Jump to content
Be the first to know! Get our Daily Newsletter! ×

Northern Thailand: GPS led Bangkok tourists into the abyss - four seriously injured

rooster59

By rooster59
in Chiang Rai

Recommended Posts

rooster59 Star Member

rooster59

Posted
Posted

Northern Thailand: GPS led Bangkok tourists into the abyss - four seriously injured

 

194415.jpg

Image: 77kaoded

 

77kaoded reported that a group of tourists being driven around by a driver from Bangkok ended up careening down a hillside in Nan province in the north of Thailand. 

 

GPS was blamed for guiding them to a treacherous stretch of road in Na Meun district between Nan and Phrae. 

 

Local officials, police and hospital rescue teams were soon on the scene on Thursday evening and found a 38 year old man and three passengers, two aged 30, with serious injuries. 

 

They had been travelling in a Mitsubishi Strada pick-up adapted for off road conditions. They were on their way from Nan to Uttaradit. 

 

Their GPS had led them to the area, said the media, and due to their unfamiliarity with the driving conditions they had plunged down the hillside. 

 

Source: 77kaoded

 

thai+visa_news.jpg

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2020-01-04
Link to comment
Share on other sites
villagefarang Ruby Member

villagefarang

Posted
Posted

Just try using GPS in an area you know well and listen to all the crazy stuff the GPS lady tells you to do.  It can be funny when she tells you to turn down a road which you know is blocked or under construction but not so funny if you actually do what she tells you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cornishcarlos Platinum Member

cornishcarlos

Posted
Posted
45 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

I'm confused as to why people believe GPS over the 100 yards visibility in front of them

 

That's my wife to a tee... 

She will swear blind that I need to turn now, even though I can see that the turn is 300m further and the big green sign tells me everything I need to know !!

She's a lovely lady ????

Link to comment
Share on other sites
30la Silver Member

30la

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, rooster59 said:

GPS was blamed for guiding them to a treacherous stretch of road in Na Meun district between Nan and Phrae. 

As you use your GPS navigator you no longer have to keep an eye on where you go?
Link to comment
Share on other sites
GreasyFingers Gold Member

GreasyFingers

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, shady86 said:

As usual, not own fault. GPS fault, road fault, car fault, everything other than ownself. 

If you have ever used a GPS away from the cities it was more than likely the fault of the GPS (not rolling down a hillside) but putting you in the wrong place.

I always remember my Garmin (before it died after 13 months) when on my way to Loei. A T-intersection was coming up and the GPS and road signs told me to turn right. Immediately after turning right the GPS was saying to do a u-turn and would not re-calibrate the route. Had to turn it off as it was useless.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Thailand Noobie Explorer Member

Thailand Noobie

Posted
Posted
19 hours ago, billd766 said:

That is quite possible depending on how the GPS was set up. If it was set for no main highways and off roading then it was not the fault of the GPS but that of the driver and whoever set up the GPS.

I don't blame the GPS, driver still need to do decisions where to go. This wasnt the first time in here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
neeray Gold Member

neeray

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Vacuum said:

I've never used a gps always relied on a paper map, always arrived at my destination. What's wrong with people nowadays?

To each their own. 

OMG. I remember those days of driver distraction by paper maps. My X, master navigator, used to get so upset because the street she was looking for was usually in the crevice between 2 pages. 

Love this era of GPS !

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Vacuum Silver Member

Vacuum

Posted
Posted
26 minutes ago, neeray said:

OMG. I remember those days of driver distraction by paper maps. My X, master navigator, used to get so upset because the street she was looking for was usually in the crevice between 2 pages.

lol, yes having a "navigator" can result in a "X".

Link to comment
Share on other sites
hotchilli Star Member

hotchilli

Posted
Posted
20 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Their GPS had led them to the area, said the media, and due to their unfamiliarity with the driving conditions they had plunged down the hillside.

Guess it was a bit different from the usual traffic jam in Bangkok on a 4-lane road!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
atyclb Platinum Member

atyclb

Posted
Posted
20 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Where ever the GPS guides you, driving is still reliant on a switch on person behind the wheel. 

 

This is just crappy driving... the GPS leading them to a poorer quality road is nothing more than attempted deflection from basic human error. 

 perhaps they believe they can close their eyes and just listen to gps speaking where to turn??  add a few good luck pendants and can just take a knap until arrival at destination

Link to comment
Share on other sites
neeray Gold Member

neeray

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Vacuum said:

lol, yes having a "navigator" can result in a "X".

Haha. That was never an issue. Navigating was one of her 3 great talents. Cooking was also one.

...............

Link to comment
Share on other sites
billd766 Star Member

billd766

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Thailand Noobie said:

I don't blame the GPS, driver still need to do decisions where to go. This wasnt the first time in here.

I can set up my GPS in various modes to take the shortest, quickest, avoiding major highways, normal or high resolution, speaker on or off, a choice of languages etc. Once I have set it up I generally keep an eye on it every so often, but mostly on the road ahead. Several times it has put me in the wrong part of a road and I have had to backtrack and find an alternative route but it has never put me over a cliff yet.

It does get a bit confused along the BangNa Trat highway as it can't tell the expressway above from the highway directly below.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
paulbrow Advanced Member

paulbrow

Posted
Posted

This is by no means anything other than a true little story. Certainly not in support of the above story. I use my GPS all the time, but admittedly mostly for other functions like ETA. I have found it amazing as what is often programmed in the Thai mapping system. One day, broad daylight, I decided to actually follow my GPS given instructions, despite knowing they were wrong but totally curious where it would lead me.... I actually wound up out on a farm, field access road, complete with deep ruts, following the plowed contures of the corn fields I was surrounded by. It was fun! But to this day I have no idea how that path ever got programmed as a "road"! As usual, let common sense be your guiding light.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Thailand Noobie Explorer Member

Thailand Noobie

Posted
Posted
18 hours ago, billd766 said:

I can set up my GPS in various modes to take the shortest, quickest, avoiding major highways, normal or high resolution, speaker on or off, a choice of languages etc. Once I have set it up I generally keep an eye on it every so often, but mostly on the road ahead. Several times it has put me in the wrong part of a road and I have had to backtrack and find an alternative route but it has never put me over a cliff yet.

It does get a bit confused along the BangNa Trat highway as it can't tell the expressway above from the highway directly below.

Yeah never blindly trust the GPS, in here many times it can give wrong path or the path which even dosen't exists haha.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.




×
×
  • Create New...