Thais are supposedly peaceful people, but why not on the roads?

[MalcolmB]

7 hours ago, fredwiggy said:

The few you've seen go to college is a fraction of those who don't here.

46% of Thais go to university or similar after high school.

Maybe you didn’t do fractions at school?

[Walt Kowalski]

3 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

 

Its all fun and games on the motorway until your being chased by a Thai with a hand gun waving out the drivers window !

With probably a very small penis. 

[Walt Kowalski]

Just now, MalcolmB said:

46% of Thais go to university or similar after high school.

and most of them end up working admin jobs paying 20,000 a month if they are lucky.

 

What's your point?

[Ralf001]

1 minute ago, Walt Kowalski said:

With probably a very small penis. 

yeah I don't really hang around to discuss penis sizes.

[johng]

1 hour ago, Old Croc said:

use the blinkers correctly to advise when passing is safe.

Can you advise on the correct blinker usage for safe passing ?

[fredwiggy]

26 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:

46% of Thais go to university or similar after high school.

Maybe you didn’t do fractions at school?

Easy to look at AI, which isn't accurate, and then take the credit for it, thinking it's something you already knew. Then assuming, like always, that someone doesn't understand fractions. Many of the students that enroll never go, according to a more reliable source, my friend who's been in the school system 60 years, and runs an English school. Many of the students he sees are only graduated because the government allows those who fail to graduate, and when they get to college, they fail and drop out, then go to shops, 7-11's and the farm. Seeing the average pay here is 14K a month, many aren't working good paying jobs after school.

[Walt Kowalski]

48 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

yeah I don't really hang around to discuss penis sizes.

That's not what I've heard.

[Stuck in Thailand]

Yea they definitely change once behind a wheel considering how they usually carry themselves, I've always thought the same thing. Strange.

[SAFETY FIRST]

11 hours ago, Walt Kowalski said:

Thais are supposedly peaceful people, but why not on the roads?

I've only seen some of the Thai's being disrespectful on roads in Pattaya, they learnt this nasty, hostile, aggressive behaviour from the foreigners. 

 

All other regions of Thailand, the Thai's are very courteous and respectful. 

 

[Bacon1]

 Bickering posts removed 

 

 

Forum Rules:

 

Be nice, be respectful

[short-Timer]

12 hours ago, Walt Kowalski said:

Thais, by and large, are widely known for their hospitality, warm smile, friendly nature and sabai-sabai ways.

 

So why does that not translate to how they behave on the roads?

 

I've seen better driving in Kinshasa. 

Oh, look who's suddenly back creating 10 new hopeless topics every day that nobody needs, whilst immediately bashing Thai people and Thailand to the highest order. No time at all wasted on pleasantries now is there? Alas, it's none other than long-lost Bob The...

 

 

 

[johng]

23 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

they learnt this nasty, hostile, aggressive behaviour from the foreigners.

Totally disagree with this  behaviour being learnt from foreigners

 

 

[ripstanley]

4 hours ago, johng said:

Can you advise on the correct blinker usage for safe passing ?

The left blinker. Beware  some of  vehicles and more so bikes do not turn off their blinker. If they use the right it means do not over take.

[johng]

I was stuck behind an articulated truck once 'up north'  the driver was flashing  blinkers in all possible combinations...totally confusing for me..eventually I manage to get past him on a downhill stretch.

[MalcolmB]

5 hours ago, fredwiggy said:

according to a more reliable source, my friend

Sure Fred

[Old Croc]

7 hours ago, johng said:

Can you advise on the correct blinker usage for safe passing ?

I gather you're being facetious, and I wont play your game

[SAFETY FIRST]

8 hours ago, johng said:

Totally disagree with this  behaviour being learnt from foreigners

 

 

Wow, weird video and I agree, this behaviour has definitely not been learnt from foreigners. 

 

[richard_smith237]

19 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

21 hours ago, Walt Kowalski said:

I've seen better driving in Kinshasa. 

What the heck were you doing there?

 

Complaining about the Tutsi on the local CentralAfricaNow forum under the pseudonym Bob Ilunga...  

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

10 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

I've only seen some of the Thai's being disrespectful on roads in Pattaya, they learnt this nasty, hostile, aggressive behaviour from the foreigners. 

 

All other regions of Thailand, the Thai's are very courteous and respectful. 

 

Of course they are... No Thai has ever shot their neighbour for being too loud.... 

 

 

That said, personally, I find Thai's remarkably patient on the roads, especially given the style of driving here and the monumental degrees of utter fukwittery that can unfold in front of us...  

I’m also grateful that incessant horn-blaring isn’t ingrained as a driving habit... (i.e. Indonesia - esp Jakarta)

 

That said, to claim that in all other regions of Thailand the Thais are universally courteous and respectful is an oversimplification - a flawed generalisation at best - read and watch the Thai news and you would quickly recognise the craziness and zero-to-crazy trigger finger reactions on the roads and elsewhere without the assistance of foreigner influence in areas well outside of areas populated by westerners... 

 

I don’t disagree that Pattaya may be worse, as it undeniably seems to disproportionately attract a certain number of unhinged foreigners who seem to struggle with basic social behaviour. However, it also draws in a particular type of Thai who is equally predisposed to such conduct. In that sense, perhaps it’s the worst of both worlds - and that combination has coloured your outlook...

 

...and thus, trying to shoehorn in a dose of ‘foreigner-bashing’ rooted in prejudice against Pattaya Westerners feels like quite a stretch when I read it.... 

