Thailands Liberal Drivers

[Eric1949]

Is Thailand the only Country in the world where you decide on which side of the road to drive when you wake up? Of course you can change your mind at any time during the day.

I swear that children go from the breast to riding a motorcycle the same day.

Traffic lights? Oh! there are some? I guess that Thais are just colour blind, any colour means GO!

MOT, thats a joke, as long as it moves, you can ride/drive it.

Lights? who needs them anyway?

Overloading? No problem just put 10 leaf springs on your pickup and you can load tons!

Just how many people can a motorcycle hold, I've seen 6 so far.

Don't forget, if you want to make a right hand turn, think well in advance and move to the other side at least 500 meters before your turning.

Don't forget if you are riding a motorcycle with a baby/young child, put them in front of you, they act as great airbags...Sick I know, but why do people do it?

When you live hear a long time, you notice that many farangs do these things as well.

If the Police stop you.....well you know what to do.

Sanook Sanook folks, but sadly it's all true.

It will be interesting to see the responses, there must be lots of other driving tips that I've missed.

[Lite Beer]

Save money by removing the indicater bulbs. They are never used anyway.

[apetley]

Third world standards, little or no driver education, lack of traffic rules enforcement, not enough money for suitable transport, corruption is accepted.

There's 5 reasons to kick off.

You'll get many more I guess.

[cm-happy]

making 4 traffic lanes on a two lane road. solid yellow line means pass. x-ray vision that enables passing on hills and curves.

aligning the center of your vehicle with the painted lane divider. playing chiken with oncoming traffic when passing to see who will yield, and who has the most balls.

[Eric1949]

making 4 traffic lanes on a two lane road. solid yellow line means pass. x-ray vision that enables passing on hills and curves.

aligning the center of your vehicle with the painted lane divider. playing chiken with oncoming traffic when passing to see who will yield, and who has the most balls.

I can see this should be a good laugh!!

[ignis]

Save money by removing the indicater bulbs. They are never used anyway.

I believe Mercedes do not have any by default ??

Or is it just drivers of Mercedes have no idea where they are ?

Have you ever seen a Mercedes driver use them anywhere in the world ?

[Eric1949]

Save money by removing the indicater bulbs. They are never used anyway.

I believe Mercedes do not have any by default ??

Or is it just drivers of Mercedes have no idea where they are ?

Have you ever seen a Mercedes driver use them anywhere in the world ?

On I recent visit to Samui I noticed some very confident Thai drivers, and would rate them as follows:

1. Concrete truck drivers.

2. 10/6 wheel truck drivers

3. Hotel/resort mini bus drivers.

[Heng]

Natural selection at work. One reason to be well insured just in case there is a natural selection incident that sends bits of flying glass or metal your way.

[PhilHarries]

Is Thailand the only Country in the world where you decide on which side of the road to drive when you wake up? Of course you can change your mind at any time during the day. No, Viet Nam is the same but worse.

I swear that children go from the breast to riding a motorcycle the same day. At least here in VN they usually go from breast to mo'cy via a bicycle but they are getting there.

Traffic lights? Oh! there are some? I guess that Thais are just colour blind, any colour means GO! Same same

MOT, thats a joke, as long as it moves, you can ride/drive it. Same same

Lights? who needs them anyway? Same same, in a country where outside the larger towns street lighting is virtually non-existant

Overloading? No problem just put 10 leaf springs on your pickup and you can load tons! A colleague just moved into his house and the three piece suite plus two foot stools was delivered on a bicycle. The refridgerator plus a cabinet and the upright freezer plus television arrived on the back of two mo'cys. They were balanced there, not strapped on being held by one hand of the rider.

Just how many people can a motorcycle hold, I've seen 6 so far. Same same

Don't forget, if you want to make a right hand turn, think well in advance and move to the other side at least 500 meters before your turning. Here the equivalent is a left hand turn. To execute that is achieved by moving right over to the left side 500 metres before the turn moving the wrong way into oncoming traffice. The left turn is acomplished still on the wrong side against traffic and that side of the road is used until such time as the driver sees fit to return to the right hand side.

