Thai Drivers And Their Behaviour

[jumnien]

As I drive from the country into town 12km everyday I see maybe 200 cars and 400 motorcycles driving. On average I see maybe 3 cars and 5 motorcycles doing something erratic and potentially dangerous. That works out to 1.5% of the cars and 1.1% of the motorcycles. Whatever the percentage is, it really is quite absurd to say that Thai drivers are bad or dangerous when over 98% of them seem to be driving just fine the way I see it. Yes, driving in Thailand is dangerous and warrants extra caution and some, a very small minority, of Thai drivers are erratic. To jump from this observation to labelling Thai drivers in general as bad is highly illogical.

[Jai Dee]

BTW my wife learns new words in English when riding with me, had to explain 'w-anker' in sign language after she heard me use it several times in a short trip to the shops, great fun :D

My missus has learnt "<deleted>"... she nearly pissed herself laughing when I used that phrase the first time...

[Pattaya Dave]

BTW my wife learns new words in English when riding with me, had to explain 'w-anker' in sign language after she heard me use it several times in a short trip to the shops, great fun :D

My missus has learnt "<deleted>"... she nearly pissed herself laughing when I used that phrase the first time...

My wife picked up "as*hole" from listening to me when I am driving. Now, sometimes she beats me to the punch.

Edited February 14, 2007 by Pattaya Dave

[Plus]

Have you seen the Ramintra exit from expressway in rush hour - three lanes coming off the ramp and merging with three lanes from the road below. Then they have to sort themselves out in two halves - who goes to the left and who goes to the right. Practically EVERYONE has to change at least two lanes against cars crossing lanes in the opposite direction.

Yes I have.....exit the expressway there every evening mon-fri its great fun! I live on Nuanchan Rd so have to get to the U-turn underneath the flyover to watcherlapon rd and have less than 200m to do it in and think thats most of the problem here....the design of the road infrastructure (junctions too close to each other, u turns in stupid places etc etc) more than the poor driving itself. My trick for that junction is to get on the hard shoulder of the expressway and then cross over the rumble strip towards the cg400 garage and Jet station. Most of the time theres a policeman there stopping the traffic so its quite easy.

It wasn't designed that way - the expressway is supposed to continue to Soi Wachirapon and eventually Lam Lukka. Now people have make a full circle on that shared loop to continue straight. Perhaps if it was finished there would be a separate exit for those who want to got to Minburi, too.

>>>>>>

I think people overestimate the impact of driving tests on driving habits. Tests and rules are the same all over the world yet every country has its distinct way of driving. People learn these habits AFTER the test.

Thais will continue to tail gate and drive on hard shoulders as long as they percieve it will get them to their destination faster. On highways people often make an extra lane on a hard shoulder in heavy traffic but it will inevitably disappear as the road clears - they do it out of necessity, not because no one told them it's illegal in their tests.

[Levent]

I think people overestimate the impact of driving tests on driving habits. Tests and rules are the same all over the world yet every country has its distinct way of driving. People learn these habits AFTER the test.

Thais will continue to tail gate and drive on hard shoulders as long as they percieve it will get them to their destination faster. On highways people often make an extra lane on a hard shoulder in heavy traffic but it will inevitably disappear as the road clears - they do it out of necessity, not because no one told them it's illegal in their tests.

Yet someone should tell them that if you're tailgating a car at 120 or 130 km/h and the car in front suddenly hits the brakes, there is no way you'll be able to avoid a collision. And I know that many drivers - and with that I mean taxi and limousine drivers as well - make very long hours and are driving after knocking down a few of those energizer drinks to keep them awake - but their reaction time in case of an emergency stop will be very slow. I am just surprised it doesn't happen much more often.

High-speed overtaking over the outer lane IS dangerous, and over the hard shoulder ridiculous. Hard shoulders are meant for broken down cars and emergency vehicles. I just hope I'll never get involved in a car crash and have to be taken to hospital by ambulance...

[LindsayBKK]

I must admit I don't drive alot here but when I do I am often surprised at how very few accidents I see especially when you consider how many cars use the roads everyday. If you made everybody use the correct road rules such as in Australia the roads would be even worse than they are. Like they say "when in Rome". You just have to react faster when driving in Bangkok as Thai drivers will only give you a split second to make a move into their lanes.

I feel safer driving in Bangok than Sydney where I was last xmas where everybody drives with their foot on the brake to avoid mounted speed cameras that are everywhere.Sydney is a boring city to drive. And drivers are even worse at driving in the right lane.

