Why do Thai drivers who cause accidents always seem to drive away as if nothing has happened?

[Rod the Sod]

In most of the videos of the most pathetic driving to be seen anywhere in the world, I find it alarming and distressing that in most cases the person who causes a sometimes fatal accident, just stares, reboots and off they go as if nothing has happened. Sometimes people have bits hanging off them, screaming for help, and off they drive. *Offensive remark edited out*

[Rod the Sod]

Just to reply to my own topic, why do witnesses to these accidents also stare, and then carefully manoeuvre around the dead and dying so as to get on their way?

[baansgr]

Drunk, yaba, no licence, no tax, no insurance, stolen vehicle...that about covers 90% of drivers 

[baansgr]

3 minutes ago, Rod the Sod said:

Just to reply to my own topic, why do witnesses to these accidents also stare, and then carefully manoeuvre around the dead and dying so as to get on their way?

Rubbernecking is a worldwide practice

[KhunBENQ]

1 hour ago, baansgr said:

Drunk, yaba, no licence, no tax, no insurance, stolen vehicle...that about covers 90% of drivers 

And so not all drivers flee the scene.

But indeed the punishment for hit and run is laughable.

In other countries you might go to prison for such.

[KhunBENQ]

2 hours ago, baansgr said:

Drunk, yaba, no licence, no tax, no insurance, stolen vehicle...that about covers 90% of drivers 

No sign plates, unreadable/unlighted sign plates (also by design, too small) help a lot with hit and run.

"It was a grey Toyota pickup"
Sign plates are a joke, province name so small on the bottom and often covered by nice frames.

Edited March 15, 2019 by KhunBENQ

[balo]

4 hours ago, Rod the Sod said:

I find it alarming and distressing that in most cases the person who causes a sometimes fatal accident, just stares, reboots and off they go as if nothing has happened.

Because they don't want their day to be ruined by ghosts.  Thais really believe in this.

[cooked]

If you watch the entertaining Russian carcam videos you will see that people always stop to help. In the UK also.

Here the main reaction, if they DO stop, is: 1. Take out the phone (which may well have been in their hands at the time), 2. Go look at the damage to their own vehicle. 3. If they go to help, this may involve shaking, doing CPR wrongly (the R in CPR = respiratory,  mouth to mouth), 4. Nobody directing traffic or removing bits of vehicles from the road. 5. Taking fotos of mangled bodies for Pantip.

I had an accident recently. I had to stop the car 100 metres further on, in that time plenty of cars and bikes passed the wrecked motorbike and the guy laying in the road. When I ran back and started to look after the guy, suddenly about 10 people crowded round, one of whom actually helped. 

It's the way they are, I can well remember public service traffic education from 50 years ago, nothing like that here, probably a lost cause anyway.

[dotpoom]

On 3/15/2019 at 5:36 PM, Rod the Sod said:

Is this a flaw in the Thai DNA, or just part of what people are taught at school when they learn Thainess

I was interested in your post...until I read the above..

No more needs to be said..

[LawrenceN]

On 3/16/2019 at 7:21 AM, cooked said:

3. If they go to help, this may involve shaking, doing CPR wrongly (the R in CPR = respiratory,  mouth to mouth),

Good post, I gave it a like.

 

Friendly amendment, for the record: CPR stands for CardioPulmonary Resuscitation. 

[1FinickyOne]

always? really? Thai? 

 

my thai wife was rear ended by a farang. they offered her abt 10 % of the damage they did. she told them to wait for the insurance co and police. they started screaming that there was no accident and left....

 

but it would be unfair to say all farang do this. 

 

i have been hit 2x by Thai.. they did not leave. they stayed and took the consequences.. 

 

 

[Bob12345]

On 3/16/2019 at 7:21 AM, cooked said:

3. If they go to help, this may involve shaking, doing CPR wrongly (the R in CPR = respiratory,  mouth to mouth)

As someone already pointed out the r does not stand for respiratory.

And with "doing it wrongly" you probably mean that they give mouth to mouth which is "wrong" (that was part of old recommendations, nowadays you should not use it anymore).

[The Theory]

It’s very clear:

They can not/do not want to handle the consequences.   

[sammieuk1]

Its long been my conclusion that they must think it doesn't hurt ????

[akirasan]

Not their ploblem

[inThailand]

Locals doing a runner from their own actions? I don't believe it. 

[Baerboxer]

On 3/15/2019 at 5:41 PM, baansgr said:

Drunk, yaba, no licence, no tax, no insurance, stolen vehicle...that about covers 90% of drivers 

 

In many countries probably. But here, the biggest reason is to save face. They don't want to accept responsablity for anything that might make them appear to have made a mistake, done something wrong or be bad at something. 

Number 1 reason.

[deonvz]

 

 

Because this might happen if you stick around ????????

[Jaxxper]

Yep, hit and run is a big problem here. I don't know if it's because they think their number plate is not spotted, or whether they think they can just get away with it.

I think DUI, drugs, no licence, no non mandatory insurance or stolen vehicle might be an influencer as well.

[Pilotman]

On 3/15/2019 at 10:22 PM, balo said:

Because they don't want their day to be ruined by ghosts.  Thais really believe in this.

