27 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

27 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

28 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

So what are YOU going to do. Please tell us your plan.

People are judged by what they do not what they say.

I’m going to give out helmets, too.! I think it’s a great idea!

What will you do?

I have commented on their Facebook that the free helmets most likely are catching dust immediately after. You should have seen the hate comments from those people....

35 minutes ago, FolkGuitar said:

I’m going to give out helmets, too.! I think it’s a great idea!

What will you do?

Wait for a video of you stood on a street corner giving away helmets.

Also , of course, I'm going to do nothing as I am a visitor here and will continue to observe the locals leading their own lives in their country.

Edited May 28May 28 by VocalNeal

19 minutes ago, CLW said:

the free helmets most likely are catching dust

Or more likely sold to someome in their apartment building/at work who actually wants a helmet.

And when will you publish your doctoral thesis?🫣

On 5/26/2026 at 12:57 PM, Kinnock said:

Well intentioned people doing what they can, and a keyboard warrior intellectualising about why it's not enough.🥺

Indeed… especially when it's AI babble which is about four times too long.

On 5/26/2026 at 6:37 PM, Gottfrid said:

Could you please make that a bit easier to digest?

He is incapable of writing himself… He should end his AI prompts with "200 words max please".

4 hours ago, Aussie999 said:

also, poorly designed helmets can cause moe harm than no helmet....these a reason why good helmets have safety design labels.

Indeed, Big C-type 300 baht 'helmets' should be banned.

So, the thinking is that people do not wear helmets because they can't afford them?

On 5/27/2026 at 1:46 AM, TedG said:

The best idea is to enforce helmet laws and require helmets to meet a certain safety standard. 

Agree.

Also, if people are generously giving away free helmets, and it is a generous, well-intentioned action, I HOPE that the helmets are of sufficient quality to actually do their job. There are some very cheap and nasty helmets that probably cause more harm than good, actually giving wearers a false sense of security.

On 5/26/2026 at 8:00 PM, kwilco said:

How many recipients continue wearing the helmets long-term?

Yes, this is a good question.

Mostly when I visit Thai friends there is a cupboard or table where helmets are sat, day in day out collecting dust until it starts to rain, then the helmet is worn.

This lengthy essay is absurd, and the rebuttal is simple and one sentence:

Never let "Perfect" get in the way of "Good"

1 hour ago, VocalNeal said:

Also , of course, I'm going to do nothing as I am a visitor here and will continue to observe the locals leading their own lives in their country.

This raises a valid aspect of the issue, IMO. While good intentions can (and should) be lauded, there is a slight 'white man knows best' undertone to this endeavour. It is a Thai-to-Thai issue.

(The above is based on the assumption that the guy doing this is white. If he is black, I will take the 20 laughing emojis like a man).

3 minutes ago, rattlesnake said:

This raises a valid aspect of the issue, IMO. While good intentions can (and should) be lauded, there is a slight 'white man knows best' undertone to this endeavour. It is a Thai-to-Thai issue.

(The above is based on the assumption that the guy doing this is white. If he is black, I will take the 20 laughing emojis like a man).

... 'white man knows best' undertone to - YOUR POSTS! Quick question, do you have a mirror handy???

4 hours ago, JustinTyme said:

... 'white man knows best' undertone to - YOUR POSTS! Quick question, do you have a mirror handy???

Please provide examples of 'white man knows better' undertones in my posts.

1 minute ago, rattlesnake said:

Please provide examples of 'white man knows better' undertones in my posts.

When it comes to using basic safety gear, the white man knows better.

5 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

So, the thinking is that people do not wear helmets because they can't afford them?

It seems to be, yes… when in fact it is more of a cultural issue than anything else. A young Thai lad who shows up at school wearing a helmet is going to be laughed at by his mates, for example.

Here is an interesting question: how many of these helmets given for free are then sold by the recipients?

6 minutes ago, Effective altruism said:

When it comes to using basic safety gear, the white man knows better.

To be honest, I see a lot of Caucasian men riding wihout helmets and much too quickly for a Thai urban environment, demonstrating lack of formal motorcycle training, awareness and, to be blunt, intelligence (c.f. the regular catastrophic GoFundMe reports/appeals for donations on this forum).

Thais at least know how to drive in Thailand, helmet or not.

3 minutes ago, rattlesnake said:

To be honest, I see a lot of Caucasian men riding wihout helmets and much too quickly for a Thai urban environment, demonstrating lack of formal motorcycle training, awareness and, to be blunt, intelligence (c.f. the regular catastrophic GoFundMe reports/appeals for donations on this forum).

Thais at least know how to drive in Thailand, helmet or not.

Caucasian men likely wear required help in their home country to avoid tickets from law enforcement.

7 minutes ago, Effective altruism said:

Caucasian men likely wear required help in their home country to avoid tickets from law enforcement.

Abolutely. So on this specific issue, we could probably say 'Western governments know best' (compared to the Thai one).

22 minutes ago, rattlesnake said:

To be honest, I see a lot of Caucasian men riding wihout helmets and much too quickly for a Thai urban environment, demonstrating lack of formal motorcycle training, awareness and, to be blunt, intelligence (c.f. the regular catastrophic GoFundMe reports/appeals for donations on this forum).

Thais at least know how to drive in Thailand, helmet or not.

I agree to a point - then disagree.

