Van collision with truck leaves 11 dead

[briansbiology]

22 hours ago, Handsome Gardener said:

When thai police set up road blocks/checks they are condemned on here as pointless

 

What would be your strategy ? 

its not the fact there are blocks/checks. its that they are used for bribery and extortion and are ony done when BIB need some money and not  enforced otherwise. 

Edited August 19, 2019 by briansbiology

[NoshowJones]

22 hours ago, Pilotman said:

and expats still use their services to do border runs to renew visas; utter madness.  

What choice have the expats got apart to go on overstay which is obviously not recommended.

[Pilotman]

7 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

What choice have the expats got apart to go on overstay which is obviously not recommended.

as I said earlier in the posting, i did mine by air to Singapore on Scoot.  Cheaper and a damn sight safer than the vans and their agents. Thats what I can't fathom, it's more expense to do a border run in these contraptions  and their lunatic drivers, than a low cost flight to a neighbouring country. It's like animals; follow the herd because I don't want to have to think about it too much. 

Edited August 19, 2019 by Pilotman

[NoshowJones]

2 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

as I said earlier in the posting, i did mine by air to Singapore on Scoot.  Cheaper and a damn sight safer than the vans and their agents. Thats what I can't fathom, it's more expense to do a border run in these contraptions  and their lunatic drivers, than a low cost flight to a neighbouring country. 

Yes, but visa run companies do border runs with vans because it is far simpler and much less expensive than flying, and in most cases, they are driven to the border and back in the same day,

[Pilotman]

1 minute ago, possum1931 said:

Yes, but visa run companies do border runs with vans because it is far simpler and much less expensive than flying, and in most cases, they are driven to the border and back in the same day,

It's not cheaper (my mate just spent 15K getting his ED visa through an agent and a van combination and the service he received was crap). and it's laziness on the farangs part.  The process is easy enough if you do it yourself. My last trip to Singapore cost me less than 5K for the return flight.   

[malibukid]

3 hours ago, Colabamumbai said:

The govt. wants to replace the van's with safer small buses, van owners are objecting. 

simple, boycott these death traps, this is the only message that the Thai will understand.

[natway09]

Until they bite the bullet & put mufti police on the roads with authority, fully equipped with speed radar & back up from the police (not just topping up the salary) this carnage will continue.

All public vehicles must go over the pits every 6 months (take note Transport Dept)

Maximum speed for public vehicles & trucks 100 KPH & special licences for drivers of public vehicles issued only after driving tests (physical) & checks for drugs & (or) alcohol taken seriously IE: one time caught licence suspended

[NanLaew]

23 hours ago, Handsome Gardener said:

When thai police set up road blocks/checks they are condemned on here as pointless

 

What would be your strategy ? 

My experience over thousands of kilometers of night driving in Thailand is that most all police and/or army checkpoints I have encountered set up around 8 PM and are mostly unattended before 2 AM the following morning.

[Tanlic]

I often defend Thailand but you just cant in this case. Bangkok growing at a tremendous rate, Issan cities getting more modern by the day, education standards getting better. All this then they send their children out onto the road on motorcycles at 11 year of age and yes some very good drivers......can do wheelies the lot BUT they inherit zero knowledge about road safety.

 

I cringe everytime I see kids come flying out of side streets up country look right but never looking left. Only a matter of time before they drive straight into a an oncoming car overtaking.

 

We can all remember hold our parents hands and having look left look right look left again drummed into us. 

 

When I first suggested this to my ex her response was "For What?" They wouldn't dream of putting a seat belt on a kid "He don't like" is their response

 

I love Thailand and The people but when it comes to road safety they are a nation of fkwits.

 

It's not car accidents that kills in Thailand they dosn't even come close to being the world worst

 

However traffic related like pedestrians deaths after  being hit by a car you'd be safer walking round Benghazi

 

Thailand apparently are the 4th highest in the world according to Wikipedia

[Burma Bill]

23 hours ago, Pilotman said:

and expats still use their services to do border runs to renew visas; utter madness.  

Yes indeed. Why do people still rent, or travel in, these notorious "death traps"??

Edited August 19, 2019 by Burma Bill
additional information

[Jean Marie]

A while ago as I was driving my car, I came to a police check point strategically placed a few meters after a T-junction (small side road on my left). As I was approaching the junction one of those utility trucks surged on my left, refusing my right of way. I did not stop.. blew my horn, forced the ute to stop and accept my right of way. All this while being watched by the police. Nothing happened, I went through and so did the ute. 

