What’s it like to drive in Thailand?

[Kerryd]

1 minute ago, Kurtf said:

Having been a motorcycle safety instructor in the USA, I am amazed at how few people including Farangs that ride motorbikes have ZERO knowledge or understanding about proper attire when riding. A leather jacket, over the ankle boots and leather gloves are a minimum to prevent road rash. Leather pants would be a good idea as well. But of course many will tell you it is just too uncomfortable to be wearing all that in this hot climate. And so the excuses continue and the road rashes continue and the road driving rules continue to be not enforced and no one in Thailand has any concept of what "right of way" means.

I used to be one of the ones that rode all over the country wearing running shoes, a t-shirt and a "skid lid". I've ridden to Chiang Mai, Buriram, Si Sa Ket and a dozen other places and the only protective gear I wore was the skid lid and a leather vest.

I did notice however that most of my Thai friends always wore leather jackets, boots, gloves and full helmets pretty much every time we went anywhere outside of the city.

I started wearing a full helmet for a couple reasons (really big bugs really hurt - and pebbles too - when getting them in the face at 120 km/hr and back then I had contact lenses which don't work well with a skid lid even if you're wearing sunglasses). Switched to a full face modular helmet and now I don't leave home without it (except for local rides in the city).
Bought some proper riding boots to wear on long rides and then one morning we were up in Chiang Mai, getting ready to ride to Petchabun and it was a little chilly so I put on the leather jacket, thinking I'd take it off at the next stop. Naturally it warmed up not long after but I noticed that as long as I was riding, it wasn't that uncomfortable. Now I wear it every time I take a "long trip". Even when I get stuck in traffic or at an intersection I hardly notice the heat and as soon as you start moving again it's not an issue.

I actually started wearing gloves after one trip (from Pattaya to Buriram) when I ended up with 2nd degree sunburn on my hands. It was funny as I'd spent almost 10 years working in Afghanistan and never once got a sunburn at all but a short ride in Thailand left me with big blisters all over the backs of my hands. The gloves have saved my hands a couple of times now and like the rest of the gear, I don't leave home without them (usually).

In fact, just a couple weeks ago I was riding in Si Sa Ket and had some old grandpa cut across 2 lanes of traffic and try to make a right turn in front of me (without looking or signalling of course). I almost got around him but ended up going for a tumble. Afterwards I was checking myself put and noted that my boots, pants and helmet were undamaged, but the right arm of my jacket had been scuffed up a bit and my gloves were scuffed up as well and a plastic "knuckle protector" had cracked, but the hands were fine (more or less).
If I hadn't been wearing the jacket and gloves though, I would have had some nasty road rash from my shoulder to my fingers. (Luckily I wasn't going very fast at the time as well, only about 45-50 km/hr maybe. Grandpa and grandma on the scooter walked away without a scratch and nothing more than a broken mirror !)

Considering all the regular hazards on the roads in Thailand and adding in all the nutty drivers, there are two things you should never leave home without. 

Your protective gear and your First Class Motorcycle Insurance.

[poanoi]

5 minutes ago, jenny2017 said:

You should never hop on a real big bike when you only had scooter experience.

 

  The weight of the bike, the handling, the acceleration, the speed, etc. is completely different to a little moped.

 

   One of the fear factors where I live is that buffaloes ( on two and four legs), cows, dogs, cats, basically anything can be all in a sudden in your way when you're driving fast.

 

   More power can be helpful to avoid an accident, but you need a lot of practice to know how to handle a big bike.

 

  After riding a scooter, it might be good to start with 150 cc to 200 cc and once you can handle it you can think about a bigger one.

 

    

i transitioned fine except for the weight a couple of days in

[jenny2017]

3 minutes ago, poanoi said:

i transitioned fine except for the weight a couple of days in

But never think that you know it all. In certain situations, to accelerate can prevent accidents. Take your time and don't forget the potholes....... 

