Think twice before riding a motorcycle in Thailand - Thai biker in wheelchair warns others

[webfact]

Think twice before riding a motorcycle in Thailand - Thai biker in wheelchair warns others

 

Image: Daily News

 

A former motorcyclist went online to warn others about the dangers of riding a motorcycle in Thailand. 

 

In a much viewed post Chavakorn Boosai listed all the terrible consequences after he came off his bike.

 

He posted a picture of him staring forlornly out of his house sitting in a wheelchair. 

 

He asked if he looked as stylish now in his wheelchair like he did when he was racing on his swanky motorcycle. 

 

He listed a litany of broken bones, medical procedures and surgeries, problems with toilet functions, lower paralysis, weird looks from other people, 3 million baht expense using his family's money - you name it, he's suffered it. Nothing is normal for him now.

 

Every morning when he wakes up he feels awful. 

 

This all happened in the blink of an eye when he came off his bike. 

 

Source: Daily News

 

 

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[KhunKenAP]

If you drive a motorcycle in Thailand it is not a question of "Will I be in a motorcycle accident, it is when". 

Edited June 10, 2020 by KhunKenAP
grammer

[OneeyedJohn]

So a 20,000 baht or thereabouts helmet didn't do him much good.

[Swiss1960]

I think I would win the bet that he did not wear any of the protective items that the driver on the left pic wears..

[OneeyedJohn]

I thought that was him in both pictures.

[tlandtday]

Riding a motorcycle in thailand cas still be relatively safe and manageable but you must be ride in a passive/aggressive defensive manner and certainly not a boy racer style with skinny tires and no lights at breakneck speeds.

[curious297]

I've been riding a bike in Phuket and around Thailand for over 16 years and had only one accident. First days on the bike, I slipped on dirt at the side of the road while breaking. 

A few simple rules I follow to survive:

 

• Keep away from the dust and <deleted> in the left lane
• Drive with the traffic and not through traffic
• Mirror, signal and manoeuvre
• Stay behind at distance. Do not drive side by side to other vehicles
• Be vigilant of cars turning in and out of roads. They will pull out without warning
• Don't Jump traffic lights
• Don't drive in the rain. Car drivers rarely adjust their speed or breaking distance in rain.
• Don't drive with your whole family as passengers.
• Stop trying to impress yourself with your bike skills. No one cares
• Most important - Be safer than safe

 

 

[holy cow cm]

Big bikes and kids and most Thai is a disaster waiting to happen. I have way over 25yrs of riding bikes here and never a problem. It's all how you ride defensively and offensively with your eyes and brain open. Even just yesterday it was twice that if I did not see and use a defensive move the Thai in both of the cars would have hit me.. some days are worse than others, but now one of the biggest dangerous threats to the road are the Panda and Grab riders.

[Titan1962]

90% of the idiots on the roads are boy racers relying heavily on other road users to avoid them. Most of the female riders have more common sense and are not willing to put themselves in as much danger.

I still get frustrated as <deleted> driving and riding here in Thailand,but I know nothing will change. For instance just yesterday while at the 7/11 observed a motorcycle with two kids on it riding on the main road. Guarantee both of them would have been under 12 years old,no helmets and the bike didn’t even have a number plate on it.

So it’s all part of living in Thailand and the culture,the families allow their kids to ride underage and unlicensed. The police don’t enforce the law to a point that it will stop. So my advice would be,just be extra careful and always expect the unexpected,especially vehicles pulling out in front of you.

[colinneil]

36 minutes ago, tlandtday said:

Riding a motorcycle in thailand cas still be relatively safe and manageable but you must be ride in a passive/aggressive defensive manner and certainly not a boy racer style with skinny tires and no lights at breakneck speeds.

Well  mate, my bike was just a regular Honda wave, no skinny tyres, lights worked fine, bit old to be a boy racer.

Yet here i am in exactly the same situation as that young man.

It is not how you behave on the road, but how others behave, i am paralyzed because of a clown driving the wrong way, and driving like an idiot.

[Mavideol]

he should explain what happen and how it happen, to avoid any negative feed back, was he doing something that he should not have, speculations will be starting soon

[PerkinsCuthbert]

I had a powerful motorcycle in Thailand for a year or two thirty years ago. How I or my girlfriend at the time weren't killed, I don't know.

As is well known, it doesn't matter that you are, or consider yourself to be, a skilled rider, there are just too many maniacs on the road in this country to make it a good bet that you'll survive.

Edited June 10, 2020 by PerkinsCuthbert

[drbeach]

"Weird looks from other people"? How shallow can you get? He's in a wheelchair! Not that uncommon and certainly no reason to disrespect him.

[Zikomat]

The stupidest thing ever is to buy your teenager son a motorcycle. Or even let him buy one himself. 
 

 

 

Edited June 10, 2020 by Zikomat

[holy cow cm]

3 minutes ago, Zikomat said:

The stupidest thing ever is to buy your teenager son a motorcycle. 
 

 

 

No, a big fast bike. I bought my kid a bike but it is a 125cc and not a peed demon bike. Big bikes also have a different weight ratio.

[Berkshire]

I feel for the young man.  I have an American friend who's in the same predicament.  In a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down for life.  It's very sad, I can't imagine being in their shoes.  I used to ride as a young man back in the USA.  But not anymore.  All it takes is one serious accident.  I'd rather be in my armored SUV than take a chance like that. 

[billd766]

Sometime in the 1980s I used to have a Yamaha 250cc and I only came off twice, both times on the wet grass out side my house. That was in the days of once you passed your bike test you could ride any sized motor bike.

 

A 19 year old passed his test, went to the big motorbike shop in the village and bought himself a nice 1,000 cc Honda and road it away. 2 hours later he was dead.

