gulf of Thailand and Anadaman sea at least once a year as well...I always found farang awful at driving motorbikes, no more or less now than when i first started driving here 18 years ago

3 minutes ago, Miaow said:

Built my first house in Lampang  18 years ago, i  drive to chiang mai at least 5 times a year nowadays, but used to drive there every second weekend for about 10 years... Drive down to gulf of Thailand and Anadaman sea at least once a year as well...I always found farang awful at driving motorbikes, no more or less now than when i first started driving here 18 years ago

Fair enough. CM up to Pai is more filled with too many Chinese these days riding bikes everywhere wrong part of the traffic going road. I have been in CM 19 years and ride to Pai about 3 times with visiting friends every year. As the non Chinese tourists do have accidents, they are far above better riding than the droves of Chinese. Although in theory it could be the inept Chinese rider who causes the non Chinese tourist to crash.  

1 hour ago, holy cow cm said:

Fair enough. CM up to Pai is more filled with too many Chinese these days riding bikes everywhere wrong part of the traffic going road. I have been in CM 19 years and ride to Pai about 3 times with visiting friends every year. As the non Chinese tourists do have accidents, they are far above better riding than the droves of Chinese. Although in theory it could be the inept Chinese rider who causes the non Chinese tourist to crash.  

I havent been back to Pai since 2003, with my first potential wannabee Thai wife, she actually did the driving, but all i can remember from Pai, besides dodgy farangs, were bad roads and deadly sharp steep turns, i can see how this may be an area prone to accidents

3 hours ago, Miaow said:

I havent been back to Pai since 2003, with my first potential wannabee Thai wife, she actually did the driving, but all i can remember from Pai, besides dodgy farangs, were bad roads and deadly sharp steep turns, i can see how this may be an area prone to accidents

Even to seasoned riders a section or two nearing coming down into Pai is needing to be aware of for concern of safety. I have even seen Thai Yai and Chinese on the asphalt a few times, while in Pai hobbling foreigners of all likes. But the Chinese just more lately. The good ole days before this nice road went in were totally harder to navigate. .