Thai's Attitude To Their Children's Safety.

[Richb2004v2]

It often seems that the Thais don't give a dam_n for their children. Of course this must be untrue, but it does seem that way judging from the scenes on the streets and roads.

Just last night I can very close to ending the life of a Thai child.

I was returning home after visiting a friend. It was around 6:30pm and dark and I was about 2km outside town. As I turned a sweeping corner filter lane of a highway I was forced to move into the hard shoulder for a second. There was dim lighting on the road so I managed to spot a school boy walking in the center of this lane. Obviously I managed to avoid hitting him. I could so easily have killed him. The obvious question is why was he walking 2km outside town on a very dark road towards the traffic. Not only this, but he wasn't even looking at the traffic. Instead he was engrossed in something in a bag he was carrying. He wasn't a 'down and out' as he was dressed smartly in his school uniform with a satchel on his back. He wasn't even walking close to the verge which would be the sensible thing to do, he was right out in the middle of the lane. Knowing that this lane is used for vehicles going in both directions and some times without lights it makes my head spin that children don't know any better here in Thailand.

I know this isn't so unusual in Thailand, but the fact that I almost hit the kid got me thinking about the way Thais bring up their kids. If my parents had found me walking a highway in the dark they would have gone crazy, but here its just normal.

On my estate children play at dusk on the same road that cars speed down. I brought it up at a recent community meeting but no one seems to bothered.

I guess the alternative theory is that I didn't hit the kid and there fore his perception of danger was right and all his calculations were proved correct.

A little similar to the fact that I see a dozen very near miss accidents every time I go out but I never see any actual accidents. Maybe it's all worked out to fine margins and I just don't understand them.

[Enjibenji]

maby he was walking in the middle of the road for a reason..

[PattayaParent]

Nobody drives in the inside lane in Thailand, therefore the kid is not aware of any danger from walking in the middle of the inside lane, and likely thinks it's perfectly safe to do so.

And I've never seen a Thai walking TOWARDS the oncoming traffic, that would be too sensible to be able to see the traffic. Are you sure he wasn't walking backwards?

[phaethon]

On my estate children play at dusk on the same road that cars speed down.

The cars 'speed' yet it's the children that are the problem?

I really don't like this idea that cars (i.e. drivers) have the superior right of way and people should stay out of it. Streets in the UK are deserted and the children kept indoors to become couch potatoes because of the tyranny of traffic. When I first moved to Birmingham (UK) it was horrible because the planners had given priority to vehicles (drivers) and pedestrians were relegated to subways and footbridges (rather like central BKK), both of which are impositions on the pedestrian because they require extra effort to climb stair/ramps. This has now changed in Brum with more pedestrianization schemes and surface crossings.

The problem is not that Thais maintain their pre-traffic-era child control, but will probably, like the West, fail to train and control drivers until the situation becomes oppressive.

Having said that, given that there is a pro-car situation, have you ever seen a parent step into the road before their child (in a pushchair/pram)? It's always the child who gets shoved into traffic first

[kingwillly]

It often seems that the Thais don't give a dam_n for their children. Of course this must be untrue, but it does seem that way judging from the scenes on the streets and roads.

to do with karma and stuff, fatalistic but there you go, and they'll only be bornh agian anyway.

[sibeymai]

Just think of the state of the Thai gene pool now, or in a generation or two, if there weren't the number of people killed in avoidable stupid "accidents". Natural selection at work.

[Merlin]

roads are for driving on - pedestrians should keep off!

but that would be too sensible, I suppose...

[sibeymai]

actually, roads were first invented before vehicles of any kind.

[CroBiker]

Just think of the state of the Thai gene pool now, or in a generation or two, if there weren't the number of people killed in avoidable stupid "accidents". Natural selection at work.

I heard this type of argument from richer Thais many times. It sounds cruel at least according to developed countries standards but more time I spent here, makes more sense.

[IMA_FARANG]

It often seems that the Thais don't give a dam_n for their children. Of course this must be untrue, but it does seem that way judging from the scenes on the streets and roads.

Just last night I can very close to ending the life of a Thai child.

I was returning home after visiting a friend. It was around 6:30pm and dark and I was about 2km outside town. As I turned a sweeping corner filter lane of a highway I was forced to move into the hard shoulder for a second. There was dim lighting on the road so I managed to spot a school boy walking in the center of this lane. Obviously I managed to avoid hitting him. I could so easily have killed him. The obvious question is why was he walking 2km outside town on a very dark road towards the traffic. Not only this, but he wasn't even looking at the traffic. Instead he was engrossed in something in a bag he was carrying. He wasn't a 'down and out' as he was dressed smartly in his school uniform with a satchel on his back. He wasn't even walking close to the verge which would be the sensible thing to do, he was right out in the middle of the lane. Knowing that this lane is used for vehicles going in both directions and some times without lights it makes my head spin that children don't know any better here in Thailand.

