Driving in Thailand

[Salerno]

36 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

Yes why is this? 

 

Because they can't rely on someone not running a red light.

[VocalNeal]

3 minutes ago, Salerno said:

 

Because they can't rely on someone not running a red light.

 

No that is a delay. I beleive what @Lacessit meant was that the speed at which they accelerate away from the lights once moving.

I might add that eventually after accelerating away from the lights like molasses they come roaring by at 130 plus.

[jackdd]

2 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

No that is a delay. I beleive what @Lacessit meant was that the speed at which they accelerate away from the lights once moving.

I might add that eventually after accelerating away from the lights like molasses they come roaring by at 130 plus.

Because they are not aware of their surroundings, and by pulling away very slowly they would give the other party (if there is one who they might not see because they are not using their mirrors) a chance to avoid crashing with them.

Just pay attention to how often you have to take action so that you don't collide with another vehicle because it cuts you off. I estimate that if I would drive in the city going 50km/h (if traffic allows it) just straight all the time, but not breaking, swerving or whatever because somebody else does something stupid, I would have an accident every few kilometers.

Edited January 22, 2021 by jackdd

[Salerno]

2 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

I beleive what @Lacessit meant was that the speed at which they accelerate away from the lights once moving.

 

Yes, because they take off slowly so they can see if some idiot ignored the red and once confident no one's heading their way they floor it.

[greenmonkey]

The average Thai is a bad driver, they rarely stay in a lane for starters... but i don't think its their fault. I put it down to the learning and testing system in place. It's laughable. And whats even more laughable is the govts repeated attempts at these silly public declarations at tackling the Thai roads but never actually changing the learning and testing system. Honestly it beggars belief.... its so blindingly obvious at how to start fixing the problem but it never gets done. #shameonthegovt (thats twice i used that hashtag today - i wonder how many more)

[pedro01]

15 hours ago, Ondral said:

The back of my car was two meters away from the road.  Please don't libel me.  I know where I live, you don't.

 

Look like you live in a shanty town.

 

If you don't like Thais - don't live here.

[pedro01]

I've been here 22 years and driven all of them.

 

I also remember in the 70s in UK when drink driving was the norm. Government campaigns successfully attached a stigma to drink driving. 

 

Thailand hasn't done that yet. Nor is there any on-road enforcement of traffic laws. What we see on the roads is a reflection of that.

 

Saying that - Thais love their cars and 99% don't drive like idiots - but the 1% don't get their licenses taken off them, nor would they stop driving if they did as there's no enforcement. 

[Lacessit]

4 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

 

No that is a delay. I beleive what @Lacessit meant was that the speed at which they accelerate away from the lights once moving.

I might add that eventually after accelerating away from the lights like molasses they come roaring by at 130 plus.

If I am at the front of the traffic at the lights, I move off smartly after checking there is no idiot running the red light. I can guarantee 95% of the time the rest of the traffic will be 200- 300 metres behind me, and I am not a leadfoot.

And yes, they do come roaring by at 130 plus, while I am cruising sedately at 80-90 km/hr. Fuel economy is also something they know nothing about.

[VocalNeal]

3 hours ago, pedro01 said:

Nor is there any on-road enforcement of traffic laws.

 

Magic here isn't it?

[VocalNeal]

On 1/21/2021 at 7:57 PM, Lacessit said:

The OP had his car parked projecting out into the road, he contributed to the collision.

 

There is at least a few feet of space in front of the parked car.  If used that would have saved damage to the OP's car. 

[bluemoon58]

On 1/21/2021 at 7:57 PM, Lacessit said:

They move away from traffic lights as if it is a competition to be the slowest.

Had to chuckle at this one. Definitely used to be one of my pet hates here but 9 years later I just grin as I expect it to happen anyway.  

[bluemoon58]

On 1/21/2021 at 7:39 PM, Pro1Expat said:

One thing Thai drivers are bad at is reverse parking, that I will grant you

They're not that good going forward either...!!!

 

[spidermike007]

The only way to survive here on the road, is to be patient, have eyes in the back of your head, drive with caution, and always, and I mean always watch out of the other guy. Chances are, he does not have much driving skill, nor patience, nor reason, nor common sense. You cannot be too careful on the road here. Especially considering that the toy police offer no traffic safety, nor enforcement of the law.

 

When I was growing up, we took drivers education courses. They showed us horrendous films, or semi trucks plowing into cars, and literally obliterating everything in their path. They also showed us graphic images of head on collisions. 120mph impacts. Even as a young kid, it made quite an impression. It was horrific, and it was hard to get those images out of your head afterwards. But, it left a lasting impression, and when I started driving, I understood it was serious business, and that it was a very dangerous thing to do.