Like they say"if the world was perfect what a boring place this would be".

[ashacat]

Thailand is pretty bad, but the main roads in Vietnam are terrifying!!!!! Breakneck speeds whilst overtaking on a blind corner anyone?

My brother lives on Sheiyk Al Zayed road in Dubai which is a 14 lane highway, he is always telling me of appalling driving and horrific accidents.

Edited February 15, 2007 by ashacat

[tgeezer]

I have been driving around in Thailand for two years now and still am astonished on a daily basis by what I see on the roads. I have never seen so many people drive so recklessly. I can't even call it offensive driving, it's plain suicidal!

Is it because they simply don't learn to drive properly? I know there are driving schools here, but how many people do actually use them? I would guess 1 out of 10, if not less.

Most people don't seem to know what the indicators are for, and many who do use them seem to think that it gives them the right to pull out right in front of you, without checking the mirrors first. Actually, why don't they just take the mirrors off, as no one seems to use them anyway?

On the motorway, many people seem to have a preference for staying in the fast lane. Do they think the slow, outer lane is for trucks only, or can't they be bothered by switching lanes? I hate it when people overtake by using the outer lane, but am obliged to do it myself if I don't want to be stuck behind someone going 90 km/h on the fast lane.

What I also find astonishing is the use of the hard shoulder as an extra lane. I really don't understand why the police don't act hard against this. Having said that, the police themselves don't seem to know how to drive a car properly, judging from the way they behave on the motorway...

These are just a few examples, there are many more but how long should I go on for? I'm sure you get the message. I am not saying that Europeans and Americans all drive very good, not at all, but at least they tend to obey the traffic rules somewhat better and behave more normal in traffic.

And talking about behaving in traffic, I must conclude by saying that Thais are extremely anti-social while behind the wheel. Very rarely has someone opened up a gap for me to squeeze in, when two lanes become one for example, or when trying to pull out of a parking bay or turn.

Maybe we could share some experiences and ideas here?

Not all drivers are bad but those that are, are behaving like motorcyclists. Observe the motorcycle which is not part of the traffic but beating the traffic and you will see this reflected in the driving of pic-ups and cars in that order as they upgrade. Drivers who have not driven motorcycles simply don't know any better because it seems to work. Bikes don't want to stop and put feet on the ground so the reaction when they see a brake light is to go around not slow down, this is carried forward to cars with the resulting snarl-ups. How many times have you seen cars going round a bus stopping a whole lane but still unable to get into it only to find that the bus has now moved and they can, and do return to the original lane? The funniest is a three lane road on a busy day with inside lane stopped, lane two doing twenty and lane three doing sixty, later when the stopped lane cars have shifted lanes the inside lane is doing sixty the middle lane stopped and the outside lane rappidly losing the fight and so it goes on, go, slow, stop, slow... if you don't shift lanes, if every one stayed in their lane the whole thing would move at a reasonable speed somewhere in between. I actually enjoy driving in Bangkok traffic it gives me a superior feeling but I try no to get annoyed. I remember a friend getting road rage with a bus which he deemed to have been rude, his Thai wife was concerned with his irritation and the agressive way he was driving and she remarked on it, he replied that " they had to learn, and he was going to teach them" she replied "one at a time?' nice one.

[scratt]

This is an open letter to all the incompetent drivers out there on the roads of the world...

You know who you are and we know who you are too, which is why we're honking our horns at you, flashing our lights at you, and most likely slamming on our brakes to avoid your masterful maneuvers when you're showing off your true talents on the road.

Lanes, pick one and stick to it.

Follow those little dots and dashes on the road and stay between a pair of them, it's not that complicated. When making a 2 lane turn into a 2 lane road, stay in the lane you started in unless you want to explain your incompetence to the mechanic, insurance company and the Dept. of Motor Vehicles.

Even if a road jogs at a funny angle as you cross an intersection, and the markings aren't too clear, it's not rocket science. If you're on the far left or right in a 3 lane road, stay to the far left or right. If you're in the middle lane it can't be that complicated to figure out where the middle is in the road across the intersection but sure as shit, 9 times out of 10, you end up in the far right lane with people honking (often me) and screeching brakes to avoid your dumb ass.

Aren't the cars in the lanes next to you any clue that it's unsafe to change lanes at this time?

Turning Signals or Blinkers, Use It or Lose A Fender.