Find the error.

I do not believe in Thai anymore. 

Beautiful land inhabited by idiots.

A microcosm of our planet

[trainman34014]

34 minutes ago, natway09 said:

Until they bite the bullet & put mufti police on the roads with authority, fully equipped with speed radar & back up from the police (not just topping up the salary) this carnage will continue.

All public vehicles must go over the pits every 6 months (take note Transport Dept)

Maximum speed for public vehicles & trucks 100 KPH & special licences for drivers of public vehicles issued only after driving tests (physical) & checks for drugs & (or) alcohol taken seriously IE: one time caught licence suspended

Ah; the stuff of dreams, and that is all it ever will be !

[trainman34014]

30 minutes ago, Tanlic said:

I often defend Thailand but you just cant in this case. Bangkok growing at a tremendous rate, Issan cities getting more modern by the day, education standards getting better. All this then they send their children out onto the road on motorcycles at 11 year of age and yes some very good drivers......can do wheelies the lot BUT they inherit zero knowledge about road safety.

 

I cringe everytime I see kids come flying out of side streets up country look right but never looking left. Only a matter of time before they drive straight into a an oncoming car overtaking.

 

We can all remember hold our parents hands and having look left look right look left again drummed into us. 

 

When I first suggested this to my ex her response was "For What?" They wouldn't dream of putting a seat belt on a kid "He don't like" is their response

 

I love Thailand and The people but when it comes to road safety they are a nation of fkwits.

 

It's not car accidents that kills in Thailand they dosn't even come close to being the world worst

 

However traffic related like pedestrians deaths after  being hit by a car you'd be safer walking round Benghazi

 

Thailand apparently are the 4th highest in the world according to Wikipedia

Education standards getting better ?  In your dreams.  You can't fix stupid and any Thai will tell you...''Ignorance is bliss, Farang fink too mutt ''.

[Pilotman]

20 minutes ago, Jean Marie said:

A while ago as I was driving my car, I came to a police check point strategically placed a few meters after a T-junction (small side road on my left). As I was approaching the junction one of those utility trucks surged on my left, refusing my right of way. I did not stop.. blew my horn, forced the ute to stop and accept my right of way. All this while being watched by the police. Nothing happened, I went through and so did the ute. 

Find the error.

I do not believe in Thai anymore. 

Beautiful land inhabited by idiots.

A microcosm of our planet

Came to a road block in Rayong last Christmas,  I was in the outside lane as I approached the cones, slowly, which filtered all traffic to the near side lane where Thailand's finest waited. I was stopped and told I had made a dangerous manoeuvre in crossing the lanes.   Go figure.  I just laughed at the cop and sat there staring at him until he let me go.  I would have gone to jail rather than pay that low life idiot. 

[marko kok prong]

Work makes you free,in this case it certainly did.

[Pasuwan]

 So many Trolls and Whiners on this forum. Most talk total BS. 

Edited August 19, 2019 by Pasuwan
Repeated same word

[Road Warrior]

yet further quality thai driving !! when will they be educated ??? .so very sad/1 You cant educate a monkey to drive a  vehicle designed for intelligent  humans !! 

[Cake Monster]

They suspect the device was cut to ALLOW THE DRIVER TO SPEED.

Tampering with such a device will not allow the Driver to speed,in fact, it does absolutely nothing to prevent any kind of accident, whether it is operational or not.

Only if the GPS is hard wired to an Engine cut out system that Immobilises the Engine if speeding for more than 2 Seconds  will it have any use at all in any Vehicle.

As with many ideas to prevent these accidents happening, a total waste of time 

[NoshowJones]

3 hours ago, Pilotman said:

It's not cheaper (my mate just spent 15K getting his ED visa through an agent and a van combination and the service he received was <deleted>). and it's laziness on the farangs part.  The process is easy enough if you do it yourself. My last trip to Singapore cost me less than 5K for the return flight.   

!5K for an ED visa?? That's how much some people pay an agent for retirement exts.

 

[Pilotman]

5 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

!5K for an ED visa?? That's how much some people pay an agent for retirement exts.

