Scottish man becomes latest victim of Thailand’s perilous roads

[tmd5855]

12 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.

You can make it a death wish.

I am 68, lived here 19 years and always rode bikes, present bike bike is a modified, single seat, Ninja 650 that can do 160kph (on the speedo) in 4th gear before clicking into 5th..

But, the secret to survive is scan ahead continuously and expect the car drivers to have had a frontal lobotomy and the dark glasses Somsak is wearing on his 125cc are welding goggles. 

 

PS raced production class bikes in my twenties, that were in 1977-79.

Can supply photo of present bike

 

[10baht]

16 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

motorbike

Roads? or motorbike?

[10baht]

15 hours ago, Dan747 said:

about 70 people die each day

You'd think after a while the poor drivers would be all gone.

[VocalNeal]

16 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

a 48 year old Scottish man

At what age did he start riding a scooter???? Probably had less experience than a 14 year old Thai boy.

 

16 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Griffin, who had been visiting Thailand for a holiday, had only arrived in the country the day before the tragic incident.

Ah. Sorry, answered my own question.

[2ndhomepattaya]

It is more likely that this unfortunate fellow had very little if any experience with scooters or bikes for that matter. Seems easy enough. Some years ago a friend hired a bike in Pattaya and the day after broke his collarbone when crashing his bike luckily at very low speed. Again, no experience at all with scooters.

[riclag]

15 hours ago, riclag said:

RIP 

Since when does RIP DESERVE a trolling laugh .What happened to this forum? 

 

[superal]

2 hours ago, ianwheldale said:

Helmet, long trousers, jacket, boots and gloves no matter how long or short the ride for me.

So correct . Coming off a motorbike can do serious skin/tissue damage .

[Moti24]

2 hours ago, bignok said:

Your comments are naive at best. No helmet, wrong side of road and you blame the 3 wheeler. Sorry but you are wrong. 3 wheelers are Thai culture. Farangs cant make up how the roads operate.

 

You have to fit in and protect yourself.

 

 

Perhaps you can remind me where I blamed the 3-wheeler.  I stated that the 3-wheeler motorcycles are illegal in Thailand.  The reason why the foreigner was on the wrong side of the road remains to be seen.  If I were to blame anybody, it would be those who have sworn to uphold the laws of Thailand.

Just take a chill-pill, and put your feet up; you must be knackered with your 2 minutes of brain activity.

[Moti24]

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Obviously you aren't aware that they are only illegal to ride in. Not that that makes any difference in Thailand, of course. I've more than once seen little kids sitting up in them waiting to be killed as their guardian rolls the dice.

Not quite true, Barry.

 

You won't get an annual test done at DLT if you have a sidecar attached.  And you won't get insurance for one either.  As far as I remember, the only motorcycle/sidecar combinations that are legal in Thailand are the Walls Ice Cream vehicles; they are specially made and approved for that purpose.

 

 

[Zapitapi]

R.I.P.

[riclag]

2 minutes ago, Zapitapi said:

R.I.P.

Proper  & Respectful 

cheers

[bignok]

10 minutes ago, Moti24 said:

Perhaps you can remind me where I blamed the 3-wheeler.  I stated that the 3-wheeler motorcycles are illegal in Thailand.  The reason why the foreigner was on the wrong side of the road remains to be seen.  If I were to blame anybody, it would be those who have sworn to uphold the laws of Thailand.

Just take a chill-pill, and put your feet up; you must be knackered with your 2 minutes of brain activity.

Show me a link

[VocalNeal]

12 minutes ago, Moti24 said:

I stated that the 3-wheeler motorcycles are illegal in Thailand. 

I believe legal if they are registered as new. What you cannot do is add a sidecar to a bike registered without one. 

My neighbor has one with which he makes his living. 

 

He obviously lost control on a left-hand corner. Had he been on a right-hand corner he wouldn't have strayed into the oncoming lane.

 

Now the sidecar guy has the expense of fixing his equipment as it is difficult to make a claim from a dead person.

 

12 minutes ago, Moti24 said:

If I were to blame anybody, it would be those who have sworn to uphold the laws of Thailand.

 

If you mean the RTP. They cannot be held responsible for distracted or incompetent riders.

[bignok]

11 minutes ago, Moti24 said:

stated that the 3-wheeler motorcycles are illegal in Thailand

So riding a motorbike without a helmet on the wrong side of the road is legal then?

 

Your comments are just way off target. Looking for an excuse to blame Thais. The farang caused the accident if reports are correct.

[Ralf001]

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

What does 'mostly illegal' mean? They aren't, actually. It is illegal to ride in them though.

The green book.... are they listed as a 3 wheeler ?

