Helmetless motorcycle rides in Thailand puts lives at risk

[snoop1130]

 

Accidents involving motorcycle rides, especially those involving head injuries, are a common cause of work for neurosurgeons. This unfortunate reality is being addressed by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (THPF) which invited neurosurgeon, Pracha Panyaprakitti, to share his experiences and encourage preventative measures.

 

One case involved a Chiang Mai resident who took a routine motorcycle ride to the market without wearing a helmet. An unexpected collision took place, causing his vehicle to veer off the road, his skull striking a wooden stake. Despite the skull being a robust bone, the severe impact caused it to crack and bleed, requiring immediate medical intervention.

 

Another instance concerned a 35 year old foreign tourist who took a motorcycle ride whilst visiting Chiang Mai. The jovial holiday mood and short travel distance prompted him to forgo a helmet, a decision that led to a catastrophic accident.

 

His skull cracked, putting pressure on his brain and causing internal bleeding. The tourist needed urgent surgery to lift the bone and clean the injury. The patient has since recovered and continues to visit Thailand, but he has vowed never to ride a motorcycle without a helmet again.

 

By Puntid Tantivangphaisal

Caption: Photo courtesy of Salamati Law Firm

 

Full story: The Thaiger 2023-11-09

 

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[scubascuba3]

I recently bought a full face helmet for longer journeys, might use it around town eventually, in the meantime I use a good open face. Got to have a low IQ to not wear any helmet 

[4MyEgo]

When the keystone cops here get serious and start booking people, day in, day out, then and then only then will you see lives saved.

 

The above said, they would have to keep it up, but they're too busy getting tea money from schools to direct traffic during the morning and afternoon.

 

So it remains the typical Thai attitude of "up to you".

 

 

[Rampant Rabbit]

meanwhile note their promotional video includes this  happy chap  about to get his face scraped  off the road, sorry i treat everything in Thailand as a sad sad  joke

 

“Holiday” by “The Isan Project” a new song and video is being launched today by the former Tourism and Sports Minister “Senator Weerasak Kowsurat” at a private luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Sukhumvit, Bangkok.

[sirineou]

almost every day I see an adult on a bike with a helmet and their child behind them without one. 

Really!! If I only had a helmet , I would give it to my child. 

 

[hondoelsinore]

I say let em go, and hopefully there will be a quick exodus out of the gene pool. 

[CRUNCHER]

Don't bother with fines for people on motor cycles without a helmet. Just impound the bike for a couple of weeks. Sales of helmets will sky rocket.

[lordgrinz]

I'm convinced that the typical Thai motorcycle rider has never taken a motorcycle safety course (or proper training), and probably has no idea how to actually drive a motorcycle, or for that matter understand the rules of the road, let alone safely. The helmet is only one device in the equation, they need to get serious about driver education and enforcement. I'm in awe at how they throw caution to the wind here, it's almost like they want to commit suicide.

[connda]

Trying to change the helmetless driving behavior of the average rural (and many urban) Thai motorcyclists is like trying to turn an aircraft carrier with a rowboat powered by a trolling motor. 
Best of luck.

[fondue zoo]

I had a highway copper friend visit some time back, I could see the forehead veins throbbing as his head was about to explode.

After we passed the sixth "family of 4" on a single scooter, zero helmets, going as fast as they could along a major highway, all he could say is what the fck.

We all laughed, welcome to the party pal!

[chickenslegs]

21 minutes ago, fondue zoo said:

I had a highway copper friend visit some time back, I could see the forehead veins throbbing as his head was about to explode.

After we passed the sixth "family of 4" on a single scooter, zero helmets, going as fast as they could along a major highway, all he could say is what the fck.

We all laughed, welcome to the party pal!

The thing that gives me palpitations is seeing car/truck drivers "tailgating" or passing those family scooters with (literally) inches to spare, apparently unable or unwilling to wait a few seconds for an opportunity to overtake safely.

Poor driving skill is one thing, but blatant disregard for human life is unforgivable and should be punished severely.

[bear9]

They wear face masks while driving bikes but no helmets no logic

[StayinThailand2much]

11 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

When the keystone cops here get serious and start booking people, day in, day out, then and then only then will you see lives saved.

 

Spot on. Why does everyone on a motorbike (e.g. three people, three helmets) wear a helmet in Phnom Penh/Cambodia, but not in Bangkok? (It's not that Thais are poorer, but perhaps Cambodian cops take their job more seriously than Thailand's finest...

[StayinThailand2much]

7 hours ago, bear9 said:

They wear face masks while driving bikes but no helmets no logic

 

Some Thais even wear masks driving alone in their car.