I know this isn't so unusual in Thailand, but the fact that I almost hit the kid got me thinking about the way Thais bring up their kids. If my parents had found me walking a highway in the dark they would have gone crazy, but here its just normal.

On my estate children play at dusk on the same road that cars speed down. I brought it up at a recent community meeting but no one seems to bothered.

I guess the alternative theory is that I didn't hit the kid and there fore his perception of danger was right and all his calculations were proved correct.

A little similar to the fact that I see a dozen very near miss accidents every time I go out but I never see any actual accidents. Maybe it's all worked out to fine margins and I just don't understand them.

The answers are:

1. Children walk home because their parents don't have or can't afford a car. And in areas outside of the main towns there are no buses or taxis. So they have to walk. It's not "rocket science".

2. As the companion of a Thai woman who has rasied 3 children (2 boys and 1 girl), and is now rasing a grandaughter I assure you that Thais do love their children. Once when her youngest son was about 7 years old he was riding his bike in a way I thought was dangerous. I asked my Thai companion why she didn't tell her son to stop riding his bike like that. She looked at me with that "Oh, stupid Farang" look at said."I tell him many time not to do that. But he is a boy, and he not listen to me. So I wait here until he get hurt, then I take him to doctor. That is what mother have to do."

I never questioned her again, she clearlly knew what she was doing. The youngest son is now 26 years old, and still doing well.

[onnut]

Just think of the state of the Thai gene pool now, or in a generation or two, if there weren't the number of people killed in avoidable stupid "accidents". Natural selection at work.

I heard this type of argument from richer Thais many times. It sounds cruel at least according to developed countries standards but more time I spent here, makes more sense.

it does make sense once you have lived here for a while even if cruel. but what gets me is that most of these Darwin type people take others with them.

[t.s]

It often seems that the Thais don't give a dam_n for their children. Of course this must be untrue, but it does seem that way judging from the scenes on the streets and roads.

Just last night I can very close to ending the life of a Thai child.

I was returning home after visiting a friend. It was around 6:30pm and dark and I was about 2km outside town. As I turned a sweeping corner filter lane of a highway I was forced to move into the hard shoulder for a second. There was dim lighting on the road so I managed to spot a school boy walking in the center of this lane. Obviously I managed to avoid hitting him. I could so easily have killed him. The obvious question is why was he walking 2km outside town on a very dark road towards the traffic. Not only this, but he wasn't even looking at the traffic. Instead he was engrossed in something in a bag he was carrying. He wasn't a 'down and out' as he was dressed smartly in his school uniform with a satchel on his back. He wasn't even walking close to the verge which would be the sensible thing to do, he was right out in the middle of the lane. Knowing that this lane is used for vehicles going in both directions and some times without lights it makes my head spin that children don't know any better here in Thailand.

I know this isn't so unusual in Thailand, but the fact that I almost hit the kid got me thinking about the way Thais bring up their kids. If my parents had found me walking a highway in the dark they would have gone crazy, but here its just normal.

On my estate children play at dusk on the same road that cars speed down. I brought it up at a recent community meeting but no one seems to bothered.

I guess the alternative theory is that I didn't hit the kid and there fore his perception of danger was right and all his calculations were proved correct.

A little similar to the fact that I see a dozen very near miss accidents every time I go out but I never see any actual accidents. Maybe it's all worked out to fine margins and I just don't understand them.

i used to love walking in the middle of the road as a boy in over regulated canada. you are not in kansas anymore dorothy.

[onnut]

Thais do love there children in general. but even my wife will go for a drive while her sister holds our 7 month old in her arms while sitting up front, even though we have a proper baby seat. It really worried me and telling her made no changes. really strange.. anyway, I went onto you tube and found a clip of what happens to the baby when you do do that. that worked, she now realizes that it is not a good idea.

The answers are:

1. Children walk home because their parents don't have or can't afford a car. And in areas outside of the main towns there are no buses or taxis. So they have to walk. It's not "rocket science".

