Report Expat Confusion Grows as Thailand Cracks Down on Helmet Law Violations

[The Cyclist]

45 minutes ago, kwilco said:

are you still confused?

 

No, I'm asking you about this

 

On 6/2/2025 at 2:01 AM, kwilco said:

Crash helmets have been shown to reduce deaths by around 40%

 

Is the 40% based on Thai bits of plastic, or real crash helmets that you get in the West 

 

You know helmets that cost upwards of £300 in the UK, or helmets that cost £10 at Lotus ?

[kwilco]

56 minutes ago, The Cyclist said:

 

No, I'm asking you about this

 

 

Is the 40% based on Thai bits of plastic, or real crash helmets that you get in the West 

 

You know helmets that cost upwards of £300 in the UK, or helmets that cost £10 at Lotus ?

You really don't get it do you?

Crash helmets meeting international safety standards in the UK start at around £5

THe figures for head injury deaths are also categorised for those with or without a helmet - it doesn't specify - in short a cheap plastic bowl id better than nothing - but it seems you think that because you haven't got a £300 helmet, you ill wear nothing - do you not realise how stupid that is??

 

no helmet, no matter how expensive can protect you from direct impacts - your brain turns to jelly inside the hat. What helmets do is protect tyou from glancing blows between the motorcycle and along te asphalt even a cgep plastic hat will do some good - obviously it is better to have British Standard BS 6658:1985  Kitemark or UNECE Regulation 22.05/22.06 but there are a lot of very poor people riding motorcycles in Thailand (and apparently a lot of very stupid foreigners).

 

the situation has improved over the last 10 years as  many youngsters now regard a helmet as a sports or fashion item (in much the same way as in th UK) so this alone improves the chances of wearing something more effective - however I do see some customisations that render a hat useless.

 

At the end of the day the RTP are completely useless when it comes to road safety - they have little or no grasp of the basic principles (like you?0 and so enforcement is only done when someone tells them to and as yet there is no enforcement of standards.

[johng]

1 hour ago, kwilco said:

Crash helmets meeting international safety standards in the UK start at around £5

 

Wow that's cheap  where do you get them from ?

[kwilco]

1 hour ago, johng said:

 

Wow that's cheap  where do you get them from ?

Typo - £35

[NoDisplayName]

3 hours ago, The Cyclist said:

Is the 40% based on Thai bits of plastic, or real crash helmets that you get in the West 

 

You know helmets that cost upwards of £300 in the UK, or helmets that cost £10 at Lotus ?

 

Doesn't really matter, any helmet is better'n nothing.

 

Recycled styrofoam packing material duck-taped around your noggin will provide significantly more protection than bare scalp when your cranium contacts a hard surface.

[The Cyclist]

14 hours ago, kwilco said:

You really don't get it do you?

Crash helmets meeting international safety standards in the UK start at around £5

 

If there is anyone that does not get it, it's you.

 

For £5 ? Really

[The Cyclist]

12 hours ago, NoDisplayName said:

 

Doesn't really matter, any helmet is better'n nothing.

 

Recycled styrofoam packing material duck-taped around your noggin will provide significantly more protection than bare scalp when your cranium contacts a hard surface.

 

A badly fitting piece of plastic, can be just as dangerous and lethal,  as wearing nothing.

[NoDisplayName]

4 hours ago, The Cyclist said:

 

A badly fitting piece of plastic, can be just as dangerous and lethal,  as wearing nothing.

 

In that case, since there's no way to police the nation to ensure that all helmets meet DOT/FDA certifications standards, then we'd be best to ban ALL helmets.

 

While we're at it, we should ban seatbelts, since it's possible to wear them incorrectly.

[kwilco]

8 hours ago, The Cyclist said:

 

If there is anyone that does not get it, it's you.

 

For £5 ? Really

You are a bit stupid, aren't you - that was a typo that I corrected - but you are so desperate you have to clutch at staws as if that alters the point of my argument in any way.

[kwilco]

On 6/7/2025 at 10:19 AM, Quentin Zen said:

When I was in my EARLY 20's I bought a BMW 318i.  

 

Are we really talking about scooters?????????????????????  hahahhahahahhahahahahhahahahhahahahaahahahas

 

Car. SUV.  Limo is fine.  it's 2025 and if you can read this and don't have a Thai passport, you 10000000% should have a real mode of transportation.  if not, that's on you.  helmet talk is for the kiddoes.   or the Thais.   that's understandable.  

 

 

 

 

 

Wow. So, because you once bought a BMW in your early 20s, helmet safety is now beneath you? That’s quite a leap—even for someone who apparently thinks punctuation is a personality.

This isn’t about status symbols or flexing your ride history. It’s about basic road safety in a country where thousands die on motorcycles (only the ignorant say "scooter") every year—many of them tourists or expats who thought they were too cool, too rich, or too foreign to bother with a helmet.

If you're too grown-up for “helmet talk,” maybe try growing into some responsibility too. Scooters are a real mode of transport in Thailand—for millions of people. And unlike your BMW story, that’s not a joke.

 

PS - Also, just a note: calling everything on two wheels in Thailand a “scooter” (its not eve  a real definition just an American colloquialism) really shows you don’t understand the range of motorbikes here. . Plenty of people ride 150cc to 650cc+ bikes in real traffic conditions. Dismissing them as "scooters" or  as kid stuff just makes you sound out of touch.

[kwilco]

On 6/7/2025 at 10:43 AM, ChipButty said:

Not many people seem to be taking any notice of the new helmet law where I live, 

THe RTP -have said they are setting up 93 checkpoints across the country - in reality this means they have no idea of how to enforce the law.

[kwilco]

9 hours ago, The Cyclist said:

 

A badly fitting piece of plastic, can be just as dangerous and lethal,  as wearing nothing.

try the hammer on your head test.

[ChipButty]

5 minutes ago, kwilco said:

THe RTP -have said they are setting up 93 checkpoints across the country - in reality this means they have no idea of how to enforce the law.

Around where I live they have stood in the same place for the last 20 years, they were there this afternoon team handed

[kwilco]

1 hour ago, ChipButty said:

Around where I live they have stood in the same place for the last 20 years, they were there this afternoon team handed

Tes- but what is your point?