[poanoi]

7 minutes ago, jenny2017 said:

But never think that you know it all. In certain situations, to accelerate can prevent accidents. Take your time and don't forget the potholes....... 

yes, some things are unavoidable no matter of experience,

on my only accident i was driving slowly, the cars in the opposite direction

was having jam, and so a taxi bike zipped out between them

with zero time for me to stop, - i stood on my front wheel to prevent it,

but couldnt handle the weight of the bike + my gf when back wheel fell back.

in hindsight, i wish i had accelerated instead and bumped her ass into the jungle !

Edited April 25, 2018 by poanoi

[Kerryd]

11 minutes ago, jenny2017 said:

You should never hop on a real big bike when you only had scooter experience.

 

  The weight of the bike, the handling, the acceleration, the speed, etc. is completely different to a little moped.

    

A lesson some of our guys learned the hard way when we were posted to Germany in the mid-80s. You had to take the standard motorcycle course and test before you could get a licence. The problem was, the training and testing were done on little 125cc scooters, but as soon as you got the licence you could operate any size bike you wanted.

We had guys pass the course, get their licence and immediately run out and buy the biggest, baddest crotch rockets available, then take them to the autobahn. 

 

Most survived their first couple of rides. Some didn't. Some ended up with severe injuries. The ones who lived pretty much all told the same story, the big bikes didn't handle the same as the scooters and they weren't able to corner or pass traffic because they simply didn't have the experience of handling a big bike at any speed, let alone on the autobahn.

[NoshowJones]

33 minutes ago, Mansell said:

I think if you re-read it the farang was paid the money from the girls boyfriend and then was invited to tea by him. Very nice.

Yes, maybe you are right   But when you see the words money, an accident, and police, what

is the first thing you think of? Yes, brown envelopes.

[brling]

2 hours ago, Kadilo said:

Typical TV Drama Queens. 

 

Maybe its them them that shouldn't be on the road 

Maybe its YOU that should not be on the roads with thick rose tints. Wise up, and look at the Thai. road death stats. 

[BuaBS]

What's it like to drive in Thailand ?

 

Well it is MUCH better than in the nanny/police states back "home".

Although the western poison is seeping in. Speed camera's , stoplight camera's .

Just the cities and the very small roads are a pain.

[watcharacters]

6 hours ago, Odysseus123 said:

I think that Dan is just having some fun.

 

To be sure,Dan should not really comment about anything until he has lived here for 30 years,speaks perfect Mong and has put 1,793,317 bottles of Leo under his belt.

 

In the meantime we will just have to put up with Dan's jejeune jottings,buy a dodgy phone app that shows clear blue skies over Chiang Mai and join in shrieking about the underhanded attacks on Pattaya's noble reputation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 "and has put 1,793,317 bottles of Leo under his belt."

 

 

He may have that well covered..

 

 

 

 

[Kerryd]

6 hours ago, cliveshep said:

Three months later and she has recovered, but I have suffered some sort of injury to my shoulder that is getting more painful every day and causes sleepless nights. X-rays show nothing broken, and the expensive doctor at the Central General Hospital insisted that it was strained tendons, or ligaments and that I should rest it although driving the Mio was ok. (Clearly he has never had to wrestle a bouncing bike on Thailand's bumpy roads) Also don't sleep on it.

 

Ha - the only place I get any pain relief is to sleep on that side with my arm over my head. When I did some google research, I found deep bone bruising that is trauma to the bone that manifests itself on growing pain, takes forever to heal, only shows up on MRI and was denied by my doctor as actually ever occurring. So that was a waste of money and he was one of the most expensive specialists in that hospital.

 

 

1 hour ago, dbrenn said:

I had a  shoulder injury once that came from nowhere and was probably caused by poor posture while sitting at my desk. The rotator cuff ligament, hurts like hell and takes a few months to heal but does go away. Physiotherapy helped.