It's that little lever on the side of the steering wheel that you either never learned how to use or it's too inconvenient to use because your ######ing cell phone is currently in that hand. I'm not a mind reader, and even if I have a clue what you're about to do, I'm going to completely ignore it because you're too stupid to expressly tell me. Maybe I'll even speed up just to make sure I'm in the way and completely justified for blasting my horn and scaring the shit out of you which will probably cause you to then over steer to avoid me and careen into a bus load of kids on the other side. Signal your turn or die, your choice.

Turning Lanes, Get Out NOW!

If you're in a right or left exit only or turn only lane, can you explain why in the hel_l you wait until you get up to the end of the lane, often at a stop sign, before you decide to change lanes?

Never mind the long line of cars behind you now waiting since you ######ed up their lane.

Never mind the long line of cars in the lane next to you because you're ######ing up their lane as well. Most often you veer into that lane as you try to change lanes, without a turning signal (see Turning Signals or Blinkers above) and then panicked and stopped so now they can't get around your dumb ass either.

Doesn't the sound of those horns honking behind you give you a clue you're a pinheaded ######nut?

Space, Keep Your ###### Distance!

If I look in my rear view mirror and you're tailgating then you might want to pray your brakes, airbags and seatbelts all work properly.

If you're driving an expensive and well polished German car, I might just put on my windshield washers which will send a spray of water over the top of my car onto that wax job you just paid for and put spots all over your car. Some of you are smart enough to back off after my washer pisses on your Porsche a time or two, others not so bright.

Maybe I'll just drop from overdrive into drive and completely let off on the accelerator so the engine will suddenly slow my car down real quick, no brake lights, not a single clue I'm slowing, and scare the shit out of you when you almost plow into my car.

hel_l, you want to be in my backseat?

Maybe I'll just help you out...

Maybe, if I'm all alone in my car, and you're all alone in yours, and there's nobody else around, just maybe I'll slam on the ######ing brakes so hard that you'll smash into the rear of my car with enough force you'll pop your airbag like a balloon, fly through your windshield, smash through my rear windshield, where you can lay bleeding to death in my backseat assuming you aren't already dead from the impact.

Pulling Into Traffic.

Why in the hel_l do you watch the other cars coming at you, sitting there with your thumb up your ass, and suddenly pull into traffic at the last second?

You must realize it's a bad idea as you hear the screeching brakes and honking horns that greet your entry onto the road yet you do this every time!

If suicide is your wish, use a gun or rope in the privacy of your own home and leave me and everyone else on the road out of it.

Handicap Placards.

Let me give you a hint: those blue handicap placards or handicap stickers on your license plates do not make you invincible or give you carte blanche permission to do stupid shit on the road without repercussions. If you think you're handicapped now, just wait until 3 thousand pounds of screaming steel ######s you up worse that you already are. Just look at what happened to Christopher Reeves and that was just a single horse power, so imagine what my 455 horse power can do to mangle you further.

Summary

The difference between a drunk driver and a your bad driving ass is that at least the drunk driver can sober up but your bad driving is dangerous 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Take a ######ing cab before you kill yourself and take innocent people with you.

Just get off the road now, stay off the road, and we'll all live longer and happier lives.

[Richb2004v2]

One aspect of my home country I miss is the ability to enjoy driving. It is impossible to relax in any way for too long whilst driving in Thailand. The driver needs to be very alert at all times and ready to react to an irresponsible maneuver. Although I must admit that there seem to be fewer accidents that would be expected. Maybe to some extent the system actually works.

[madjbs]

The roads here aren't all that bad. If you have ever driven in Dubai then you will agree, generally the traffic is fairly slow here as the roads are completely overloaded which gives you a bit of time to react and leads to less serious accidents if things go wrong. I’m always surprised how few serious accidents I see on the roads here. In Dubai they have a huge variation in the amounts of traffic depending on the time of day which has lead to them building massive roads all over the place. However this means when the traffic isn’t at its worst, huge volumes of traffic are able to move at brake neck speed. In BKK you’re unlikely to be traveling over 100kph unless you are on the expressway, however in Dubai everyone drives everywhere at no less than 160. Because of this it’s fairly common to see up to 5 major accidents a day if you drive allot. Sheikh Zayed Road is probably the worst and I believe the death toll on this road alone is 90 per month, the majority of these being Indian workers on overloaded busses who end up scattered all over the place.

