Korat Drift

[asiaworld]

I just drove back from Cambodia yesterday, & my trip took me down the route 24 (btw. major widening roadworks on some sections) And on to route 2 >Korat>Saraburi>Bkk arthery .. Now i have driven here for many years, but what i have noticed on the route 2 especially is the tendency of a lot of drivers to drift away from their respective lanes, way more,than in other parts of the country , sort of made me think of 'Tokyo drift' movie in naming the topic( good movie btw.) & the route 2 is also nice & wide, but i had to use my horn more times than usually . i think since the large number of ex-pats settling in the region, would be a nice little warning in something one would not normally expect, after driving in the west

[buddhafly]

some people truly believe that if a monk has blessed the vehicle and a buddha statue sits on the dashboard that they simply can not get into an accident. so driving almost goes autopilot.

[Moonfruit]

Thanks for the warning. Ill be taking that route myself on Tuesday, there and back!

[nidge]

I have driven on Route 2 from Saraburi to Sikheow many times and have yet to see an accident. I have seen plenty of near misses though. Perhaps we should not mock the Buddhas blessings, they could be working.

[phutoie2]

Watch out for the occasional buffalo tractor rear trailer wheel coming bouncing down the highway too!. happened to my neighbour yesterday on Route 21. Trailer had a few too many rice sacks on and wheel came off and hit the front end of his Isuzu pick up. Only slight damage, broken driving lights and paintwork, so after big discussion with the farmer they settled on 800 baht compensation. Farmer had no money, a friend of his arrived and only had 400 baht. Police arrived and after discussion Police office told farmer to hand over 400 bht to farang. I think my friend did not want to claim on his insurance and he is off today to the Isuzu dealer to fix his pride and joy. Just another driving tale of life in this wonderful country.

[asiaworld]

Watch out for the occasional buffalo tractor rear trailer wheel coming bouncing down the highway too!. happened to my neighbour yesterday on Route 21. Trailer had a few too many rice sacks on and wheel came off and hit the front end of his Isuzu pick up. Only slight damage, broken driving lights and paintwork, so after big discussion with the farmer they settled on 800 baht compensation. Farmer had no money, a friend of his arrived and only had 400 baht. Police arrived and after discussion Police office told farmer to hand over 400 bht to farang. I think my friend did not want to claim on his insurance and he is off today to the Isuzu dealer to fix his pride and joy. Just another driving tale of life in this wonderful country.

Actually insurance here works in the 'same way' .. i had one village girl on the motorcycle ramming my stationary new car in one way street (i stopped, she didn't ) & when insurance guy came, he send her to the ATM to get a thousand or 2 before letting her on her merry way .. But BEFORE insurance came, she was trying to make an 'injured face' seeing me not being thai