5 hours ago, Airbagwill said:

The OP's comments reflect much more on his/her own driving than that of anyone else.

Eh................????............????

I have much the same experience here. Thais are the worst drivers in general I have ever seen anywhere in the world.

12 hours ago, Bournville said:

Sorry about my mistake... The lane to my left was empty.. The lane that the truck should have taken to turn.. Left! What are the reasons for driving like this? I would like to know. This and the meaning of life 555

42 is the answer you seek !!

( according to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy )

 

The answer to your first question is a lot more difficult to answer !!

Plenty of idiots on the road yes. But one must learn to adapt. Expect the unexpected. I've covered close to 500K kms in Thailand and have never had a problem - noone has ever hit me and I've never hit anyone. I've had to do an emergency brake perhaps once or twice. Don't ever try to use any kind iod western thinking when driving - like "right of way". Try to force it here and you end up with problems. Just adapt. 

Happens to me all the time, when i am turning left and signalling left people undertake me on the left !!!

12 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Thais appear to have very little spatial awareness. It doesn't matter if they are driving any vehicle, or on foot. I blame their poor road skills on the driving instructors, and a system that allows the more affluent to bribe their way to a licence.

Constant threat awareness is required to drive in Thailand.

Agree to an extent....I believe a big part of the problem is drivers that grew up only riding motorcycles - then graduated into car ownership....

They then apply their motorcycle "driving" mindset/skills/patterns to a car.....

Many mistakes I see them making are the same driving techniques as motorcycle riders....

8 hours ago, Will E Vormer said:

...to educate these idiots!

Good luck with that

9 hours ago, BestB said:

how is that? do tell

Seriously? You know know why?

15 hours ago, kingofthemountain said:

you need to be aware at every milisecond

this applies to driving, regardless of where you are!

15 hours ago, Bournville said:

Sorry about my mistake... The lane to my left was empty.. The lane that the truck should have taken to turn.. Left! What are the reasons for driving like this? I would like to know. This and the meaning of life 555

 

The rules are:

 

1. You can only overtake on the right. If you overtake on the left and there is an accident, the overtaker is at fault.

 

2. The driver has the right of way going straight, anybody who wants to turn left or right should wait for the car going straight to pass first.

 

This has always been my motto and I've not met any accidents.

 

The problem is that we can't expect Thai drivers to follow the same rules as western countries.

 

It is quite normal for Thai drivers to overtake and cut in front of you going into a petrol station without any warning. They don't have any patience for you to pass. Thus, I always slow down before any lanes or petrol stations.

5 minutes ago, EricTh said:

 

The rules are:

 

1. You can only overtake on the right. If you overtake on the left and there is an accident, the overtaker is at fault.

 

2. The driver has the right of way going straight, anybody who wants to turn left or right should wait for the car going straight to pass first.

 

This has always been my motto and I've not met any accidents.

 

The problem is that we can't expect Thai drivers to follow the same rules as western countries.

 

It is quite normal for Thai drivers to overtake and cut in front of you going into a petrol station without any warning. They don't have any patience for you to pass. Thus, I always slow down before any lanes or petrol stations.

Agreed... the rules of Thailand’s roads are actually very good. 
I suspect the Thai Land Traffic Act is a copy of the UK Highway Code. 
 

But, there is no point in being ‘dead right’...  

9 hours ago, mike787 said:

accept it.

Not really, you need to understand it and adapt to it.

7 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

I suspect the Thai Land Traffic Act is a copy of the UK Highway Code.

Yes a lot of it is very similar....  on overtaking  if there are 2 or more lanes  then overtaking on the left is ok.

I like the turn left on red light if the way is clear..it can help traffic flow...pity about the roundabouts.

18 minutes ago, EricTh said:

 

The rules are:

 

1. You can only overtake on the right. If you overtake on the left and there is an accident, the overtaker is at fault.

 

2. The driver has the right of way going straight, anybody who wants to turn left or right should wait for the car going straight to pass first.

