Right of way at T intersection

[Kenny202]

I think most road rules here are same as back home except for a few quirky differences and of course Thais interpretations of things. I live in a busy Isaan city and I find often the person on the smaller road turning onto the larger two way road seems to think they have right of way. For eg I am on the main road . Every morning I turn right into the smaller soi. There are always cars in the smaller soi wanting to right turn onto the main road and just seem to try and bluff their way out. 

 

I am pretty considerate on the road, though it is not often reciprocated and there is a certain need to let people go even when they not have the right of way as there is just too much congestion here. But at this particular junction you let someone go and you get a stream of 20 cars following behind them and you yourself end up waiting 10 minutes to get around. Like most things in LOS you give them an inch.

 

Is there any law I don't know about where possibly the people coming out of the smaller Soi on to the main two way road have right of way? 

[CharlieH]

Where to start, no formal training, no highway code that's really followed and most of all no damn enforcement, and where there is there are no real consequences to an action. All that boils down to a general free for all.

Then they wonder why thousands die on the road ! 

 

I gave up trying to make sense of it or apply logic and law a long long time ago. If you drive and react like everyone is trying to kill you, you'll be just fine !

[soalbundy]

Never rely on such things as right of way, especially here, defensive driving is the best 'right of way'

[Moonlover]

22 minutes ago, Kenny202 said:

Is there any law I don't know about where possibly the people coming out of the smaller Soi on to the main two way road have right of way? 

No there isn't. Section 71 of the Land Traffic Act states that traffic on the 'principle roadway' has the right of way, much you would expect anywhere.

 

But just as@CharlieH says above. This is Thailand and anything goes. 

[canthai55]

Trucks have right of way, then buses, then pickups and vans, then cars, then motorcycles, then scooters, then pedestrians ...

Same Same all over the country

[thaiguzzi]

15 minutes ago, canthai55 said:

Trucks have right of way, then buses, then pickups and vans, then cars, then motorcycles, then scooters, then pedestrians ...

Same Same all over the country

This.

Blatently obvious really.

The bigger you are, the more right of way you have.

I have no problems with driving standards and lack of rules and of law enforcement in this country.

Just ride/drive around it and go with the flow.

Chill.

Back in the UK for some reason, with supposedly saner and safer, more sensible traffic, i get my RR (road rage) levels raised way more than here.

I also love being able to drive my farm truck into town, on legal highways, with no tax and insurance, no handbrake, no working lights, no doors, no windows, no bonnet, 3' straight up exhaust, etc etc.

Wonderful country....

[canthai55]

When I first started riding/driving here I was told by an Old Hand ...

Imagine the traffic is a flow of water. Any space will be filled immediately.

Go with the Flow

As above - riding/driving here is great. When in Rome ...

Only people who have trouble are those who think they are 'Entitled', those who obey the law (never good at this - me) when all about you people are not.

Much nicer than driving in the West. Cops there are bad news, 18 year olds with a gun and an attitude. In BC drive 30km over, impound your car for 30 days.

F-F-S !!!

Edited August 29, 2019 by canthai55

[canthai55]

 

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, Moonlover said:

No there isn't. Section 71 of the Land Traffic Act states that traffic on the 'principle roadway' has the right of way, much you would expect anywhere.

 

But just as@CharlieH says above. This is Thailand and anything goes. 

Very true. However take into account that it is not always clear what the principle roadway is. Best way to check is for numbering, the less numbers the more important, but also road signs. If roads are of equal importance traffic from the left has right of way, the exception being a roundabout where traffic on the roundabout (seen as a principle way) has right of way.

[ratcatcher]

2 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

This.

Blatently obvious really.

The bigger you are, the more right of way you have.

I have no problems with driving standards and lack of rules and of law enforcement in this country.

Just ride/drive around it and go with the flow.

Chill.

Back in the UK for some reason, with supposedly saner and safer, more sensible traffic, i get my RR (road rage) levels raised way more than here.

I also love being able to drive my farm truck into town, on legal highways, with no tax and insurance, no handbrake, no working lights, no doors, no windows, no bonnet, 3' straight up exhaust, etc etc.

Wonderful country....

I imagine you and the family heading into town in one of these classics. Luxury.

[thaiguzzi]

2 hours ago, ratcatcher said:

I imagine you and the family heading into town in one of these classics. Luxury.

Ours is the XLT version - extra luxury - - it has a roof....

 

[seajae]

then you get stop signs and thais drive straight through them without slowing down, had many close calls when they simply refuse to obey the sign and stop and give way. Same with lines across the lanes(same meaning as a stop sign but thais dont understand this) at intersections, they are supposed to stop/give way but again  refuse to do so, the rules rarely come into it, its a matter of who pushes/forces their way the hardest and ignores every other car on the road. Road rules for thais are suggestions only and they dont have to follow them if they dont want to.

[grumbleweed]

expect right of way and you'll get it. Right into the next life

[Kwasaki]

6 hours ago, Kenny202 said:

Is there any law I don't know about where possibly the people coming out of the smaller Soi on to the main two way road have right of way? 

Wouldn't matter anyway even though there is a right of way.

[alanrchase]

Round my way people coming up to a t junction who want to turn right move onto the wrong side of the road. No choice but to let them out as no one else can turn in.

[JusticeGB]

Thai's have right of way obviously. If the police are called you will be accused of driving too fast! The other day a motorbike on the inside of mine suddenly turned right in front of me without signalling. A policeman came and said you farang drive to fast pay other man or I make you wait police station 3 hours and then you get fine too. The police man was 1/2 a mile away!

