If anyone has ever been on this ride you know exactly why this happened. Absolute lunatic drivers which are guaranteed to get you killed eventually. Not the first time and not the last. Avoid at all costs. Renting a private car is 100% worth the money.

 

I don't understand why Thailand can't get control of their road safety problems but I am glad to see many of the Thai commenters know exactly how dangerous these drivers and avoid themselves as well.

 

https://www.facebook.com/100064402730843/posts/pfbid02hsshuSdEc2S538awMFhng4oGkcKoWBQWWhVhbvugdrmHAwWmXSZvUCbUDjBsd5hpl/?mibextid=Nif5oz

 

 

 

They drive like maniacs.  Pass on hills, pass on blind corners, speed like crazy.  I'm surprise that there aren't more bang-ups like this.  And it's not just the CM-Pai route.  It's everywhere these vans drive.  Just in the Northern Thailand mountains the poor driving kills.  I wonder who the tourists are who aren't going home standing up? 

Wife drove from Sri Racha to Bangkok. Absolute madness with all the trucks.

 

Everyone drives like a maniac including her. 

Chiang Mai - Pai Road has plenty of bends to come unstuck on.

The OP is correct, many van drivers seem to think their vehicles have the same handling characteristics as F1 racing cars.

On the 118 from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai, van drivers overtaking unsafely is as common as dog turds in a soi.

14 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

Renting a private car is 100% worth the money.

Then its, "Have you ever driven the CM to Pai road?"  I have a number of times.  And almost always I've been put in uncomfortable positions by van drivers and other cars, mostly those who are driving the mountain roads using both lanes and coming around blind corner at speed in the oncoming lane, or worse, passing someone. 

1 minute ago, Lacessit said:

Chiang Mai - Pai Road has plenty of bends to come unstuck on.

 

I visit family in Pai often and got to see some gnarly crashes.

 

Worst one was a larger sized bus that went off the road on the last steep curve before dropping in to the valley. It hit a massive tree which peeled off the entire top of the bus so it looked like a safari touring vehicle. I was biking up the road to the checkpoint as I like to do and saw a body with blood still in their seat after everyone had been removed. I know the driver and one passenger died so I bet that was her.

 

Another time I saw a truck carrying eggs crash at that same curve and deposited a mountain of smashed eggs on the side of the road. It stuck like hell for 2 weeks as I rode past it.

 

That's the most dangerous curve and to their credit they built some beefy concrete barriers since then.

 

6 minutes ago, connda said:

Then its, "Have you ever driven the CM to Pai road?"  I have a number of times.  And almost always I've been put in uncomfortable positions by van drivers and other cars, mostly those who are driving the mountain roads using both lanes and coming around blind corner at speed in the oncoming lane, or worse, passing someone. 

that's what kills me the most. They KNOW people are doing this and yet they're powerless to stop it. The most basic driving 101: don't drive on the wrong side of the road is totally ignored and tolerated.

 

Thai police are beyond useless. I don't know if they'll ever take action.

4 minutes ago, connda said:

Then its, "Have you ever driven the CM to Pai road?"  I have a number of times.  And almost always I've been put in uncomfortable positions by van drivers and other cars, mostly those who are driving the mountain roads using both lanes and coming around blind corner at speed in the oncoming lane, or worse, passing someone. 

I’ve ridden (125cc motorbike), driven (sports car), and also taken a minivan on the CM to Pai Road and as you say…too many uncomfortable moments with oncoming drivers.  What could have been a fun ride/drive was more of a white knuckler.

 

In my opinion, there is no safe way to travel that road.  I felt the least afraid on the motorbike as I could just putt along slowly and stay far to the side of the road.

 

If I were to go to Pai again, I’d probably come in the back way from Maehongson.

1 minute ago, Airalee said:

If I were to go to Pai again, I’d probably come in the back way from Maehongson.

There is another road from Samoeng which passes through Wat Chan. It's amazing and the condition is great (now) but the crazies will find that too. Takes another 2 hours or so which will deter most people but the tourist traffic through Samoeng is picking up now and I see people coming from that direction which probably means from Pai.

6am weekday mornings I always turn on Ch32 just to see the driving escapades here in Thailand. This morning there was a change, a fruit fight ensued.

6 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

There is another road from Samoeng which passes through Wat Chan. It's amazing and the condition is great (now) but the crazies will find that too. Takes another 2 hours or so which will deter most people but the tourist traffic through Samoeng is picking up now and I see people coming from that direction which probably means from Pai.

Use that route on my Z650, nice route. 

1 minute ago, roo860 said:

Use that route on my Z650, nice route. 

Yeah it's kind of a challenge for a car and you can get behind trucks you can't pass for miles so a bike makes sense. I see many touring bikes pass by that way (I stay in Samoeng often).

Apparently French female and Dutch male dead.

Driver ok

25 minutes ago, roo860 said:

Use that route on my Z650, nice route. 

on second thought I should say that road is actually really dangerous also because it's a major shipping artery for all the hill tribes that live back there and need to get produce into Chiang Mai. I've seen multiple accidents and commonly people are driving on the wrong side of the road around corners because they're going so fast. Massive transport trucks are common during harvest also which are a nightmare to get stuck behind. I've seen multiple wrecks and in fact the first time I took it we almost got pushed off the side of the mountain by some truck.

 

yeah so no place is safe sadly.

Minivan drivers operating between Chiang Mai and Pai are nuts.

I nearly threw up on my way there...

 

2 hours ago, NorthernRyland said:

yet they're powerless to stop it.

 

No.  They are not.

 

The authorities either don't care or don't see anything in it for them............or both.

Given the fact that I've seldom seen drivers put their seatbelts on, I'm assuming the driver went right through that window and is one of the blurs on the road.

Instant Karma gonna get you.
Knock you right in the head.
Didn't wear that seatbelt,
Now your pretty dead.


 

2 hours ago, NorthernRyland said:

that's what kills me the most. They KNOW people are doing this and yet they're powerless to stop it. The most basic driving 101: don't drive on the wrong side of the road is totally ignored and tolerated.

 

Thai police are beyond useless. I don't know if they'll ever take action.

Unlike the West, they have absolutely ZERO patrol cars on the road.  They don't do moving violation stops and ticketing.  That cr*p like using both lanes to straighten out the road never gets sanctioned because their are no patrol cars to stop dangerous driving as it happens. Until they do, this never changes.
And in my life-time?  It never changes.

2 hours ago, roo860 said:

Driver ok

Too bad.  There should be consequences.