I’ve noticed where ever you are in the world the local forum members always seem to suggest whatever they are discussing is the absolute worst in the world, the reason being that most actually have never been anywhere else in world. Thai driving is very easy after the first couple of days, just take your time and always expect the worst of the drivers around you. That way you will be fine. After all thousands of Thais seem to manage so why cant everyone else?

Jake

[cdnvic]

A big issue here is that economic expansion has put alot more people behind the wheel than before, and as a result you get alot of first generation motorists. Most westerners had parents, grandparents, cousins, siblings, etc who all drove and were able to give some kind of guidence and discipline. Most Thais on the road are finding out by trial and error. Couple that with the fact that a vehicle is still somewhat of a status symbol and you get the pushiness that is actually not all that different from regular Thai society. Behind all the wais, khaps, and khas, it's still a matter of the bigger you are, you get your way.

What I find more annoying, is the way farangs, with their better experience and education in road safety, start adopting some stupid habits from locals as if the laws of physics and the pain of skin grafts didn't apply in Thailand. No motorcycle helmets in helter-skelter traffic while half pissed and wearing flip-flops and shorts. That's just plain stupid.

[begsaresponse]

A big issue here is that economic expansion has put alot more people behind the wheel than before, and as a result you get alot of first generation motorists. Most westerners had parents, grandparents, cousins, siblings, etc who all drove and were able to give some kind of guidence and discipline. Most Thais on the road are finding out by trial and error. Couple that with the fact that a vehicle is still somewhat of a status symbol and you get the pushiness that is actually not all that different from regular Thai society. Behind all the wais, khaps, and khas, it's still a matter of the bigger you are, you get your way.

What I find more annoying, is the way farangs, with their better experience and education in road safety, start adopting some stupid habits from locals as if the laws of physics and the pain of skin grafts didn't apply in Thailand. No motorcycle helmets in helter-skelter traffic while half pissed and wearing flip-flops and shorts. That's just plain stupid.

I agree about farangs. Many of whom are worse than their Thai conterparts. They come here and seem to have had a labotomy or something where they forget how they were expected to drive in their own country. Perhaps that says it all!! Perhaps their driving was just as bad back home as it is here. Wonder how many have the correct licence here? Or do they jsut 'pay off' when they are stopped by the police?

[allcladrad]

I certainly understand why most of the driving conditions are the way there are, poor people and under funded enforcement are a way of life where I live and the people do the best they can. I will admit that driving is an exciting experience, what with vehicles driving the same direction on both sides of the road mixed in with motorbikes, pedestrians, street vendors and dogs.

However, there are two things I don't think I will ever understand; local drivers drive as if they were the only people on the road. I don't mean they think they own it, they just drive as if they had it all to themselves as if it didn't occur to them that anyone else would be there. They seemed surprised when they drive into a curve in the wrong lane and meet another vehicle or when they enter the roadway without looking either way and are almost run over by a vehicle that could easily have been seen had they of looked; The other thing is passing a slowing vehicle, when ever any vehile slows for any reason, all following vehicles attempt to pass the slowing vehicle. Turn on your right hand turn indicator and when you slow to make the turn the vehicle following will almost always pass on the right side.

It is as if they are driving through their lives without a care or thought in the world, no plans no expectations.

[chiang mai]

I accept that the Thai police cannot enforce all road regulation all of the time. But I would dearly love to see them enforce just one and that is that everyone has to drive on the left side of the road. Do all the quirky and suicidal things you want to do but please, do it on the left at least.

[Pattaya Dave]

I accept that the Thai police cannot enforce all road regulation all of the time. But I would dearly love to see them enforce just one and that is that everyone has to drive on the left side of the road. Do all the quirky and suicidal things you want to do but please, do it on the left at least.

I think the Thai police are very good at doing what they truly want, money. They are very good and organized at setting up road blocks for when they want to collect under the clipboard supplemental salaries from helmetless motorbike riders or when they setup dummy speed traps or cones in the road to confuse the drivers as to the rules of the road to again, collect the almighty baht. What's funny about this is that they seem to do it around the same times of the month, month in month out. They are also very organized as they impede all traffic so the Princess can blast through all lights and intersections in you yellow beetle.

Don't sell the Thai police short, they could be very efficient at enforcing the traffic laws if they just wanted to do so, but what's the incentive for enforcing the law legitimately, just more work and no payoff. There's been a number of writeup's in the PostBag section of the Bangkok Post recently concerning Thai police corruption.

