A Thai village headman imposed a ban on drying rice on the roads, following a fatal accident involving a young motorcyclist who collided with a pile of rice. The decision comes from understanding the predicament of both parties involved and acknowledging the traditional practices of the villagers.

The accident took place on November 23, involving 38 year old Thongthai, who rode his motorcycle into a pile of husked rice drying on the Ban Yang-Ban Sok Deu road in Ban Yang, Lam Thamenchai, Nakhon Ratchasima province.

 

The 56 year old headman, Apichai Pakkarang, confirmed that the incident occurred around 7pm. The villagers alerted him about the accident that happened near the rice pile, which was 2 kilometres away from the village.

Thongthai was rushed to the hospital but unfortunately did not survive. The headman expressed sorrow over the tragic event and stated that the rice belonged to a local. Following the incident, he ordered the villagers not to dry their rice on the roads for fear of another accident.

 

by Nattapong Westwood

Picture courtesy of KhaoSod

 

Full story: The Thaiger 2023-11-27

 

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This tradition goes back centuries, and now just because some guy whom, for all we know, could have been drunk, on his phone or just not paying attention to where he's going, they wanna ban this practice? bad decision i think...

Sorry for the fatality but it is impossible not to know that it is harvest time in Isaan when in Isaan.  The practice of drying rice on paved roads may not be centuries old (60 years ago the track to the family fields was a dirt footpath) but road drying is a valuable asset.  More warning than a branch in front of the pile would improve safety and many would welcome a traffic cone or some other bright object used there.🙏🏼💛💙

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

This tradition goes back centuries

SO does genital mutilation in some countries............ doesnt make it right in fact Id  say its a rather stupid and dangerous practice that needs  changing, they arent  all riding buiffalos anymore.....even in Issan. They should be prosecuting the rice grower.  The road is not their personal drying area its for pedestrians and vehicluar traffic

Now I know why it is advisable to wash rice before cooking.

To be sure I understand this correctly, do the farmers put their rice on public roads, which are used for vehicles?

Are these farmers renting these roads and pay for the usage?

Do they put barriers around the rice and redirect the traffic?

How does that work?

9 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

To be sure I understand this correctly, do the farmers put their rice on public roads, which are used for vehicles?

Are these farmers renting these roads and pay for the usage?

Do they put barriers around the rice and redirect the traffic?

Do bears s##t in the woods... welcome to Thailand 

More than enough temples around which could drying rice,

 

1 hour ago, notrub said:

Sorry for the fatality but it is impossible not to know that it is harvest time in Isaan when in Isaan.  The practice of drying rice on paved roads may not be centuries old (60 years ago the track to the family fields was a dirt footpath) but road drying is a valuable asset.  More warning than a branch in front of the pile would improve safety and many would welcome a traffic cone or some other bright object used there.🙏🏼💛💙

60 years ago the fastest thing in an Issan village was a buffalo!

 

This practice was banned in our village quite a few years ago.

3 hours ago, ezzra said:

This tradition goes back centuries, and now just because some guy whom, for all we know, could have been drunk, on his phone or just not paying attention to where he's going, they wanna ban this practice? bad decision i think...

Not sure what kind of roads Thailand had centuries ago, but I doubt any oxcart driver would have had any sort of problem as compared to vehicles of today. Just because there's some sort of tradition, it doesn't mean it is wise to keep it when society is virtually unrecognizable in how the people are living in comparison to those idealized past times, which were far from ideal. It is utter foolishness to allow rice to be dried on public roads, unless the village/town/city has some sort of parameters in place to safely block the roads off for such a purpose. And that kind of organization, as simple as it may be.... NOT gonna happen in Thailand. Too complicated and you gotta think too much to accomplish it.

36 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

To be sure I understand this correctly, do the farmers put their rice on public roads, which are used for vehicles?

Are these farmers renting these roads and pay for the usage?

Do they put barriers around the rice and redirect the traffic?

How does that work?

In my experience I have seen rice drying on many minor roads in Issan. They tend to put a cheap blue tarpaulin towards the edge of the road which also covers part of the road that is public road and put the rice on the tarp to dry. I have never seen any barriers. 

1 hour ago, Moonlover said:

60 years ago the fastest thing in an Issan village was a buffalo!

https://youtu.be/ORTSTOcnIXc?si=KwsKBtRzQNrGXxb5

1 hour ago, Asquith Production said:

In my experience I have seen rice drying on many minor roads in Issan.

Minor roads is the word here. Mostly within the villages or paths out to the fields. They block half of the path.

A disturbance but not a big issue.

It's a bit of a mystery how one can kill himself by riding into a pile of rice. Sleepy or careless.

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

To be sure I understand this correctly, do the farmers put their rice on public roads, which are used for vehicles?

