Campaign needed to educate Thai drivers about stopping at red traffic lights

[10baht]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

He said that all the traffic lights at zebra crossings, which are now being installed across Bangkok, will be useless if drivers do not stop their vehicles.

No sh*t , Sherlock. And while "they" are at it how about educating Thais about the general rules of the road, merging techniques, and common courtesy.

[whaleboneman]

52 minutes ago, Nicholas Paul KNIGHT said:

Simple, fine 5000 baht for each offence payable on the spot or vehicle impounded until paid ,  and if you get three fines, then automatic disqualification for 12 months, BUT that will need enforcement....bit difficult with the RTP rarely exiting their Police Stations 

Good luck finding anyone who has 5000 baht on them. 

[hkt83100]

As long as the traffic lights at every junction and zebra crossing are independent of the traffic flow, no one will be motivated to stop. It cannot be too difficult to setup a "green wave" system, other cities and countries have done it. And the BIB playing on the controls like on a gameboy don't improve the traffic flow. At Din Daeng I was standing at a red light for about 15 minutes years ago, they created a traffic jam back on the express way with no end in sight. It is more than understandable if drivers don't want to stop for an eternity. And zebra crossings seems to exist just for better look of the roads - "we have many colors"...

[Moti24]

Let's start with stopping the young kids riding motorcycles, stop teenagers riding motorcycles with wheels as thin as a condom packet and make all adults learn to drive with a government approved driving school.  

 

The only worrying thing is, who the hell is going to train the driving instructors!

[Willy Wombat]

The only way the Thais will learn is if the government sets up the traffic lights ala Squid Games

If you move on a red light you get shot automatically.

Simples.

[actonion]

How about  just educating Thai drivers.....drivers i hate using that term in Thailand, drivers they are not  "Aim ers" is a better title

[DUNROAMIN]

Lets not forget half of Thai driving licences are bought without any tests or training. Also there are no properly trained or regulated driving instructors in Thailand. Lets also not forget theres no real law enforcement here, without this nothing will change.

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

A campaign should be launched to educate drivers about the rights of pedestrians and not encroaching on zebra crossings or crossing red traffic lights, said Air Vice Marshal Ittaporn Kanacharoen, secretary-general of the Medical Council of Thailand, in his Facebook post.

IDIOT...
Thailand does not need a campaign to educate drivers/riders

[although this is the norm for an Air vice Marshall] 

what Thailand needs is a driving school course and final test before getting on the road.

[kotsak]

37 minutes ago, klauskunkel said:

Isn't the education system hopelessly broken?

Not only that, rearing children is also important since education starts from home. I don't remember having to learn such basic rules, most likely my parents taught me how to behave and how to act before I could even remember. But here TIT, let the kids roam like primates without any guidance (moral or civic).

[superal]

1 hour ago, bluemoon58 said:

Yet more buffoonery! Thai drivers should be getting educated on ALL aspects of driving, not just red lights. In my opinion, what Air Vice Marshal Ittaporn Kanacharoen is really saying is, Thais have very little common sense if they don't know how to use a red light. Either that or they just don't give a <deleted>...!!!

 

Lets face it , Thai road users have little if any respect for the driving laws in Thailand . I highlighted road users as I wanted to include the motor cyclists who seem to think they are exempt from any laws. I believe there is a Highway Patrol unit in Thailand but they are rarely seen . Every time I drive either in town or country , I witness the driving laws being broken , there is an act of driving dangerously  , without consideration to other road users , apathy or pure stupidity  . There is also apathy from the government who know full well that their country has the worse road fatality rate in the world , are aware of the western driving ways yet choose to ignore them . The buck stops at the top . In a parallel , if the loss of life occurred say within industry the directors would be held accountable for manslaughter .

[hotchilli]

1 hour ago, bluemoon58 said:

Yet more buffoonery! Thai drivers should be getting educated on ALL aspects of driving, not just red lights. In my opinion, what Air Vice Marshal Ittaporn Kanacharoen is really saying is, Thais have very little common sense if they don't know how to use a red light. Either that or they just don't give a <deleted>...!!!

 

I think the latter applies.

[clivebaxter]

Better chance teaching cats how to read ????

[ChrisKC]

Due diligence and everyday enforcement by the police might work! 

[RocketDog]

40 minutes ago, actonion said:

If they need educating   WHY     do they have a Driving licence.....

 

The Educated need Educating too

Thai drivers have already been educated. They know exactly what, where, and when they can disregard traffic laws with impunity. 

That is impossible to reverse at this point without major social upheaval.

