4 hours ago, fredwiggy said:

Wouldn't it be smarter to do whatever you need to to live? I understand not backing down, and if someone pulls a gun, you drive through them, as it's your life on the line and they have no right to pull a gun for such a minor infraction.

 

Never underestimate anyone, as no one can stop a bullet, and there are a lot of cowards out there that toughness is measured by weapons in hand. Many road rages can be avoided knowing there are a lot of pissed off people out there in vehicles because they're going through a bad time, that could be a good friend of yours if you met them. If you just leave, you live another day. Ego shouldn't get you killed.

A very smart approach to avoiding trouble. You have this figured out.

1 hour ago, In Full Agreement said:

 

 

 

That's probably what Walt needs to bring him to his senses.        He's just itching for some major road rage it appears.

 

 

Makes for some very spirited driving down the motorway with a gun toting minivan driving chasing ya!

I remember my first full year in Thailand 2022-2023 some elderly man in Jomtien on a scooter got pissed at a Thai driver. The elderly man pounded on the side of his vehicle and that sparked a chase and murder.

 

Turned out the Thai driver was an expert marksman, with trophies to prove it. He chased him down the street the elderly man eventually either dumped or crashed his scooter and the Thai marksman got out of his vehicle and shot him several times, very tight group. 

2 minutes ago, Furioso said:

I remember my first full year in Thailand 2022-2023 some elderly man in Jomtien on a scooter got pissed at a Thai driver. The elderly man pounded on the side of his vehicle and that sparked a chase and murder.

 

Turned out the Thai driver was an expert marksman, with trophies to prove it. He chased him down the street the elderly man eventually either dumped or crashed his scooter and the Thai marksman got out of his vehicle and shot him several times, very tight group. 

 

If he was an expert marksman why did he have to chase an elderly gent on a scooter to shoot him ?

4 hours ago, Stuck in Thailand said:

 

So you're a coward and let people walk over you.

 

I'd rather live like a lion and be killed, than live like a mouse, like you obviously do.

 

 

Is that your motto for life in general or just when driving?  If it's your general philosophy what do you do if an incident occurs whilst you are not in your car and do not have access to your horn?   Do you have a whistle?   

6 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

 

If he was an expert marksman why did he have to chase an elderly gent on a scooter to shoot him ?

For all we know this marksman was waiting his whole life to find what he felt was a justifiable target.

 

There's a Van Halen song called Mean Streets and it definitely applies to this case. 

2 minutes ago, Furioso said:

For all we know this marksman was waiting his whole life to find what he felt was a justifiable target.

 

There's a Van Halen song called Mean Streets and it definitely applies to this case. 

 

Yeah just sounds like BS to me.... Marksman has to chase down his target to pop a cap in his ass!

 

Bwahahahaha.

The only time I use the horn is if someone is drifting into my lane unexpectedly. A quick toot just to let them know I'm there and its never a problem. Now blowing your horn because someone cut you off is the extreme challenge to thai's.

 

For some reason, thai's get in a car or on a scooter and they transform into aggressive maniacs that have to be first. They have to pass you no matter what or cut into flowing traffic for some unknown reason. Traffic laws or rules are just a suggestion, but for others not them. They do not possess spatial thinking or the ability to anticipate what comes next, just what they want to do and others are supposed to be mind readers.

5 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

 

Yeah just sounds like BS to me.... Marksman has to chase down his target to pop a cap in his ass!

 

Bwahahahaha.

Unfortunately the 70 year old Brit was riding a red Scoopy, easy to track down!

 

https://www.pattayamail.com/news/pro-marksman-surrenders-for-murder-of-pattaya-british-expat-421281

28 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

So beeping your horn actually educates people?   

Well it would make them think “ why did he beep his horn causing him to brake abruptly, maybe i was in the wrong ? “

3 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Well it would make them think “ why did he beep his horn causing him to brake abruptly, maybe i was in the wrong ? “

i doubt that it would, a Thai would have no concept of being in  the wrong,  they would just assume you were being aggressive for no reason

11 minutes ago, Furioso said:

Unfortunately the 70 year old Brit was riding a red Scoopy, easy to track down!

 

https://www.pattayamail.com/news/pro-marksman-surrenders-for-murder-of-pattaya-british-expat-421281

Lots of elderly foreigners on our roads in Pattaya blasting horns, yelling insults, driving aggressively 

 

Bound to happen, looks like the old boy upset the wrong guy on this occasion. 

Oh well, he won't do that again 

2 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

i doubt that it would, a Thai would have no concept of being in  the wrong,  they would just assume you were being aggressive for no reason

Sounds like they need educating then .

