Poll: - Research suggests that Thai drivers are superior to Expat drivers!

[AgMech Cowboy]

As a whole, Thai's are not good drivers.  Some do take driving courses, which actually teaches them rules/laws, best practices and courtesy, but for the most part it's from walking, to a motorbike and then to a P/U truck or car, then they graduate to the bus and trucks.  There will be very little training and the poor practices from the motorbike stay with them.

 

Sadly, many foreigners come here and think they can drive like a Thai person. Some have only limited motorbike experience, but rent one and 'go to town' and out for an adventure.

 

I've had more accidents then my wife, and IMO i'm not a bad driver...  Then, I like to sit in the back when she drives and close my eyes. ???????? (otherwise, it drives me crazy)

[KhunLA]

Went with 'think they are better, but incompetent' ... not me of course.

 

Based on per capita to what I see.  So many expats without helmets.    Along with so many inconsiderate, poor driving on the highways.   And per capita, I should hardly notice any are expats. but far too many are.

[transam]

I can't think of anything to say, so................................................

[NoshowJones]

16 hours ago, Hummin said:

Some thai drivers is better than most expat drivers who is not willing to adopt to the thai way of understanding the complicated pattern of driving.

 

Seen many expats creating dangerous situations because they are stubborn and think they know how to drive in Thailand. 

 

 

As safe driving requires lots of common sense, Thai drivers and motorbike riders will always be at the bottom of the pile. 

[NoshowJones]

1 hour ago, Ralf001 said:

I was over in Australia earlier this year.

For a western country with good education there was some really crappy drivers on the roads over there..... Victoria BTW, not sure on rest of country.

The best driving I ever came across was in America.

[quake]

2 hours ago, nigelforbes said:

you're!

Yawn. 

[NoshowJones]

2 hours ago, Cricky said:

And we are all guilty of doing the same but so many members don't complain about their own law breaking road use. Most members are always complaining and moaning about the Thais driving habits. 

 

We must not forget that the Thais were driving this way well before we arrived, making Thailand our home, I reckon we all should be more understanding. 

 

Good point. It is not always their fault the way they were born, and in most cases with very little common sense, I just passed three small children this morning, the oldest one who was driving no more  than 12 years old. This is not uncommon here up country with stupid parents giving the keys of their motorbikes to their young children.

[phetphet]

2 hours ago, Cricky said:

And we are all guilty of doing the same but so many members don't complain about their own law breaking road use. Most members are always complaining and moaning about the Thais driving habits. 

 

We must not forget that the Thais were driving this way well before we arrived, making Thailand our home, I reckon we all should be more understanding. 

 

We might all be guilty of breaking some road rules, but Thais are in a different class. You only have to look at the history and number of accidents here.

 

People smashing into parked vehicles at high speed, smashing into vehicles stopped at traffic lights, driving on the wrong side of the road.

They seem to have a total lack of spatial awareness.

[Lacessit]

There are about 200,000 Westerners in Thailand. The Thai population is approximately 72 million, with about 15,000 road deaths in 2022. At that rate, attrition would have seen most of us off, if we were worse drivers.

We are way down the list - Canada, UK, USA, Australia, France etc. when it comes to road deaths per 100,000 population. 

 

https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/road-traffic-accidents/by-country/

 

No doubt some of us abandon sensible driving and copy Thai methods. IMO that's a minority.

[Liverpool Lou]

17 hours ago, quake said:

Ok, explain the 25,000 dead every year.

 

Inebriated motorcyclists mainly.

[Liverpool Lou]

17 hours ago, quake said:

I'm out of here.

Turning into an Apologist thread. 

Funny how those with no rational argument interpret opposing opinions as "apologist" and then run away.

[Liverpool Lou]

17 hours ago, Crossy said:

Speeding - Definitely

Passing on the left - Of course

Clipping the "don't drive here" hatchings - I have photo evidence!

I don't believe that for a second, AN drivers never do anything wrong, there are millions of pages about it in many threads!

[Liverpool Lou]

17 hours ago, blackshadow said:

i have over 50 yrs driving experience and am qualified to pass comments on thai driving....they would not/never pass a Uk driving test end of story !!

They don't have to, end of story.   You (and the rest of us) probably wouldn't be able to now, either.

[transam]

Farangy's do have the fundamentals of knowing right from wrong on the road, as they do have to pass a fairly difficult test after many hours of tuition.

The same cannot be said for what happens in LOS, I have been in on driving tests here, I think a 'joke' would not be far off.  

[Crossy]

2 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

They don't have to, end of story.   You (and the rest of us) probably wouldn't be able to now, either.

 

Yup, I would certainly stand no chance on a UK test now unless I had at least some form of refresher course.

