Why are 12 year old kids and younger riding motorcycles?

[stouricks]

15 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Let me think OK 2 secs is enough you ain't been here long have you and brought your western mind into Thailand with you.

Nah, only been here 10 years. 

[Bangkok Barry]

15 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

What are you on about with "no training"? They've been riding on m'bikes since before they could walk, and certainly way better m'bike riders than the average farang guest in LOS.

 

To answer the OP; because they don't live in a PC nanny state like the OP does.

 

Seems to me that TVF is populated by some people that think they know better than Thais how they should live in their own country. There's a word that describes such people.

Many kids are so young they have no chance to properly control a heavy bike. But whatever they want to do, okay. It's their country, I just don't have any sympathy for the parents when they arrive to see their kid's body being scrapped off the road and loaded into the back of a pickup. None at all.

 

Serves them right for being not only irresponsible for letting them ride a bike they are too young to control, but also instilling in their kid that it's perfectly okay to ignore the law, one that is actually in place to protect them. In my book, they should never be allowed to be parents, but society allows anyone to be a parent, no matter how unsuitable they may be. Absolutely no qualifications needed. None at all.

 

Maybe I just come from a different generation, one that had the intelligence and common sense to know that most laws are there to protect and should be obeyed. Now, many lack self-discipline and want their 'personal freedom', and if that includes the freedom to kill each other who am I to argue?

[Kwasaki]

10 minutes ago, stouricks said:

Nah, only been here 10 years. 

You surprise me, 10 years and you post something like this, don't you like the freedom here compared to say UK & Oz which I'm told is worse.

[Accidental Tourist]

Because they have to train for accident,s later in their adulthood...

[RocketDog]

15 hours ago, cyril sneer said:

teach them young so they'll drive better when they get older, same as anything 5

Maybe, but it's also possible they will drive a car like it's a motorbike. I see it every day and the physics just aren't the same. Besides that, they are not 'taught' anything, young or old. 

 

I think their habit of clearing people and other vehicles  by mere inches is confirmation of this. 

 

All of that aside, all the fond memories from farang youth ignore the fact that their home country did not lead the world in traffic fatalities. 

 

Walking thru a mud puddle is simply not the same as racing through a snake invested jungle. 

[papa al]

Last season papa's 9-y/o buddy Gun 

won the 65cc class Thai motocross title.

He also finished the season 3rd in 85cc, 12-y/o class.

He can wheelie, hit massive jumps,

all that.

Not too worried when he rides the Wave around.

[seajae]

off road, race tracks and enclosed areas is fine for them to learn to ride, its when they go on the open roads and ride like idiots ignoring the law it gets hairy, yes we used to do it but didnt ride in traffic or busy roads, a few back streets now and then, here they just dont have enough common sense/ brain power to know better than to play chicken with other road users. Its the same with many adult thai riders/drivers, total lack of common sense, they ignore road rules because they dont suit them or they simply dont want to know them and they dont care anyway, having any road etiquette/thinking of other road users is totally foreign to them, its all about them. Parents have a lot to answer for, if they actually instilled learning road rules or teaching common sense and took responsibility for their kids we wouldnt see so many die, as my wife says all the time, they are lack the education to realize/know better

 

[digger70]

Why are 12 year old kids and younger riding motorcycles?

  

Because they can and No one is stopping them . Same as with any other Law. ☹️

[marquis22]

Because they can.

[Road Warrior]

why -- because their parents dont care or love their children !!

[Max69xl]

17 hours ago, stouricks said:

It cannot be much fun and adventure driving your Mum or Granny on the back of the bike to the local 7-11. But they do, adults couldn't care less. No insurance, no training, but hey, I want to go to the shops....drive me!

This is Thailand and not your home country. Just deal with it. 

[NoshowJones]

16 hours ago, OneeyedJohn said:

The problem is when they get on a bike and do stupid things, an accident occurs and it is the parents who have to cough up for the hospital bills.

Kids don't qualify for the 30 baht scheme, and the school won't cough up.

"Kids don't qualify for the 30 baht scheme". Is that not because it is free for the kids?

