#ThailandOnly: Koh Samui road safety campaign sends out the wrong message

 

 

A new road safety campaign on Koh Samui perhaps isn’t sending out the message intended by police and local officials.

 

An image shared by Facebook user Rutger Langaskens‎ revealed a poster campaign launched on the island informing people of the importance of wearing a helmet when riding a motorcycle.

 

“Motorcycle Wear a helmet” the poster says, alongside similar and presumably as poorly translated messages in Chinese and Burmese, as well as in native Thai.

 

However, while the message may be about making sure you wear a helmet, there is no mention about the dangers of squeezing four people on the back of a motorbike!

 

File this one under ‘you couldn’t make it up’.

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-05-13

Morons.

Definitely not the right impression. It is obvious that there should be a basket on the front of the bike for the dog.

A traffic safety campaign on Samui? That is about as oxymoronic as it gets. Nobody in a position of power, has ever shown the slightest bit of concern over what is by far, the highest fatality rate in the world, with regard to traffic on Samui. The number of foreigners who go home in wooden boxes, after vacationing on Samui is staggering. And those figures never see the light of day. I have a friend who worked for Samui Rescue for years, and he would tell me about it. And while living there, I saw countless accidents and deaths.

 

Just a few survival tips, especially if driving on Samui:

 

If driving, especially on a motorbike, treat the activity as an act of war, in a sense that you may be mowed down or killed at any moment. Maintain eyes in the back of your head. Watch everyone. Expect craziness, insanity, lack of reason, and a complete lack of courtesy and respect on the roads, at all times. Expect cars and trucks to be coming at you in the wrong lane. Expect people to overtake you with the slimmest of margins.
Expect trucks to be driving very slowly in the fast lane of a highway. If riding a motorbike, only do so if you have many years of experience. Especially on the southern islands, where huge numbers of foreigners leave Thailand in a wooden box. Wear the best helmet you can afford. And drive like a grandmother. This applies to ex-pats too. Bring along an international drivers license. This helps you to avoid being fleeced by the local police franchisee.

 

The police only show up after the accident takes place. There is nothing in the way of traffic safety on the roads, or on the highways. Those traffic stops are all about weapons, drugs and handouts. Nothing to do with safety. I suppose there is no money in traffic safety. However, if they levied real fines for speeding over 120kph, for reckless driving, making severely quick lane changes, etc, there would be some money to be made, and the highways would be safer.

 

And on the highways? 

Just a few days ago, I was driving along at about 110kph, on a good, straight stretch of highway. A safe speed. And some joker cuts in front of me with his pickup truck. Within two meters in front of me, then slams on his brakes. I guess he never stopped to look at the lane he was cutting into to see that there was no room for him! I slammed on my brakes to avoid the numnut, and barely missed him. Would have been a horrific crash. Why? What was the point of him changing lanes? Why didn't he look first? Who changes lanes without looking first, when they are doing over 100 kph? Why so little regard for his wife, and for others? Where does that mentality come from? Why do Thais seem so polite, yet when they get into a car, everything they have ever learned in life goes right out the window? Why so little in the way of common sense, reason, and the ability to be careful and maintain some vision? Why such idiocy? The apparent lack of skill and peripheral awareness on the road here is very scary.

 

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

perhaps isn’t sending out the message intended by police and local officials.

perhaps directly reflects on their competence

I have this special gift called: common sense. In this country I just wish on a daily occasion I could pass it on to others. 

Four on a bike is pretty normal in Thailand....and a dog.....whilst on a phone....and riding without helmets or any other form of protective gear.

 

If they want to start a 'Road Safety Campaign' they need to start in Schools and drum into the kids the doo's and don't doo's of using the roads.  You never know; the kids may even then start to educate their parents when they get home !

1 hour ago, Lupatria said:

I have this special gift called: common sense. In this country I just wish on a daily occasion I could pass it on to others. 

Yes you can't teach or pass on common sense.its an ability that you are born with that flourishes with time and you either have it or not.unfortunately Thais are lacking this gene.

49 minutes ago, happy chappie said:

Yes you can't teach or pass on common sense.its an ability that you are born with that flourishes with time and you either have it or not.unfortunately Thais are lacking this gene.

