Danish tourist dies in Phuket road accident

[rooster59]

Danish tourist dies in Phuket road accident

By Kritsada Mueanhawong

 

 

A male Danish tourist, driving a motorbike, has died after colliding with a truck in front of a market in Kathu.

 

The Kathu Police were notified of the incident on Phra Phuket Keaw Road in front of the new outdoor Vintage Market in Kathu at 3am yesterday morning.

 

Police and Kusoldharm rescue workers arrived at the U-turn to find the truck and driver waiting. The driver of the truck was 36 year old Sontaya Suchata waiting in the middle of the U-turn area.

 

Full story: https://thethaiger.com/news/phuket/danish-tourist-died-in-phuket-road-accident

 

The Thaiger: 2019-01-20

[YetAnother]

3 AM at one of our famous U-turns; holiday tourist meets local; truck wins over motorbike

[Briggsy]

Sounds like the truck was making a U-turn from the centre or inside lane.  Always the potential for disaster when that illegal move is attempted.

 

Were indicators used? Were either of the drivers under the influence of alcohol? Were drivers speeding?

 

We will never know. No credible investigations will occur. Just an arbitrary decision by the police.

[RotBenz8888]

Do foreigners count in Thai traffic death statistics?

[fruitman]

Look he needed 2 incoming lanes for his U-turn.

 

Those U-turns kill a lot of people but without them they would all drive against traffic....welcome to thailand...

[geriatrickid]

1 hour ago, Briggsy said:

Sounds like the truck was making a U-turn from the centre or inside lane.  Always the potential for disaster when that illegal move is attempted.

 

Were indicators used? Were either of the drivers under the influence of alcohol? Were drivers speeding?

 

We will never know. No credible investigations will occur. Just an arbitrary decision by the police.

Considering the fact that the driver remained on scene, I expect that the driver may not be at fault. Usually, these guys run for it.

[robblok]

25 minutes ago, geriatrickid said:

Considering the fact that the driver remained on scene, I expect that the driver may not be at fault. Usually, these guys run for it.

It says outside the area marked for U turn. So that means at fault. 

[AhFarangJa]

52 minutes ago, robblok said:

It says outside the area marked for U turn. So that means at fault. 

Sorry to contradict you Robblok, but I believe it reads outside the MARKET area, by which I assume they mean in front of the market in Kathu.

Another sad loss of life, just another day here, R.I.P. to the danish man.....

[robblok]

2 minutes ago, AhFarangJa said:

Sorry to contradict you Robblok, but I believe it reads outside the MARKET area, by which I assume they mean in front of the market in Kathu.

Another sad loss of life, just another day here, R.I.P. to the danish man.....

that is my bad, i really thought outside the marked area. That is foolish.

 

Still why mention that the scooter was in the right lane if he was not behind the driver. It should have said behind him. I am not sure I seen truck make wider turns before because of their bigger turning circle. 

 

So i was certainly stupid with misreading, but I wonder about the accident. If he was behind the truck he certainly should have been able to outbrake the truck. Maybe the rider was not paying attention or the truck was on an other lane cutting in front of h im without warning. 

[AhFarangJa]

1 minute ago, robblok said:

that is my bad, i really thought outside the marked area. That is foolish.

 

Still why mention that the scooter was in the right lane if he was not behind the driver. It should have said behind him. I am not sure I seen truck make wider turns before because of their bigger turning circle. 

 

So i was certainly stupid with misreading, but I wonder about the accident. If he was behind the truck he certainly should have been able to outbrake the truck. Maybe the rider was not paying attention or the truck was on an other lane cutting in front of h im without warning. 

No worries.....it is still early.....................I agree with you regarding braking. The trucks lights are visible, and yes, sometimes they need to keep more to the left to make the turn. I would hazard a guess it was inattentiveness on the part of the rider as the left side of the bike is damaged which would suggest he hit the right side of the truck..... we can only speculate.

[Old Croc]

I know in these deadly accidents we all like to theorize and apportion blame.

But really the blame for virtually every accident starts at the very top in a country where the culture dictates that education, road rules and rule of law are more about money than the well-being of the populous. 

Those of us who live here know that every Thai driver will frequently break the rules every time they get on the road. 

If an expat sees a slowing truck ahead, they are aware it is probably going to do a dangerous maneuver of some kind and will back off to wait and see. They wouldn't try to race past it on the outside.

A tourist out on a bike at 3am is possibly reveling in the knowledge that he is very unlikely to be brought to task if he has been drinking, but doesn't quite understand that the same lax training and enforcement of road rules applies to all, and means the other driver is probably an incompetent idiot with no awareness of other road users.