[transam]

1 minute ago, bignok said:

Show me a link

Don't worry, you will be OK with your bike/sidecar rig, never seen one with a BiB problem, enjoy your 3 day trip on it..........

[DJ54]

R.I.P. young man…

[superal]

32 minutes ago, riclag said:

Since when does RIP DESERVE a trolling laugh .What happened to this forum? 

 

Totally agree . Some people have no respect and in cases like this they should get a warning from the moderators

[n00dle]

17 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

His motorbike veered into the opposite lane, leading to a head-on crash with a motorcycle-and-sidecar vehicle.

so his motorbike is responsible?

What an assinine piece of writing. 

He veered into the opposite lane strking an oncoming motocylce with sidecar resulting in head injuries that later killed him. 

This is not about "perilous" roads in Thailand. This is about one man losing controlof his motocycle and paying a dire price for it. 

[Bangkok Barry]

41 minutes ago, Moti24 said:

Not quite true, Barry.

 

You won't get an annual test done at DLT if you have a sidecar attached.  And you won't get insurance for one either.  As far as I remember, the only motorcycle/sidecar combinations that are legal in Thailand are the Walls Ice Cream vehicles; they are specially made and approved for that purpose.

 

 

I was just going by what my policeman brother-in-law said. Of course, that doesn't mean much. He has one by the way, legal or not 

[kwilco]

18 hours ago, Dan747 said:

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Thailand has one of the highest rates of road traffic deaths in the world, with the majority of fatalities involving motorbikes. The Thai Health Promotion Foundation reports that, on average, about 70 people die each day as a result of road accidents in Thailand. Of these fatalities, 74% are motorbike riders and passengers. According to the Department of Land Transport, there were 22,134 motorbike accidents in Thailand in 2020, resulting in 19,226 injuries and 6,142 deaths.

THe statistics for Thailand don't read well - but unfortunately it is the compilation analysis of those stats that is preventing any progress on road safety in Thailand.

The stats you refer to are deaths per 100k, but there are many equally important stats regarding other aspects - e.g. per number of vehicles, miled drive, number of collisions, and most important te number of injuries categorized as minor, serious and fatal as is internationally recognised.

[Andrew65]

18 hours ago, KannikaP said:

pissed?

No crash helmet?

RIP

[Nemises]

4 hours ago, tmd5855 said:

… the secret to survive is scan ahead continuously

What’s the secret to surviving a drugged-out, drunk, mobile phone-playing, distracted, speeding truck driver slamming into you from behind?

[Sigmund]

It does not always happen to others.

 

Thai roads are world known to be graveyards for farangs (or locals) on their cars, bikes or bicycles. With or without any influence on the victims that is.

 

RIP on another tragic incident.

[dddave]

19 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?

Oh no!! The headline explicitly says it's the highway's fault and he is just another poor foreigner victim.  It's only when the driver is Thai that drivers recklessness is at fault.

Sometimes the farang press is more biased then even the worst of the thai rags.

[wensiensheng]

To be fair to Thailands roads( which are indeed perilous) this accident as described, is all about rider error rather than roads

[tmd5855]

49 minutes ago, Nemises said:

What’s the secret to surviving a drugged-out, drunk, mobile phone-playing, distracted, speeding truck driver slamming into you from behind?

One thing I do is keep up or go slightly faster than surrounding traffic while my foward scan also takes in my two mirrors, when stopping at lights on busy two lane roads I tend to stop about 100yards back, lights go green, within seconds back in front.  For bends unless I can see straight ahead no traffic or trees I enjoy, cannot see around corbners then keep left for the morons overtaking on a bend.

 

But, you are correct, you can protect yourself from fools, it is the idiots that spring an unexpected surprise

e.g. farmer and sidecar oblivious to life and universe just pulls out from rice field onto the road, I had already moved to the right expecting him not to stop, the unexpected were his dog that I hit, its head snapped the foot peg, gear change bracket and 2 of my toes.  Poor dog were killed instantly.  If on a small bike I would have been off, big bike and foot absorbed it all

[Ralf001]

50 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

To be fair to Thailands roads( which are indeed perilous) this accident as described, is all about rider error rather than roads

Some are, yes... but not all.

[bhatmasterson]

22 hours ago, KannikaP said:

pissed?

Yes! I am very upset about this indeed!

 

[newbee2022]

Always the same story:

Foreigner comes to Thailand, the land of the free.....

Biking without helmet on a scooter. Brain left at home.

Even wearing helmet you are in danger on a scooter in Thailand. When will farangs learn? Buy a car and have some protection. It cost some bucks more but probably not your life!

RIP scotsman.