44 minutes ago, NoBrainer said:

 

Maybe the Government should concentrate on teaching common sense. Most Thai's I have spoken with don't really understand the concept.

^{There is no such concept or equivalent in the Thai language}

Numbers do not mean anything, might as well be 1 or 1,000,000, same difference.  WHY?  Because if it meant anything attitudes would change here, then numbers would drop.  Otherwise, it's boring news.  Might as well discuss covid for the next 30 years daily... 

Edited March 11, 20206 yr by mike787

All the big, flashy buildings and historic artifacts cannot conceal the primitive mindset and unsafe nature of roadway and pedstrian safety.

Odd, how most traffic accident reports, put the vehicle at fault, as if there are no drivers. 

I would have thought when the country embraced more vehicles, that police would have to step up to enforce the laws. There are no rules, only consequences.  I guess one could call this law enforcement by karma. 

You would be Safer in Idlib in Syria,than taking to the roads here.

9 hours ago, bangkokbonecollector said:

I really do not want to be that foreigner who complains about Thai drivers and this obviously doesn't go for all Thai drivers...some are actually very good and skilled BUT this is a problem with the society and specifically unaccountablity. Thai's are very wary of ever doing something in public which would result in loss of face. However, the concept of being within a car and usually a tinted windowed car, gives them a sort of escape from their normal social norm. It allows them to make face losing actions without having to suffer the consequences of actually losing face. I cannot tell you how many times I have singled out drivers driving badly using my horn, only for said car to yield back into the corner of the road/ lanes and hide or quickly speed away as if they are a naughty child who has just been caught. I feel that Thai's use driving as a sort of escape from the restricted norms of Thai culture/ society. When they get into their cars, they suddenly have this anonymous unaccountable freedom they just don't have outside the tinted windowed car, within Thai society. 

 

I have been driving in Bangkok and throughout Thailand for 2 years now and it is very dangerous but you learn from experience very quickly and there are many things you can do to help you survive the roads.

 

1. Traffic will suddenly come to a halt in any lane at any time and you may not see it happening until very late (tall cars/ poor distance between cars traffic). Thais seem to be very late breakers. If you are ever in the fast lane and you are in this situation, pull slightly to the right whilst breaking and put your emergency lights on. I say this because you will very often not be left a lot of time to brake and react and therefore neither will the driver behind you and they are most likely not keeping a two car distance even if you are. So break, pull slightly to the right and put those emergency lights on to warn the car behind you the trail of traffic has stopped or is slowing. I have had to do this many times and sometimes at speeds of 100km...needless to say I was rear ended as a result because I didn't pull to the right and didn't put my emergency lights on. Obviously this is easier said than done in a split second but with practise you will get good at it. I have actually be thanked by a driver later at a petrol station for warning him as he couldn't see just like me.

 

2. Blind corners, single lane with single lane traffic coming the other way...stick to the left shoulder. Two lanes each way winding roads for some KM, stay in the left lane. 

 

3. When approaching a U-turn area and you are in the middle lane of 3 lane road or left lane of 2 lane road, DO NOT THINK THE CAR WILL ALWAYS U-TURN INTO THE FAST LANE. Some drivers seem incapable of creating an angle before commencing the u-turn and thus cannot u-turn into the fast lane. Thankfully many u-turns now have actual u-turn lanes but even still, be very careful of this. 

 

4. Always assume a car is going to come into your lane. I estimate that 50% of drivers do not indicate in this country. 

 

5. With regards to point 1, people will tailgate you endlessly. Once going South a Black Fortuner tail gated me for a KM with headlights fully on route 4. I told my daughter to turn around and clearly show him she was in the back seat and to no avail. We got his plate number, reported him to the police, they didn't do a thing. Putting your emergency lights on to ward off tailgaters works 50% of the time. This should only ever be done if you cannot get out of the lane you are in. People will say that I am wrong in doing this because it could distract or confuse other drivers but in Thailand everyone will understand what you are doing if you do this. Don't listen to the PC brigade if they try and tell me I am wrong in doing this because it will safe your life. A Fortuna coming into the back of you at 100km + will probably kill whoever is in the back seat. 

