Driving in Thailand

[KhaoYai]

There may be some good Thai drivers but I've yet to come across one.  I thought I'd found a good one a while back - he even understood the gears on a manual box.  This guy used to take me to the airport regularly until one day when we were heading down Highway 9 towards Suvarnabhumi in a torrential rainstorm.  I'm from the UK so I'm quite used to driving in heavy rain and fog but doing 120kph when visibilty is down to 30-40m is just plain crazy.

 

Despite his pleas that he could see, I made him pull over at the next toll and wait.  I'd rather miss my flight.

 

Since then I've seen this regularly - how anyone has the mentality to drive like that when they can't see more than a few metres in front of them beggars belief. Perhaps they think Buddha wil protect them.

[KhaoYai]

5 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

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. 

Which illustrates the case that both front and rear cameras are a must in Thailand.

[VocalNeal]

1 hour ago, Sig said:

The OP was stating from his 25 year experience.

 

In a foreign country. 

[Pro1Expat]

11 hours ago, bluemoon58 said:

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

 

That is true but there are also quite a few foreigners that are not very good at going forward

[Catkiwi]

4 hours ago, Sig said:

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.....

then again, maybe you are the bad driver of the family, "not my fault by the way". ????

[richard_smith237]

On 1/21/2021 at 3:57 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.

 

It doesn’t matter if the Op is parked in the road - its a stationary object !!! the only thing which contributed the the collision is the idiocy of the pickup driver. 

 

Would you blame a ‘curve’ in the road as contributing towards and accident ? would you blame a junction as contributing towards an accident. 

 

Additionally, look at where the sign (or whatever it is) positioned on his neighbours drive - the Ops car is not sticking out further than that and is most definitely not sticking out into the road. 

 

This was simply terrible driving - maybe the Pickup driver simply fell asleep. 

[richard_smith237]

On 1/22/2021 at 7:34 PM, VocalNeal said:

 

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. 

 

20:20 hindsight - perfect.

 

If the Op had parked his car at a friends house he would have saved damage to his car !!! 

If the Op didn’t have a car it wouldn’t have been damaged !!!

 

Reality check: The Op parked his car off the road, the car was still hit !!! - No blame or fault whatsoever on the Op. 

This is simply terrible driving (most likely by a drunk). 

[RocketDog]

On 1/21/2021 at 8:03 PM, Dmaxdan said:

I agree. Anyone who parks within 100 meters from a road is asking for trouble. 

Anyone who ventures within a dozen meters of a road is asking for trouble. 

I've lived here for four years and am still amazed every time I leave the house. 

[Lacessit]

18 hours ago, LawrenceN said:

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

Your eyesight is much better than mine if you can see the pole move at all, or the pickup deviate an iota after purportedly hitting it. I'm calling BS.

[Lacessit]

9 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

It doesn’t matter if the Op is parked in the road - its a stationary object !!! the only thing which contributed the the collision is the idiocy of the pickup driver. 

 

Would you blame a ‘curve’ in the road as contributing towards and accident ? would you blame a junction as contributing towards an accident. 

 

Additionally, look at where the sign (or whatever it is) positioned on his neighbours drive - the Ops car is not sticking out further than that and is most definitely not sticking out into the road. 

 

This was simply terrible driving - maybe the Pickup driver simply fell asleep. 

I agree it was terrible driving. Having said that, if you're saying the sign is the same distance from the road as the OP's car, why was it not destroyed first? Do they have SpecSavers where you live?

 

Actually, I do blame poorly designed junctions and roads with inappropriate cambers as contributing to accidents, but that's a red herring here.

[rickudon]

Been driving here for 10 years. Been hit 3 times when stationary! Fortunately only bumps and no damage done. I do the school run twice a day and on average have 2 or 3 near misses every time due to Incompetent Thai drivers (stopping with no prior warning at side of road, indicator on but going a different way, turning right when in the leftmost lane straight in front of you just the commonest causes). I drive  25-30% slower than in the UK - gives you more time to avoid the idiots. I have never hit another car in 10 years here. I used to drive in Libya so Thai driving was no shock to me!

 

My biggest issue is that when i am backing out of a parking space Thai drivers never stop to let you finish - they just keep on going and assume you can see them - totally different in the UK.

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, rickudon said:

Been driving here for 10 years. Been hit 3 times when stationary! Fortunately only bumps and no damage done. I do the school run twice a day and on average have 2 or 3 near misses every time due to Incompetent Thai drivers (stopping with no prior warning at side of road, indicator on but going a different way, turning right when in the leftmost lane straight in front of you just the commonest causes). I drive  25-30% slower than in the UK - gives you more time to avoid the idiots. I have never hit another car in 10 years here. I used to drive in Libya so Thai driving was no shock to me!

 

My biggest issue is that when i am backing out of a parking space Thai drivers never stop to let you finish - they just keep on going and assume you can see them - totally different in the UK.

Yes, indicator heading one way while the car is diverging to the other seems to be quite common.

Before coming here, the only accidents I have had in Australia are from people either rear-ending me, or T-boning me. One was a British tourist who did not know a Give Way sign meant give way. I have never hit anyone myself, in almost 60 years of driving.

In ten years driving here, I've had some close calls. I assume everyone else on the roads is trying to kill me. IMO the worst hazard here is coming up to a traffic light that I know is about to turn red, when the idiot behind me right up my clacker wants to get through, even if it means rear-ending me.

 

[The Theory]

On 1/23/2021 at 7:06 PM, KhaoYai said:

both front and rear cameras are a must in Thailand.

I have both (front & rear) on my motorcycle. 

[VocalNeal]

7 hours ago, rickudon said:

totally different in the UK.

 

And likewise it is totally different in Thailand.