[jeffrosner]

Everyone is drunk. Thais are drunk and the idiot westerners (Can we please stop using the word Farang) are drunk as well. Let the police do one thing and one thing only, get the drunks off the road.

When you filter out the drunks, what you have left are the holeasses who either cannot drive well or are so steeped in "face" that they find it irresistible to floor it so they can step on the brakes 10 feet down the road - but by golly they didn't let you in, did they.

I have been driving here for less than 6 months. I'm a very good driver but I also see find it irresistible sometimes to cut off the holeass that is trying to cut me off. The only difference, is I'm a better driver than he is.

The men are terrible drivers but the women are the clueless. Usually some MAN THAI HOLEASS is hel_l bent on not letting you in, not letting you pass, not letting you change lanes, but teh women are too busy driving in all lanes at once while chatting on the mobile phone with the girlfriend who is riding next to her on a motorbike. Yes, I've seen this already - they were in communication. Two lanes were used and you knew the idiot in the car couldn't hear the moron on the bike because she kept motioning to the girl on the bike to speak up.

The worst driver here is the holeass from some western country who believes that he can drive just as the Thais drive - terribly. He changes lanes with no signal, or drives behind me in his Fortuner flashing his lights. I loves those uckersf who do that as I always manage to slow down enough to pen them in so they can't change lanes but have to sit behind me flashing their lights and honking their horns. Uckf them.

I always pat my Buddhas on the head and ask them to take these bagsdush holetoods to the next destination, not Third Road, but the next life. The unfortunate part of this, is that most of them have kids neatly tucked in the back of the Fortuner.

Ahh the good old days of living in America where hammheads such as this would get a .45 pointed at them -

We can only hope.

[seagull]

Yes I agree with what has been said but it is wrong to blame just the Thais. some of the worst driving Ive seen here is done by the farang, if ever you hear a horn being blown its from some arogant farang sitting behind the wheel of his fortuner anoyed at the fact he will be late getting to his next bar, the amount of farang I know that drive pissed up on a daily basis is remarkable, also theres the farang that decide to drive dangerously here and do things they know they could never get away with in the west, riding big motorbikes at 70kph on beach road and second road is an example.

Late or not, what is wrong with honking my horn to alert the other driver of his extremely dangerous driving or riding behavior, that might possibly cost me my life or that of my passengers? Honking the horn is vehicle communications. Nothing wrong nor arrogant about it.

[seagull]

Thailand is pretty bad, but the main roads in Vietnam are terrifying!!!!! Breakneck speeds whilst overtaking on a blind corner anyone?

My brother lives on Sheiyk Al Zayed road in Dubai which is a 14 lane highway, he is always telling me of appalling driving and horrific accidents.

This people are behaving like they have no good reasons to live !

[JacknDanny]

Everyone is drunk. Thais are drunk and the idiot westerners (Can we please stop using the word Farang) are drunk as well. Let the police do one thing and one thing only, get the drunks off the road.

When you filter out the drunks, what you have left are the holeasses who either cannot drive well or are so steeped in "face" that they find it irresistible to floor it so they can step on the brakes 10 feet down the road - but by golly they didn't let you in, did they.

I have been driving here for less than 6 months. I'm a very good driver but I also see find it irresistible sometimes to cut off the holeass that is trying to cut me off. The only difference, is I'm a better driver than he is.

The men are terrible drivers but the women are the clueless. Usually some MAN THAI HOLEASS is hel_l bent on not letting you in, not letting you pass, not letting you change lanes, but teh women are too busy driving in all lanes at once while chatting on the mobile phone with the girlfriend who is riding next to her on a motorbike. Yes, I've seen this already - they were in communication. Two lanes were used and you knew the idiot in the car couldn't hear the moron on the bike because she kept motioning to the girl on the bike to speak up.

The worst driver here is the holeass from some western country who believes that he can drive just as the Thais drive - terribly. He changes lanes with no signal, or drives behind me in his Fortuner flashing his lights. I loves those uckersf who do that as I always manage to slow down enough to pen them in so they can't change lanes but have to sit behind me flashing their lights and honking their horns. Uckf them.

I always pat my Buddhas on the head and ask them to take these bagsdush holetoods to the next destination, not Third Road, but the next life. The unfortunate part of this, is that most of them have kids neatly tucked in the back of the Fortuner.

