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

[Chongalulu]

2 hours ago, hellohello123 said:

If they're struggling to understand the concept of stopping at a red light, 

Teaching them not to drink and drive might be harder than teaching a dog  quantum physics

Although Schrödinger’s cat may be a concept a dog could grasp ? ???? 

[hioctane]

10 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:

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! 

On the spot fines just encourages police to pocket the money. High fines like that won’t be paid. A better option is double fines and a court appearance. Second offense is 3x plus appearance. Third offense is revoke your license for 6 months. All these apply for just being in the zebra by a meter.

[Chongalulu]

"Educate Thais" .. a wider philosophical and practical issue generally as their place in the PISA EDUCATIONAL TABLES attests. ???? 

[dlclark97]

Not only at ZEBRA crossings!  Nationwide education needs to be established regarding traffic control lights and STOP signs.  Way too many accidents are caused by speeding overloaded trucks approaching a traffic light in the process of changing from green to red.  Their response seems to be just lay on the horn and continue on hoping the intersection will remain clear.  Adding to this, other traffic starts moving before a light changes to green without looking for oncoming vehicles that will be running the red light.  Having ridden or driven in many countries I can only say Thai drivers are the worst and nothing will changes until a mobile police force exists to actually stop and confront those with dangerous driving habits.  

[Asquith Production]

16 minutes ago, prakhonchai nick said:

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.  

Completely unrealistic. All you hit are the poor. The hiso can just continue.. By selling their vehicle you deprive them and family of earning any money..

 

 If you want to hiighlight   the problem and make a public impact. You need two dedicated teams of traffic officers covering a period from 7am to 10pm, These teams of say 10 officers would each have two spotters, with some video capability on the other side of the lights would be the other 8 officers slow down the traffic and book any red lighters. These teams would move around during the day so motorists would not know where they will turn up. Fine each one 500 thb and confiscate their vehicle until paid. This would be a fairly cheap option with maximum public impact. and awareness.

 

 

[Gottfrid]

Educate? Let´s hope they will do better than the general schools.

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, Paul Henry said:

In any other country this would be a standard prerequisite to getting a drivers licence.Still most other countries don't hand out drivers licences like Thailand.

This is not true at all. In many countries of the world, probably the majority, driver training and testing is a lot more rudimentary than it is here. And it shows. Try driving in India or Egypt for instance. They are both appalling compared with Thailand.

 

Canada -5th easiest country in the world to get a drivers license.

[Road Warrior]

good luck . no way !!!

[Fairynuff]

They know what red lights mean, other drivers have to stop….but not me. 

[spidermike007]

Air Vice Marshal Ittaporn Kanacharoen suffers from some basic misunderstandings. The zebra crossings are one thing. Red lights are another. If the drivers here do not know enough basics about stopping for a red light, not much can be done, except to ask the police to put themselves out, and to perform actual  traffic safety work. 

[thailand49]

Campaign?  If you got to do that reason time and time again they have failed. What is the driver handbook and test doing I guess nothing so what is a campaign past and present going to do but I guess bringing back an old idea since there aren't going to be any new ones coming from these leaders!

 

Scrape the system rewrite the handbook then instead of having people drinking around circles and watching a film which no one does ( but I did ) do an actually driving test live or on a simulator after actually get out and enforce the law instead of reacting when something bad happens! 

 

 

 

 

 

[poskat]

I am interested in hearing Air Marshall FuFu's opinion on this issue

[Peterphuket]

You can not change the selfish nature from the average car driver in Thailand.

[Bangkok Barry]

3 hours ago, bluemoon58 said:

Either that or they just don't give a <deleted>...!!!

Correct. They don't need educating. They know perfectly well what crossings and lights are there for. So you're right, they don't give a rat's fart. And nor do the police, who set an example by driving the same way.

It isn't education that's needed, it's enforcement. And that is never going to happen as long as the police know there are no consequences for them if they do nothing. They know they get paid anyway, so why bother working. That is so tiresome. Do not disturb.

[Bangkok Barry]

2 hours ago, sikishrory said:

Remove the countdown clocks from the traffic lights and put covers around the lights so they can't be viewed from the side. That will fix the issue of thais going 3-5 seconds too early. 