 

This has always been my motto and I've not met any accidents.

 

The problem is that we can't expect Thai drivers to follow the same rules as western countries.

 

It is quite normal for Thai drivers to overtake and cut in front of you going into a petrol station without any warning. They don't have any patience for you to pass. Thus, I always slow down before any lanes or petrol stations.

In Thailand the priority by default is TO THE LEFT

Driving? How about stopping? Double parked and about a metre from the car at the kerb.

Then: swing out the door without looking. For me, this embodies Thai driving. 

30 minutes ago, Airbagwill said:

this applies to driving, regardless of where you are!

True

but in Thailand is beyond the imaginable

Thai people seem to have little patience when driving. I have almost had two head on crashes because of someone pulling out to overtake on the opposite side of the road right in front of me. Irritating thing is the road behind me was empty. All they had to do was wait about 5 seconds for the road ahead to be clear.

It seems its my job to get out of their way.

1 hour ago, Airbagwill said:

Seriously? You know know why?

I know you know what?

Alot of Thais are dangerous on the roads, but in Phuket I've seen a few farangs also , in the last month I've spotted 4 farangs on motorbikes on video calls, or I am assuming that as they hold the phone in front of them at arms length, occassionally showing the scenery around them. Beggars belief, maybe it is something in the bottled "water"

36 minutes ago, BestB said:

I know you know what?

sorry - - typo - 

"Seriously - You don't know why?"

Agree with many of you.

 

Back home in Scotland many years ago, I used to LOVE driving. I'd drive for hours through country roads, along the coastline, and found this enjoyable and relaxing. You could chat with the wife, listen to music and still concentrate on the road ahead very easily. 'Let's go for a drive' is now no more. I drive only when I really have to.

 

There is zero chance of that now. I am now pre-occupied with looking for escape routes to avoid the next potential head-on, especially at blind summits and bends. I constantly watch the 'escape' lane on the left as much as the road ahead. Driving is now tireing and no fun.

 

My Thai licence is due for renewal in January and I am seriously thinking of not bothering. Unfortunately the alternative is minvans. The only thing i'd miss the car for would be for shopping at BigC/Makro which are both a 3 hour drive.

 

So I guess i must continue playing Hilux-roulette a while longer.

25 minutes ago, Saltire said:

Agree with many of you.

 

Back home in Scotland many years ago, I used to LOVE driving. I'd drive for hours through country roads, along the coastline, and found this enjoyable and relaxing. You could chat with the wife, listen to music and still concentrate on the road ahead very easily. 'Let's go for a drive' is now no more. I drive only when I really have to.

 

There is zero chance of that now. I am now pre-occupied with looking for escape routes to avoid the next potential head-on, especially at blind summits and bends. I constantly watch the 'escape' lane on the left as much as the road ahead. Driving is now tireing and no fun.

 

My Thai licence is due for renewal in January and I am seriously thinking of not bothering. Unfortunately the alternative is minvans. The only thing i'd miss the car for would be for shopping at BigC/Makro which are both a 3 hour drive.

 

So I guess i must continue playing Hilux-roulette a while longer.

Again this is a reflection of your driving more than anything else.

 

I really enjoy driving in Thailand and have been doing so for 20 years......... I listen to music and find great places to stop and enjoy. I have covered almost every part of the country.

I am aware of the vagaries of driving in Thailand, and also aware that my probability of dying in my 4 wheeled vehicle is about the same as if I was driving in the USA.

I've driven on 5 of the continents and certainly don't find Thailand the most challenging....I'm aware that anywhere in the world I could be involved in an incident or collision and I'm very aware of the pitfalls of driving environment in this country. THis includes the em urgency services especially......

I don't expect people to drive as they do in UK, Germany etc and I adapt to that. If I ended up feeling like some of the posters here, who are clearly overwhelmed, or shouting at there road users I would consider it's time for giving up, but not just here, I'd say I've lost the ability to drive properly anywhere.

