some road rules clarification

[brianj1964]

My wife wants us to buy a car here, so yesterday I got to drive her friends car into Kalasin to look at second hand laptops and had a couple of close calls with locals and wanted people who drive here daily to clarify the rules of the road or arent there any.

Example 1. I came to a crossroads controlled by traffic lights, we were going straight on and the cars opposite were indicating to turn right, The lights turn green I proceeded to drive and the first 2 cars crossed straight in front of me, at this point my wifes friend is shouting at me to stop,so I allowed a further 2 cars to cross our path, I explained to my wife that in the U.K, in this situation, we have the right of way and all 4 cars should have waited until we passed before they turned.

Example 2. Similar to example 1, we came to a roundabout, my wife tells me to go straight on, I stopped, looked to my right, no cars were coming so i pulled off, as i passed the next enter/exit to the roundabout a woman just drives straight out in front of me, again i had to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision, I tell my wife again, that in the U.K in this situation we have the right of way. I have watched her brother drive and he gives way in the middle of the roundabout, and I dont know if thats the road rules here or he is anticipating that the car is going to drive straight out.

Have I done something wrong in these 2 situations, or is it a case that local people cannot drive, I dont want people saying I should drive anticipating what every driver is going to do. 

Is there rules to the road here? or is it go from A to B and dont care what mayhem you cause, I was more than slightly nervous when we got home

 

[UncleMhee]

12 minutes ago, brianj1964 said:

(1) Have I done something wrong in these 2 situations, or (2) is it a case that local people cannot drive, (3) I dont want people saying I should drive anticipating what every driver is going to do. 

(4) Is there rules to the road here? or (5) is it go from A to B and dont care what mayhem you cause, (6) I was more than slightly nervous when we got home

No.

Yes.

Never the less, if you want to live you'd best do just that.

Yes.

Yes.

Hope you your nervousness subsided with a couple of coldies.

If you have a Thai license you should have been to the tutorial on road rules already. ????

[brianj1964]

3 minutes ago, UncleMhee said:

No.

Yes.

Never the less, if you want to live you'd best do just that.

Yes.

Yes.

Hope you your nervousness subsided with a couple of coldies.

If you have a Thai license you should have been to the tutorial on road rules already. ????

I have only just arrived on my retirement O-A and wanted to retire at 55 not die at 55, I havent got a Thai licence, I have one of those International permits from the post office in the U.K, valid for 12 months, as they drive on the same side of the road it felt natural to drive here, but I now understand when people criticise Thai driving, they just dont seem to understand the phrase give-way.

I did have a 750ml bottle of Singha chilled and ready to go.

[Puchaiyank]

These are my personal observations:

 

1. Bigger vehicles...full size trucks and suvs...will take more than their fair share of the road.  

 

2. Large motorcycles think they have special privilege to speed, pass on the inside even if you have your left turn signal on and are slowing to turn...give way to their excessive speed and dangerous driving antics.

 

3.  Underage children on motorcycles are totally clueless and must be protected at all cost.  They do not always look before changing lanes and pulling out of side streets. 

 

4.  Drive defensively.  Do not expect all Thais to follow the rules of the road.  Expect the unexpected...look for trouble coming out of side streets, crossing the road ahead in front of you and passing to your left...even if you are in the far left lane.  Do not be surprised to find vehicles driving the wrong way and heading straight at you.

 

5. Purchase vehicle cameras to record bad drivers which may cause you to have an accident.

 

You can drive in Thailand safely and accident free...it requires constant vigilance and a fair amount of luck.

 

Good Luck to you! 

[Dmaxdan]

Clarification of road rules here is pretty pointless as most drivers either don't know or simply ignore them. An awful lot of Thai drivers here just do what suits them rather than following any rules. That's why there are so many accidents. 

Also forget your UK driving experiences, they won't apply here. They drive on the left here, there are no other comparisons with UK driving. Over time you will learn what they do differently in most situations. You just need to drive cautiously and defensively and never adapt the "When in Rome" philosophy that some expats do. 

[brianj1964]

14 minutes ago, Dmaxdan said:

Clarification of road rules here is pretty pointless as most drivers either don't know or simply ignore them. An awful lot of Thai drivers here just do what suits them rather than following any rules. That's why there are so many accidents. 