Quite the contrary - the reason they don't have it is that they don't teach and nurture it. Not many young kids in any culture have an innate level of common sense or responsibility - this is something that's gradually acquired through good parenting and schooling and involves a certain amount of discipline and self reflection. 

Idiots.

19 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

Quite the contrary - the reason they don't have it is that they don't teach and nurture it. Not many young kids in any culture have an innate level of common sense or responsibility - this is something that's gradually acquired through good parenting and schooling and involves a certain amount of discipline and self reflection. 

Common sense,in spite of is not the result of education,victor hugo.

1 hour ago, trainman34014 said:

Four on a bike is pretty normal in Thailand....and a dog.....whilst on a phone....and riding without helmets or any other form of protective gear.

 

If they want to start a 'Road Safety Campaign' they need to start in Schools and drum into the kids the doo's and don't doo's of using the roads.  You never know; the kids may even then start to educate their parents when they get home !

The only problem is they would of forgot what they learnt by the time they get home.

15 minutes ago, happy chappie said:

Common sense,in spite of is not the result of education,victor hugo.

Of course it is. To assume otherwise is highly xenophobic - you're implying the locals here are inherently dumber than elsewhere. When you have a collective or societal failure of common sense it's always to do with poor education.

 

A case in point is driver education. Spatial awareness is hammered into you in the west, and this doesn't come instinctively but develops through repetition. If you don't use the rear view mirrors correctly you'll fail the driving test; if you speed excessively you'll be heavily penalised. If this isn't emphasised in the learning stage it won't get internalised, and the result is what exists here, people driving erratically without looking where they're going. 

Grump syndrome...

Teaching road safety at school would only work if the instrctors weren’t brought up in the same fatalistic lack of care, planning and anticipation as the rest of the population.

 

No one cares from the Government through the school directors downwards as THERE IS NO MONEY IN IT FOR THEM.

 

To effect change you would have to give bonuses for reducing accidents, and they would still cheat like the government do with the road death statistics, only counting deaths at the scene, not in hospital or ambulances afterwards.

45 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

Of course it is. To assume otherwise is highly xenophobic - you're implying the locals here are inherently dumber than elsewhere. When you have a collective or societal failure of common sense it's always to do with poor education.

 

A case in point is driver education. Spatial awareness is hammered into you in the west, and this doesn't come instinctively but develops through repetition. If you don't use the rear view mirrors correctly you'll fail the driving test; if you speed excessively you'll be heavily penalised. If this isn't emphasised in the learning stage it won't get internalised, and the result is what exists here, people driving erratically without looking where they're going. 

Very good but I would say common sense is gained mostly by instinct and experience,not education.quote..it is a 1,000 times better to have common sense than education than have education and no common sense.r.g.ingersol.i know of these quotes because I've had this conversation in the past...in other words you can have a highly educated person but that don't mean they have much common sense.

No such thing as common sense. There's uncommon sense. It's uncommon cause few have it.

11 minutes ago, happy chappie said:

Very good but I would say common sense is gained mostly by instinct and experience,not education.quote..it is a 1,000 times better to have common sense than education than have education and no common sense.r.g.ingersol.i know of these quotes because I've had this conversation in the past...in other words you can have a highly educated person but that don't mean they have much common sense.

Human instincts are invariably unreliable - kids poke their fingers into electrical sockets, run out into traffic etc all over the world until they're taught not to. If someone isn't taught correctly, experience of doing something the wrong way becomes more and more ingrained until tragedy strikes, this is entirely the problem regarding the bad driving and high road mortality here. It's well known that critical thinking skills aren't taught in the schools here, and this reflects in what you describe as the lack of general common sense here in all spheres. 

 

anything for a photo opportunity; all smiles, thumbs up, everything will be ok, mai pen rai...

 

there are many good things about thailand but road safely? they just dont get it, and they just dont care.

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

A traffic safety campaign on Samui? That is about as oxymoronic as it gets. Nobody in a position of power, has ever shown the slightest bit of concern over what is by far, the highest fatality rate in the world, with regard to traffic on Samui. The number of foreigners who go home in wooden boxes, after vacationing on Samui is staggering. And those figures never see the light of day. I have a friend who worked for Samui Rescue for years, and he would tell me about it. And while living there, I saw countless accidents and deaths.

