Driving in neighbouring countries

[nopsled]

I've been in Thailand for a year now and love many aspects of the country, but the standard of driving is making me re-consider spending the rest of my retirement here.  The level of just plain insainly dangerous driving is becoming unbearable. One or two instances a week might be tolerable, but it seems to be one or two a day some days.

 

I’ve been to Vietnam and I know how crazy busy HCMC can be, but is there the same reckless attitude that so many Thais seem to have? My retirement depends on living somewhere with a comparable cost of living, and I love most things about this part of the world apart from the driving, so would it be any different in say, Vietnam, Cambodia etc.?

 

BTW, I am riding a small motorcycle. Is buying a big khabaa the only way to get a bit of consideration from other road users?

[nopsled]

OK.  I live about 11km outside a seaside town and drive in and out some 4 or 5 days a week.  Taxi would be a bit of a (relatively) expensive option, but you can still get killed in one of them ???? Just wondered about other SEA countries.

[samuttodd]

Driving in Thailand is kind of like jumping into a raging river.

 

There are boulders and drops and spots where everything eddies.

Keep your wits about you and go with the flow as best you can.

 

When crossing intersections,  try not to be first or last.   There is some level of safety using your fellow scootists as buffers between yoursef and the vehicle that may hit you.

 

 

 

 

[nopsled]

53 minutes ago, samuttodd said:

Driving in Thailand is kind of like jumping into a raging river.

 

There are boulders and drops and spots where everything eddies.

Keep your wits about you and go with the flow as best you can.

 

When crossing intersections,  try not to be first or last.   There is some level of safety using your fellow scootists as buffers between yoursef and the vehicle that may hit you.

 

 

 

 

Yeah, I know what you mean.  Some days it's beautiful, like a flock of birds all  moving together, and other days I just want to get home alive.  It's not so much the bikes I find a problem as the souped up pick up trucks and cars.  For example, I'm in my lane but passing a van that has just stopped without giving any warning, a pickup is in the right lane and another pickup undertakes him and almost drives me in to the parked van with 2 wheels a good 4ft in my lane and foot hard to the floor.   I could give a million other examples, as I'm sure could most people, I'm just not sure I'm prepaired to take the risk anymore.  Looking for a plan B I guess.

[samuttodd]

Well good luck with that.   I'm still trying to figure out what the hell I am going to do here?   Stranger in a strange land syndrome I reckon.     Baby steps I guess.   The show must go on.

[nopsled]

Ha ha.  You'll figure it out.  Guess I'll have to visit/drive in some neighbouring countries and find out for myself, or maybe move in to town and bus it if they are all this bad.  I'm not ready to become a Thai road statistic yet though ???? 

[Gweiloman]

5 hours ago, nopsled said:

OK.  I live about 11km outside a seaside town and drive in and out some 4 or 5 days a week.  Taxi would be a bit of a (relatively) expensive option, but you can still get killed in one of them ???? Just wondered about other SEA countries.

I’ve lived in Thailand for over 10 years. I drive as well as ride bikes (both big and small). IMO, it’s not a good idea to be doing 20+ Kms on a small bike on a regular basis, especially in moderate to high traffic areas. Thai drivers tend to be reckless or incompetent and are usually both. A bigger bike, say 500 cc and above will give you a lot more grunt in both overtaking and getting away from the traffic. 
I can’t comment about Vietnam other than that I would not want to ride a bike (big or small) in HCMC. KL is a bit safer than Thailand but it tends to rain much more frequently and there are also some bad drivers there. Smaller towns such as Penang and Ipoh have a bit less traffic if you avoid the rush hours. 

[CNXexpat]

I have been in Hanoi for a week this year. After 3 days I was very annoyed of the beep beep everywhere and always - from cars and motorcycles. I became aggressive. Also the people give a sh... at pedestrians. You cross a street at a green traffic light? They don´t care less than in Thailand. You jump or you are dead. Two times they nearly killed me.

The good thing for you as a motorcycle driver: You can park everywhere: blocking sidewalks, doors of shops... - they do what they want.

 

[Jane Dough]

I think driving here is great. I'd go bonkers in the city of my birth, London, with all those traffic lights and petty restrictions. Here I can drive between two of my houses - about 60 kms apart - without going through one set of lights. Sure there are some nutters on the roads, give them a wide berth. 

 

Learn to be aware of the dangers and drive accordingly. 

 

Rooster

[Jitar]

I don't think anywhere in South East Asia is significantly safer apart from Singapore.  There seems to be some strange inverse correlation between cost of living and road safety.  

 

Personally I don't mid driving in LOS, but I would not want to ride a bike here.  

[VocalNeal]

On 12/2/2019 at 6:09 PM, Jane Dough said:

I think driving here is great. I'd go bonkers in the city of my birth, London, with all those traffic lights and petty restrictions. Here I can drive between two of my houses - about 60 kms apart - without going through one set of lights. Sure there are some nutters on the roads, give them a wide berth. 

 

Learn to be aware of the dangers and drive accordingly. 

 

Rooster

Could be that the vast majority, nay all, the people who complain ad naseum about driving/riding in Thailand don't actually like driving. The vast majority of car owners in the world just view them as a conveyance like a private bus. 

I am quite happy driving/riding here. As you say no petty restrictions. But I haven't spent my life planning for decades of "golden" golden retirement so am not really worried about dying before having spent all the money.

 

As someone more famous than me said "You can hate water if you are a fish"

[VocalNeal]

On 12/7/2019 at 9:22 AM, VocalNeal said:

Could be that the vast majority, nay all, the people who complain ad naseum about driving/riding in Thailand don't actually like driving. The vast majority of car owners in the world just view them as a conveyance like a private bus. 

I am quite happy driving/riding here. As you say no petty restrictions. But I haven't spent my life planning for decades of "golden" golden retirement so am not really worried about dying before having spent all the money.

 

As someone more famous than me said "You can't hate water if you are a fish"