 

I have been riding scooters and bikes in Thailand since about 2007. I rode for 10 years on a Honda and a Yamaha scooter, A Honda Phantom 200 cc, a 550 cc Yamaha Virago and a Honda CB 400 cc. I came off the Yamaha scooter doing a slow U turn on gravel, I came off the Virago on some twisties due to rain and worn tyres, and was T-boned on my Phantom by 2 old ladies running the red light.

 

2 years ago at 75 I gave up biking as I feel too old and if I dropped a bike I would not be able to pick it up.

 

I have to say that it was fun at the time in Thailand but I won't miss it at all.

[holy cow cm]

This story reminds me of a story about 6-8 months ago up here outside CM. 15 yr old kid no helmet flying down the road on a Ninja rice rocket back from San Sai area and eats it into car turning. Lost his leg. No license and the obvious the parents bought it for him. Had video from a car after he passed the car.

[Jane Dough]

For years I had a small silver skull on my bike key ring. It reminded me never to let my guard down riding in Thailand or anywhere else.

 

Rooster 

 

 

[tgw]

11 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Well  mate, my bike was just a regular Honda wave, no skinny tyres, lights worked fine, bit old to be a boy racer.

Yet here i am in exactly the same situation as that young man.

It is not how you behave on the road, but how others behave, i am paralyzed because of a clown driving the wrong way, and driving like an idiot.

unfortunately, there will always be cases where driver who did nothing wrong sustain injuries or worse caused by another driver, or even because of no one's fault at all (for example when struck by a rock dislodged by weather conditions).

 

it would be interesting to know why exactly this young man is in a wheelchair.

 

and in general I would be interested by detailed injuries/deaths statistics based on different factors including driver behavior.

 

[ramrod711]

I arrived in Thailand in 2005, had only ridden a motorbike once in my life. I was walking everywhere and all the motorbike rental shops in town made it tempting to give it a try. I saw a guy on Moon Muang get on a bike, fire it up, attempt to back it out off the curb and fall over. He never moved more than one meter. I decided at that moment that this was not the place to learn to ride and I was a bit old to learn. I don't regret it, I envy the bikers ability to get through traffic, good luck to those who ride them.

[OneMoreFarang]

A couple of options:

a) Use a car or public transport, it often takes forever

b) Don't go anywhere

c) Ride a motorcycle by yourself and try to be careful

d) Ride with a motorcycle taxi and hope he is not a maniac

For me the choice is easy, c.

And about the guy in the picture. That bike has a top speed of about 300km/h....

Mostly it's possible to drive not too fast and relative secure on Thai roads. Part of that is to ride not aggressive and expect at any time the unexpected.

Sure, it's possible to die in an accident. It's also possible to die walking across a zebra crossing.

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, KhunKenAP said:

If you drive a motorcycle in Thailand it is not a question of "Will I be in a motorcycle accident, it is when". 

you ride in Thailand?

[gillap]

I guess I've been lucky for I've been driving for 8 years without any mishap. I remember my first drive on the new pcx... I was nervous as hell...40Kbper hour was fast! But I got yo have instincts for driving... I applied the same rules I have when driving a car! I especially now look for bikes coming from the left sois because they never look if anybody is coming... I am always leery of vendor carts who are a dangerous road hazard and I avoid getting angry at agressive minibus drivers! One must use common sense when driving in Thailand...yes the overly young drivers are a constant threat to us...so beware when you see young fools on any bike! 

[scubascuba3]

50 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Well  mate, my bike was just a regular Honda wave, no skinny tyres, lights worked fine, bit old to be a boy racer.

Yet here i am in exactly the same situation as that young man.

It is not how you behave on the road, but how others behave, i am paralyzed because of a clown driving the wrong way, and driving like an idiot.

What happened in your case? i frequently watch bike crash videos to learn the mistakes people make. Here's one people can learn from

 

https://www.liveleak.com/v?t=gf410kqg

[Oldie]

1 hour ago, tlandtday said:

Riding a motorcycle in thailand cas still be relatively safe and manageable but you must be ride in a passive/aggressive defensive manner and certainly not a boy racer style with skinny tires and no lights at breakneck speeds.

A Thai friend was hit at daytime at a straight road from behind - the car failed to stop. Her child is dead and one leg got amputated. 

[Tropicalevo]

In many cases, it is not how careful you but rather how bad 'they' are.

A friend was wiped out whilst driving behind a truck. A speeding car came up behind him and ran straight into him and the truck in front. Squashed. Terminal.

I had my first close shave last night after being here for 20 years.

They have improved the roads here on Samui and without tourists, local kids are using them as a race track. I am driving through the village, good as gold, well on the left, and two kids racing, one passing the other, both on my side of the road as they were passing a big fuel tanker lorry at the same time. Just managed to avoid them.

Note to self - do not ride at night.

[bodga]

3 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

What happened in your case? i frequently watch bike crash videos to learn the mistakes people make. Here's one people can learn from

 

https://www.liveleak.com/v?t=gf410kqg

Ask  Colin how "helpful"  the Police were in all of this  also

[scubascuba3]

Certainly you can be very unlucky and have a crash even though you've done nothing wrong but you can massively reduce your risk by riding safely, not at night, get to know all the risky places (junctions, drains, metal covers, sand, potholes etc).

 

From the 100s of videos of motorcycle accidents I've seen the large majority are caused by poor riding, taking unnecessary risk or often just being reckless

[scubascuba3]

7 minutes ago, bodga said:

Ask  Colin how "helpful"  the Police were in all of this  also

yeah heard it before but i wondered about the exact details of the accident itself