 

I think I will leave it at 5 for now. One more thing though, use your horn to alert other cars you are there...they really just don't look half of the time. 

 

Be wary of Toyota Fortuna and Honda CRV drivers, they are the <deleted> worst!! 

Point 1. You should be driving at a speed that you can stop in for the distance you can see to be clear.

Point 5. You should have just slowed down very gradually without harsh braking and allowed him to overtake. Its not worth the accident

I spent 3 weeks in Hua Hin, where everyday I saw young kids in motorbikes passing me, no helmets, at 12 years old, no licences either. What always gets me are the foreign, expats and tourists being stupid and riding their rented bikes with no helmets as well. It would be nice to see the police  set up random stops and giving 1000 baht fines to the Thais plus 2000 baht fines to

the stupid, or ignorant foreignors.

Geezer

5 hours ago, Assurancetourix said:

" Super Elegance " written on the bus ( first photo ) ....

 

It must also be said that under a more or less thick layer of beautiful paintings, we have coaches dating from the stone age;
no relay gearbox;
no electromagnetic retarder,
no tachograph, compulsory in Germany since the 1950s and in France since 1969 ....
no visit to the mines every 6 months;
and above all, drivers who obtain their license to kill drive PL and coaches in 3 days! all-in .
Yesterday I left my stepson, he is 30 years old, to drive my pickup from Udon Thani to our home, not far from Sawang Daen Din.
He has all driving licenses in Thailand from motorcycles to maxi trucks and coaches.
On 70 km of four lanes, there were 60 in the right lane while there was no one in the normal traffic lane which is on the left.
It rolls in low beam when there is no one very far ahead of it; he is dazzled without reacting ..
Low beam = visibility of max 50 meters;
if you drive at 90 km / h, you need 80 meters to stop on a dry road; (and double if it rains)
so he has 30 meters of non visibility in front of him and it does not bother him at all. except if he has to brake in an emergency and in this case : ???? boom.

There have been road works between  Udon Thani and Sawang Daendin for the last 20yrs,my own experience and many deaths.You know you are driving in Thailand, so take your own relative precautions to suit the conditions.Good luck

So what is the real number of the total death due to having an accident in Thailand roadways I’d like somebody to publish just one time what the real numbers are TIT

6 hours ago, ezzra said:

Who needs to be afraid of a virus when you have this killing your people 24/7 364 days...

365 1/4 days in a year FYI 

Maybe government should take corpses of those who die of virus and drop them a traffic accidents, give traffic as reason for death.

Just spit ballin for the gov

69 of the 90 died on motorbikes and there lay the problem, how many were licensed and actually did a course to get there license, what's that you say, not a requirement here, oh, ok, now we know why so many die, how many wore helmets, how many were intoxicated, how many were children as passengers ?

"offers a driving tip, that drivers should slow down when entering bends".   <deleted> ! i'll give you a tip, go back to buffalos and carts........  Gap gwian dee kwaa........

 

Can you imagine if (God forbidding) Thailand gets a high speed railway and Somchai parks his cart on the level crossing whilst contemplating his existence........ It's going to be like something out of Mad Max, and if you make it to the road you'll be mauled by the cars an buses just to make sure......... Death race 2000.........

6 hours ago, petedk said:

Cough on the BTS and you will see people move away quickly. Do they run away when they see a car or a motorcycle?

Maybe it is worthwhile to invest in a sound system with the big speakers outside the car, and you play sounds of horrible cough attacks and near-death moans. I bet even cars and motorbikes stay away from you, thus reducing the risk of an accident...

Like flies on windscreens. How the hell do they do it? They all seem to believe that they’re immortal.

Well on our way to 1st place this year.  Thailand #1

6 hours ago, Henryford said:

It amuses me to see Thais riding around wearing masks but are happy not to wear helmets. Road accidents kill far more than Corona but no one cares.