I suffered a torn "rotator cuff" injury to my right shoulder a couple years ago. I'd installed a chin-up bar at the house and one day decided to see how many I could still do. Once upon a time I could do 16 full arm chin-ups, but that had been 20 years (and 20+ kilos) ago.

A couple days later I noticed a pain in my shoulder but figured it was probably a pinched nerve from sleeping in an awkward position or something. Went on a couple bike trips and noticed the pain was getting worse, to the point I couldn't sleep on my right side at all. It was about 2 months later when one day I came home on the scooter and as I stepped off it a jolt of pain went through my shoulder and I dropped the scooter. A neighbour rushed over to help me and I decided enough was enough and the next morning I went to the hospital.

 

At first they decided to just put me on physio twice a week with a couple of shots of cortisone. Didn't help so they sent me for an MRI. That showed that I had a number of torn ligaments and, just to make things even more fun, a small bone spur on the underside of the clavicle that was literally shredding the ligaments even more (which was why it was getting progressively worse).
So, into the hospital, 3 incisions in the shoulder, ligaments repaired and bone spur removed (so glad I had medical insurance, even if they ended up only paying half the costs).

6 weeks later I started exercising again - too soon. Backed off and waited another 6 weeks.  Everything seemed OK but I took care to not push it too hard. 

That was almost exactly 2 years ago now that I think about it. 20 April 2016. Shoulder has been fine ever since. (Haven't tried doing any chin ups at all though. Maybe if I drop those extra 20+ kilos I may try again. One day. Maybe.)

 

[Kerryd]

12 minutes ago, BuaBS said:

What's it like to drive in Thailand ?

 

Well it is MUCH better than in the nanny/police states back "home".

Although the western poison is seeping in. Speed camera's , stoplight camera's .

Just the cities and the very small roads are a pain.

Lol - the trip I was just on at the start of the month. Rode from Pattaya to Nakhon Ratchisima, then to Khon Kaen, up to Uttaradit, over to Sakon Nakhon and down to Si Sa Ket. Along the way I kept seeing signs for "speed cameras" and signs with a speed limit and camera icon posted all over the country on main and secondary highways.

 

Had to laugh because almost every time I passed one I noticed I was well above the posted speed and thought that, if all those signs were genuine, by the time I got home my mailbox would be overflowing with speeding ticket notices.

Not a single ticket received (knock on wood). 

 

Riding to Nong Khai with my friend in his SUV we also saw a few cops with radar guns hiding in various places along the way as well. Probably a "Songkran Crackdown" effort. I don't think they got us though as buddy was driving fairly safe and I don't recall too many instances of me threatening to get out at the next stop and taking a tuk-tuk the rest of the way.  

[Gecko123]

Downplaying or encouraging complacency about the risks of driving in Thailand is terribly irresponsible.

 

The list of factors which elevate the risk here is a mile long: poor driver education, poor vehicle maintenance, high rates of intoxicated drivers, poor enforcement of road safety, uninsured/underinsured vehicles (which contributes to high hit-and-run rates), poor road maintenance, heavy congestion in many areas, unlicenced and underage drivers, drivers who drive without required corrective lenses, elderly drivers who continue to drive despite deteriorated driving skills, etc., etc.

[GreasyFingers]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Outside the cities it is a stress free affair, and even in the densest traffic, hardly anyone ever touches their horn.

I don't think he goes very far from the city. Try driving on a two lane road in the country can never be stress free as others have said. Every right hand bend to the on coming driver is a possible accident.

[Parsve]

 

1.       Thais live in Thailand - Farrangs live in, eh, Farrangland

2.       Farrang come to Thailand – Accident occur

3.       Thai logic, if farrang not had come here, the accident had not happen – Farrang have to pay.

[sawadee1947]

7 hours ago, cliveshep said:

I came off one rainy day when the front wheel of our Fino slipped out from under on a wet painted speed bump in our village, spilling both me and the shopping all over the road. Fortunately only a minor bruise and abraded shorts.

