The carnage continues on the Thai roads: 75 deaths on Monday including Swiss tourist in Phuket

[TigerandDog]

1 minute ago, seedy said:

Every U Turn has a dedicated lane. Wait for traffic to clear - proceed.

How hard is it ?

Not every U Turn has a dedicated lane. There are plenty of U turns in this part of the country without a dedicated lane. The other problem is, even when there is a dedicated lane, Thai drivers are too impatient to wait until it's clear and safe to go.

[rudi49jr]

55 minutes ago, seedy said:

Hogwash - the roads here are fine

I agree, most roads are perfectly fine; it’s the road users that are the problem. Plus the RTP not doing their job. 

[ThailandRyan]

2 hours ago, yeahbutif said:

Do we have any policeman who read these forums ? Or can reply as to why this is happening?  So why why Why 

I have replied.....the RTP are useless no matter how much training we have given them from overseas.

[wensiensheng]

57 minutes ago, seedy said:

Hogwash - the roads here are fine

Exiting dual carriageways from the fast lane is fine? You must be joking. Having a build up of cars spilling back into the fast lane, or worse, articulated lorries blocking both lanes of both carriage ways whilst they execute a u turn, is an exercise in madness. Caused by poor road infrastructure that forces the practice to take place.

 

road signage? So poor it’s worthless.

 

road markings? Often non existent.

 

the weight and speed of traffic in general far exceeds the quality of the road infrastructure.

[off road pat]

14 minutes ago, sawadee1947 said:

How could they? They never learned. 

My wife never learned driving by an instructor, but is proud to have a license.....????

My wife had a very good instructor in Chiang Mai. He told her the most important rules, and to watch around every time she maneuvered....He was really good. She had her driving license easy ! (That's no Guarantee I Know)

A couple of years later she did her driving lessons again in Europe and that was a lot of studying,...She studied a couple of months, did her exam and got it the first time. And I swear the exams were very hard and strict. They tried to trick her into making mistakes, but she did it excellently. She is now a excellent and safe driver. I let her drive as much as possible to get as much experience as possible, she drove in Germany, Switzerland, France The Nederlands and Belgium,...without a problem.

[Bangkok Barry]

1 minute ago, wensiensheng said:

road markings? Often non existent.

I've often noticed that when roads are re-marked the old lines are left there, confusing everyone. But as no-one takes any notice of the markings anyway I suppose it doesn't matter.

[off road pat]

2 hours ago, wensiensheng said:

The Swiss “tourist” actually lives in Thailand and is well known locally as a keen cyclist. The taxi (according to the yellow taxi identification sticker on the side) apparently went too fast over the crest of a hill, lost control as a result of water on the road coming from a washing machine station by the roadside, crossed onto the wrong side of the road and simply smashed into the oncoming motorbike.
 

He never stood a chance and the motorbike was barely recognizable as such. Not helping the motor cyclists cause were the 3ft concrete posts newly installed by the government along the roadside only days before, but the car impact just crushed the motorbike anyway. The car ended up on its side on the grass verge on the opposite side of the road.

 

unfortunately I was at the spot a few minutes after the impact.

R.I.P. Mr Francioli

[ThailandRyan]

10 minutes ago, TigerandDog said:

Not every U Turn has a dedicated lane. There are plenty of U turns in this part of the country without a dedicated lane. The other problem is, even when there is a dedicated lane, Thai drivers are too impatient to wait until it's clear and safe to go.

Add in that their are no lights at the truly dedicated u-turn locations either.

[Amusements]

46 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

How about initiating some real driving schools where people drive with instructors who actually teach driving skills,  and then assess the abilities of drivers before allowing them to progress to a driving examination.

Rather than just buy a licence.

I totaly agree!

I paid for a driving course for my ex wife a few years ago (I wanted her to learn the Thai way of things first). This turned out to be a group of driving students meeting once a week to drive in a field, with an instructer. After 3 months, she asked me if she should pay x amount under the table for a driving license, or if she should take her test. I said take the test. The test was extremely basic (cones in the car park), and she past - However, they told her to learn how to turn the steering wheel properly!

 On the way home, she asked to drive the car.  I let her drive on the quite road to our village. She could not steer round the first corner! Admittedly the truck did not have power steering.

 

After that, I took her to a new housing estate which had the streets built, but no houses built, to give her some lessons. I soon found out that she had never been in reverse, never been out of first gear, been told not to look in the rear view mirror, but to look at the road in front, never parked and never done a hill start. 

[TigerandDog]

Just now, ThailandRyan said:

Add in that their are no lights at the truly dedicated u-turn locations either.

there are lights at some but not all.  We've just had the highway here expanded from single lane each way to dual lane each way with median strips all along the new road construction. Every U Turn has street lights BUT only about 1/2 of them ever work.

 

[sawadee1947]

3 minutes ago, off road pat said:

My wife had a very good instructor in Chiang Mai. He told her the most important rules, and to watch around every time she maneuvered....He was really good. She had her driving license easy ! (That's no Guarantee I Know)

A couple of years later she did her driving lessons again in Europe and that was a lot of studying,...She studied a couple of months, did her exam and got it the first time. And I swear the exams were very hard and strict. They tried to trick her into making mistakes, but she did it excellently. She is now a excellent and safe driver. I let her drive as much as possible to get as much experience as possible, she drove in Germany, Switzerland, France The Nederlands and Belgium,...without a problem.