[Guderian]

Gawd knows who's got right of way in many situations here. I don't know if this is a nationwide thing, but in Pattaya there are certain T-junctions (like the one between Sukhumvit and Soi Khao Talo, coming from Thepprasit) where even if the traffic lights on Suk are red the left-hand most lane of traffic is allowed to drive straight through. The same thing at the Sukhumvit/Thepprasit T-junction going south, though many people, presumably from out-of-town, still stop there. OTOH I've never seen anybody in the left-hand lane drive through the red lights on Suk going south at the Soi Wat Bun T-junction. Why? Where are the signs saying you can or can't, even in garbled Thinglish, like their famous "Turn left waiting traffic light" signs? It all seems to come down to local knowledge, just crazy.

[rwill]

You can not go by concepts such as right of way here.  It is best to stop obsessing with how you think things should be and just accept how they are.

 

[Laza 45]

..you give way to the aggressive idiot or die..

[Andycoops]

Lick your finger hold it up and feel which way the wind is blowing and then go in the opposite direction. 

[thaiguzzi]

2 hours ago, seajae said:

then you get stop signs and thais drive straight through them without slowing down, had many close calls when they simply refuse to obey the sign and stop and give way. Same with lines across the lanes(same meaning as a stop sign but thais dont understand this) at intersections, they are supposed to stop/give way but again  refuse to do so, the rules rarely come into it, its a matter of who pushes/forces their way the hardest and ignores every other car on the road. Road rules for thais are suggestions only and they dont have to follow them if they dont want to.

Keeps you on your toes though...

Innit.

[Kurtf]

8 hours ago, CharlieH said:

Where to start, no formal training, no highway code that's really followed and most of all no damn enforcement, and where there is there are no real consequences to an action. All that boils down to a general free for all.

Then they wonder why thousands die on the road ! 

 

I gave up trying to make sense of it or apply logic and law a long long time ago. If you drive and react like everyone is trying to kill you, you'll be just fine !

You absolutely nailed it with that response. Thais seem to think red lights are merely a suggestion. And the number of people making U-turns at intersections where there is a sign prohibiting them is staggering. Thai drivers do whatever they damn well please and whenever they like. Road rules be damned. I know when I return to my home country I will be a far better defensive driver after having suffered 7+ years of driving in Thailand.

[Retfed50]

8 hours ago, soalbundy said:

Never rely on such things as right of way, especially here, defensive driving is the best 'right of way'

I remember the words of my Driver Education teacher back in high school: " You only have the right of way if someone gives it to you"

[DPKANKAN]

8 hours ago, Moonlover said:

No there isn't. Section 71 of the Land Traffic Act states that traffic on the 'principle roadway' has the right of way, much you would expect anywhere.

 

But just as@CharlieH says above. This is Thailand and anything goes. 

Unfortunately, the Thai right of way is;-

1) My car is bigger than yours.

2) My car is more expensive than yours.

But mostly,

3) I got here before you!!????????????

[thailand49]

8 hours ago, canthai55 said:

Trucks have right of way, then buses, then pickups and vans, then cars, then motorcycles, then scooters, then pedestrians ...

Same Same all over the country

Sorry wrong!  size doesn't give you the right away!

Let say as noted above by one poster vehicles on main road has the right away.  Truck comes out from side Soi doesn't bother to stop or even slow down because he is the truck thereafter as you noted has the right away run downs everyone and everything?  Now I know way trucks drive the why they drive here!????

Right away is basically a guideline how to handle a particular driving situation it isn't based on size!

Edited August 29, 2019 by thailand49

[Greenhill]

The bigger one has right of way!!   End of discussion.

 

I'm talking about practically, in real life, not theoretically or whatever logic you might have been taught by an accredited driving school in Farangland.

Edited August 29, 2019 by Greenhill
Added clarity

[tifino]

 

Yield and Forgive...

 

for if you stand your ground... you'll probably get shot!

[Chazar]

9 hours ago, canthai55 said:

Trucks have right of way, then buses, then pickups and vans, then cars, then motorcycles, then scooters, then pedestrians ...

Same Same all over the country

I  think dogs  could  go between  scooters and pedestrians though

[Kenny202]

Thanks for the replies guys how ever still none the wiser. I didn't really explain it right. It is a T junction I guess but not what you would call an intersection. No lights or give ways. Just a side road adjoining the main road. And one of the posters summed it up perfectly ie them doing a right turn and actually starting their right turn before they are anywhere near the adjoining road so as to block anyone from entering / turning right into the side road.

 

I've lived here 5 years and I don't drive around demanding my rights and expecting everything to be perfect. There has to be quite a lot of give and take or the traffic would be jammed up everywhere. Even lights wouldn't fix it. I do drive fairly aggressively, sometimes worse than the Thais and I find 98% of the time they back down, however I never count on this as there are other factors such as them looking at their phone, no brakes or just total stupidity so it doesn't pay to force the issue. It was just this morning came pretty close to a collision and the guy in the other vehicle seemed to think he was quite within his rights. I mean some of the stuff they do...cut corners, while waiting to do a right turn or U turn they pull out half way into the oncoming lane blocking the traffic (I particularly hate this one), take off 5 seconds before the lights change etc they ALL do, so I guess they think it's ok, as most of them would have never really learnt the road rules. 

 

A couple of comments rig true and that is they believe they have the right of way if they were there before you.

Edited August 29, 2019 by Kenny202

[GreasyFingers]

I do not have tint on our windscreen or driver's window but usually drive with the window down anyway. It seems to help when they see a farang who is not giving way (except to avoid an accident)