I see people driving here, with their families in the car, and doing things, and taking the kinds of risks no rational or sane person with common sense would do. What for? To gain one minute? Why take those risks? What is the logic? Often, when I am cruising along at 100kph, someone cuts right in front of me. Or someone comes out from the side road, right in front of me. I have to slam on my brakes, or change lanes to avoid him. I look in my rearview mirror, and there is nobody behind me. So, if he had waited two seconds, he would have had completely safe passage onto the highway. What gives? Where is the intelligence, caution, and prudence? Where is the common sense? What about just the survival instinct?

 

The police are not here to protect you. They do not care one iota about your well being, your safety, or traffic safety. Expect that. Do not employ them, unless absolutely necessary.
If driving, especially on a motorbike, treat the activity as an act of war, in a sense that you may be mowed down or killed at any moment. Maintain eyes in the back of your head. Watch everyone. Expect craziness, insanity, lack of reason, and a complete lack of courtesy and respect on the roads, at all times. Expect cars and trucks to be coming at you in the wrong lane. Expect people to overtake you with the slimmest of margins. 

Recently, I was driving along at about 110kph, on a good, straight stretch of highway. A safe speed. And some joker cuts in front of me with his pickup truck. Within two meters in front of me, then slams on his brakes. I guess he never stopped to look at the lane he was cutting into to see that there was no room for him! I slammed on my brakes to avoid the numnut, and barely missed him. Would have been a horrific crash. Why? What was the point of him changing lanes? Why didn't he look first? Who changes lanes without looking first, when they are doing over 100 kph? Why so little regard for his wife, and for others? Where does that mentality come from? Why do Thais seem so polite, yet when they get into a car, everything they have ever learned in life goes right out the window? Why so little in the way of common sense, reason, and the ability to be careful and maintain some vision? Why such idiocy? The apparent lack of skill and peripheral awareness on the road here is very scary.

 

As far as riding bikes goes, the amount of foreigners who are killed on the Southern islands is staggering. Most are not reported in the media. I had a friend who worked for Samui rescue for many years, and said the numbers were about 30-60 a month, on Samui, Phangan and Koh Tao. The official number is about 3 a month, pre Covid. Rider beware. Use as good a helmet as you can afford, and do not use these eggshells pieces of junk. They crack at the first impact, and what lies underneath them? Your skull, which is very delicate. If riding a motorbike, only do so if you have many years of experience. Especially on the southern islands, where huge numbers of foreigners leave Thailand in a wooden box. Wear the best helmet you can afford. And drive like a grandmother. This applies to ex-pats too. Bring along an international drivers license. This helps you to avoid being fleeced by the local police franchisee.

Just ask yourself- do I have enough problems already, without a broken skull, or smashed head, or face injury, or lost eye? I have two friends who have been in motorbike accidents on Samui within the last two years. One still cannot walk, or talk or function on her own, from a motorbike accident, where she hit her head on the pavement going only 20 kph. The other one has lost alot of his mental capacity after hitting his head. He insisted for years he would never wear a helmet. Now, he seems 15 years older.

Edited January 23, 2021 by spidermike007

[1FinickyOne]

They get spacey doing tasks like driving or walking or exiting an escalator... I have seen people get off an escalator and stop dead in their tracks, unaware that people are behind them, looking around as if they lost track of where they are and what they are doing... coming out of some waking dream.. mostly it looks pleasant... [until you find yourself slamming into a parked car, I guess] 

 

Though I sometimes find myself wondering about the beauty of the oblivion they have emerged from.. sometimes I think, I want some of that too.. 

[AgMech Cowboy]

Did you have a bullseye painted on that fender? Me thinks the driver feel asleep. 

[brianthainess]

I was parked at my friends house, up a private road and deep inside his wide drive by about 6 mtrs from said road, a drunk guy from NZ reversed flat out into the back of my car. It is not just Thais. 

[TigerandDog]

On 1/21/2021 at 7:15 PM, Kwasaki said:

Disagree not all and it depends where you live.

Disagree Kwasaki. 99% of Thai drivers are impatient, selfish drivers ( and at least 50% of them drive without licenses ) with little or no respect for the road rules that do exist ( and unfortunately are NEVER enforced by the police ), and where you live has absolutely no bearing on how bad the driving is.It's disgraceful across the entire country.

[Pilotman]

Thailand is not even in my top five of places that have terrible drivers.  My top five, in order of suicidal driving,  would be Malta, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, Cambodia, then maybe Thailand. 