Don't forget if you are riding a motorcycle with a baby/young child, put them in front of you, they act as great airbags...Sick I know, but why do people do it? Same same

When you live hear a long time, you notice that many farangs do these things as well. Not too many "farangs" here yet and the only tourist area I have experience of is Hoi An where most tourists rent bicycles. To be quite honest the driving here is so chaotic it is best left in the hands of a local.

If the Police stop you.....well you know what to do.

Sanook Sanook folks, but sadly it's all true.

It will be interesting to see the responses, there must be lots of other driving tips that I've missed.

Just to let you know Thailand is not the worst place for driving. Company policy is we have car + driver to take us everywhere and driving to work on a motorbike is strictly forbidden. What we do in our own time is our business but having heard tales of one man's encounter with the local health service I will stick to four wheels.

Oh, and the only component of a vehicle, apart from the engine and gearbox, that is essential for navigation is the horn.

Anyway to answer your request for tips. The four way flashers (hazard warning lights) are usefull to advise other road users that you are about to execute the most stupid manoevre imaginable. Another function of them is that they activate an invisible energy shield that protects you when driving straight through junctions without looking or giving way.

[Gimbo]

Thailand is actually one of the most civilized countries in the world I have ever driven. Whingers should try their driving ability in Beirut, Sri Lanka, or any of the arab countries... I have never seen as many accidents as I saw in Kuwait to give one example.

[mrtoad]

Save money by removing the indicater bulbs. They are never used anyway.

I believe Mercedes do not have any by default ??

Or is it just drivers of Mercedes have no idea where they are ?

Have you ever seen a Mercedes driver use them anywhere in the world ?

Volvo drivers are the worst in the UK. You can't buy one, unless you are a complete @#%t .

As for bad driving, Thailand is bad, but nowhere as bad as India, Bangladesh, Vietnam or France IMO.

[Xangsamhua]

Having witnessed the bizarre driving/riding and traffic chaos of Hanoi recently I decided that all Bangkok drivers and motorcyclists are highly civilized by comparison. Strangely, though, I didn't have the same sense of lunatics having all escaped the asylum in Saigon.

[cm-happy]

MY DREAM!

Get an Army tank drive it Thai style on the roads. dam_n the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

[disgruntled]

I use public transport in the greater BKK metropolis. Almost everytime we head into town the drivers go between 140 - 160 kms per hour. I like to sit in the front seat so I watch their speedometers. One day we were doing 130 about a meter from the car into front of us. I guess you don't need to be responsible as a driver here in Thailand. Most van and bus accidents in Los involved poor people dying.

[lawling]

there must be lots of other driving tips that I've missed.

What about not having lights or not turning them on when it's dark?

And turning at traffic lights - if you are intending going right then position yourself in the inside, left lane - or if turning left then position yourself in the outside lane.

And how and where to park? Double or triple. Try to do it opposite another vehicle so that you leave little or no room for anyone else to get through.

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

Doing U-turns at 5km hr really bugs me. And you can spot new drivers they only go 15km hr down the fast lane. If you go slow enough it isn't your fault if you are in a accident.

[Eff1n2ret]

Thailand is actually one of the most civilized countries in the world I have ever driven. Whingers should try their driving ability in Beirut, Sri Lanka, or any of the arab countries... I have never seen as many accidents as I saw in Kuwait to give one example.

I'll second that. In Kuwait I admired the way they used to leave the worst wrecks in the middle of roundabouts or other prominent places as a warning, but it didn't seem to make much difference.

[Travel2003]

Oh, and the only component of a vehicle, apart from the engine and gearbox, that is essential for navigation is the horn.

The horn?

I really dont notice that much usage of the horn here in Thailand.

People are in general looked upon as someone with a serious lack of self discipline when they use the horn here.

Crazy driving?

Try Cambodia, Philippines, Vietnam, China, India, the list goes on and on.

[JetsetBkk]

It's simple: 'small' gives way to 'big'.