1 minute ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Sounds like they need educating then .

good luck with that, but let us know how it works out 

6 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Bound to happen, looks like the old boy upset the wrong guy on this occasion. 

Oh well, he won't do that again 

 

shot him four times in the back “because he insulted and angered me, causing me to go into a state of rage.”

 

All the horn honkers should read that report and take note...

Yelling, honked his horn and took off on his motorcycle to escape, only to be chased down and murdered... 

 

He lived in Thailand for twenty years and probably thought he knew it all, but he lived like a lion... and sadly he died like one as well.. 

 

 

5 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

I do it too, but it's a risky thing here, you have to take into account the fact that there are a substantial number of guys who look like adults here, but they're actually 13-year-olds trapped in a man's body, and they've never had an opportunity to develop emotionally, and become real men. So they take this kind of thing as some sort of affront to their manhood, and get angry for the most ridiculous reasons. 

You seem to look down on Thai men.  Your entire contribution to this site is running down people.  You genuinely have a dark heart.

5 hours ago, Walt Kowalski said:

This morning after visiting my regular coffee shop I was on the way back to my house when all of a sudden I got cut off by some complete ignoramus. So I honked him. He stopped his car, got out, swore at me in Thai and kicked my wheel then drove off..

 

There's just absolutely no logic to this place, is there?

 

Agreed but I think what happened was that you honked your horn aggressively, as in farang aggressive or Indian/Vietnamese style. That was why that individual reacted the way they did.

 

Just a quick honk or two will NOT result in that reaction 99.9% of the time, since Thais are honking their horns these days too, especially in Bangkok.

 

Thais are honking more often, I hear it every day. Bangkokians in particular and taxi drivers, motorcycle taxis, buses and trucks are the worst offenders.

 

Here are just a couple of examples in recent weeks, mostly in the Ratchada-rama 9 area of Bangkok:

 

1) Taxi driver sits behind me and another vehicle at a light, which is red. We're in the right turn lane but he wants to go straight. He honks aggressively at someone (me? The Mercedes in front of me?), then when the light turns green, me and the Mercedes in front of me proceed to turn right while he aggressively launches into a horn honking tirade while driving straight. Seemed pretty mentally ill to me. He could have gone straight by moving forward in the LEFT lane all along as it was green the whole time and the lane wasn't blocked. If his honking was aimed at us, he deserves to be reprimanded, since he was being aggressive and rude for no reason and clearly in the wrong. I'm certainly not risking my life, going a different way or breaking traffic laws because some idiot doesn't know how to wait his turn at a set of lights he shouldn't be waiting in front of since it's only for right hand turn traffic. 

 

2. At a pedestrian crossing, taxi driver beeps his horn at me because I'm proceeding "too slowly" for him. A few moments later, its gridlock but impatient taxi driver honks his horn again so he can turn left towards the mall instead of waiting a moment for traffic to inch forward. 

 

3. Random and frankly annoying honking of truck horns along Bang Na-Trad road. Yet I've never seen any of them pulled over by another motorist and had their tires kicked at.

 

4. Bus beeps horn at stationary sedan parked in front of Rama 9 mall, blocking lane. Again, no one goes up to bus driver and starts shouting at them..bus driver was correct to honk his horn in this instance.

 

There are many, many more but these 4 recent incidents stand out to me..until a few years ago, you'd never encounter aggressive, horn honking taxi drivers in Bangkok. Nowadays, it's not uncommon anymore.

35 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Lots of elderly foreigners on our roads in Pattaya blasting horns, yelling insults, driving aggressively 

 

Bound to happen, looks like the old boy upset the wrong guy on this occasion. 

Oh well, he won't do that again 

 

Yes, if they act THAT aggressively, it doesn't surprise me. What does NOT happen 99.9% of the time, is someone experiencing trouble for a mere short horn honk, 1-3 times to warn someone usually a motorcycle, cutting them off to do an illegal u-turn or something.

38 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

i doubt that it would, a Thai would have no concept of being in  the wrong,  they would just assume you were being aggressive for no reason

 

Not all Thais are that stupid or narcissistic. I think they mostly know when they're wrong, actually but depends entirely on the circumstances. Also, most Thais, contrary to popular belief don't view a simple horn honk as being aggressive. It depends on the underlying circumstances. Read my first comment on this topic and see what I mean. The first 2 taxi drivers I referred to were clearly being aggressive whereas the bus driver was not.

4 hours ago, simon43 said:

So don't honk!!!