 

More seriously our new Mio Sport did the same thing at stationary traffic lights with my wife on the back - one of those joins in the concrete was out of level, the front wheel dropped down the little step, a mere 25mm but enough to cause the wheel to slide out and down we went with her on top of me.

 

Three months later and she has recovered, but I have suffered some sort of injury to my shoulder that is getting more painful every day and causes sleepless nights. X-rays show nothing broken, and the expensive doctor at the Central General Hospital insisted that it was strained tendons, or ligaments and that I should rest it although driving the Mio was ok. (Clearly he has never had to wrestle a bouncing bike on Thailand's bumpy roads) Also don't sleep on it.

 

Ha - the only place I get any pain relief is to sleep on that side with my arm over my head. When I did some google research, I found deep bone bruising that is trauma to the bone that manifests itself on growing pain, takes forever to heal, only shows up on MRI and was denied by my doctor as actually ever occurring. So that was a waste of money and he was one of the most expensive specialists in that hospital.

 

But in spite of that we seldom use the car as traffic is too heavy, we use the bike, the Fino before and now the super sporty Mio that is a much better traffic bike capable of rapid acceleration in traffic so we can maximise gaps etc when struggling through Bangkok rush hours to the hospital or Chang Wattana or wherever. I prefer it to the car, you save hours of sitting still, polluting the air, and it is fun to drive. 

 

Ok, after an hour the "numb-bum syndrome" is replaced by "aching-bum syndrome" followed by "bruised-bum syndrome" if a journey over crap Bangkok roads is too long but still..............................!

Did you learn your lesson finally????

And take a car for shopping?

Or live according .....no risk....no fun?

[grollies]

I rather enjoy driving in Thailand.

[faraday]

Just now, grollies said:

I rather enjoy driving in Thailand.

Yes, I agree, it is most certainly is a challenge.

[thaipo7]

I may be a nut but I like driving in Thailand with my pick-up truck and motorcycle.  You must be alert at all times and still a motorcycle will come out from nowhere and surprise me.  No accidents in 7 years  either from me or to me and I drive up to Nong Khai and down to Chon Buri and even further south and around the city of Korat.  Try to stay away from BKK.

[Mauiguy]

First of all I live in Phuket. I used to drive approximately 20 km daily to work on a major highway.  There was rarely a week that passed that I did not pass a horrible wreck generally resulting in death.  The taxi and van drivers here have zero respect for common sense, respect or the most basic regard for human life.

Was that written in jest, or are you delusional?  I have lived all over the world in my 68 years , raced cars and motorcycles, and have NEVER witnessed on a daily basis such complete ignorance regarding complete lack of basic safety on driving here.  I am fortunate to be able to afford a Thaidriver because what I witness daily terrifies me. I don’t scare easily.  I have sky dived, SCUBA dived with sharks, worked for the CIA, been shot at etc.. To date driving in this insanity is by far the most dangerous activity I have done.  Several years back I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and was hit while crossing the street by a motor bike driven at high speed by a 17 year old Thai. Of course no license, insurance, registration etc.  8 days oh hospital with 2 major surgeries.  14 pieces of metal in my face etc.  No big deal.  90% of my friends living here in excess of 5 years have been involved in accidents, more often than not they were not to blame.

Edited April 25, 2018 by Mauiguy

[thaipo7]

I am not the same person mentioned above.  I don't disagree with your remarks on how crazy Thai drivers are.  They only are concerned about themselves and where they are going.  No yielding to emergency vehicles.  I just find this challenging and get a laugh out of what I see.  Like a car passing a car with a car passing the second car and even a third car passing the 2nd car all at the same time, with the last passing vehicle passing using the lane of the road that is supposed to be used for the opposite direction.  Once I stopped on the 3 or 4 lane highway outside of Udorn AFB to take a picture of the plane out front.  I walked in back of my pick-up to get in to the driver's seat and  motorcycle was driving in the wrong direction and as I stepped out the mirror on his cycle just brushed against my arm.  One step away from being hit head on by this driver.  I should have had no reason to look for traffic coming at me from my right.  This is why I say you have to be alert at all times.  I do like to drive in Thailand.  I know I have been lucky and also have friends that have had accidents that were not their fault.  One guy has been re-ended 5 times at red lights and stop signs.  Sorry for the problems that you have had.