[Deli]

Coz it's definitely better than walking

[NoshowJones]

3 hours ago, Chicken George said:

Bad move to keep him off them.. I taught mine sat 10 years old to ride. Scooter first then a small engined bke with a clutch. I explained everything about importance of rode safety. Taught to handle a bike properly. Instilled in him that speed kills. I hope this has taken the edge of the excitement of getting a bike or using a friends when older. You will not be able to control him keep him away from bikes as he gets older. Better to prepare him.. He at sometime will go on the back of a friends bike who may GE a lunatic. Better he rides his own. Its a way of life here. I know I felt the same as you but reality is a different matter. He is now 16 and waiting to take the test. Good luck and best not to lock him away from reality..

Your post does make a lot of sense, but no one should ride a motorbike on public roads without insurance, so that in itself should rule out any underage riding. These underage riders are a danger to everyone who drives, rides, or even just walks.

[seancbk]

To get from A to B. 

Why else would they be riding one? 

The bigger question is why do you care?

[NoshowJones]

43 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

This is Thailand and not your home country. Just deal with it. 

What a load of nonsense.

[1FinickyOne]

18 hours ago, giddyup said:

The short answer is, because they can.

and while they are at it, they can pick up a couple of things in the market too..

[Kwasaki]

2 hours ago, Morty T said:

All you have to worry about, is if you're in an accident with that 12 year old with your car, you're at fault.

That's what 1st class insurance is for and aplies to anyone using the road. 

[Tchooptip]

19 hours ago, Don Mega said:

I agree, I was 8 when I got my first bike but was riding since I was 6.

I love your answer????

[Kwasaki]

3 hours ago, Kurtf said:

There are many laws in Thailand. More than 90% of them are seldom or NEVER enforced.

Another western view, as said already laws are looked at differently here the laws are in place here for if or something happens . 

[lensta]

Because nobody cares. End of.

[KhaoYai]

3 hours ago, pineapple01 said:

Perhaps Thai watch the World News. They can see all those Western Laws mean nothing,so lets fine a poor Thai going to the shops on what is nothing more than a powered bicycle.

Yes, probably similar to the 'powered bicycle' that two 14 year olds (I think 14) were riding when they were killed in Pattaya a couple of weeks back I seem to remember.

[PETERTHEEATER]

18 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

These kids been riding one way or the other for their entire lives. Many ride up front when young, they got a bird's eye view of all of it.

Were those the so-called 'basket cases'?

[lordblackader]

Because This is Thailand. 

[Nanaplaza666]

18 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

What are you on about with "no training"? They've been riding on m'bikes since before they could walk, and certainly way better m'bike riders than the average farang guest in LOS.

 

To answer the OP; because they don't live in a PC nanny state like the OP does.

 

Seems to me that TVF is populated by some people that think they know better than Thais how they should live in their own country. There's a word that describes such people.

Yes it's called "thaibeachlovers" 555555 but serious the OP must not be here long if he is worrying about something like this , even adults cannot drive(let's say 90%) and people saying it's better for them to start young so they can drive better when they are older is total B.S because if nobody teaches them the rules or how to drive properly , they will never learn and that's the whole problem of the system here . They are never thaught well just some basic rules and a 5 min drive on a parking lot never ever are they being thaught how to read traffic or whatsoever .

[Aussiepeter]

A great many Thais will never in their lifetime have enough money to buy a car, but can buy a motorcycle with a small down-payment. Hence the popularity of motorcycles here. All of us who have lived here any length of time have seen up to five people (or even more) on a single motorbike. You can see at least three kids on a motorbike outside any school on any day here in LOS, most of them not wearing helmets. Girls are often the worst at this, as helmets "mess up their hair," When I was teaching in C Mai fifteen years ago, a Thai policeman that we knew bought his teenage son a new Honda Wave and a good full-face helmet, for his birthday. As I was leaving school that afternoon I found it difficult to enter the main road near the school, due to a traffic jam. When I finally got out, there was the same boy dead on the road, his head smashed in a pool of blood. His helmet was still in the basket on the front of the Honda. He literally had almost no other injury at all, but a completely fractured skull. He had tried to push in front of a song-tow at low speed, with disastrous (for hIm) consequences. He had just turned fourteen. As for us foreigners, yes farang do die here too in motorcycle accidents and, a lot more than is reported, especially if the farang happens to come to grief out in the boonies, rather than in a heavily touristed area. There is a good book called "De Mortis" about the graves in the C Mai Foreign Cemetery and some of those buried in that cemetery resulted from motorcycle prangs. Speed and alcohol were often a factor, but not always. I lost a good friend in C Mai after he was run over by a truck when riding an old and very slow motorcycle. In the twenty-five years or so I lived in LOS, I can recall at least forty farang who have reached "roads end" as a result of motorcycle accidents, but most farang who die here in such accidents are usually cremated, so there are no graves for them. Statistically though, with Thais of all ages killing themselves at more than sixty a day in motor vehicle (usually motorcycle) accidents, we farang don't even rate a mention. Poor parenting and a pathetic, useless police force just means that the carnage and needless death of children riding motorcycles here in LOS will continue unabated.  