They are like primitive children sometimes; lots of times; always. They have few social skills, as they are so tight with their own family that the outside world and everyone in it is a stranger and nothing to do with them.  They have little curiosity, tact or manners when in a social situation.  They are massively superstitious, believe in all kinds of monsters, ghosts and poltergeists and all manner of supernatural idiocy.  They remind me of what history has to tell us about the peoples of the UK in the dark ages, 700 to 800 years ago.  

 

All massively big generalisations of course, but not far from the truth.   

Edited March 17, 2019 by Pilotman

[Rod the Sod]

7 hours ago, dotpoom said:

I was interested in your post...until I read the above..

No more needs to be said..

Didn't mean to offend, although I have read many teachers say that is what kids learn at school, rather than curriculum. My point, maybe badly made, was that in all the countries I have lived and visited, or those I have seen on the TV, where there has been an accident, everything stopped, people charge out of shops and offices to help. Nobody, but nobody took photos whilst the people were crying out for help. Everyone seems to have a role to play, calling police and ambulances, moving debris or offering encouragement to the wounded. In the videos I have seen here it is extremely rare to see anything like that, and more likely as explained by Cooked above. Or, in your eyes, is everyone behaving the same as elsewhere?

[rwill]

We were eating at a restaurant in Phitsanulok.  Our car parked at the curb.  Someone decided to do a U-turn right there and smacked the rear of our car.  I was surprised as they drove away found a spot to park and waited for us and our insurance agent to arrive.  The agent got an estimate on the spot and told them to pay 13K for our repairs or he would contact the police.  They didn't have insurance.  So it took them awhile but they came up with the money.

 

I do see people stopping to check to see if people are ok.  But lots of people are afraid to fearing they may somehow be blamed.

[richard_smith237]

5 hours ago, The Theory said:

It’s very clear:

They can not/do not want to handle the consequences.   

 

I think there are a number of reasons that its common in Thailand for the person causing an accident to take flight.

 

At night, the primary reason is likely to be that the person is drunk. 

 

In the day time, the primary reason is likely to be due to the 'innocence of a juvenile mind' (that's the polite version - meaning that many lack the emotional tools to handle the consequences and simply want to run away from it all). 

 

Another common reason is that 'its the done thing'... It's so common that people may assume that you have to get away to avoid conflict with the other party. 

 

Quite often, the reason may be a combination of the above... 

 

 

A Taxi Driver once reversed his taxi into mine in a car park (as small bump to a rear quarter panel and bumper - I was in an expensive 4x4). As he tried to escape I got into his Taxi and started taking photographs of the license card. When I asked him why he tried to run, he simply said he had no insurance, he saw a 'farang', he couldn't afford to pay for the damage and he was scared...  Simply put he was tryin to run because he didn't know what else to do. 

 

 

[RocketDog]

On 3/15/2019 at 5:42 PM, baansgr said:

Rubbernecking is a worldwide practice

Agreed. So is hit and run. Maybe more prevalent here though. Never researched statistics. 

[RocketDog]

4 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

 

In many countries probably. But here, the biggest reason is to save face. They don't want to accept responsablity for anything that might make them appear to have made a mistake, done something wrong or be bad at something. 

Number 1 reason.

I bet number 1 reason is that they're scared sh*tless of what is going to happen to them if they stay around. 

[4675636b596f75]

9 hours ago, dotpoom said:

I was interested in your post...until I read the above..

That's funny because I wasn't interested until I read the same thing.

[moe666]

Ah the beat goes on why do thais leave accidents, well not all thais leave and for people who keep repeating that racis slur is still beyond me. I had an accident on my bike a few years ago and the trucker behind me pulled into thelane behind me to block on coming traffic and him and his wife both got out of the truck to see if I was ok. Other than a few skid marks an a bit of skin off I was ok. Thais are just like people every where some stop to help, some do not, some run away some do not. A few people who post here should stop generalizing Thai people and what you assume they do or do not do.

[roo860]

 
I think there are a number of reasons that its common in Thailand for the person causing an accident to take flight.
 
At night, the primary reason is likely to be that the person is drunk. 
 
In the day time, the primary reason is likely to be due to the 'innocence of a juvenile mind' (that's the polite version - meaning that many lack the emotional tools to handle the consequences and simply want to run away from it all). 
 
Another common reason is that 'its the done thing'... It's so common that people may assume that you have to get away to avoid conflict with the other party. 
 
Quite often, the reason may be a combination of the above... 
 
 
A Taxi Driver once reversed his taxi into mine in a car park (as small bump to a rear quarter panel and bumper - I was in an expensive 4x4). As he tried to escape I got into his Taxi and started taking photographs of the license card. When I asked him why he tried to run, he simply said he had no insurance, he saw a 'farang', he couldn't afford to pay for the damage and he was scared...  Simply put he was tryin to run because he didn't know what else to do. 
 
 

What was the outcome?

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Ctkong]

Post 23 from r_s is the most apt explaination for Thai hit and run. Moreover Thais believe in karmic entanglement and fate. 

[KarlS]

I was the victim of a hit and run -- I still have the motorbike numberplate marketed with the blue paint from the vehicle which rear-ended the bike. The driver was never found.