Daily News Thai Caption: Making Zebras look more different

 

The authorities in the Thai capital Bangkok continue to try and upgrade Zebra Crossings seeking new and fancy ways to try and make them more noticeable, reports ASEAN NOW.

 

But will motorists actually stop for pedestrians?

 

That has always been the burning question ever since February when a speeding cop on a motorcycle ended the life of a young ophthalmologist creating soul searching about driving habits and upgrades nationwide for the crossings. 

 

The latest move coming from the head of the Office of Traffic and Transport of the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority is to use a special paint to make the crossings in the capital stand out.

 

Praphat Leuangsirinapha favors coal tar red plastic paint. 

 

He said he'd done surveys and this will help make Zebras more visible.

 

The red painted crossings with extra strips will be installed in 160 locations such as outside temples, mosques, markets and where there are a lot of people.

 

Expect the work to be completed next month, reported Daily News.

 

Despite it being a legal requirement to stop for pedestrians at Zebra Crossings in Thailand many if not most motorists still routinely ignore them and there appears little appetite to enforce the law from the RTP, suggests ASEAN NOW. 

 

-- © Copyright  ASEAN NOW 2022-09-08

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

Monthly car subscription with first-class insurance, 24x7 assistance and more in one price - click here to find out more!

 

Get your business in front of millions of customers who read ASEAN NOW with an interest in Thailand every month - email [email protected] for more information

Yes, but only if they were made out of barbwire and metal spikes, today i saw a policeman on a motorcycle jump red lights at Thonglor intersection, fine example he was setting...

Should have flashing warning lights, like these....????

 

16 minutes ago, transam said:

Should have flashing warning lights, like these....????

 

Named after Leslie Hore-Belisha and first installed in 1934 in Kensington, London

5 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Named after Leslie Hore-Belisha and first installed in 1934 in Kensington, London

Yes, plus can be seen by near everyone, whereas, just a painted crossing cannot in moving traffic or heavy rain....????

6 minutes ago, transam said:

Yes, plus can be seen by near everyone, whereas, just a painted crossing cannot in moving traffic or heavy rain....????

Can be seen, but reacted to = NO.

1 minute ago, KannikaP said:

Can be seen, but reacted to = NO.

Weeeeell, my thought was, they can be seen from waaaaay back, so it will give driver grey cells time to take it in and compute....????

1 hour ago, transam said:

Should have flashing warning lights, like these....????

 

Spot on! This is the way to go

2 hours ago, transam said:

Should have flashing warning lights, like these....????

 

The design of the crossing is good but the location is ludicrous.  On a blind bend for traffic coming downhill who will not be able to see pedestrians crossing from the uphill side until the last minute!  Potentially lethal road surface in the rain when spattered with grease and oil from vehicles or debris from leaves.  Looks like the HK Transport Department are a bunch of muppets.

It won't work.

 

Thai Motorists don't care about zebra crossing because the roads are always congested and they do not want to waste more time waiting for people to cross.

 

The Thai government should instead find ways to build more roads and ease the congestion.

20 minutes ago, animalmagic said:

The design of the crossing is good but the location is ludicrous.  On a blind bend for traffic coming downhill who will not be able to see pedestrians crossing from the uphill side until the last minute!  Potentially lethal road surface in the rain when spattered with grease and oil from vehicles or debris from leaves.  Looks like the HK Transport Department are a bunch of muppets.

Please concentrate on the crossing, and it's flashing warning lights, that are not installed in LOS..... ...????.............????

33 minutes ago, animalmagic said:

The design of the crossing is good but the location is ludicrous.  On a blind bend for traffic coming downhill who will not be able to see pedestrians crossing from the uphill side until the last minute!  Potentially lethal road surface in the rain when spattered with grease and oil from vehicles or debris from leaves.  Looks like the HK Transport Department are a bunch of muppets.

Maybe not perfect but both sides of the crossing can be seen clearly when coming down the hill.

49 minutes ago, animalmagic said:

The design of the crossing is good but the location is ludicrous.  On a blind bend for traffic coming downhill who will not be able to see pedestrians crossing from the uphill side until the last minute!  Potentially lethal road surface in the rain when spattered with grease and oil from vehicles or debris from leaves.  Looks like the HK Transport Department are a bunch of muppets.

 

At least they managed to maintain their slopes. ????????

 

Why would you make them different on BKK to the rest of the country ?.

 

Ignorant domestic tourists that are visiting Pattaya from Bangkok won't know what they are.... not that stop anyways.

Nothing will make them stop. It doesn't matter what color you paint them.

Perhaps a large cluster of flashing leds and sirens 50 metres from the crossing as a warning system. Then a 1 inch steel plate, 1 metre high with spikes facing the oncoming traffic across the entire width of the road, and another 1 inch steel plate with no spikes for 10 metres alongside the road would help.

1 hour ago, transam said:

Please concentrate on the crossing, and it's flashing warning lights, that are not installed in LOS..... ...????.............????

Abject apologies, I got carried away. ???? a lot of people have recommended that I am carried away.

Money would be better spent on these????

 

 

In Thai, of course.

1 hour ago, Upnotover said:

Maybe not perfect but both sides of the crossing can be seen clearly when coming down the hill.

 

Have you seen how they drive in HK?

It would be better to have a flashing sign above the crossing warning drivers of pedestrian crossing. It would be seen at a greater distance on approach. 

There is no driver education here so the answer is a resounding no.

to me, one way to do it - in the more densely packed areas where speeds might be/should be lower, is to install speed reduction road units (aka speed bumps) which - absent damaging the cars undercarriage- arguably force drivers to slow. 

ahhhh the thai zebra paradox. 

 

don't stop and you may hit and kill someone. stop and you might get murdered from behind. 

 

off i go on my click down sukhumvit now. 

As far as I can tell, they only stop if someone is already crossing the road. No stopping for people standing at the side waiting for them to stop.

2 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

Why would you make them different on BKK to the rest of the country

Because , like smoke , smog , floods , crash helmets etc. Bangkok is all that matters. 

3 hours ago, EricTh said:

It won't work.

 

Thai Motorists don't care about zebra crossing because the roads are always congested and they do not want to waste more time waiting for people to cross.

 

The Thai government should instead find ways to build more roads and ease the congestion.

There's also a quite strong attitude by many motorists / mo-cy drivers that vehicles come first, people walking come second and should wait.

The answer is.  Unfortunately they will not

39 minutes ago, scorecard said:

There's also a quite strong attitude by many motorists / mo-cy drivers that vehicles come first, people walking come second and should wait.

Yes, it's the complete opposite of western attitude. Other South-East Asian countries also have the same attitude, it's due to the horrendous road congestion here when compared to western countries.

6 hours ago, transam said:

Should have flashing warning lights, like these....????

 

Doesn't yellow mean speed up?????????

Only rising metal spikes will do.

 

But the motos will still hop the footpath and ride on.

 

*Vehicle confiscation

 

*Jail