Also forget your UK driving experiences, they won't apply here. They drive on the left here, there are no other comparisons with UK driving. Over time you will learn what they do differently in most situations. You just need to drive cautiously and defensively and never adapt the "When in Rome" philosophy that some expats do. 

my wifes brother constantly blasts his horns at people on bikes driving or waiting by the side of the road, it used to annoy me when I sat next to him, now I understand why he does it, and as someone else mentioned you have to continually look, left/right and rear view mirror  for bikes, its Thunderdome here

[scubascuba3]

You need to learn quick what the Thais do, it doesn't matter how things are done in the UK. Right or wrong is irrelevant it's what happens in real life that's important. Millions of vehicles go through red lights daily and no one blinks an eyelid

[brianj1964]

8 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

You need to learn quick what the Thais do, it doesn't matter how things are done in the UK. Right or wrong is irrelevant it's what happens in real life that's important. Millions of vehicles go through red lights daily and no one blinks an eyelid

I do notice they go through red lights if they are turning left, merging into traffic, sometimes it says free left turn, if I stop people blast the horn at me. Is there relevance if I have an accident and its because some numbnutz has crossed in front of me and I have the right of way? or will it always be the foreigner to blame, my wife says dont get into arguments with Thais because you never know whose carrying a gun.

[KhunKenAP]

Thai rules of the road:

 

1) None

[PatOngo]

1 hour ago, brianj1964 said:

clarify the rules of the road

Depends who you ask, Khun Daeng has his interpretation of the rules while old Somchai see's them completely different and if you drive a Benz, well...…...……...………!

[johng]

17 minutes ago, brianj1964 said:

Is there relevance if I have an accident and its because some numbnutz has crossed in front of me and I have the right of way?

The turn left at a red light  does not give you "right of way"   you should only turn if its safe to do so

[jackdd]

There are "official" rules and there are the "rules" on how it's actually done

 

Situation one: The people going straight have the right of way. But it's common practice that motorbikes who are at the front will turn before you, usually they will hurry to do this and are gone until you would cross their way anyway. So when you go straight and you see motorbikes who want to turn, accelerate slowly and expect that they turn before you. Cars usually don't turn, but can of course happen as you experienced (maybe for them you accelerated very slowly so they decided to turn in front of you).

It's also common that if one car turns others will follow, you will see the same on big road with u-turns, then three lanes gets blocked from a bunch of cars doing a u-turn.

 

Situation two: I don't know the official rules, but from what i experience nobody else seems to know it a well. You see the strangest things in round abouts. If there is not much traffic it's easy: Very defensive, always expect that somebody else will drive into your lane.

If there i a lot of traffic it gets more tricky, because if you drive too defensive you will never be let in. So in this situation you need to drive a bit more aggressive and you will notice that others will give way to you as well, but always be prepared that something doesn't go as expected and be ready to brake.

[brianj1964]

5 minutes ago, johng said:

The turn left at a red light  does not give you "right of way"   you should only turn if its safe to do so

that bit i do understand, and i always proceed with caution, but try explaining give way to a Thai Johng they dont get it or dont want to get it

[scubascuba3]

12 minutes ago, johng said:

The turn left at a red light  does not give you "right of way"   you should only turn if its safe to do so

Unless the wait sign is there

[scubascuba3]

34 minutes ago, brianj1964 said:

I do notice they go through red lights if they are turning left, merging into traffic, sometimes it says free left turn, if I stop people blast the horn at me. Is there relevance if I have an accident and its because some numbnutz has crossed in front of me and I have the right of way? or will it always be the foreigner to blame, my wife says dont get into arguments with Thais because you never know whose carrying a gun.

You need to look and learn, maybe takes a couple of weeks to learn what they do differently to the UK

[Isaanbiker]

OP, stop pointing out what people in the UK would do/may do/have to do,. etc...

 

    You're obviously in the wrong, perhaps you had a green light for turning, but not for driving straight?

 

    Thais wouldn't yell at you if you didn't do something seriously wrong. 

 

 

[Matzzon]

39 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

Depends who you ask, Khun Daeng has his interpretation of the rules while old Somchai see's them completely different and if you drive a Benz, well...…...……...………!

Sounds like different immigration offices. Just me catching the resemblance?

[brianj1964]

27 minutes ago, Isaanbiker said:

OP, stop pointing out what people in the UK would do/may do/have to do,. etc...

 

    You're obviously in the wrong, perhaps you had a green light for turning, but not for driving straight?

 

    Thais wouldn't yell at you if you didn't do something seriously wrong. 

 

 

no i was driving straight on, there was only a set of regular lights, NO green arrows, they just swerved in front of me, i was in the right, i have been driving since i was 19, i am now 55, i know a green light when i see one, please stop trying to defend poor Thai driving, her friend told me to stop because its her car not because i was in the wrong.she said i had the right of way 

[MJKT2014]

2 hours ago, brianj1964 said:

I dont want people saying I should drive anticipating what every driver is going to do. 

But that is exactly what you should be doing. For about the UK, you are in another country. Defensive driving is mandatory.

[ezzra]

The saying goes that it is much wiser to be smart than right, and with road rules and laws not only in thailand, courtesy, patients and considerations to others goes along way...