Ahh the good old days of living in America where hammheads such as this would get a .45 pointed at them -

We can only hope.

Did you appear in Fawlty Towers as 'The American'?

[Thaddeus]

Everyone is drunk. Thais are drunk and the idiot westerners (Can we please stop using the word Farang) are drunk as well. Let the police do one thing and one thing only, get the drunks off the road.

When you filter out the drunks, what you have left are the holeasses who either cannot drive well or are so steeped in "face" that they find it irresistible to floor it so they can step on the brakes 10 feet down the road - but by golly they didn't let you in, did they.

I have been driving here for less than 6 months. I'm a very good driver but I also see find it irresistible sometimes to cut off the holeass that is trying to cut me off. The only difference, is I'm a better driver than he is.

The men are terrible drivers but the women are the clueless. Usually some MAN THAI HOLEASS is hel_l bent on not letting you in, not letting you pass, not letting you change lanes, but teh women are too busy driving in all lanes at once while chatting on the mobile phone with the girlfriend who is riding next to her on a motorbike. Yes, I've seen this already - they were in communication. Two lanes were used and you knew the idiot in the car couldn't hear the moron on the bike because she kept motioning to the girl on the bike to speak up.

The worst driver here is the holeass from some western country who believes that he can drive just as the Thais drive - terribly. He changes lanes with no signal, or drives behind me in his Fortuner flashing his lights. I loves those uckersf who do that as I always manage to slow down enough to pen them in so they can't change lanes but have to sit behind me flashing their lights and honking their horns. Uckf them.

I always pat my Buddhas on the head and ask them to take these bagsdush holetoods to the next destination, not Third Road, but the next life. The unfortunate part of this, is that most of them have kids neatly tucked in the back of the Fortuner.

Ahh the good old days of living in America where hammheads such as this would get a .45 pointed at them -

We can only hope.

I learned this one from Wolfie ..... you are one strange little biscuit ain't ya (may have been cookie)

Let's break it down.

Everyone is drunk. Thais are drunk and the idiot westerners (Can we please stop using the word Farang) are drunk as well. Let the police do one thing and one thing only, get the drunks off the road.

Yip, that's right, the average Thai driving skills go way down after a few beers...... put them back on their usual mode of transport, there hasn't been a single fatality reported in a head-on kwai-kwai collision...... P.S. nothing wrong with the word 'farang' ....... P.P.S. after 5pm, the police are drunk as well, and driving.

I have been driving here for less than 6 months. I'm a very good driver but I also see find it irresistible sometimes to cut off the holeass that is trying to cut me off. The only difference, is I'm a better driver than he is.

Hmmmm...... I'm sure you are, and I'm really pleased that you are trying to adapt your driving style to suit the conditions.

The worst driver here is the holeass from some western country who believes that he can drive just as the Thais drive - terribly. He changes lanes with no signal, or drives behind me in his Fortuner flashing his lights. I loves those uckersf who do that as I always manage to slow down enough to pen them in so they can't change lanes but have to sit behind me flashing their lights and honking their horns. Uckf them.

No, the worst driver here is illustrated by the quote above couple with the prior quote.

What is a 'holeass' ... is that some sort of Mexican device for catching dumb animals, three balls tied together with string?

[jeffrosner]

I believe I can help ease your confusion.

I could write the word ###### but I don't think it will work. I've seen others write assshole or aszhole to get the point across but I figured I'd write one for the dyslexic crowd.

I still drive the same as if I was in America. I use my turn signal prior to changing lanes, I use the leftmost or rightmost lane to make my turn, and I don't tailgate. The one thing I do is give the motorbike riders plenty of room, and I stop to let them cross.

Drivers here are no better than Americans in this regard. Americans will never let you merge into their lane even though traffic is stopped 40 feet ahead. We have holesass here and there are plenty of bagsdouche here in Thailand.

I'm sorry, were you expressing an opinion?

[jeffrosner]

Did you appear in Fawlty Towers as 'The American'?

I'm sorry, I have never been to a place called faulty anything. You'll excuse me though because I am writing this while sitting at Starbucks on Walking Street and they just brought my Waldord salad.

[Thaddeus]

I still drive the same as if I was in America.

And that is why you will always have a problem.

[jeffrosner]

Do I have a problem, or do you?

Exactly what is your problem? Do you have a problem with me? What's your business? Are you in the problem business? I'm in the fixing problems business Jack, so you best stick to your problems and solve them first.

