No Rear Lights

[Peterw42]

3 hours ago, Emster23 said:

Years ago I was told Thais don't like those red lights on in the rear, be it motorcycle or car. Reason given was the red light attracts ghosts. Lack of red lights might make more ghosts, I would think

Yes, I have heard the same. Lots of rural Thais dont have lights on at night, and actually disconnect them, because it attracts ghosts, lights on and a ghost may follow you home. No mirrors the same, you may look in the mirror and see a ghost following you. 

[Parsve]

Not having functional lights on a motorbike is one thing and it is bad enough. But can anyone tell me why, on newer motorbikes, the lights turn on when you start it (cleaver), but not on cars? Even in daylight, you see a car better if the light is on.

[transam]

7 minutes ago, Parsve said:

Not having functional lights on a motorbike is one thing and it is bad enough. But can anyone tell me why, on newer motorbikes, the lights turn on when you start it (cleaver), but not on cars? Even in daylight, you see a car better if the light is on.

Called running lights, good idea as many locals would not use lights if they had to turn them on. My ol; Volvo had running lights though not sure if the rears came on..

[Parsve]

I know, and they do.

 

[topt]

27 minutes ago, Parsve said:

but not on cars?

I see a lot of newer cars with, what i presume to be, running lights on these days. However I am sure I read on TV somewhere that it used to be (or may still be) against the law to show lights at the front during daylight if visibility was not diminished in some way?

[simoh1490]

12 minutes ago, topt said:

I see a lot of newer cars with, what i presume to be, running lights on these days. However I am sure I read on TV somewhere that it used to be (or may still be) against the law to show lights at the front during daylight if visibility was not diminished in some way?

deleted

Edited March 27, 2018 by simoh1490

[krabi local]

4 hours ago, Emster23 said:

Years ago I was told Thais don't like those red lights on in the rear, be it motorcycle or car. Reason given was the red light attracts ghosts. Lack of red lights might make more ghosts, I would think

Been told many actually take out the rear light so the ghosts can not follow them home.

[worrab]

4 hours ago, Emster23 said:

Years ago I was told Thais don't like those red lights on in the rear, be it motorcycle or car. Reason given was the red light attracts ghosts. Lack of red lights might make more ghosts, I would think

You are totally right about this. They take the rear bulb out so the spirits cannot follow them. And that is also why they do not like having wing mirrors on bikes, so they cannot see a spirit if it is following them. TIT.  

[DJ54]

Live in a village 20 clicks from a small town. You see motos with no tail light a lot. Asked m Thai friend that spent 40 years in. America and he’s just back. As noted most never Year motos lights are on all the time when running. He has a shop that sells soda, beers, food etc. He asked of of the younger generation teens and such and on newer model bikes with lights on all the time the have a kill switch installed to shut of back light as needed.  Coolness or what’re. In the case of older folks either they don’t notice or can’t afford it.  I try my best not to ride moto after dark but I have and on those country roads you never know what might pull in front of you....  

 

in daylight was going around some OX carefully jumped on the throttle and one jumped in front of me. Laid it down but slid to the and he put his foot on and through the windshield. 

 

Ox bolted as the rangler ran probably worried about having to pay

[sawadee1947]

I suppose the car you used got head lights?????  So what? Don't make a fuss about it...... ?......I know it's terrible dangerous ?

[digger70]

The rear light bulb blows all the time due to too high pressure in the rear tire ,,,they have the too high pressure so they can carry up to 5 people at one time on the motorbike.   

[Tofer]

Drove home from Krabi recently in the dark along a dual carriageway with traffic travelling at over 100 kms/hr as the norm, I saw a shadow ahead which turned out to be a car with no rear lights in the fast (read regular in Thailand) lane. Thankfully I was alert enough to spot it and avoid rear ending it. 

 

I see many a pick up on the roads in daylight that are far from roadworthy and wonder how they get away with it, never thought they were stupid enough to travel in the dark, oh sorry just remembered TIT...

[Tofer]

2 hours ago, krabi local said:

Been told many actually take out the rear light so the ghosts can not follow them home.

We're not back on this ghost BS again are we..

 

I'll go along with the repair shop that says, in a previous post, it's customers are too cheap to pay 10 baht for a bulb.

[snowgard]

What I find much more dangerous, are the very dark and dirty container trucks that drive at a mere 30km / h speed without backlight on the highway, because the road is a little uphill.

You can only see them first (if there is no street lighting) when you are almost in it.

 

And what I never saw was police who stopped them. 

[Daveyh]

This is not europe. People do not care or more to the point don't realize how dangerous it is. As long as they can see where they are going they'll expect you to see them too! Mindset here is " me, me & me", they do not think about consequences .................. get use to it. Defensive driving/riding is the only advice I can give. Buy cameras for your vehicle (front & rear) ........... my cameras run 24/7 when the car is started & will record for 10hrs, then records over, hence always have a "real time" vid to show if something happens to police. Saves any heated arguments & having 1st class insurance etc is a must .... leave all the legal stuff to them. You've gotta protect yourself here as much as possible ..... or risk being blamed for something that is not your fault!

[Formaleins]

22 hours ago, robblok said:

Have you ever ridden a motorbike here ? I guess not because lights are on all the time. I drive both a car and bike in BKK thankfully I don't see as many as the OP but enough. But they are really dangerous. Just laziness because the price of a tail light is almost nothing. 

They often remove the rear light as it saves them about 5W of power, hence a fantastic fuel saving on their 3km journey.

[transam]

14 hours ago, worrab said:

  And that is also why they do not like having wing mirrors on bikes, so they cannot see a spirit if it is following them. TIT.  

Or ol' Trans.........

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, transam said:

Or ol' Trans.........

