11 hours ago, LittleBear57 said:

Many things I find about Thai driving in .general. I should point out I have driven between 300, 000 and 400,000 kms here in my years living here.

The daily occurance of drivers pulling out of minor roads without looking.

Finding cars on the wrong side of the road when going round bends.

Overtaking on blind bends.

Overtaking on the brow of a hill.

Parking on busy junctions even at night.

Driving straight through roundabouts like they are not there.

Driving without lights at night is very common.

Cutting in and out of lanes to save seconds, especially at traffic lights.

Refusing to use the left lane when on dual carriage ways when traveling slow.

Similar but driving on the motorway in the third lane at 100km or less when the 2 lens left of them are empty.

Tailgating is another favourite here.

That's just my immediate thought I'm sure others would come to mind later.

However I do not say all Thai drivers are like that. Many are good drivers and quite safe, I trust my wife totally ang many of the taxis I have used have been great.

But I will never forget sitting behind a minibus driver not long ago driving from Bkk to Sattahip. He had 3 phones on stands on the dash in front of him. On one he had sat nav. The other he was talking to people throughout the journey. And on the third he was catching up on Thai TV. Very happy when I got home. Scary driving in general too, tailgating especially.

No countries drivers are perfect but Thailand has much more bad drivers than it's fair share.

Agree with all of that - its not a Thai bash - its simple observation and one all of us make whenever we use the roads here.

Of course, those habits are not the solely limited to drivers in Thailand, however, living here the observation is amplified.

11 hours ago, LittleBear57 said:

And on the third he was catching up on Thai TV.

I've lost count of the amount of (flag fall) Taxi's in Bangkok that I've been in and the driver is driving and watching TV on his phone propped up in the dash - I've asked them to turn it off, a few have complied - others have refused and I've simply asked them to pull over and got out - their face clearly more important to them than my safety....

What I would like to highlight - given the utter amount of fluckwittery I see unfolding on the roads here, the accident rate is phenomenally less than I would have imagined - the high death rate can be accounted for by motorcyclists, the sheer volume but also lack of helmet wear - but for 4 wheeled vehicles the road fatality stats per capita are similar to the USA - so the drivers in general can't be that bad.... and in reality - I've been driving here for a while now - I'm not stressed about it, its just another normal facet of life - and thats driving in central Bangkok.

9 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

the high death rate can be accounted for by motorcyclists,

This is one of the most profound statements you have uttered, thus far.

The high mortality rate is due to the high usage of motorcycles, and motorcycles with more than one on a bike, and these are not even true motorcycles, and they don't wear helmets, either.

7 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

This is one of the most profound statements you have uttered, thus far.

The high mortality rate is due to the high usage of motorcycles, and motorcycles with more than one on a bike, and these are not even true motorcycles, and they don't wear helmets, either.

I know you're trying to sh!house me like I do you - but really - You can't fake wit and are confusing effort with ability...

12 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

I know you're trying to sh!house me like I do you - but really - You can't fake wit and are confusing effort with ability...

So you are saying I am not witty, but rather a Walter Mitty?

3 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

So you are saying I am not witty, but rather a Walter Mitty?

Yes. No.

YES

YES

NO