 

exactly my point. It was supposed to be an 'all in price' , from a supposed reputably agency in Pattaya,  for transport, paperwork, collect passport and visa and return.  It turned out to be just transport. 

[NoshowJones]

28 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

exactly my point. It was supposed to be an 'all in price' , from a supposed reputably agency in Pattaya,  for transport, paperwork, collect passport and visa and return.  It turned out to be just transport. 

It wouldn't be the one opposite the Big C shopping centre would it?

[RocketDog]

On 8/18/2019 at 1:40 PM, Handsome Gardener said:

When thai police set up road blocks/checks they are condemned on here as pointless

 

What would be your strategy ? 

Good point.

 

How can their driving time realistically be monitored without a tracking system in place for each van and driver? Who would man this center and enforce compliance? Who would keep the watchers in place and watching instead of sleeping or playing with their phones? Who would watch the watchers, etc?

 

Until enough Thai citizens get weary of watching their family members die I fear this will continue unabated regardless of police or government actions. Education starting at birth COULD eventually change things in the Kingdom but that will take generations and serious parenting as well. I'm not holding my breath waiting for that.

 

Hearts and minds need to change, not laws and enforcement. Morality cannot be legislated.

[Daveyh]

Shocking & it happens too often on these visa trips ..... money, money, money ..... rush, rush, rush! GPS is fine, but any results can be corrupted too easily. The govt should control this type of visa service transport by installing official govt. tachometers in these vehicles, which record daily driving hours, plus mandatory rest periods recorded on paper graphs. These can be checked by highway police at any check point or police stop. Heavy fines should be imposed & jail time added on for repeated offenders. All vehicles should be properly licensed to carry out this service & given special number plates for identification purposes by police ............ most of these vehicles do not have the proper insurance to carry "fare paying" passengers. 

[smudger1951]

I have no idea whether they need another license category to drive bus or minibus and whether there is any legistlation regarding drivers hours and rest periods. 

[Nowisee]

On 8/18/2019 at 1:49 PM, Pilotman said:

and expats still use their services to do border runs to renew visas; utter madness.  

Suicide 

[30la]

12 hours ago, Nowisee said:

Suicide 

Not all drivers are so crazy, I did a few years ago 3 border runs from Samui to Penang, very kind and careful drivers.
In any case, I'm glad I don't have to do it anymore!

[Nowisee]

1 hour ago, 30la said:

Not all drivers are so crazy, I did a few years ago 3 border runs from Samui to Penang, very kind and careful drivers.
In any case, I'm glad I don't have to do it anymore!

I agree and you were fortunate

 

[lvr181]

On 8/18/2019 at 4:32 PM, Con Peoples Fund said:

Its not gonna happen mate we all know but we can hope for a miracle.

And "it's not gonna happen"......until some elitists, rich or powerful people are killed in road crashes!

Sad to say. 

[mikebell]

On 8/18/2019 at 4:41 PM, Handsome Gardener said:

Been stopped probably 100+ times and yet to hand over a baht

 

So drink/drug drivers and dangerous vehicles should not run the risk of being stopped correct ?

 

Something numerous lobby groups are constantly calling for in the UK, they have here.

 

Clearly more needs to be done, but there are precious few solutions coming forward. (agree with your motorbike cops at night) -I would also like to see a crushing programme (for the bikes not the people) who drive around with no helmets - including for foreigners who do it and then complain how dangerous thai roads are. Start with them.

Been here fifteen years and I am stopped roughly three times a week at the Ambassador ambush in Pattaya.  I have never been faulted & now I have a car-cam they wave me through quickly.

My recent law breaking activity was to trickle twelve inches over a faint line whilst waiting for a green light.  Did the officious cop really think he was bringing down the daily road kill figures as he maliciously confiscated my licence when I ignored his offer to settle on the spot?

[Huckenfell]

On 8/18/2019 at 1:20 PM, seajae said:

and still the govt does nothing to stop this carnage, the vans are death machines and the drivers need to be properly tested and licensed. The vans need to be speed limited to 100k at most and driving times need to be adhered to, maximum time behind the wheel needs to be made mandatory with random testing for drugs & alcohol. The amount of accidents and deaths vans cause is beyond a joke

 

Speed limit these vans to start with, recently on a trip to Sisaket  i was sitting on 100 klm and vans wizzing past fully loaded.