2. As the companion of a Thai woman who has rasied 3 children (2 boys and 1 girl), and is now rasing a grandaughter I assure you that Thais do love their children. Once when her youngest son was about 7 years old he was riding his bike in a way I thought was dangerous. I asked my Thai companion why she didn't tell her son to stop riding his bike like that. She looked at me with that "Oh, stupid Farang" look at said."I tell him many time not to do that. But he is a boy, and he not listen to me. So I wait here until he get hurt, then I take him to doctor. That is what mother have to do."

I never questioned her again, she clearlly knew what she was doing. The youngest son is now 26 years old, and still doing well.

[BigSnake]

I think they really do care, but for reason I can't explain or understand day in and day out I see kids as young as 9 or 10 maybe even younger going 60kph on a motorbike HELMET(??) don't make me laugh, down a narrow Soi or hanging on for dear life as mom turn the corner on the motorbike. Maybe it just a SANOOK thing to do, let the kids run wild have fun, noway they know how it would feel to see that sanook sanook kid in a coma. SAD

[benjamat]

In the late 50s and early 60s my friends and I often left home during school holidays at around 9am and returned around 9 pm. We were in the age group maybe 8 until 11. We got into lots of scrapes but no one ever died in spite of typical childish stupidity.

The idea that my mother did not care about my safety is ludicrous, she sacrificed her life for her children but at that time the uk population was not paranoid about protecting children from any contact with the more on the edge side of life.

I have close contact with many thai families and see no evidence of lack of care. Yes there are some cultural differences but the kids do get to learn from experience and that cant be all bad.

Also if you go into most latrge housing estates in UK on a warm summer day you will see kids of all ages from maybe 3 upwards running around all over the place, playing football in the road and doing many other pretty dangerous things. You probably wont see this on a private estate as the mums will likely as not taken their kids somewhere. So once again the ability to finance comes into play. I would always collect my kids if they had been somewhere but often picked up their friends who were walking home because parents had no car.

Edited November 18, 2008 by benjamat

[EvilDrSomkid]

On my estate children play at dusk on the same road that cars speed down.

The cars 'speed' yet it's the children that are the problem?

I really don't like this idea that cars (i.e. drivers) have the superior right of way and people should stay out of it. Streets in the UK are deserted and the children kept indoors to become couch potatoes because of the tyranny of traffic. When I first moved to Birmingham (UK) it was horrible because the planners had given priority to vehicles (drivers) and pedestrians were relegated to subways and footbridges (rather like central BKK), both of which are impositions on the pedestrian because they require extra effort to climb stair/ramps. This has now changed in Brum with more pedestrianization schemes and surface crossings.

The problem is not that Thais maintain their pre-traffic-era child control, but will probably, like the West, fail to train and control drivers until the situation becomes oppressive.

Having said that, given that there is a pro-car situation, have you ever seen a parent step into the road before their child (in a pushchair/pram)? It's always the child who gets shoved into traffic first

OK, how about this one smartass?

I regularly drive between BKK & Sri Racha. Several times I have seen women cross Highway 7 with BABIES on their arms running for dear life. This is crossing a 4 to 5 lane highway where there is a double concrete barrier in the middle. Cars drive 120kph+. Does that sound like careful to you or caring for their children? Is this anti pedestrian? No, its total BS and these people are seriously stupid. It left me fuming for an hour that you have such muk ngai and pramaat people.

Whatever the cultural background, this is ridiculous behaviour. Thais will acknowledge this.

And yes, there are bridges for people to crossover, they even have crossover bridges for motosais. This is an imposition on pedestrians? Get real.

Like some one else said, I see people ride their motosais all the time with 2, 3 or 4 small kids on. Mom/Dad wears helmet (actually a worthless piece of plastic) the kids do not.

I see people on the roads, letting their kids run around inside the car or sit in the middle of the back seat hanging onto the front seats. What will happen if driver has to slam on the brakes? That's right, dead or mutilated kid.

This should not become a thai-bashing thread, because plently of other people/cultures in the world do the same.

[mc2]

Back home we get the road safety brainwashing into us from an early age and it doesnt stop until we die.

wear Seatbelt,

Helmets, no drink driving

jaywalking

speeding

bla bla bla

Some of the brainwashing also involved being told people are stupid, idiots etc if we dont wear seatbelts, speeding drink driving etc. and we carry that over to the Thais.

I suppose it is a good type of brainwashing though.

I'd be curious to know if the graphic images on the ciggaretes campain is having any effect on the Thais.

[CroBiker]

Like some one else said, I see people ride their motosais all the time with 2, 3 or 4 small kids on. Mom/Dad wears helmet (actually a worthless piece of plastic) the kids do not.