I have no idea what purpose those countdown clocks serve. There is no practical purpose to them at all. Okay to let pedestrians know how long they have left to cross, but having them to tell drivers how long they have to wait at a red light? What's that about. And when they show how long there is until the green turns to red only encourages drivers to speed up. It's insanity, yet the clocks exist all over the world now.

[Peterphuket]

I remember ever there was a police officer here in Thailand, at an intersection with a stop sign, he don't stop and told the passenger in the car, who drove with him, that it was only  advice to stop......

Can you imagine?

[Pedrogaz]

Continuous enforcement is needed not a campaign or crackdown. 

[mran66]

7 hours ago, Hayduke said:

 

Brilliant....the Air Vice Marshall is truly an observant and insightful fellow.

 

 

... His talk is equally impactful as if someone would tell him and his staff to stop on newly installed traffic lights at 30000ft...

 

 

[Mywayboy]

Sadly you can't stuff brains into Statues.

Drive education in Thailand is the same as Scholastic training very poor to say the least.

[wensiensheng]

What a ridiculous notion. Thai drivers know only too well what a red traffic light means. They just choose to ignore them.

 

think again Air Marshall

Edited February 7, 2022 by wensiensheng

[scorecard]

3 hours 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>...!!!

 

Perhaps they should make a radical change and start compulsory lesson hours starting at junior high school level.

 

Structured lessons conducted by selected appropriate police officers who can get the attention of the kids (all with well constructed diagrams in compulsory handouts) , and the initial lessons focus on 'the rules of the road' (traffic laws). There's rgular tests and each kid has a progressive profile of test scores. 

 

Ultimately must pass a consolidated exam before they can get a permit to start driving lesssons which must be conducted by licensed driving instructors.

 

Pie in the sky? Probably yes.

[thaibook]

"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."  How perceptive.

 

As so oftern, there is a simple solution but it is beyond the scope of a clientelist society.  Enforce laws.

[bougnat]

What do kids learn at school? Nothing.

[Zack61]

These are, and always will be, the rules for many road users. Not all but far too many. 

 

Green = Go

Orange = Go faster

Red = Go if someone hasn’t stopped in front of you. 
 

Education will mean nought without proper fines/consequences and policing. 

[SamuiAddict]

This is ridiculous that so many don't know the basic fundamentals of being on the road.

 

This is why I think it will take at least 2 generations to change anything properly, and thats only if and when they start proper drivers ED etc.

[Peterphuket]

3 minutes ago, SamuiAddict said:

This is ridiculous that so many don't know the basic fundamentals of being on the road.

 

This is why I think it will take at least 2 generations to change anything properly, and thats only if and when they start proper drivers ED etc.

Then they have to start now, otherwise 10 generations or more.....

[DefaultName]

Is "enforcement" a word in Thai?

[Andre0720]

As I normally describe it, a culture must get civilized before being able to become educated.

 

What is the definition of a civilized man?

 

Having a highly developed society and culture. adjective. 7. 3. Showing evidence of moral and intellectual advancement; humane, ethical, and reasonable.

 

So in a few words, being civilized means being considerate for others.

Well, the list of shortcomings would be too long....

 

[Confuscious]

Putting a cover on the well after the kid was drowned ...........

I wonder if Thais realize that a lot of people OUTSIDE Thailand follow these news reports as well and having a good laugh at their sheer stupidity?

[Jen65]

Driving Licences are one thing but the other is the Insurance issue and until the government stops handing out insurance for peanuts without vehicle checks/background checks ,  nothing will change and the boy racers with their modified Izuzu pick-up (wide wheels, lowered suspension and go faster loud exhausts ) and the carnage will just continue .   The problem needs pro-active surgery and dealt with at source .  Give the whole insurance issue to the private sector .   Young drivers / modified vehicles ?? err sorry you need to be on an L plate for one year with no accidents / claims AND your premium initially hiked !!   Modfied vehicle ?? oh sorry ,can't insure you !       Additionally the government/police need to get organised with a database connecting vehicles/owners/insurance/tax/inspections.