[pineapple01]

Just now, Aussiepeter said:

A great many Thais will never in their lifetime have enough money to buy a car, but can buy a motorcycle with a small down-payment. Hence the popularity of motorcycles here. All of us who have lived here any length of time have seen up to five people (or even more) on a single motorbike. You can see at least three kids on a motorbike outside any school on any day here in LOS, most of them not wearing helmets. Girls are often the worst at this, as helmets "mess up their hair," When I was teaching in C Mai fifteen years ago, a Thai policeman that we knew bought his teenage son a new Honda Wave and a good full-face helmet, for his birthday. As I was leaving school that afternoon I found it difficult to enter the main road near the school, due to a traffic jam. When I finally got out, there was the same boy dead on the road, his head smashed in a pool of blood. His helmet was still in the basket on the front of the Honda. He literally had almost no other injury at all, but a completely fractured skull. He had tried to push in front of a song-tow at low speed, with disastrous (for hIm) consequences. He had just turned fourteen. As for us foreigners, yes farang do die here too in motorcycle accidents and, a lot more than is reported, especially if the farang happens to come to grief out in the boonies, rather than in a heavily touristed area. There is a good book called "De Mortis" about the graves in the C Mai Foreign Cemetery and some of those buried in that cemetery resulted from motorcycle prangs. Speed and alcohol were often a factor, but not always. I lost a good friend in C Mai after he was run over by a truck when riding an old and very slow motorcycle. In the twenty-five years or so I lived in LOS, I can recall at least forty farang who have reached "roads end" as a result of motorcycle accidents, but most farang who die here in such accidents are usually cremated, so there are no graves for them. Statistically though, with Thais of all ages killing themselves at more than sixty a day in motor vehicle (usually motorcycle) accidents, we farang don't even rate a mention. Poor parenting and a pathetic, useless police force just means that the carnage and needless death of children riding motorcycles here in LOS will continue unabated.  

Thank You Teacher, Sit Down please. Australia. The Birthplace of todays Law Abiding Youth,and Laws for everything they ignore. 

[Aussiepeter]

Pineapple is right in one respect - youth crime is out of control in the far north of Oz, but there is a common denominator involved there that is too politically emotive at the moment to mention. Last week in Brisbane five teenagers stole a new car (from some old man like me) and the 14 y.o. driving it at high speed rolled it, killing his four young passengers instantly. They all came from similar socio-economic backgrounds, - two were 'imports' from NZ. All were "known to the authorities". Where were their parents ? By the way - I am wealthy and I only taught English in LOS to avoid becoming an alcoholic through boredom, although some may say that I already was one. Ironically, I used the money from teaching to buy two motorcycles, one of which is being registered here in Oz this week. Youth trying to break the law in this tiny backwoods town will fall foul of our local cops, who are terrific at their job. No crime here. Whilst pushing our Honda Dream down the road to the bike shop, they stopped to advise me not to even sit on it, as although it was not running, I would technically be 'riding it unregistered'. I had a chuckle to myself. Half the bikes on the road in LOS have no plates or rego or insurance and anyway, most riders don't have any licence either. I eventually had a gut-full of teaching kids who did not want to learn and being treated poorly by so-called 'hiso' schools in LOS, so I quit in 2005. Now 70, I was just like many on this forum being informative, not preaching. Riding a motorcycle at any time requires caution and experience - riding one in LOS is just plain dangerous, although I managed it for over twenty-five years relatively unscathed. I look forward to going shopping on our 2009 Honda Dream later in the week. Unlike the Honda postal bikes here that were made in China and constantly break down, at least ours was built in LOS and will go for ever !  

[Harry Fingerling]

21 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

Because it's fun and adventurous.

Indeed, although it wasn’t fun for granny who got catapulted across the road on her face as her 12 year old granddaughter rammed my legally parked car. (Both not wearing helmets)

[PatOngo]

Why? Because ma and por think they are geng mak na!