Are these farmers renting these roads and pay for the usage?

Do they put barriers around the rice and redirect the traffic?

How does that work?

 

Yes, they dry it on public roads, no barriers or warnings and often just after a bend. I've nearly hit them on motorbikes on a number of occasions.

 

If you accidentally drive over them in a car, expect a world of trouble for ruining their crop.

 

Should be banned. 

29 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

1 hour ago, Moonlover said:

60 years ago the fastest thing in an Issan village was a buffalo!

 

29 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

https://youtu.be/ORTSTOcnIXc?si=KwsKBtRzQNrGXxb5

I learned quite a few years ago to be wary of buffalo when one is protecting a calf. Give them a wide berth!

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

To be sure I understand this correctly, do the farmers put their rice on public roads, which are used for vehicles?

Are these farmers renting these roads and pay for the usage?

Do they put barriers around the rice and redirect the traffic?

How does that work?

You've never seen them for yourself?

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

To be sure I understand this correctly, do the farmers put their rice on public roads, which are used for vehicles?

Are these farmers renting these roads and pay for the usage?

Do they put barriers around the rice and redirect the traffic?

How does that work?

1 You must be Thai to be able to do this

2 If in doubt about the legality of this practice

Refer to  1 

57 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

 

Yes, they dry it on public roads, no barriers or warnings and often just after a bend. I've nearly hit them on motorbikes on a number of occasions.

 

If you accidentally drive over them in a car, expect a world of trouble for ruining their crop.

 

Should be banned. 

A few years ago an accident was reported on TVF in which 2 pickup drivers were killed when their vehicles collided head on a bend in a rural road. One of them was driving on the wrong side to avoid the rice that was laid out on his side of the road.

 

This is the 21st century. Time for some 21st century rules.

6 hours ago, ezzra said:

ome guy whom, for all we know, could have been drunk, on his phone or just not paying attention to where he's going

 

Or, for all we know was driving correctly and didn't expect to find a pile of rice in the road.

4 hours ago, notrub said:

More warning than a branch in front of the pile would improve safety and many would welcome a traffic cone or some other bright object used there.🙏🏼💛💙

 

That requires forward thinking and initiative. both of which are largely absent in Thailand. As this case demonstrates. 

1 hour ago, mfd101 said:

You've never seen them for yourself?

They don't do that in Bangkok...

 

 

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

To be sure I understand this correctly, do the farmers put their rice on public roads, which are used for vehicles?

Are these farmers renting these roads and pay for the usage?

Do they put barriers around the rice and redirect the traffic?

How does that work?

 

Yes

No

No

It doesn't. Pile up rice by the road and leave it there in the dark. What could possibly go wrong.

5 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

This is the 21st century. Time for some 21st century rules.

But then, this is Thailand... 

2 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

7 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

This is the 21st century. Time for some 21st century rules.

 

2 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

But then, this is Thailand... 

Yeh yeh!

Looking at the headline "Thai village bans road rice drying after tragic motorcycle accident"

does that mean it is legal to do this anywhere, except if the village bans it?

I didn't know that villages can make up their own traffic rules village by village. 

And do they have signs out of the village if they allow or don't allow this?

2 hours ago, Moonlover said:

60 years ago the fastest thing in an Issan village was a buffalo!

 

Might still be. some of these beasts can move a bit.

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

To be sure I understand this correctly, do the farmers put their rice on public roads, which are used for vehicles?

Are these farmers renting these roads and pay for the usage?

Do they put barriers around the rice and redirect the traffic?

How does that work?

1. Yes
2. No

3. No
4. It doesn´t

8 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Looking at the headline "Thai village bans road rice drying after tragic motorcycle accident"

does that mean it is legal to do this anywhere, except if the village bans it?

I didn't know that villages can make up their own traffic rules village by village. 

And do they have signs out of the village if they allow or don't allow this?

 

The village headman has stopped locals putting rice on the road. This is not a traffic law and I suggest is more intended as a local community safety action. It would be applicable to anyone living in that locality; there wouldnt be any need to post notices for outsiders, etc as they are highly unlikely to be putting rice on the road, and if they did the locals would soon put them straight.

4 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Looking at the headline "Thai village bans road rice drying after tragic motorcycle accident"

does that mean it is legal to do this anywhere, except if the village bans it?

I didn't know that villages can make up their own traffic rules village by village. 

And do they have signs out of the village if they allow or don't allow this?

Following the accident I spoke of earlier, our local government authority passed out instructions banning this practice. Now whether it was at their own behest, or whether they were enforcing existing  laws I do not know, but it certainly worked. No one around obstructs the roads with rice, peanuts or anything else nowadays.

And so, if boring Falangs have their way, what's interesting and different in Thailand will slowly be eliminated and you might as well stay in your boring little suburb in Falangland.