17 hours ago, Ceruhe said:

I'm currently enjoying the seemingly increasing number of people either using their highbeams inner city or misaligned/way too bright headlights that are just as annoying.

 

Nevermind the people who don't even turn on their lights and can't take the hint of a highbeam flash/light off and on that that may have forgotten something.

They haven't forgotten anything, they think that they're saving their battery, I kid you not...

To understand Thai driving habits you have to understand that a Thai driving a car usually started out as a young kid on a bicycle, then a teenager on a motorbike, and they drive the car the same way they drove their motorbikes...with no spatial awareness and with no fear of death or injury as the swerve in and out of traffic with total disregard for road rules. They play "chicken" and "bully", the bigger vehicle gets to go first and they can't "lose their face" because they have dark tint on their windows and you can't see who they are. "If you can't see me then I didn't offend you"!

 

6 minutes ago, Airbagwill said:

Again this is a reflection of your driving more than anything else.

 

I really enjoy driving in Thailand and have been doing so for 20 years......... I listen to music and find great places to stop and enjoy. I have covered almost every part of the country.

I am aware of the vagaries of driving in Thailand, and also aware that my probability of dying in my 4 wheeled vehicle is about the same as if I was driving in the USA.

I've driven on 5 of the continents and certainly don't find Thailand the most challenging....I'm aware that anywhere in the world I could be involved in an incident or collision and I'm very aware of the pitfalls of driving environment in this country. THis includes the em urgency services especially......

I don't expect people to drive as they do in UK, Germany etc and I adapt to that. If I ended up feeling like some of the posters here, who ae clearly overwhelmed, I would consider giving up, but not just here, I'd say I've lost the ability to drive properly anywhere.

Yes I too have adapted to be more defensive, which makes it less enjoyable.

28 minutes ago, Airbagwill said:

 

I am aware of the vagaries of driving in Thailand, and also aware that my probability of dying in my 4 wheeled vehicle is about the same as if I was driving in the USA....

I am sorry but all the statistics made your comment totaly wrong

 

http://www.tiesmagazine.org/top-10-countries-with-the-highest-number-of-road-accidents/

5 minutes ago, kingofthemountain said:

I am sorry but all the statistics made your comment totaly wrong

 

http://www.tiesmagazine.org/top-10-countries-with-the-highest-number-of-road-accidents/

You are 100% wrong - you just don't understand the stats

80% re vulnerable road users - the stats you refer to are deaths - if you look the percentage of private 4-wheeled vehicles they are about the same as the national average for the USA.

Furthermore the tertiary source you quote is also inaccurate as it is misquoting deaths per 100k as 'accidents" a totally different statistic.

It is a problem with many people's opinions on road safety in Thailand is that they are unable to make head nor tail of the  reality

18 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Thais appear to have very little spatial awareness. It doesn't matter if they are driving any vehicle, or on foot. I blame their poor road skills on the driving instructors, and a system that allows the more affluent to bribe their way to a licence.

Constant threat awareness is required to drive in Thailand.

Some ago in Klong Thom saw a crazy motorbiker squeeze through closing gap between 3 busses... rode to 50 degree and barely made it unscathed. I think that's quite good spatial awareness????, but more of a reckless/disrespect about his (and others') life... ????

 

Constant threat awareness should be exercised whether Thailand or not, though Thailand is quite out of there... 

2 hours ago, Airbagwill said:

Not really, you need to understand it and adapt to it.

How to adapt? Understand it?  Really?  Hmmm....Ok!  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and expecting a different result....I guess I will try insanity since reason is not working...thank you for the insight and wisdom...i'll get back to ya. 

19 hours ago, seajae said:

unfortunately too many thai road users think of themselves only

They think?

 

I find them slow and totally inept. Puts the fear of Buddha up them when Da Roadrunner comes through.