Strange then that while riding around in Lamphun and an occasional drag up to C M, I rarely saw a bike without the standard wing mirrors, but most m'bike riders I saw were just ordinary people riding because they can't afford a car, or they don't like being stuck in traffic jams. The real hoons were a tiny minority.

What WAS often missing was a number plate.

[garryjohns]

I ride the highways and byways nearly every night.

I would say that bikes with no tail lights are about 10% of total bikes.

A couple of reasons IMO;

The usually older bikes/older riders [ and a few younger ones] who ride along along totally oblivious to all and everything around them, existing in that one square foot that surrounds their heads,and would have no idea if their lights are working or not, and not care if they are or not.

 

The other, very noticeable ones are the boy racers who fly past me sounding like all hell has broken loose, open pipes, no number plates, and the vast majority with no tail lights, and frequently no headlights on.

These guys, i simply put down to showing disdain to the laws, a small rebellion against society if you may, that's up to them , doesn't worry me at all.

There are a lot more bigger issues to get upset about.

[transam]

1 minute ago, garryjohns said:

I ride the highways and byways nearly every night.

I would say that bikes with no tail lights are about 10% of total bikes.

A couple of reasons IMO;

The usually older bikes/older riders [ and a few younger ones] who ride along along totally oblivious to all and everything around them, existing in that one square foot that surrounds their heads,and would have no idea if their lights are working or not, and not care if they are or not.

 

The other, very noticeable ones are the boy racers who fly past me sounding like all hell has broken loose, open pipes, no number plates, and the vast majority with no tail lights, and frequently no headlights on.

These guys, i simply put down to showing disdain to the laws, a small rebellion against society if you may, that's up to them , doesn't worry me at all.

There are a lot more bigger issues to get upset about.

True, the locals don't give a toss...Sadly...

[simoh1490]

3 minutes ago, transam said:

True, the locals don't give a toss...Sadly...

Except when we hit them at night in our Vigo's and then their relatives care several millions times over! To be clear, I care not a jot about this issue for the sake of those riders who don't care, I care far more about the grief and crap the police and courts will put me through when I inadvertently kill one or two.

[transam]

2 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Except when we hit them at night in our Vigo's and then their relatives care several millions times over! To be clear, I care not a jot about this issue for the sake of those riders who don't care, I care far more about the grief and crap the police and courts will put me through when I inadvertently kill one or two.

One of the pitfalls we must endure in LOS.....

[canthai55]

If it is the Locals way to not run lights, and you hit one, adopt the local custom and don't stop.

When in Rome ...

Seriously this is a problem, without a solution, until education is made compulsory.

At all levels.

But life is cheap here - animism rules, what will be will be seems to be the doctrine.

Again ... that pesky education thing again

[StevieAus]

On 3/27/2018 at 12:53 PM, Wandr said:

More than 10 years actually. Lights come on when you switch the bike on.

It is a safety measure bike manufacturers adopted to make the bikes more visible. And it works.

On the highway I go a step further and use the main beam during daylight. It is something that safety instructors recommend .

Manufacturers are adding more safety measures to smaller bikes also, such as not being able to start the bike if the side stand is down.

If only they could make people drive more sensibly.....

My 54 years old Lambretta TV 175 requires the lights to be turned on manually

Should I have it modified ???

[StevieAus]

9 hours ago, Formaleins said:

They often remove the rear light as it saves them about 5W of power, hence a fantastic fuel saving on their 3km journey.

I think that you have hit the nail on the head and probably the same reason that many drivers of cars, buses trucks etc don’t turn their lights on until it is really dark or during inclement weather.

[CGW]

12 minutes ago, StevieAus said:

My 54 years old Lambretta TV 175 requires the lights to be turned on manually

Should I have it modified ???

You should ASAP or you can just continue to turn them on manually :)

It used to be illegal to drive during the day with your lights on, I got stopped on more than one occasion before some bright spark decided to make it "law" that bikes must have daylight lights.

Driving with your lights on during daylight hours used to be reserved for "dignitaries"

[StevieAus]

1 minute ago, CGW said:

You should ASAP or you can just continue to turn them on manually :)

It used to be illegal to drive during the day with your lights on, I got stopped on more than one occasion before some bright spark decided to make it "law" that bikes must have daylight lights.

Driving with your lights on during daylight hours used to be reserved for "dignitaries"

Maybe that’s what I am a “ dignitarie” I actually remember about people being stopped for driving with lights during daylight.

Here I have been continually flashed when driving the car with the lights on in the rain.

[happyas]

6 hours ago, garryjohns said:

I ride the highways and byways nearly every night.

I would say that bikes with no tail lights are about 10% of total bikes.

A couple of reasons IMO;

The usually older bikes/older riders [ and a few younger ones] who ride along along totally oblivious to all and everything around them, existing in that one square foot that surrounds their heads,and would have no idea if their lights are working or not, and not care if they are or not.

 

The other, very noticeable ones are the boy racers who fly past me sounding like all hell has broken loose, open pipes, no number plates, and the vast majority with no tail lights, and frequently no headlights on.

These guys, i simply put down to showing disdain to the laws, a small rebellion against society if you may, that's up to them , doesn't worry me at all.

There are a lot more bigger issues to get upset about.

Yes this hits the nail on the head in my experience as well.

[rwill]

I have a police friend.  I asked him why don't they have mechanics at checkpoints and make the people pay for them to put new bulbs in.  His answer was "it's already illegal".  They don't want the problems fixed.  They want to keep fining for the same problem over and over.

[Bangkok Barry]

On 3/27/2018 at 9:14 AM, robblok said:

Maybe the real old ones but anything younger then 10 years here in Thailand has its lights switched on automatically. 

 

 

 

Pretty silly comment, because if the bulb is blown, then what? The engine won't start, or people drive without a rear light? I think I know the answer.