[KannikaP]

12 hours ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

meanwhile note their promotional video includes this  happy chap  about to get his face scraped  off the road, sorry i treat everything in Thailand as a sad sad  joke

 

“Holiday” by “The Isan Project” a new song and video is being launched today by the former Tourism and Sports Minister “Senator Weerasak Kowsurat” at a private luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Sukhumvit, Bangkok.

Is the driver's chin strap fastened?

[2baht]

9 hours ago, hondoelsinore said:

I say let em go, and hopefully there will be a quick exodus out of the gene pool. 

 

    Yes, the chicks can't see their handsome faces and it messes their hair if they wear a helmet! 

[bbko]

12 hours ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

meanwhile note their promotional video includes this  happy chap  about to get his face scraped  off the road, sorry i treat everything in Thailand as a sad sad  joke

A bargirl I know uses one of those helmets as shown in the photo and was involved in a accident when a car pulled out in front of her, she tried to stop, lost control and went down, ended up chipping her front tooth and some lower facial abrasions.  Those half helmets are a joke.

[thailand49]

Logic All you got to do is enforce!

[hotchilli]

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Accidents involving motorcycle rides, especially those involving head injuries, are a common cause of work for neurosurgeons. This unfortunate reality is being addressed by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (THPF) which invited neurosurgeon, Pracha Panyaprakitti, to share his experiences and encourage preventative measures.

Share the neurosurgeons views with the relevant officials and police, take them on a tour of ECU's when riders are stretchered in with their skulls fractured and leaking precious fluids.

[mikebell]

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

encourage preventative measures.

If only RTP were made aware of this!  I've been to Vietnam five times and was amazed at the 100% helmet wearing strictly enforced by the local police: meanwhile in Thailand...

[OneMoreFarang]

Many helmets in Thailand are maybe good enough to keep the head in one piece, after it was cracked in a collision, but the protection is almost 0.

 

If people don't wear any helmet, then at least they are aware that they have no head protection. That is better than people who wear a piece of plastic and think they are protected. 

[alien365]

13 hours ago, sirineou said:

almost every day I see an adult on a bike with a helmet and their child behind them without one. 

Really!! If I only had a helmet , I would give it to my child. 

 

I assume the child would require new helmets as they grow whereas the adult will wear theirs for years. It would be good to see a 'pass it on' type scheme in this case to help with the financial burden of helmets for those who really do have very little. Could their schools offer/buy them back from the parents or do a swap as children grow? 

[prakhonchai nick]

43 minutes ago, thailand49 said:

Logic All you got to do is enforce!

But seriously, not 100/200bt fine. 

Have a 1 month advertising blitz, then fine everyone not wearing a helmet 10,000bt (whether  1,2 3 or 4 on the bike) AND confiscate the bike for minimum 1 month.  Turbans not accepted. A helmet or walk!

[sirineou]

11 minutes ago, alien365 said:

I assume the child would require new helmets as they grow whereas the adult will wear theirs for years. It would be good to see a 'pass it on' type scheme in this case to help with the financial burden of helmets for those who really do have very little. Could their schools offer/buy them back from the parents or do a swap as children grow? 

That is a n excellent idea"" 

have a deferent age appropriate basic helmets, as a kid out grow it, return it , put it back to the age group cabbie, for someone else to take, and et another one that fits. 

[Road Warrior]

14 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

I recently bought a full face helmet for longer journeys, might use it around town eventually, in the meantime I use a good open face. Got to have a low IQ to not wear any helmet 

i agree 100% amaze that so many forang don't use helmet !!!!   must have v low IQ as the non-foreigner's !!!!

[bradiston]

Next headline:

 

"Driving with eyes shut hinders vision, new study shows".

[lordgrinz]

5 minutes ago, Road Warrior said:

i agree 100% amaze that so many forang don't use helmet !!!!   must have v low IQ as the non-foreigner's !!!!

 

I had a Farang on a big scooter pass me mid corner while I am turning right into a road, basically he almost didn't make it (car waiting to exit blocking him). He was wearing no helmet, and just dropped off his kids at my daughters school, again no helmets on the kids either. This tells me he never took a motorcycle safety course, because no one in their right mind would try to pass a car on the side with the blinker on and already in the turn, and no helmet is just pure stupidity, especially here in Thailand.

[Emdog]

Interesting (?) choice of stock photo for this story: crashed motorbike and driver on ground with a full helmet with mask.

I'd say masked helmets will never catch on here: too hard to see the text you're working on while driving down the road here

[Liverpool Lou]

14 hours ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

i treat everything in Thailand as a sad sad  joke

Thailand reciprocates.

[Liverpool Lou]

12 hours ago, CRUNCHER said:

Just impound the bike for a couple of weeks.

How does that work when there are no statutes that permit impounding?