Yep, she did in EU and drove our Motorhome more than 20.000 km already. 

But as I said, many license holder never met any instructor so far and make their own rules.

Thais in general are not rule or law followers.????

[Asquith Production]

6 minutes ago, seedy said:

Every U Turn has a dedicated lane. Wait for traffic to clear - proceed.

How hard is it ?

It is not hard but its poor infrastructure that contributes to many accidents here. A vehicle as to go from that dedicated lane in an 180deg movement normally from zero speed. while vehicles are bearing down on you at over 27 metres per second, if they are travelling at 100 kph. The view that the driver of the turning vehicle as is very deceptive because its harder to ascertain speed with an oncoming vehicle. If a large lorry as to do this then it can become even more dangerous

[Gandtee]

Thailand. The hub of road accidents.????

[Chongalulu]

1 hour ago, seedy said:

2 hours ago, Asquith Production said:

Poor road infrastructure

Hogwash - the roads here are fine

The engineering design reflecting the safety aspect is truly appalling/absent. U turns in dangerously ill considered places and rumble strips ON the bend and even AFTER  are the more obvious examples of the cluelessness along with totally insufficient distances for  warnings of roadworks etc. 

[oznomad]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

How about initiating some real driving schools where people drive with instructors who actually teach driving skills,  and then assess the abilities of drivers before allowing them to progress to a driving examination.

Rather than just buy a licence.

Who will do the instructing?

I can't see 'driving instructor' being on a work permit.

[Mywayboy]

2 hours ago, Asquith Production said:

You dont have to be a Policeman to see why this is happening.  The reasons are:-

 

Poor road infrastructure

Poor driver training and testing.

Poor prosecution policies.

No real traffic policing

Thai mindset when driving and no danger awareness.

That's just for starters.

Can the Police actually read.g

[Chongalulu]

31 minutes ago, rudi49jr said:

I agree, most roads are perfectly fine; it’s the road users that are the problem. Plus the RTP not doing their job. 

It’s far more than An unrutted raid surface . Engineered in safety via design…? Nope 

[Dont confuse me]

1 hour ago, BadSpottedDog said:

Do ya think this would work? Hysterical! Well worth watching. 
Speed Limit Dashboard Monk

Brilliant idea, they should make it a trio, the additional two would be a don't drive when your smashed out of your head on booze, and a cut back on the yaba statue.

Cover all bases worth a try ...lol 

[EcureuilTenace]

53 minutes ago, Asquith Production said:

If you think u turns are good infrastructure I will let you dream on

If you allow me to add to this.

A roundabout takes about a year to be designed in the UK, It takes complex algorithms to figure out the best angle for the road to hit it and associated traffic flow figures, how it wil affect all the traffic flow numbers, waiting and go time. And sometimes it means that it cannot be achieved without a dual level solution. The thai cheap solution is the U-turn. Takes much less land to build too. Death rate? Why did you ask such a stupid and irrelevant question?

[StayinThailand2much]

Just came past a traffic accident in Bangkok; motorbike taken out by a pickup. Not sure whether anyone got hurt seriously, but looking at the damage, it seemed like the bike tried a left-turn and was interrupted...

Edited December 14, 2021 by StayinThailand2much

[dutchweller]

4 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Life on the roads is a crapshoot.  Yesterday returning from Suvarnabhumi Airport, I watched as cars drove on the shoulders where they are not supposed to, and right by the RTP cops sitting at the gore points.  Then after stopping for the Red light as I prepared to exit at Rama 4 Rd, I watched as over 100 motorbikes queued in the roadway in front of the red light they were supposed to be behind, again right in front of the RTP traffic box.  As my light turned green to go right and as we all, the many cars behind me, proceeded to turn right, the motorbikes all took off going straight from our left and into an around all of the turning vehicles, who had the right of way.  Just to my left I watched as one of the motorbikes hit the side of a Mercedes and as he went down was hit by more bikes and the pile up began.  What a cluster.  If the flicking police would do their jobs we would not have such kaos, and if the drivers and riders would obey the traffic laws we would not have the needles accidents and deaths.

You no understand Thailand.

Police are not paid to work.

You must pay Police not to do bad things ok?

Stupid Farang...

 

[TechnikaIII]

3 hours ago, yeahbutif said:

Do we have any policeman who read these forums ? Or can reply as to why this is happening?  So why why Why 

This image, more or less illustrates their attitude.

If I use the most appropriate choice of words, my post will surely be deleted.

[ThailandRyan]

26 minutes ago, oznomad said:

Who will do the instructing?

I can't see 'driving instructor' being on a work permit.

Once upon a time I had the bright idea to try and open up a driving school based upon US standards here.  I started the process only to be told I could own the school but could not teach as I was not Thai.  No matter how many times and people I contacted was told Can Not only Thai can teach.

[Swampy999]

1 hour ago, seedy said:

Every U Turn has a dedicated lane. Wait for traffic to clear - proceed.

