Scottish man becomes latest victim of Thailand’s perilous roads

[Gandtee]

10 hours ago, Denim said:

Does sound like he was not wearing a helmet.

 

An almost identical accident happened here in Petchabun a couple of years ago. Didn't make the news anywhere. Swedish guy only here a week wandered into oncoming lane and died in head on collision.

No helmet.

 

9 out of 10 foreigners I see riding around here don't  wear a helmet. Presumably they think on a short journey with little traffic a helmet is over the top. A very foolish assumption. 

 

 

Perhaps if a helmet had been worn 'over the top' he would still be alive.????R.I.P.

[flexomike]

9 hours ago, The Fugitive said:

Three recent instances in my Thai family (neice once, nephew twice) of moto accidents. In all three they were treated without argument under their 30 baht scheme. However, as Road Traffic Accidents are not covered by Thai National Health Service they later received bills for the cost of their treatment.  

No tax stamp on the scooters?

 

[prakhonchai nick]

51 minutes ago, bignok said:

Fear of covid

No fear of crashes

Poor education

 

 

Poorly run school allowing kids to enter and leave on motorbikes without helmets, and most probably without licences and insurance!

 

And not a policeman to be seen! But that is never a surprise!

[prakhonchai nick]

7 hours ago, BarraMarra said:

Three words to remember anywhere you're riding a bike " Expect the Unexpected "

Or driving a car!

[sirineou]

10 hours ago, 2long said:

His motorcycle veered into the opposite lane = he rode on the wrong side of the road, against oncoming traffic. Or am I misreading something?

Yes you are ! It was "Thailand’s perilous roads" that caused and not unfortunate circumstances. .

 

Having said that, It was an accident, motorbikes are inherently dangerous and it was just an unfortunate accident.

RIP , My sympathies to his families and friends . 

[bignok]

7 minutes ago, JGV said:

Tragic but self inflicted - He thinks he is Peter Fonda in Easy Rider but has no incite into driving a powerful motor bike - Tighten regulations about renting and buying a bike over 250cc and maybe fatalities will be reduced - male ego cause of death

Why? The world is overpopulated and tiny fines wont stop farangs from no helmet. They cant fine people 5000 baht cause Thais cant afford it.

 

Anyone who thinks Thais will adopt western rules is kidding

 

 

[prakhonchai nick]

1 hour ago, swm59nj said:

This really has nothing actually to do with Thailand perilous roads. .  It has to do with driver error.  And not wearing a helmet.  This could have happened anywhere 

Thailand's roads are perilous due in the main to driver error, inexperience,and general foolhardiness!

[Scott]

Posts violating Community Guidelines have been removed. 

 

[prakhonchai nick]

1 minute ago, bignok said:

Why? The world is overpopulated and tiny fines wont stop farangs from no helmet. They cant fine people 5000 baht cause Thais cant afford it.

 

Anyone who thinks Thais will adopt western rules is kidding

 

 

If Thais cannot afford 5,000bt -or even 10,000baht fines, then they should think twice about putting themselves in the position where they will be fined!.  Cannot pay. then lose the vehicle

 

Card players in the villages who get caught and cannot pay the fine are imprisoned instead. I believe it is 1 night in prison for every 500bt not paid.  Treat motorists the same way!

[bignok]

Just now, prakhonchai nick said:

If Thais cannot afford 5,000bt -or even 10,000baht fines, then they should think twice about putting themselves in the position where they will be fined!.  Cannot pay. then lose the vehicle

 

Card players in the villages who get caught and cannot pay the fine are imprisoned instead. I believe it is 1 night in prison for every 500bt not paid.  Treat motorists the same way!

You must be new to Thailand. Thais dont think like westerners.

[gjoo888]

10 hours ago, roo860 said:

Nope, never.

Me too. I've been riding a motorbike for over 18 years here, and ALWAYS wear my helmet, even for the two minute ride to 7-11. 

[Tom H]

6142 deaths by motorbike drivers per year in Thailand (source Land of department Bkk)

                                : divided

by 365 days

                                =

 

17 deaths motorbike drivers per day.

 

Countless handicaped ones

Countless deaths at hospitals later which are not registered to this figure because only deaths at scene are counted.

 

TIT
 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 10, 2023 by Tom H

[sammieuk1]

Personally I have seen an uptick of awful farang ridding and driving lately it looks like when in Rome syndrome out there ????Rip  

[bignok]

11 hours ago, transam said:

I doubt it, at 10am...

15 beers the night before you still drunk at 10am

[Badbanker]

After riding a motorcycle for 36 years in Bangkok, people need to know that riding here is not the same as the UK!   Sadly many people don't have any real riding experience and just jump on an automatic motorcycle and just go and think the magic carpet ride will save them!!!! No the rules don't change!

 

If you have no helmet and you hit you head you will die!  

 

I remember someone at an Embassy in Bangkok saying they take 1 farang a week out of Samui in a body bag!

[bignok]

1 minute ago, sammieuk1 said:

Personally I have seen an uptick of awful farang ridding and driving lately it looks like when in Rome syndrome out there ????Rip  

Nah always been like that. Farangs are rule based at home. They go Thailand think wow no rule enforcement or pissy fine do whatever.