I'm in the fixing business. Do you need to get fixed?

[undercover]

Yes I agree with what has been said but it is wrong to blame just the Thais. some of the worst driving Ive seen here is done by the farang, if ever you hear a horn being blown its from some arogant farang sitting behind the wheel of his fortuner anoyed at the fact he will be late getting to his next bar, the amount of farang I know that drive pissed up on a daily basis is remarkable, also theres the farang that decide to drive dangerously here and do things they know they could never get away with in the west, riding big motorbikes at 70kph on beach road and second road is an example.

Late or not, what is wrong with honking my horn to alert the other driver of his extremely dangerous driving or riding behavior, that might possibly cost me my life or that of my passengers? Honking the horn is vehicle communications. Nothing wrong nor arrogant about it.

..........................................

Yes I agree with you but if you read my lines you will see I am not talking about sounding the horn as a warning of danger, Im talking about the farang sitting behind the wheel of his fortuner sounding his horn because he is a farang and has a lot of money and your in my way why don't you just <deleted>> off. we've all seen them, thats the sort Im talking about.

[moonoi]

Have you seen the Ramintra exit from expressway in rush hour - three lanes coming off the ramp and merging with three lanes from the road below. Then they have to sort themselves out in two halves - who goes to the left and who goes to the right. Practically EVERYONE has to change at least two lanes against cars crossing lanes in the opposite direction.

Yes I have.....exit the expressway there every evening mon-fri its great fun! I live on Nuanchan Rd so have to get to the U-turn underneath the flyover to watcherlapon rd and have less than 200m to do it in and think thats most of the problem here....the design of the road infrastructure (junctions too close to each other, u turns in stupid places etc etc) more than the poor driving itself. My trick for that junction is to get on the hard shoulder of the expressway and then cross over the rumble strip towards the cg400 garage and Jet station. Most of the time theres a policeman there stopping the traffic so its quite easy.

It wasn't designed that way - the expressway is supposed to continue to Soi Wachirapon and eventually Lam Lukka. Now people have make a full circle on that shared loop to continue straight. Perhaps if it was finished there would be a separate exit for those who want to got to Minburi, too.

>>>>>>

Well they've started the compulsory purchase on the land and construction is alledgedly going to start next year......so maybe we'll finally have a completed expressway in what? 5-10years?

[gummy]

I believe I can help ease your confusion.

I could write the word ###### but I don't think it will work. I've seen others write assshole or aszhole to get the point across but I figured I'd write one for the dyslexic crowd.

I still drive the same as if I was in America. I use my turn signal prior to changing lanes, I use the leftmost or rightmost lane to make my turn, and I don't tailgate. The one thing I do is give the motorbike riders plenty of room, and I stop to let them cross.

Drivers here are no better than Americans in this regard. Americans will never let you merge into their lane even though traffic is stopped 40 feet ahead. We have holesass here and there are plenty of bagsdouche here in Thailand.

I'm sorry, were you expressing an opinion?

After being here for many years and also driven many miles in the States there is one similarity - neither countries drivers have any idea how to approach/use roundabouts. Not too many of them here or there but it is interesting to watch. However my only complaint really about Thai drivers and I'm sure it is not their fault really !!! but it is that handbooks for both cars and motorcycles for many makes must be very poorly checked for completeness. Both mine and my wife's cars have a clear and concise instruction on how to turn on headlights,unfortunately this apears to be in the minority judging by how many cars, buses and motor bikes drive around without any lights well after dark

[toptuan]

Thailand is pretty bad, but the main roads in Vietnam are terrifying!!!!! Breakneck speeds whilst overtaking on a blind corner anyone?

My brother lives on Sheiyk Al Zayed road in Dubai which is a 14 lane highway, he is always telling me of appalling driving and horrific accidents.

Agreed. I was shocked in Thailand, but traumatized in Vietnam!

[Pui]

BTW my wife learns new words in English when riding with me, had to explain 'w-anker' in sign language after she heard me use it several times in a short trip to the shops, great fun :D

My missus has learnt "<deleted>"... she nearly pissed herself laughing when I used that phrase the first time...

My wife picked up "as*hole" from listening to me when I am driving. Now, sometimes she beats me to the punch.

My wifes has picked up b*astard but the best bit is she miss pronounces it "Bastic" It defuses any situation because I have to have turn away and chuckle. Its been over a year and i'm not setting her straight. Its too good in the Thai accent.

"You Bastic" bless her!