How hard is it ?

You just answered your question "wait for traffic to clear" very hard for a Thai to do.

[kwilco]

5 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Life on the roads is a crapshoot.  Yesterday returning from Suvarnabhumi Airport, I watched as cars drove on the shoulders where they are not supposed to, and right by the RTP cops sitting at the gore points.  Then after stopping for the Red light as I prepared to exit at Rama 4 Rd, I watched as over 100 motorbikes queued in the roadway in front of the red light they were supposed to be behind, again right in front of the RTP traffic box.  As my light turned green to go right and as we all, the many cars behind me, proceeded to turn right, the motorbikes all took off going straight from our left and into an around all of the turning vehicles, who had the right of way.  Just to my left I watched as one of the motorbikes hit the side of a Mercedes and as he went down was hit by more bikes and the pile up began.  What a cluster.  If the flicking police would do their jobs we would not have such kaos, and if the drivers and riders would obey the traffic laws we would not have the needles accidents and deaths.

Yet I can relax in the knowledge  that whilst driving in my 4-wheeled vehicle I'm less likely to die than in the USA.

[EcureuilTenace]

3 minutes ago, Swampy999 said:

You just answered your question "wait for traffic to clear" very hard for a Thai to do.

A poor answer too. I suppose he is alright until one hits him or one of his loved ones. 

[seedy]

Seems a lot of posters in this topic have a hard time adapting.

Set in their Ways so much that they are up in arms if things are not just the way they were back in (insert country name here)

I do not have a problem - not more so than in any other country, as the road users there are just as dumb as the ones here.

Learn the local characteristics and drive by them.

Or come on public internet forums and P and M, whine and snivel "Oh Woe is Me" 555

But - as Darwin said - survival of the fittest.

[Confuscious]

Sorry, but I don't get the importance behind all this road casualties.

 

Sure, every year there are a lot of deaths on the Thai roads.
But (mostly) a few days after their death, their corpse are burned and forgotten.
 

But nobody seems to care about the 1 million+ of people who are left handicapped for life and/or will need health care for life.

 

Nobody seems to care about the disaster this handicapped people brings to the Thai families and the Thai economy.

 

Most of these victims are not reimbursed by the insurance of the other party (assuming that they had an insurance) or the insurance are waiting for months with the compensation and leaving the hospitals and the families of the victim with the care of these victims.

How many people more need to be involved in this game before the as....s in the government will wake up and start to do their job? 
 

[Paul Kernell]

5 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Life on the roads is a crapshoot.  Yesterday returning from Suvarnabhumi Airport, I watched as cars drove on the shoulders where they are not supposed to, and right by the RTP cops sitting at the gore points.  Then after stopping for the Red light as I prepared to exit at Rama 4 Rd, I watched as over 100 motorbikes queued in the roadway in front of the red light they were supposed to be behind, again right in front of the RTP traffic box.  As my light turned green to go right and as we all, the many cars behind me, proceeded to turn right, the motorbikes all took off going straight from our left and into an around all of the turning vehicles, who had the right of way.  Just to my left I watched as one of the motorbikes hit the side of a Mercedes and as he went down was hit by more bikes and the pile up began.  What a cluster.  If the flicking police would do their jobs we would not have such kaos, and if the drivers and riders would obey the traffic laws we would not have the needles accidents and deaths.

 

On 11/4/2021 at 1:58 PM, crazykopite said:

Can someone post me a picture of a paper glass as I have never come across one 

 

On 11/14/2021 at 9:51 AM, VocalNeal said:

Ah The Gun Club. Memories...

 

 

On 11/25/2021 at 1:28 PM, yogi yogi said:

what are rules in phuket i see alot of old timers drinking at outdoor bars after 9pm.  should i report them ?  

 

On 11/27/2021 at 7:59 AM, Mentors65 said:

Unfortunately this will not happen. 

New c-19 variant on the way

 

5 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Life on the roads is a crapshoot.  Yesterday returning from Suvarnabhumi Airport, I watched as cars drove on the shoulders where they are not supposed to, and right by the RTP cops sitting at the gore points.  Then after stopping for the Red light as I prepared to exit at Rama 4 Rd, I watched as over 100 motorbikes queued in the roadway in front of the red light they were supposed to be behind, again right in front of the RTP traffic box.  As my light turned green to go right and as we all, the many cars behind me, proceeded to turn right, the motorbikes all took off going straight from our left and into an around all of the turning vehicles, who had the right of way.  Just to my left I watched as one of the motorbikes hit the side of a Mercedes and as he went down was hit by more bikes and the pile up began.  What a cluster.  If the flicking police would do their jobs we would not have such kaos, and if the drivers and riders would obey the traffic laws we would not have the needles accidents and deaths.

The police don't know, nor do the instructors or the license department. If you fail your test 3 times they will give you a pass for trying!

[DUNROAMIN]

4 hours ago, bluemoon58 said:

What a load of cr*p! Proper driver training and making the police actually do their jobs of enforcing the law, instead of dreaming about where the next backhander is coming from, that would help save lives. 

Never going to happen, bad karma to upset people with traffic violations.