Motorcycle control is one aspect - many Thai's having ridden from a young age instinctibely know how to control a small motorcycle where in many equivalent situations a newbie foreigner will come unstuck.

Meanwhile the consistent lack of self preservation of a vast majority of motorcyclist I see on the roads in Thailand on a daily basis suggests any riders don't know how to ride' - if we are too consider the concept of consequence or self preservation as an important part of riding

14 minutes ago, rattlesnake said:

Abolutely. So on this specific issue, we could probably say 'Western governments know best' (compared to the Thai one).

They (Western Governments) certainly have a better handle on law enforcement at this level - society is far more compliant & has a greater inherrant understanding of the risks - most of the choice regarding safety is these days self driven though education.

Do Western Governments know better ? Perhaps - but that might also be irrelevant - the reality is they 'do' better.... Some complain that this is the nanny state... The same nanny state that in a many possible examples may have saved them or equally so seen those same critics accused of DUI....

19 minutes ago, rattlesnake said:

Abolutely. So on this specific issue, we could probably say 'Western governments know best' (compared to the Thai one).

Yes, Western governments know best when it comes to safety. I am shocked that no leaders take real action to deal with these issues. Life has no value in Southeast Asia.

6 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

I agree to a point - then disagree.

Motorcycle control is one aspect - many Thai's having ridden from a young age instinctibely know how to control a small motorcycle where in many equivalent situations a newbie foreigner will come unstuck.

Meanwhile the consistent lack of self preservation of a vast majority of motorcyclist I see on the roads in Thailand on a daily basis suggests any riders don't know how to ride' - if we are too consider the concept of consequence or self preservation as an important part of riding

No disputing that. I was talking only from the 'white man knows best' angle – he doesn't when riding in Thailand – but that does not change the fact that Thai road casualty stats would improve drastically if only they changed a few of their habits. Just today I saw two different couples carrying sleeping babies on their mopeds (one overtook me as I was doing 40-50 km/h)…

7 hours ago, CLW said:

I have commented on their Facebook that the free helmets most likely are catching dust immediately after. You should have seen the hate comments from those people....

Why would your comment with such negativity to a group who are making an effort to make even a all difference??

Is it a perfect solution? no - of course not.

Will it make a nation difference? - unlikely.

Might it draw the attention of some who could impact change & make a national difference? Possibly...

Is the activity of passing out helmets to kids om M/C's doing any harm? - from any visible optic - no.

Does more need to be done? Of course - always... Arguably in any nation & with certainty, in Thailand Sh....t yes !!!

7 minutes ago, rattlesnake said:

No disputing that. I was talking only from the 'white man knows best' angle – he doesn't when riding in Thailand – but that does not change the fact that Thai road casualty stats would improve drastically if only they changed a few of their habits. Just today I saw two different couples carrying sleeping babies on their mopeds (one overtook me as I was doing 40-50 km/h)…

So much anectode - none of it disagreable.

We all know the plural of anecdote is not evidence - but when the anecdote adds up so much & that same anecdote in aggregate tallys with aggregate stats... We can afford to be less judgemental in our observations - riding behavior is almost quite horribly unpredictably predictable.

Turning right into my mooban today from a small subsoi - young kid on MC behind me... I know he's going to overtake regardless of my signalling & slowing... More anecdote - fits the 'lsxk of self preservation pattern'...

seems some people have reduced this discussion to skn colour - it is a classic symptom of expats to take a racist approach to road safety which actually prevents them from undersanding the root cuases of the issues - I think Helmet heroes are an example of this.

7 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

They (Western Governments) certainly have a better handle on law enforcement at this level - society is far more compliant & has a greater inherrant understanding of the risks - most of the choice regarding safety is these days self driven though education.

Do Western Governments know better ? Perhaps - but that might also be irrelevant - the reality is they 'do' better.... Some complain that this is the nanny state... The same nanny state that in a many possible examples may have saved them or equally so seen those same critics accused of DUI....

The sword is always double-edged. People praise Thailand for the freedom is gives, but obviously this freedom comes at a price (i.e. some situations/decisions are risky for the individual).

On the oher hand, there is too much regulation and too much enforcement of preposterous rules in the EU, it is too stifling (for example, the farmers who need to comply with incredibly expensive and dubious hygienic constraints for traditional products which have existed for centuries). But ride without a helmet and you will be stopped and fined with quasi-100% certainty, and nobody can reasonably argue against that on a macro level.

That said, in Hua Hin, enforcement has increased over the past two years (with the threat of a 2,000 baht fine) and the result is noticeable, a lot more Thais now wear helmets. The other day I even saw cops pulling over a Westerner for driving erratically (he was behaving like a dipsh*t on his Forza). He probably got at least a warning and possibly a fine. So things are moving, at least in HH, don't know if this is a national trend or not.

Edited May 28May 28 by rattlesnake
Typo.

48 minutes ago, kwilco said:

seems some people have reduced this discussion to skn colour - it is a classic symptom of expats to take a racist approach to road safety which actually prevents them from undersanding the root cuases of the issues - I think Helmet heroes are an example of this.

It is an unfair manifestation of white supremacy for individuals from the West to criticize the safety culture in Thailand.

1 hour ago, Effective altruism said:

Caucasian men likely wear required help in their home country to avoid tickets from law enforcement.

so your saying they prefer no to wear a helmet? and this is related to the colour of their skin?

Edited May 28May 28 by kwilco