I see people on the roads, letting their kids run around inside the car or sit in the middle of the back seat hanging onto the front seats. What will happen if driver has to slam on the brakes? That's right, dead or mutilated kid.

This sums it up perfectly!

Thai parents do love and care about their children like anyone else in the world but they are totally ignorant of trafic (sp) laws and road dangers. It is sad that they have to experience heartbreak over lost child before coming to terms with own irresponsability. Back in western countries they would have been brought to court for endangering kids lifes. Yes, yes....I know, they are poor and can't afford the car so have to use small bikes to transport entire family + pet on 2 wheels, but c'mon?

Honestly, how many of you westerners would ride a bike with little kid and pet in front, wearing no propper foot attire and helmet? Or even worse; letting 12-16 year old driving a bike without license on the roads where trafic courtesy is non-existent?

I blame Thai government for making no effort to stop this kind of road behaviour. It will take many years before they realize loss of human life due to road carnage actually affects the country's well being and productivity.

[toptuan]

As I've said many times before in a multitude of similar threads...

The "Risk Factor" computer chip is simply missing from Thai brains. Not a slam, just an observation.

We westerners also have certain chips missing from our brains as well, as the Thais see it, for example..

• The No-Confrontations chip
  
• The Face-Saving chip
  
• The Indirect-Communication chip
  
• The <<mai bpen rai>> chip
  

etc.

etc.

etc.

[Changkok]

Even though i dont agree with the OPs accusations saying thais dont give a dam_n about there kids i do sometimes worry so much when i leave me 2 very young kids with my missus as obvious danger to me seems like no danger to her.

For example my 2 year old daughter playing with plastic bags!! I know its a very small risk that something could happen or have i just read that warning on UK plastic bags to much???????????

Edited November 18, 2008 by Changkok

[sassienie]

This has nothing to do with how Thai people bring up their children.

The Thai philosophy is: the worst hasn’t happened yet, so why worry about it.

This is the general Thai viewpoint, not just for the purpose of safety regarding their children.

[dumball]

From my observations , Thais do not control their children , their children control them , it has even become some what that way in the west , the most control or discipline i noticed is given with a stick or a loud voice . A childs training starts as soon as he/she can stand up , 16 is far too late , when the police or courts have to step in , teaching in schools is done by rote (brain-washing) surely this could be applied in the home , better than a total lack of proper discipline instruction . By instruction and example in a temperate manner is usualy more succesfull , at least it gives the child a chance of survival .

Oh , silly me , i forgot , this is Thailand !!!!!!

[Jingthing]

On a number of occasions I have witnessed toddlers wandering alone near busy traffic streets with no supervision in sight. I find this disturbing. It would take two seconds for such a child to walk into traffic and be killed. Now I am not going to judge an entire society based on this, but the contrast to the US where the parents of such kids would face a real risk of having their children taken away from them by the nanny state is so vast that I think I could live here 30 years and still find that sight shocking.

[dutchguest]

I think children in Thailand are generally raised with more love than in the west. You also hear them much less scream and cry. They have more freedom, are more important.

This freedom has it's shadowsides as shown in this topic. It is more life or dead for them. In the west it is more nor life nor dead. Many regulations, restrictions.

In Thailand -in my view- chidren are generally more happy (when alive). The same goes more or less for dogs and older people. Dogs here more free, in the west more on the line. In the west we put older people in special houses, separated from there family, where they are secure, get all the medical treatment they need and can grow very old, but -in my view- you can hardly call it a happy life. I think I prefer the Thai way, allthough it can sound harsh sometime. May be there is a way of combining the good sides of both without the negative sides?

[Mosha]

When I have seen toddlers being supervised. The adults let them walk nearest the danger. One even lost control of the child as I was approaching and she ran straight out in front of me. Somehow I was expecting it to happen and was already slowing down. Still scared the brown stuff out of me though.

[brahmburgers]

Some of the overly lax attitudes stem from ignorance coupled with a devil-may-care attitude.

When I'm in the passenger seat of a car and start to put my seat belt on, 9 times out of 10, the Thai driver will smile and wave away my silly action "mai pen rai, I good driver, no ploblem!" Often, the belt doesn't even function.

You'll hardly ever see a kid in a seatbelt and toddler car seats aren't for sale. Little kids sitting in front of group on one motorbike - the kid's face an inch from the hard plastic gauge assembly. Often they'll be an adult arm holding the kid, but that arm will have zero safety affect in the momentum of a crash.