 

For example, a "Toucan" crossing didn't exist last time I drove in the UK, Pelicans were the latest thing.

[richard_smith237]

13 hours ago, Bangkokhatter said:

13 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Erm..    ???? 

 

As we’re on an automative thread, you let your foot slip off the clutch with that one...   Have you never been told, mouth into neutral, brain into gear ??.... 

have you eve been told your a sanctimonious <deleted> ?

Damn... I thought the use of apostrophe to differentiate ‘your' form 'you are' has been covered in this thread already...  ????

 

 

You may need to learn the meaning of ‘sanctimonious’, this was not sanctimony, it was good old fashioned mudslinging. Throwing mud in your direction after you slung the dirt at another poster who was in fact correct, while you on the other hand were wholly wrong in your understanding of Thailand's Traffic rules regarding giving way to the right when entering a traffic island.

 

All in jest of course...  don’t be so thin skinned !!!... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[KannikaP]

18 hours ago, quake said:

I did but your to quick on the draw 

 

 

....you're too...................

[Crossy]

I think a fundamental issue here, and many other non-Western countries, is that students are taught to operate the vehicle, they are not taught to "drive".

 

Driving is so much more than simply making the vehicle go (and hopefully, stop). Driving with an instructor on real roads, with real traffic (and real idiots) is absolutely essential.

[Crossy]

OK Mod hat on!

 

This is a fun poll so moderating has been  somewhat, er, relaxed, and there have been many sensible posts too, but let's leave the grammar / spelling policing to the Boys in Brown (after all, they can't deal with traffic policing)

 

EDIT OK, enough snarking and name-calling. If you notice that your post has gone walkabout, sorry.

[richard_smith237]

I was recently in a provincial ski area in Japan in a van driven by a Thai friend.

 

The sign posting was not clear and we were following google maps which took us the wrong way down 100m one way street. 

 

I would have panicked, stopped, done a 15 point turn on the narrow road to face the correct direction then trace back to the junction and follow a different (correct) route. 

 

But, our chilled driver simply ignored the one-way sign (we were already committed) followed google maps without any issue whatsoever. 

 

 

In short - I’d have made things more difficult, he, simply continued on and got away from the one way street more quickly which IMO was the better option after making a mistake. 

 

Anecdotal - yes, but mistake happens and sometimes not giving too may ‘f£$K’ about the rules is a better option !... 

[Liverpool Lou]

3 hours ago, stoner said:

a mod bragging about breaking the rules and flouting the law. 

 

the irony is so rich. 

Enjoy your break!  No criticisms please.  At least he didn't correct anyone's grammar!

[Will B Good]

17 hours ago, poppysdad said:

My wife readily admits driving standards are far superior outside of Thailand but then contradicts herself by saying that falangs do not know how to drive here. 

To be fair you do need special skills, not usually attained anywhere else, to drive here.

[Crossy]

3 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Enjoy your break!  No criticisms please.  At least he didn't correct anyone's grammar!

 

I did comment on an early spelling error

[Crossy]

15 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

To be fair you do need special skills, not usually attained anywhere else, to drive here.

 

Expecting the unexpected doesn't go nearly far enough.

 

Expecting the physically impossible (how the flip did that car get there?) is closer.

 

[moogradod]

Nobody in my Thai family is a bad driver. Even my wife learned to drive quite well after about 3 years practice.

 

One difficulty in the comparison between Thais and Expats might as well be their age. Expats are prone to be more old with worse reaction etc that this will bring with it. On the other side you find these young drivers I see speeding and in general being less less considerate.

 

You have the crazy fraction just begging for their deadly event in every country. I remember when I was driving a motorycle when I was young I only escaped a number of fatal accidents with luck. Now after 49 years of holding a car and motorycle license this is less of a problem.

[Liverpool Lou]

3 hours ago, BobBKK said:

Where's this 'research'?  nonsense poll with 20,000 deaths a year here.

Research for what?  It's a "humourous" thread with no seriousness intended...obviously.   Surely?

[transam]

8 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

To be fair you do need special skills, not usually attained anywhere else, to drive here.

Yes, closing your eyes at the right moment.....

[Liverpool Lou]

58 minutes ago, phetphet said:

People smashing into parked vehicles at high speed, smashing into vehicles stopped at traffic lights, driving on the wrong side of the road.

They seem to have a total lack of spatial awareness.

Of course, non-Thais never get into those situations, do they?

[Liverpool Lou]

49 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

There are about 200,000 Westerners in Thailand. The Thai population is approximately 72 million, with about 15,000 road deaths in 2022. At that rate, attrition would have seen most of us off, if we were worse drivers.

Very odd logic.

[Liverpool Lou]

34 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

....you're too...................

Too many dots!