Motorcycle Safety In Thailand

[whopper]

thais have particular habits, drive here long enough and you will learn them. LIke never looking when entering traffic, they tend to only look foreward when driving, tailgateing is a favorite, turning and changing lanes without notice. and dont swerve for soi dogs! they are certainly not worth it.

[jeebusjones]

thais have particular habits, drive here long enough and you will learn them. LIke never looking when entering traffic, they tend to only look foreward when driving, tailgateing is a favorite, turning and changing lanes without notice.

This about sums it up. It's a wonder there aren't more accidents. Almost all motorcycles I see and a goo percentage of the cars never look when turning left onto a road. They just cruise on and assume oncoming traffic will push to the right to make way for them. Very dangerous, but they don't seem to understand at all.

[soundman]

I have had three serious accidents in thai, one included a trip to the hospital. All of them my own fault for riding in a stupid manner.

EG. popping a mono down beach road in Pattaya whilst drunk, in nightclub clothes & no helmet. Lost it, crashed, left the bike in the gutter, popped into the nearest bar & proceeded to order a whisky whilst bleeding everywhere. Expensive & stupid mistake.

Apart from that I really haven't had too many problems riding bikes in Thailand.

Be aware, ride sensibly, stay upright!!

Soundman.

[jeebusjones]

Regarding general road safety in Thailand, here is an interesting comparison.

In 2005, 12,858 people were killed on the roads in Thailand. (http://www.grsproadsafety.org/?pageid=28)

Compare that to the United States, where roughly 42,000 are killed every year. (http://www.factbook.net/EGRF_Regional_analyses_HMCs.htm)

The death rate in Thailand is really not much higher than the US. Thailand's rate is roughly 20 people per 100,000. The United states is 15.8 per 100,000. England is only 6.1 per 100,000.

I'm actually very surprised by this. One of the world's most developed countries has a road death rate nearly on par with a developing nation. Very sad, that is. But being American it does make me feel slightly safer riding here, knowing my home isn't all that much better.

[hecky]

I had a bad smash in Samui last year, ended up in hospital and an operation - not nice. The problem? A big hole in the road, it was twilight, I was not going fast. If I wasn't wearing my helmet I might be dead. So always wear a crash helmet and drive carefully and NEVER drink alcohol. Life's too short to shorten it even more...

in Samui it is not a case of if you have a crash just a case of when. has to be worsed place in Thailand to drive a bike, bad roads drunk drivers and novice tourist drivers

[qwertz]

I've driven bikes for 30 years and never come off once, although I've had many near misses, all through not keeping plenty of distance or not looking out for SMIDSYs. Simple philosophy - be afraid. On the other hand, I've had plenty of car crashes, probably because I feel more secure and don't watch out for others.