[actonion]

I can only think that any  decent standard of driving in Thailand has  been taught "Outside' of Thailand"... I speak as a member of the I.A.M ( Institute of advanced motorists) & certificate holder of R.O.S.P.A ... (Royal society of Advanced Drivers)..I like the OP  have  had my car  hit many times,  by  a Thai,  each time the Police & Insurance assor were called  &  each time nobody could work out who was in the wrong, and each time i was hit from the rear end !!, the last case  the police told me i was hit from the rear end because i braked too hard!!, everyone  i have ever encounted here  knows  next to nothing  about the Highway Code ...( yes there is one in Thailand) 7 road markings ,..There can  never be  a skilled driver/ road user  here until. they change  the so called Driving test...&  thats never going to happen 

[richard_smith237]

6 minutes ago, actonion said:

I can only think that any  decent standard of driving in Thailand has  been taught "Outside' of Thailand"... I speak as a member of the I.A.M ( Institute of advanced motorists) & certificate holder of R.O.S.P.A ... (Royal society of Advanced Drivers)..I like the OP  have  had my car  hit many times,  by  a Thai,  each time the Police & Insurance assor were called  &  each time nobody could work out who was in the wrong, and each time i was hit from the rear end !!, the last case  the police told me i was hit from the rear end because i braked too hard!!, everyone  i have ever encounted here  knows  next to nothing  about the Highway Code ...( yes there is one in Thailand) 7 road markings ,..There can  never be  a skilled driver/ road user  here until. they change  the so called Driving test...&  thats never going to happen 

 

Maybe misinterpretation of the reason behind the inability to level accurate blame. 

 

Those attending the scene (Police and insurance) don’t really care about the blame, they just want the to issue to go away as quickly as possible. Thus, they start out by taking the path of least resistance. 

Usually this involves the Car Driver accepting blame if in an accident with a motorcycle.

Or, if with a Car on Car accident they may just decide 50/50. 

Or, if a Car (Foreigner) and Car (Thai) and the Thai is vocal, they may decide to just blame the foreigner and hope thats the end of it. 

If a Car (Foreigner) and Car (Thai) and the Foreigner is vocal, the Thai may be blamed.

 

Obviously its never as clear cut as that as proof and evidence come into it, but the above facets impact the decision making process for those Police and Insurance guys who just want to get on their way with as little hassle as possible, they really don’t care one way or another. 

 

 

 

[thesetat2013]

It's not drivers always to blame. Yesterday I had a pedestrian walk between cars and into my bike making me crash and breaking their leg. I'm told I am to blame for this also. 

[ChrisKC]

It is about Thai driving but laced with oodles of bad attitude.

 

And it isn't about a few - It is Thai culture at every level and is definitely the majority.

[The Theory]

On 1/21/2021 at 7:11 PM, Ondral said:

Thais are the worst drivers I have ever encountered.

Not all of them, but only 80%.????????????

[The Theory]

2 hours ago, ChrisKC said:

It is about Thai driving but laced with oodles of bad attitude.

 

And it isn't about a few - It is Thai culture at every level and is definitely the majority.

I exactly know what you mean, I almost get killed 10 times a day. Either by drivers or riders.

[The Theory]

2 hours ago, thesetat2013 said:

It's not drivers always to blame. Yesterday I had a pedestrian walk between cars and into my bike making me crash and breaking their leg. I'm told I am to blame for this also. 

That's why you need to slow down while cars are not moving. There are full of surprises. 

[The Theory]

3 hours ago, Pilotman said:

Thailand is not even in my top five of places that have terrible drivers.  My top five, in order of suicidal driving,  would be Malta, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, Cambodia, then maybe Thailand. 

We are not in those countries, we live here !!! ????????

[Pilotman]

Just now, The Theory said:

We are not in those countries, we live here !!! ????????

Putting things into some perspective, something a lot of people seem incapable of doing. Yes they are bad here, but there are places that are a lot worse. Trouble is, a lot of people haven't experienced anywhere else, save perhaps  their own country and Thailand.  

[LawrenceN]

On 1/21/2021 at 7:57 PM, Lacessit said:

The OP had his car parked projecting out into the road, he contributed to the collision.

I agree many Thai drivers are poor, most think a rear vision mirror is for squeezing zits or applying makeup. They move away from traffic lights as if it is a competition to be the slowest.

Haven't had an accident here in ten years, the defensive driving course I did in Australia many moons ago has been invaluable, and put to the test frequently.

Not buying it. Notice how the driver glanced off the power pole before striking OP's car. He was out of control. 

[Sig]

On 1/22/2021 at 9:12 AM, VocalNeal said:

 

Yes it is wonderful there amd not colisions at all.?

Of course everyone knows there are collisions there. The OP was stating from his 25 year experience. I'll give you another experience.... I drove there for about 30 years with no collisions. My mother drove there for about 70 years with no collisions. My sister has been driving there for about 40 years with no collisions. My younger brother/hot rodder has been driving there for about 35 years with one collision while racing hahaha. And my older brother about 45 years with no collisions. In the 20 years here in Thailand, I've been in 4 accidents.... ???? None of them my fault by the way.....

[Steve Stevens]

You have not driven in India then?!? 555