 

Just a few survival tips, especially if driving on Samui:

 

If driving, especially on a motorbike, treat the activity as an act of war, in a sense that you may be mowed down or killed at any moment. Maintain eyes in the back of your head. Watch everyone. Expect craziness, insanity, lack of reason, and a complete lack of courtesy and respect on the roads, at all times. Expect cars and trucks to be coming at you in the wrong lane. Expect people to overtake you with the slimmest of margins.
Expect trucks to be driving very slowly in the fast lane of a highway. If riding a motorbike, only do so if you have many years of experience. Especially on the southern islands, where huge numbers of foreigners leave Thailand in a wooden box. Wear the best helmet you can afford. And drive like a grandmother. This applies to ex-pats too. Bring along an international drivers license. This helps you to avoid being fleeced by the local police franchisee.

 

The police only show up after the accident takes place. There is nothing in the way of traffic safety on the roads, or on the highways. Those traffic stops are all about weapons, drugs and handouts. Nothing to do with safety. I suppose there is no money in traffic safety. However, if they levied real fines for speeding over 120kph, for reckless driving, making severely quick lane changes, etc, there would be some money to be made, and the highways would be safer.

 

And on the highways? 

Just a few days ago, I was driving along at about 110kph, on a good, straight stretch of highway. A safe speed. And some joker cuts in front of me with his pickup truck. Within two meters in front of me, then slams on his brakes. I guess he never stopped to look at the lane he was cutting into to see that there was no room for him! I slammed on my brakes to avoid the numnut, and barely missed him. Would have been a horrific crash. Why? What was the point of him changing lanes? Why didn't he look first? Who changes lanes without looking first, when they are doing over 100 kph? Why so little regard for his wife, and for others? Where does that mentality come from? Why do Thais seem so polite, yet when they get into a car, everything they have ever learned in life goes right out the window? Why so little in the way of common sense, reason, and the ability to be careful and maintain some vision? Why such idiocy? The apparent lack of skill and peripheral awareness on the road here is very scary.

 

I think you almost took up an entire page. I just wanted to reply to take one up too. Now mines longer. But really. It’s crazy. Four people in a motorbike ? I’ve seen a family of six. 

5 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

A traffic safety campaign on Samui? That is about as oxymoronic as it gets. Nobody in a position of power, has ever shown the slightest bit of concern over what is by far, the highest fatality rate in the world, with regard to traffic on Samui. The number of foreigners who go home in wooden boxes, after vacationing on Samui is staggering. And those figures never see the light of day. I have a friend who worked for Samui Rescue for years, and he would tell me about it. And while living there, I saw countless accidents and deaths.

 

Just a few survival tips, especially if driving on Samui:

 

If driving, especially on a motorbike, treat the activity as an act of war, in a sense that you may be mowed down or killed at any moment. Maintain eyes in the back of your head. Watch everyone. Expect craziness, insanity, lack of reason, and a complete lack of courtesy and respect on the roads, at all times. Expect cars and trucks to be coming at you in the wrong lane. Expect people to overtake you with the slimmest of margins.
Expect trucks to be driving very slowly in the fast lane of a highway. If riding a motorbike, only do so if you have many years of experience. Especially on the southern islands, where huge numbers of foreigners leave Thailand in a wooden box. Wear the best helmet you can afford. And drive like a grandmother. This applies to ex-pats too. Bring along an international drivers license. This helps you to avoid being fleeced by the local police franchisee.

 

The police only show up after the accident takes place. There is nothing in the way of traffic safety on the roads, or on the highways. Those traffic stops are all about weapons, drugs and handouts. Nothing to do with safety. I suppose there is no money in traffic safety. However, if they levied real fines for speeding over 120kph, for reckless driving, making severely quick lane changes, etc, there would be some money to be made, and the highways would be safer.

 

And on the highways? 