[brianj1964]

44 minutes ago, ezzra said:

The saying goes that it is much wiser to be smart than right, and with road rules and laws not only in thailand, courtesy, patients and considerations to others goes along way...

thats exactly why i waved the second 2 cars through, i wasnt obliged to do so. the first 2 just took it upon themselves to just blindly turn in front of me

[scubascuba3]

12 minutes ago, brianj1964 said:

thats exactly why i waved the second 2 cars through, i wasnt obliged to do so. the first 2 just took it upon themselves to just blindly turn in front of me

you should have been looking for them pulling in front of you

[kingofthemountain]

2 hours ago, brianj1964 said:

my wife says dont get into arguments with Thais because you never know whose carrying a gun.

Wise advice

[kingofthemountain]

3 hours ago, brianj1964 said:

My wife wants us to buy a car here,

traduction = my wife wants i pay a car in her name

 

solution = first ask yourself if you really need a car here

if yes, ask a 50\50 payment because the car is used by you and her.

if you need the car and you pay 100% of the price, at least put the car in your name

(don't listen at your wife arguments aka it's more easy in her name and so on)

 

You write you have an international driving licence valid 12 months

in Thailand the validity of this international driving licence is only 3 months

so better to convert your UK driving licence in Thai driving licence. it's easy and cheap

 

good luck

 

nb from Kalasin to Pattaya it's a long way but if you are interested i have my

good car for sale, pick a boo in the sale car section of the forum.

[brianj1964]

13 minutes ago, kingofthemountain said:

traduction = my wife wants i pay a car in her name

 

solution = first ask yourself if you really need a car here

if yes, ask a 50\50 payment because the car is used by you and her.

if you need the car and you pay 100% of the price, at least put the car in your name

(don't listen at your wife arguments aka it's more easy in her name and so on)

 

You write you have an international driving licence valid 12 months

in Thailand the validity of this international driving licence is only 3 months

so better to convert your UK driving licence in Thai driving licence. it's easy and cheap

 

good luck

 

nb from Kalasin to Pattaya it's a long way but if you are interested i have my

good car for sale, pick a boo in the sale car section of the forum.

Thanks for the advice about the driving licence, car is going to be 50/50, 

its not an international driving licence,i dont think there is such a thing, its a permit you obtain from the Post Office to use my U.K driving licence in Thailand, its got a 12 month validity on it. We a plan to relocate to Pattaya but not until February when Her son gets released lol

[jackdd]

11 minutes ago, kingofthemountain said:

in Thailand the validity of this international driving licence is only 3 months

This is wrong.

[Andrew Dwyer]

3 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

These are my personal observations:

 

1. Bigger vehicles...full size trucks and suvs...will take more than their fair share of the road.  

 

2. Large motorcycles think they have special privilege to speed, pass on the inside even if you have your left turn signal on and are slowing to turn...give way to their excessive speed and dangerous driving antics.

 

3.  Underage children on motorcycles are totally clueless and must be protected at all cost.  They do not always look before changing lanes and pulling out of side streets. 

 

4.  Drive defensively.  Do not expect all Thais to follow the rules of the road.  Expect the unexpected...look for trouble coming out of side streets, crossing the road ahead in front of you and passing to your left...even if you are in the far left lane.  Do not be surprised to find vehicles driving the wrong way and heading straight at you.

 

5. Purchase vehicle cameras to record bad drivers which may cause you to have an accident.

 

You can drive in Thailand safely and accident free...it requires constant vigilance and a fair amount of luck.

 

Good Luck to you! 

Excellent summing up here, especially the “ drive defensively “ and “ expect the unexpected “.

 

Initially thai driving seems completely alien to what you were taught in the uk and in some ways it is, but it works for them so we have to adapt 

Don’t be too quick to use your horn, your bil can get away with it but as a farang it can give you some grief. Better just to curse under your breath and move on, indeed my gf now uses the phrase “ f#ckin idiot “ more than me !!

 

Don’t be in a rush to pull away from the lights as opposing traffic like to sneak through long after the red light shows.The turning left on red is a good rule ( IMO ) as it helps traffic flow but be aware you have to give way to other traffic.

Also at a zebra crossing the uk in us will tell you to stop when you see someone attempting to cross, here the pedestrian doesn’t have right of way , you can stop if you like but you will risk a shunt if you do.

 

All in all there’s a certain “ do as you please “ feeling to driving here but you will adapt and to be honest I enjoy driving here.

 

More care is needed when driving here but that goes for anywhere away from our natural habitat.

[brianj1964]

5 minutes ago, jackdd said:

This is wrong.

I know it has 12 months on it, its a permit i have to carry with me anytime i drive plus my photo driving licence.

[DannyCarlton]

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Unless the wait sign is there

Or you are on a scooter, de rigeur for motorbike taxis.

[DannyCarlton]

13 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Don’t be too quick to use your horn, your bil can get away with it but as a farang it can give you some grief.

A quick jab on the horn is acceptable to indicate to another rider/driver that you will not be giving way to them.