[Mauiguy]

Surely you’re writing this in jest, or you’ve never driven in Phuket.

[bermondburi]

Lot of driver pussies in this thread never driven in middle east. If you scared of driving in Thailand, Egypt Saudi etc will eat you alive. 

[cornishcarlos]

14 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

Not my experience. A big bike slammed into the back of my car yesterday at some speed.

 

Maybe not, which is why I said "generally"...

[mihalis]

It’s not hard ! Like anywhere in the would stupid drives are all over ! Had more near fatal experiences driving thru Russia..

[cornishcarlos]

6 hours ago, Mauiguy said:

 I am fortunate to be able to afford a Thaidriver

 

6 hours ago, Mauiguy said:

To date driving in this insanity is by far the most dangerous activity I have done.

 

Sorry but that made me chuckle :)

You hired a Thai driver !!! 

[cornishcarlos]

6 hours ago, thaipo7 said:

One guy has been re-ended 5 times

 

Wrong thread buddy... 

[simoh1490]

9 hours ago, grollies said:

I rather enjoy driving in Thailand.

As do I and I drive over 15k per year, every year for the past 15 years. Whilst I've had a couple of scrapes where people have run into the back of me, touch wood I've not had a serious accident or even come close. But I've witnessed some amazing things and very little will phase me any longer. My observation of Thai drivers is that they like to play games and the "I can stay in front" game is a favourite, try and overtake and they speed up, if a gap appears they close it. But once you do overtake they fall back and appear to lose the will, I'm sure I don't know what it's all about. Another favourite is the hill farm truck going to/from market, a pickup with extra springs, chrome racks on the side and wide tires, many of them have been modified and are very fast and powerful. Those guys stop for nothing, fully loaded or not they are to be avoided at all costs because they know neither fear nor common sense. After a while it becomes easier to classify the types of drivers out there and you begin to understand which ones will be problematic and best avoided, overall it's a lot more spirited of an experience than driving in western countries where you're always on the lookout for cops and radar detectors.

[poanoi]

my stress level are maxed out when i see a culprit lurking at a U-turn,

hellbent on cutting all 3 lanes right when i am about to pass them

[simoh1490]

I've been known to go through an "only just turned red" before but whenever I do I feel guilty, then I look in the rearview and watch as six cars that were behind me do the same and I feel like a saint.

 

My favourite currently is the driver who's taking a shortcut by driving the wrong way on the shoulder in order to get to a turning, they creep along slowly with that air of a small child who's swiping a cookie from a plate whilst his mom is stood right there and he thinks he isn't being noticed. And when you sound your horn at them they stop, as if to say OK, I stopped, I'm not doing it any more - hilarious stuff.

[grollies]

9 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

I've been known to go through an "only just turned red" before but whenever I do I feel guilty, then I look in the rearview and watch as six cars that were behind me do the same and I feel like a saint.

 

My favourite currently is the driver who's taking a shortcut by driving the wrong way on the shoulder in order to get to a turning, they creep along slowly with that air of a small child who's swiping a cookie from a plate whilst his mom is stood right there and he thinks he isn't being noticed. And when you sound your horn at them they stop, as if to say OK, I stopped, I'm not doing it any more - hilarious stuff.

We took my neighbour to a restaurant years ago. Never been before. Down the dual carriageway he told me to turn at the u-turn.....and then head left going the wrong way for around 200m to reach the car park. Plus it was dark. First and only time I've tried this, never to be repeated. But, still an everyday occurrence, especially in one way frontage roads.