 

Jeez, it's not difficult is it.....

Nonsense. It depends on HOW he honked. Thais honk all the time, just that generally they don't do so in an aggressive fashion.

 

I believe he honked in a prolonged and aggressive manner, which is why he was pulled over by the other driver. 

5 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

I do it too, but it's a risky thing here, you have to take into account the fact that there are a substantial number of guys who look like adults here, but they're actually 13-year-olds trapped in a man's body, and they've never had an opportunity to develop emotionally, and become real men. So they take this kind of thing as some sort of affront to their manhood, and get angry for the most ridiculous reasons. 

 

Depends entirely on the underlying circumstances, how you honk and to whom.

 

Are you dealing with a poorly educated rice farmer or delivery driver or a wealthy BMW driver of ethnic Chinese stock? They'll react differently. Dare I say the former will react more like an animal whereas the latter is more likely to apply common sense.

5 hours ago, CharlieH said:

A Thai airline pilot tried that; he got SHOT! 

 

Road rage is quite common here; the difference is it can get deadly! 

 

Oh yes road rage never gets deadly in the US or Australia....

15 minutes ago, Tomtomtom69 said:

 

Yes, if they act THAT aggressively, it doesn't surprise me. What does NOT happen 99.9% of the time, is someone experiencing trouble for a mere short horn honk, 1-3 times to warn someone usually a motorcycle, cutting them off to do an illegal u-turn or something.

Absolutely, I said it earlier. 

 

A brief toot is acceptable, the Thai's do it all the time, they sound the horn, a polite toot as a warning. They actually ride their Honda Waves with left thumb resting on the horn button. 

 

This is from the DLT.

Section 14 (500B)
[Cars and motorcycles can use the horn only when avoiding danger or accidents

 

A good driver isn’t someone who simply never breaks the rules- let alone someone who uses every opportunity to lecture others for their mistakes. A good driver is someone who follows the rules and is attentive and skilled enough to anticipate and compensate for the mistakes of other road users.

P.S. I don’t recommend anybody who is in Thailand using the horn to scold other drivers for their mistakes - it can easily backfire.

2 minutes ago, ripstanley said:

This is from the DLT.

Section 14 (500B)
[Cars and motorcycles can use the horn only when avoiding danger or accidents

 

 

Yes and that is generally what Thais do. A vehicle blocking traffic is a legitimate reason to honk your horn at it, which I believe is covered under section 14 of the traffic code.

4 minutes ago, Hellfire said:

A good driver isn’t someone who simply never breaks the rules—let alone someone who uses every opportunity to lecture others for their mistakes. A good driver is someone who follows the rules and is attentive and skilled enough to anticipate and compensate for the mistakes of other road users.

P.S. I don’t recommend using the horn to scold other drivers for their mistakes — it can easily backfire.

 Yes, true. No need to do that - use more as a warning to others. If someone cuts you off, honk your horn as a warning, but then let it go. 

1 hour ago, Furioso said:

I remember my first full year in Thailand 2022-2023 some elderly man in Jomtien on a scooter got pissed at a Thai driver. The elderly man pounded on the side of his vehicle and that sparked a chase and murder.

 

Turned out the Thai driver was an expert marksman, with trophies to prove it. He chased him down the street the elderly man eventually either dumped or crashed his scooter and the Thai marksman got out of his vehicle and shot him several times, very tight group. 

 

That incident was in the news but the elderly foreigner was aggressive, hence the response. Now I don't condone what happened to him...I'm just not surprised that's all.

5 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Very true.  I have to try hard to hold myself back, as it just isn't worth it, but sometimes it's just a natural reflex.  

 

This morning after dropping my son at school, I was waiting to turn right at a red light (and had been waiting for over five minutes as there was a long line of cars waiting to turn.  I was the first car but suddenly a car appeared on my left having avoided the line of cars completely, with the obvious intention of cutting in front of me when the light turned green.   I was all set to out race him, when a motorbike pulled right in front of me and prevented my fast getaway.  I was fuming.  

 

I hate that, but unless it looks like someone is about to crash into you, the only thing you should do is try to make it clear you won't be yielding to him. You can do that simply by driving past him quickly to make sure you don't get stuck at the lights.

6 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

it gets exciting when they get out of their vehicle and point a hand gun at you.

That’s always a possibility—not just in Thailand. There are plenty of mentally unstable people out there, and even otherwise stable individuals can have a bad day. If you start feeling nervous or irritated—which can happen easily in this hot and humid climate—it’s best to pause and relax for five minutes.