 

...  that said, this thread is also clearly a Thai-bash...      Compliments to the Thai's for not being aggressive drivers in most cases, even more so given the craziness that can unfold on the roads.

 

 

[richard_smith237]

10 hours ago, Stuck in Thailand said:

Yea they definitely change once behind a wheel considering how they usually carry themselves, I've always thought the same thing. Strange.

 

I’ve often thought we could judge the true measure of a nation’s character by observing how its people use the roads.

 

On reflection, though, I’m not sure how realistic that is.

 

Thailand is undeniably a polite, welcoming, and socially forgiving culture - yet something curious seems to happen once people get behind the wheel or on a motorcycle.

 

On bikes, there’s a complete disregard for personal safety; in cars, it’s as though a switch is flicked - what I half-jokingly call the “F-you switch”...

 

It’s astonishing to watch the transformation: a nation of relaxed, non-confrontational people suddenly becomes a nation of drivers seemingly determined not to yield an inch, reluctant to brake, jumping lights, refusing to give way...

 

... Of course, this isn’t malice - it feels more like a subconscious habit, a learned behaviour that everyone copies without much thought. Nothing personal, no hostility - simply the way the driving culture has evolved.

 

As outsiders, we tend to interpret these behaviours as reflections of national character, but really, they’re not. Driving habits are just that - habits. They’re cultural quirks, not moral measures. Much like in many other countries, including our own, it’s less about who people are and more about how they’ve learned to drive.

 

Just like anywhere in the world, aggressive drivers are more common in urban areas than in rural ones. It’s a simple consequence of more vehicles, more obstacles, and more people constantly getting in the way - much like trying to navigate a crowded street on foot.

The difference, of course, is that behind the wheel, people are isolated and can more easily forget their own humanity, allowing frustration to creep in.

 

Still, credit where it’s due: if the true measure of a nation could be seen in its driving, Thailand would stand out for tolerance and patience. Or perhaps it’s simply an acute awareness of how quickly a situation can spiral if frustration is openly displayed.

[short-Timer]

Bob, best thing about the village of Bell End in the West Midlands is that you don't even have to hail from Bell End to be considered a proper Bellender. Just look at you, Bellender of the highest order, living in some sweaty little boxy gaff with no air-con off Second Road by Soi 6, and yet you manage to get away with it all. How do you keep everything so well under control, Bob?

 

[SAFETY FIRST]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Of course they are... No Thai has ever shot their neighbour for being too loud.... 

 

 

That said, personally, I find Thai's remarkably patient on the roads, especially given the style of driving here and the monumental degrees of utter fukwittery that can unfold in front of us...  

I’m also grateful that incessant horn-blaring isn’t ingrained as a driving habit... (i.e. Indonesia - esp Jakarta)

 

That said, to claim that in all other regions of Thailand the Thais are universally courteous and respectful is an oversimplification - a flawed generalisation at best - read and watch the Thai news and you would quickly recognise the craziness and zero-to-crazy trigger finger reactions on the roads and elsewhere without the assistance of foreigner influence in areas well outside of areas populated by westerners... 

 

I don’t disagree that Pattaya may be worse, as it undeniably seems to disproportionately attract a certain number of unhinged foreigners who seem to struggle with basic social behaviour. However, it also draws in a particular type of Thai who is equally predisposed to such conduct. In that sense, perhaps it’s the worst of both worlds - and that combination has coloured your outlook...

 

...and thus, trying to shoehorn in a dose of ‘foreigner-bashing’ rooted in prejudice against Pattaya Westerners feels like quite a stretch when I read it.... 

 

...  that said, this thread is also clearly a Thai-bash...      Compliments to the Thai's for not being aggressive drivers in most cases, even more so given the craziness that can unfold on the roads.

 

 

Good morning Richard and well said mate. 

 

I do go off at times about foreigners in Pattaya, we do have many good foreigners here.

Sadly, Pattaya, has both many bad foreigners and Thai's, it attracts the worst of the worst. 

 

[Gottfrid]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Complaining about the Tutsi on the local CentralAfricaNow forum under the pseudonym Bob Ilunga...  

 

 

 

😂 Nah Bob s as tough as they come. I think he was there to join the the rebels, and later have another amazing story to tell us all here on Asian Now. 😉

[johng]

7 hours ago, Old Croc said:

I gather you're being facetious, and I wont play your game

Your gathering is incorrect...I'm not playing a game and would like to know the correct blinker usage to signal vehicle's approaching from behind if its safe to pass or not.

You indicated (555) that you know so why not tell us all.

[Old Croc]

1 hour ago, johng said:

Your gathering is incorrect...I'm not playing a game and would like to know the correct blinker usage to signal vehicle's approaching from behind if its safe to pass or not.

You indicated (555) that you know so why not tell us all.

Google is your friend, not me.

 

Good luck when you finally get a license and hit the highways for the first time..

[Aurelien]

- most of them don't have a driving license hence never learned to drive properly 

- lack of enforcement of road safety; police checkpoints are often there to bust drug dealers or farang without helmet (in the big cities), among other things
- me me me culture : me-centric culture, lack of consideration for others. 
- over reliance on cars / motorcycles to go anywhere; conjointly, there are too many motorized vehicles on road built too long ago and not made for such high traffic (but really this is also a global problem)

- social status : having a big car an driving fast means you're rich

- non confrontational culture : you'll rarely hear anyone honk at each other; if someone drives like a lunatic, other people adapt and say nothing

....

 

[Hellfire]

 Here in Isaan they have no idea about main/secondary road rules. Whoever can go first - goes. I was driving in Pattaya for several years  before and the drivers there were much more polite and intelligent.