AIDS kills even more but nobody wants to wear a condom

14 minutes ago, Stoker58 said:

Like flies on windscreens. How the hell do they do it? They all seem to believe that they’re immortal.

The idiotic belief in karma is partly to blame. Many think they will die when it is their time to die, so that no helmet, riding while drunk and looking at your mobile phone does not have any effect on your likelihood of snuffing it. ????

4 minutes ago, moutamine said:

Well on our way to 1st place this year.  Thailand #1

My wife will be over the moon with Thailand #1

5 hours ago, CNXexpat said:

If they would have they same energy to fight the the many accidents as they fight the virus, the number of deaths would fall very quick. But nobody cares.

Why would they care. Its population control that works, with no effort or cost to the government.

 

 

                    Stargrazer!    I`m all with you on this one, where people

                    come from (fairly) safe driving European countries, as well from 

                    America, knowing how to behave mainly because we have a good

                    education when learning to drive. And then coming here and throw all

                    safety overboard, with no helmets, not even for their kids!

                    I see it everyday and I`m just thinking: Jeez!!

 

                   And could anybody, ANYBODY please educate people how to behave

                   in a roundabout!!                

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wonder if you study the statistics, air pollution has greater health effects than Thai driving....Scary thought 

 

and Thais are paranoid about another strain of flu oops I mean the corona virus....

 

Media is to blame about instilling fear in the wrong priorities causing death and illness...

Happy songran everyone  There will probably 450 less thai drivers by the end of songran but hey it will pass Every day you see Thai drivers in action and u just shake your head Speeding ,no helmets ,driving on wrong side of road, running red lights etc etc etc etc etc etc etc The cops. What cops Does Thailand have a police force?

18 minutes ago, Surasak said:

Why would they care. Its population control that works, with no effort or cost to the government.

If they would enforce the law on the streets, they could make a lot of money with fines.

 

6 hours ago, Assurancetourix said:

How can you actually learn the rules of the road AND learn to drive a coach AND a truck in 3 days?

My stepson passed these driver's licenses in Nong Han, Udon Thani province a few weeks ago .
He went there 3 days;
classes start at 9 am, end at 4 pm and of course a few breaks including lunch ...

If I ask him how many meters it will take him to stop if he drives 60 km / h on a wet road;
he is unable to give me the right answer.

What the <deleted> do they learn, then? When I got my USA motorcycle license via the course given at the local Harley dealership, two days of classroom time (learning exactly those types of facts about motorcycle and car performance) was followed by two entire days of being made to stop in straight lines and curves over and over and over until we did it correctly. Thus, I was a safe rider after that and only got my license after passing a strict and complicated performance test. 

Edited March 11, 20206 yr by JCP108

7 hours ago, webfact said:

A staggering 90 people were reported dead at the scene on Thailand's roads on Monday

In one day !!!!

Rather puts things into perspective.

The increasing death statistics are in inverse proportion to the average Thai IQ.

I understand perfectly about Thai driving personally. My wife was driving home with her motorcycle side cart after a day of selling food and ice cream. Well, she crashed on the way home flipping the motorbike and side cart. Not paying attention I surmise. No other vehicle involved. Wrecking them both and injuring herself with multiple bruises. And NOT wearing a helmet. We have multiple helmets home. I exploded on her regarding no helmet. She was very lucky as the cart flipped on the right side throwing her into the grass. Now, she definitely wears one each time she leaves on her other motorbike. Luck and Buddha were with her that day. She has been driving 25 years without a D/L. I cannot convince her to get one. Typical Thai answer,"No problem" Up to you I replied. I gave up.

Who cares? I don't. It's god's way of culling the stupid

2 hours ago, Asquith Production said:

Point 1. You should be driving at a speed that you can stop in for the distance you can see to be clear.

Point 5. You should have just slowed down very gradually without harsh braking and allowed him to overtake. Its not worth the accident

I don't know if you drive here but I hope you can see my point.