[Tarteso]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

educate drivers

Can not. They don’t learn. First better try Education with children ….in the school.

[Titan1962]

Probably work as well as the helmet safety campaign.

Edited February 7, 2022 by Titan1962

[FunkyDunky58]

I have only been in Thailand 10 years but my limited experience and observations suggest that:

- Half of Thai motorcycle drivers have no licence and no knowledge of the rules of the road

- of the remaining half, half of those could not care less about the rules which clearly do not apply to them

- Thai drivers seem to believe that turning on the hazard lights entitles them to do just about anything in their vehicle

- Most are in such a hurry that they will endanger the lives of other drivers to gain an extra 10 seconds 

- there is little to no enforcement of road rules by the RTP, and when there is it is little more than tea money collection.

Focusing on one aspect of driving is not going to fix the underlying problem that the government simply does not care about road fatalities and only talks up measures like this when something bad has happened and they need to save face. Its the good old 'crackdown' that is rolled out periodically to make it look like they are doing something. 

[Surasak]

2 hours ago, hellohello123 said:

I think we need to make the traffic lights a bit less complicated

 

I mean 3 colours is wayyyyyyy too many, maybe reduce it down to 2

Would that be BLACK & WHITE?????

[Derek B]

1 hour ago, rwill said:

Educate all you want but with no enforcement it doesn't matter.

 

Even the intersections with cameras that send tickets in the mail don't work because they don't currently enforce paying them either.

I paid a RTP speeding ticket on the spot recently and I was left with the impression it was a rare event although dealt with very efficiently complete with receipt.

[Derek B]

Even with traffic lights at ped crossings if no one is there to walk across the bikers just take off as if green is showing.

So cameras will be needed to assist enforcement.

 

Road safety needs to be introduced at school age.

[prakhonchai nick]

1 hour ago, Asquith Production said:

Most Thais dont have 10000 to pay for fines. So where do you go from there? Sell there property? Throw them in prison and fill the prisons with traffic offenders. You have to have a realistic system in place for it to work otherwise it will fail.

An even better reason not to break the law!. Thais can find money if they need to. Stop the gambling, drinking and monk donations.   Hold on to the confiscated vehicle beyond the initial 3 months, and sell after 6/12 months if fines not paid.  

[USNret]

If you need to educate licensed drivers about red lights, you’ve already lost the battle.

[IamNoone88]

And throw in an additional education package on how to correctly use a roundabout. 90% have no clue on right of way.

[maddermax]

A law is no good to anybody if you do not enforce it and penalise transgressors.

[bluesea]

Goood luck with that, you would have more chance winning a Rigged Lottery than educate a Thai Driver to stop at a Pedestrian Crossing or Red Light.

 

 

[KhaoYai]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

A campaign should be launched to educate drivers about the rights of pedestrians and not encroaching on zebra crossings or crossing red traffic lights, said Air Vice Marshal Ittaporn Kanacharoen, secretary-general of the Medical Council of Thailand, in his Facebook post.

Yet another ridiculous statement.  Thai drivers don't know they are supposed to give way to pedestrians and stop at red lights?

 

The only people that need educating are the police - educating on how to do their job properly.  Rather than pulling motorcyclists over every day and extracting 100 baht from them for failing to wear a helmet, try doing some real law enforcement and issuing some real fines, fines that are collected, not ignored.

 

[cardinalblue]

I don’t blame the Thais….DMV doesn’t do their job of training and the police don’t enforce….therefore thais don’t take driving seriously and with each person doing their own thing out on the road, Thai roads equate to chaos….

[Sydebolle]

Running through a zebra crossing or a red light imposes in other countries very, very stiff fines and your vehicle gets impounded (at your costs) for a painful timeframe of a few days. 

Air Vice Marshal Ittaporn Kanacharoen might be better advised to marshal around in the air rather than giving advice of something the entire world has understood as "common sense". 

Charge the culprits B 25'000 on the spot and impound the vehicle at another B 3'000 a day for a week - trust me, that for sure will drive the message home without advice by an Air Chief Marshal or the First Sealord!

And, should it happen for a second time, auction off the vehicle and keep the driver in an educational slammer with 20 mandatory video screenings of this rubbish being forced down on license renewal seekers each and every time! 

[mickyr55]

EDUCATION???????

Red = Stop 

Green =Go. 

Here endeth the first lesson ????????

[Enzian]

1 hour ago, Classic Ray said:

Part of the problem is red does not mean stop, if you are turning left, whereas in most countries red always means stop.

I almost bought the farm because I had not picked up on that fact like I should.

I'll say it again: sine poena nulla lex. Without punishment there is no law.