 

Fmps

Cheap Motorbikes

Nightlife

7/11 with alcohol

Cheap rooms

 

The farang brain goes wow i can party

Crash dead

 

 

 

[JensenZ]

The danger statistics for Thailand's roads is completely distorted. It does not factor in the percentage of motorcycle usage on its roads.

 

Thailand has the highest motorcycle usage in the world, with 87% of its population using motorcycles. It's followed by a few other SEA countries, with Vietnam at 86%, Indonesia at 85% and Malaysia 83%. All other countries, and especially Western nations are WAY behind.

 

Top 7 countries with highest motorbike usage

[sabai-dee-man]

51 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Foolish to do so. Given the amount of loose dirt on uncleaned Thai roads a skid can happen at any time. I always wore my helmet and it saved my life in my accident.

Heads are not designed to survive an impact on concrete at any speed.

 

 

When I was 17 I wrote my 125 off riding like a typical teenager numpty down a county lane. I broke my collar bone, grazed all up one side of my body (I was wearing half decent clothing... but in fairness, protective gear still wasn't great back in the 80s), and a fibreglass full-face helmet. When I was presented with the helmet from the scene a couple of days later, the road rash on it went from the bottom-left of the chin guard, right around the face, across the visor, and around the back... basically covering 2/3 of the lid! I can't understand anyone even wearing an open face lid, let alone none at all. "Helmets" I see people wearing in Thailand are laughable... I always used to take my Arai with me, but I gave up riding in Thailand several years ago, as the traffic is even more horrific now than ever.

[tandor]

11 hours ago, sidjameson said:

The wife constantly urging caution if reported accurately suggests he was reckless in some way.

maybe not wearing his Tam...the report did mention severe head injuries.  RIP

[Nemises]

5 minutes ago, gjoo888 said:

Me too. I've been riding a motorbike for over 18 years here, and ALWAYS wear my helmet, even for the two minute ride to 7-11. 

Got luck having your “18 years experience and helmet” saving you when hit hard from behind by one of the many drugged-out/drunk/phone-playing distracted, speeding truck drivers common on Thai’s perilous roads. 

[bignok]

"The fateful collision occurred as the Scottish man was on his way to local shops in Krabi’s Ao Nang district. His motorbike veered into the opposite lane, leading to a head-on crash with a motorcycle-and-sidecar vehicle."

 

Why do he veer over the other side?

 

poor skills?

Drunk?

Reckless overtake move?

 

 

[JensenZ]

3 minutes ago, sabai-dee-man said:

but I gave up riding in Thailand several years ago, as the traffic is even more horrific now than ever.

The reason you gave up riding motorcycles is the reason most people use them - the convenience of getting through traffic quickly rather than spending hours in an airconditioned car on roads that resemble parking lots... and burning up fuel that costs the equivalent of milk. My last 3 liters cost 150 baht, more than I pay for milk.

[glegolo18]

11 hours ago, KannikaP said:

pissed?

Or driving way too optimistic and offensiv in the thai traffic and potholes?? Way too many

tourists who comes here drive like they maybe do in their falang-home-countries, and that just do not work here unfortunately..

[Skipalongcassidy]

19 minutes ago, prakhonchai nick said:

Thailand's roads are perilous due in the main to driver error, inexperience,and general foolhardiness!

What you don't understand is that personal responsibility is not accepted in Thailand... there must be some inanimate object that causes everything.

[bignok]

I don't think riding is that dangerous if use helmet, go slow and stay left.

 

If too lazy to walk ride slowly on the left with a helmet.

[Ralf001]

2 hours ago, spermwhale said:

Sadly another tourist rents a bike and hits the dangerous Thai roads thinking they know what they are doing. First mistake: Riding without a helmet.  

 

 

The article made no mention of a rented bike or he was a tourist.

 

 

[JensenZ]

Just now, glegolo18 said:

Or driving way too optimistic and offensiv in the thai traffic and potholes?? Way too many

tourists who comes here drive like they maybe do in their falang-home-countries, and that just do not work here unfortunately..

You really have a point with tourists, depending where they come from. Most countries drive on the right, and one of the big problems when converting to the left is looking the wrong way when crossing traffic and intersections. It takes a long time to adapt completely to the other side to the point of it becoming instinctual. You often see tourists sauntering across a road while looking the wrong way.

 

Of course the Scottish guy who was killed doesn't have this excuse, but it is a problem for many tourists.

[RanongCat]

9 hours ago, The Fugitive said:

Three recent instances in my Thai family (neice once, nephew twice) of moto accidents. In all three they were treated without argument under their 30 baht scheme. However, as Road Traffic Accidents are not covered by Thai National Health Service they later received bills for the cost of their treatment.  

Yes. Illness is 30 bht. Accident injury is at cost.

[Ralf001]

9 hours ago, Screaming said:

I have been told that I sound like a broken record but here goes: Riding a motorbike in Thailand is a death wish.

22million registered bikes in Thailand.

 

Approx 20,000 reported accidents per year... not all result in death.

 

Riding a bike is hardly the death wish you so proudly claim.

[pacovl46]

11 hours ago, sidjameson said:

The wife constantly urging caution if reported accurately suggests he was reckless in some way.

Not necessarily. Thai roads are dangerous and the Thais know it. I’ve heard this sentence a million times and the people who said it to me had no way of knowing how I ride my bike!