We see far too many visitors flying through traffic knowing speed limits aren't enforced, only to come undone when someone decides to U-turn in front of them. 

[madmitch]

The u-turn system is much too dangerous, particularly at night, but are there any other options? The authorities seem to prefer u-turns to right turns for some reason and as for roundabouts? Heroine's Monument says it all!

[Lupatria]

[Old Croc]

1 hour ago, madmitch said:

The u-turn system is much too dangerous, particularly at night, but are there any other options? The authorities seem to prefer u-turns to right turns for some reason and as for roundabouts? Heroine's Monument says it all!

To me, one of the main problems with U-turns (or even right turns) is that they don't often construct a dedicated lane for the maneuver. Instead they just paint an arrow on the outside, fast lane and expect the through traffic to meld back into inside lanes often causing crashes or congestion.

They don't have the space to widen roads because it's tolerated/allowed for business owners to use land right up to the edge of even the busiest highway.

Again a culture thing.

 

[Psimbo]

Ahh- trial by people outside Phuket again- I love it.

 

As above, a lot of the u-turns were not designed with larger vehicles in mind. Even if one is in the correct lane it's common to catch people coming through your blind spot on bikes if you don't double check.

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, madmitch said:

The authorities seem to prefer u-turns to right turns for some reason and as for roundabouts? Heroine's Monument says it all!

Yep...........too stupid to know how to use a roundabout and that about sums it up with regard to use of the road, road laws and plain commonsense.

[pierrenoel]

motorbyke cannot use right lane in thailand 

[KhunProletariat]

Bad brakes again?

 

KP.

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, Briggsy said:

Sounds like the truck was making a U-turn from the centre or inside lane.  Always the potential for disaster when that illegal move is attempted.

 

Were indicators used? Were either of the drivers under the influence of alcohol? Were drivers speeding?

 

We will never know. No credible investigations will occur. Just an arbitrary decision by the police.

Totally pointless post... just airing your voice with nothing to offer as real evidence.

[Ctkong]

6 hours ago, YetAnother said:

3 AM at one of our famous U-turns; holiday tourist meets local; truck wins over motorbike

Tourists from developed countries has got to be aware of the motorbike culture in Thailand where Uturns are concerned. Even if yo have got right of way, if it is a bigger vehicle making the uturn, regardless of whose right of way, it is prudent to swallow your pride and give way or else this is the ending of your holiday.... 

[Ctkong]

5 hours ago, fruitman said:

Look he needed 2 incoming lanes for his U-turn.

 

Those U-turns kill a lot of people but without them they would all drive against traffic....welcome to thailand...

Poor road planning and insufficient elevated u turn roadways resulted in meaningless deaths. 

[Ctkong]

1 hour ago, Old Croc said:

To me, one of the main problems with U-turns (or even right turns) is that they don't often construct a dedicated lane for the maneuver. Instead they just paint an arrow on the outside, fast lane and expect the through traffic to meld back into inside lanes often causing crashes or congestion.

They don't have the space to widen roads because it's tolerated/allowed for business owners to use land right up to the edge of even the busiest highway.

Again a culture thing.

 

Thai culture is to destroy or sabotage any government overpass construction ‘encroachment ‘ in front of their business premises during the night. This info I was told by my thai friend. 

[lemonjelly]

In Phuket now for the first time ever, driving around Patong Hill or whatever it's called.... this place is seriously messed up regarding road/ junction layout... Wonder how many tourists have ended up in the local morgue after being scraped up off the road here.

[dunroaming]

Don't know what happened here but I do think that sometimes western tourists, when driving on Thai roads, somehow expect that the standard of driving will be the same as in their own country.  It isn't and once you have been here for a while you realise that and drive accordingly.

[LeungKen]

One post deleted for only selecting sections of a quote changing it's context.

 

[Just Weird]

On ‎1‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 8:06 AM, Briggsy said:

Sounds like the truck was making a U-turn from the centre or inside lane.  Always the potential for disaster when that illegal move is attempted.

 

Were indicators used? Were either of the drivers under the influence of alcohol? Were drivers speeding?

 

We will never know. No credible investigations will occur. Just an arbitrary decision by the police.

...or you could read the link.

[Just Weird]

On ‎1‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 9:49 AM, robblok said:

It says outside the area marked for U turn. So that means at fault. 

No, it doesn't, read the link!

[robblok]

20 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

No, it doesn't, read the link!

I should read the link but you should read the posts in the topic. I am already aware of my mistake and acknowledged it a few posts after my original post. So while I am guilty as charged, you should read better too.