Just a few days ago, I was driving along at about 110kph, on a good, straight stretch of highway. A safe speed. And some joker cuts in front of me with his pickup truck. Within two meters in front of me, then slams on his brakes. I guess he never stopped to look at the lane he was cutting into to see that there was no room for him! I slammed on my brakes to avoid the numnut, and barely missed him. Would have been a horrific crash. Why? What was the point of him changing lanes? Why didn't he look first? Who changes lanes without looking first, when they are doing over 100 kph? Why so little regard for his wife, and for others? Where does that mentality come from? Why do Thais seem so polite, yet when they get into a car, everything they have ever learned in life goes right out the window? Why so little in the way of common sense, reason, and the ability to be careful and maintain some vision? Why such idiocy? The apparent lack of skill and peripheral awareness on the road here is very scary.

 

Nice speech but you miss the point all together. Not sure when you lived on Samui but it has brand new roads and while there are lots of accidents and yes a lot of foreigners go home in a box it is these foreigners that drink and ride, don't wear helmets and generally act like idiots.  Furthermore the locals have a belief, it's different to your...probably.  If you understand their religion and culture you will understand their value on life is different to ours and their belief in reincarnation helps them move through their grief, possibly faster than you and I.  PLUS, many more people are born each day in Thailand than die. It's culling the population, approximately 71 people on average die on the road each day here. While that is shocking...to us. to them it is normal.  They are decades away from what you or I might call 'regulated and Policed roads' Education, even if it looks silly and definitely is presented incorrectly (as in this post), is a start towards awareness.  The rule for foreigners is 'If you don't do it at home, don't do it in Thailand'  simple really but so many foreigners come here and REGRESS. They become morons and they get the consequences of their behavior.  Some of course just happen to be in the 'wrong place at the wrong time' but again, the Thai believe they too have gone to a better place and it was their TIME.

3 minutes ago, FitnessHealthTravel said:

Nice speech but you miss the point all together. Not sure when you lived on Samui but it has brand new roads and while there are lots of accidents and yes a lot of foreigners go home in a box it is these foreigners that drink and ride, don't wear helmets and generally act like idiots.  Furthermore the locals have a belief, it's different to your...probably.  If you understand their religion and culture you will understand their value on life is different to ours and their belief in reincarnation helps them move through their grief, possibly faster than you and I.  PLUS, many more people are born each day in Thailand than die. It's culling the population, approximately 71 people on average die on the road each day here. While that is shocking...to us. to them it is normal.  They are decades away from what you or I might call 'regulated and Policed roads' Education, even if it looks silly and definitely is presented incorrectly (as in this post), is a start towards awareness.  The rule for foreigners is 'If you don't do it at home, don't do it in Thailand'  simple really but so many foreigners come here and REGRESS. They become morons and they get the consequences of their behavior.  Some of course just happen to be in the 'wrong place at the wrong time' but again, the Thai believe they too have gone to a better place and it was their TIME.

That's stupid though. 

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

ThailandOnly: Koh Samui road safety campaign sends out the wrong message

No it's good for here....

3 hours ago, happy chappie said:

Very good but I would say common sense is gained mostly by instinct and experience,not education.quote..it is a 1,000 times better to have common sense than education than have education and no common sense.r.g.ingersol.i know of these quotes because I've had this conversation in the past...in other words you can have a highly educated person but that don't mean they have much common sense.

Genetics?

Gene - the functional and physical unit of heredity passed from parent to offspring.

I sometimes wonder.

I think that this one picture says and sums up so much about Thailand.

Y. C. F. M. I. U

An off topic post has been removed. 

Clumsy ignorance or simplistic innocence... either way, this photo is a perfect example of why Thailand is so popular for many of us, yet at the same time so conflicting when aspects are so fundamentally flawed... 

 

That said, encouraging helmets for all is a step in the right direction...  

OP Photo quite normal as most here know already. 

 

Wearing a helmet all the time is a good idea.

 

With the increased risk of crash and/or mechanical breakage caused by riding 4 deep on a bloody Scoopy.... you'd be even more stupid not to.

Gimme a "T", Gimme an "A", Gimme an "R", Gimme a "D"!!!  

9 hours ago, rooster59 said:

However, while the message may be about making sure you wear a helmet, there is no mention about the dangers of squeezing four people on the back of a motorbike!

Yep, I can clearly see that the first and smallest girl are trying to sit down. She should be standing, so she don´t impose danger on the 3 people sitting.

Give it another 100 years. Patience!