14 hours ago, torturedsole said:

My personal gripe is Thais taking a left turn in their cars.  The approach to the junction appears normal then all of a sudden it's 'Driving Miss Daisy' and slows to 2mph.  What the hell is that about?  I suspect lack of confidence and lack of a decent driving test.  A highly dangerous manoeuvre and extremely frustrating.  If their on their bikes then it's the complete reverse.  

If you really want to understand Thai driving culture then look at river boats.

Thailand unlike the west has no history of horses and carriages - up until the last century most transport was by river. The behaviour of Thai motorists all falls into place if you look at it from the point of view of boats on a river.

14 hours ago, GarryP said:

When I took the theory part of the driving test, in Thai language, in September 2019 ทางเอก (tang aik - primary/main road) and ทางโท (tang toe - secondary road) were mentioned repeatedly in the questions.  They are also mentioned repeatedly in the Road Traffic Act 2522 and its subsequent amendments.     

Yes - but there is no designation or signage - as I've said many times, the Thai road system is not fit for purpose, badly engineered, poor design and construction and inconsistent and ineffective signing.

NB - the difference between "Sai" and "Soi" on "side roads"

14 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Wrong, they are designed with a 'stop' sign at the junction which enters the principle roadway and also with a 'give way line'....

Except that hardly any Sois have stop signs or any road markings so any motorist would assume te road is of "equal" status.

14 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Your assumption that 'All vehicles must give way to vehicles entering the road way from the left' is not only preposterous, its outlandishly dangerous. 

 

Very dangerous and enshrined in Thai law. This as said is also the law in EU countries like France and Netherlands who have signage etc to deal with it.

16 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Your assumption that 'All vehicles must give way to vehicles entering the road way from the left' is not only preposterous, its outlandishly dangerous. 

 

 

I think that what Airbagwill is trying to say, is that in order to be treated as primary and secondary roads they need to be properly signposted. As long as there are no signs or indications on the road surface that you should give way, stop, etc. you 'could' assume that you are on the primary road and shoot straight out from a secondary road into the main/primary road. Hence you always need to give way to the left. What may seem like common sense to us, needs to be signposted to be enforceable as such.    

12 hours ago, Airbagwill said:

Very dangerous and enshrined in Thai law. This as said is also the law in EU countries like France and Netherlands who have signage etc to deal with it.

Thais use this rule when approaching roundabouts. They rarely stop and give way to traffic on the roundabout (even though the Thai law states to give way to traffic already on the roundabout. Perhaps Thais are confused - give way to the left normally, but give way to the right on roundabouts. 

On 12/10/2019 at 3:34 PM, VocalNeal said:

On 12/10/2019 at 3:05 PM, Airbagwill said:

 

Read your Highway Code - the left has priority by default on Thai roads.

Yes exactly a guy coming out of a side-road turning left into the main road has priority. The vehicle on the right has to give way. So normal here. 

 

The only thing that irks me is the scooters trying to turn left between me and the kerb/curb when I am turning left. I just ignore them and carry on.

Edited Tuesday at 03:36 PM by VocalNeal

so... who then has to Give Way?

 -  if there's a vehicle coming out of a side street, turning Left 

 

 versus 

 

a motorcycle travelling along the gutter of the main road, in the Wrong direction?

2 hours ago, DavisH said:

Thais use this rule when approaching roundabouts. They rarely stop and give way to traffic on the roundabout (even though the Thai law states to give way to traffic already on the roundabout. Perhaps Thais are confused - give way to the left normally, but give way to the right on roundabouts. 

Not just Thais....i see this every day on Samui....but roundabouts in Thailand seldom have sufficient signings or round markings ..... It is this that contributes to the coñfusion. As said road design is lamentable