For the guy who questioned a safety issue - and ran it by his Thai wife, and he wound up doing nothing, I say:

Do all you can to assist safety of kids. Don't let the 'mai pen rai' attitude override your sensible concerns. Take action. Don't demure to Thai attitudes just because you live in Thailand and/or you don't want to be ridiculed and/or you don't want to counter your alluring wife/g.f.

P.S. if you see faulty playground equipment, speak up - and help get it dismantled, fixed or replaced.

[ignis]

Then there is the school run......... Mom or Dad [sometimes both] with there kids on the motorbike, or the motorbike taxi, non of the kids have helmets, then there the young teenagers with the motorbikes and often 5 or 6 school friend on the back = seeing how fast they can go + of course no helmets., you often see the police man on his little bike with kids on the back + there is near me a large Police motorbike [with blue lights fitted] he pick up his kids, both pre-teens and no helmets

[rak sa_ngop]

I was sitting in a coffee shop yesterday and observed a Thai mother helping her small child into one of those black plastic bin-sized bags, not exactly sure why but maybe just as a game. I tried to explain to her that this was very dangerous but they went off unimpressed (maybe by my Thai language). Hope the child does not become a statistic.

[yabaaaa]

On my estate children play at dusk on the same road that cars speed down.

The cars 'speed' yet it's the children that are the problem?

I really don't like this idea that cars (i.e. drivers) have the superior right of way and people should stay out of it. Streets in the UK are deserted and the children kept indoors to become couch potatoes because of the tyranny of traffic. When I first moved to Birmingham (UK) it was horrible because the planners had given priority to vehicles (drivers) and pedestrians were relegated to subways and footbridges (rather like central BKK), both of which are impositions on the pedestrian because they require extra effort to climb stair/ramps. This has now changed in Brum with more pedestrianization schemes and surface crossings.

The problem is not that Thais maintain their pre-traffic-era child control, but will probably, like the West, fail to train and control drivers until the situation becomes oppressive.

Having said that, given that there is a pro-car situation, have you ever seen a parent step into the road before their child (in a pushchair/pram)? It's always the child who gets shoved into traffic first

Replies like this never cease to amaze me!! I too am from Birmingham and the pitiful way they have now controlled traffic defies belief. WHY DONT PEDESTRIANS JUST LEARN TO LOOK AND THINK. Car drivers have to do it all the time admittedly some dont, but the amount of folk I nearly hit crossing junctions because they dont look when stepping off the pavement is incredible and thats in the UK in fact now to just to make them jump with no chance of hitting them because I am always looking at junctions when I see them step in the road and travelling slowly myself i yank the handbrake which makes a nice squealing noise form the tyres and makes the buggers jump. In Thailand its s more difficult a s many places have no pavement but the sheer stupidity of Thai pedsetrians always amazes me. I see kids on bikes near me with no lights on a phone meandering over the road dark clothing 2 -3 on a bike wrong side of the road etc no thought no nothing its sheer neglect on behalf of their parents not to teach them to be aware. LOVE THEIR KIDS dont make me laugh. I was taught how to cross the road at a young age and their used to be campaigns in the UK. I think the UK has the lowest rate of deaths in Europe possibly worldwide for cars etc? Its easier to legislate against car drivers than teach the pedestrians to actually cross the roads safely and herein lies half the problem.

You can make all the excuses you like people wandering aimlessly down ANY road are dumb!

Children should not be playing on any road, anyone who lets their kids is crazy and please dont tell me how you used to kick a ball in the UK roads 40 years ago its a different world today, everywhere. Its probably fine in a village in the middle of nowhere but I see this all the time in Bangkok.

[yabaaaa]

It often seems that the Thais don't give a dam_n for their children. Of course this must be untrue, but it does seem that way judging from the scenes on the streets and roads.

Just last night I can very close to ending the life of a Thai child.

I was returning home after visiting a friend. It was around 6:30pm and dark and I was about 2km outside town. As I turned a sweeping corner filter lane of a highway I was forced to move into the hard shoulder for a second. There was dim lighting on the road so I managed to spot a school boy walking in the center of this lane. Obviously I managed to avoid hitting him. I could so easily have killed him. The obvious question is why was he walking 2km outside town on a very dark road towards the traffic. Not only this, but he wasn't even looking at the traffic. Instead he was engrossed in something in a bag he was carrying. He wasn't a 'down and out' as he was dressed smartly in his school uniform with a satchel on his back. He wasn't even walking close to the verge which would be the sensible thing to do, he was right out in the middle of the lane. Knowing that this lane is used for vehicles going in both directions and some times without lights it makes my head spin that children don't know any better here in Thailand.

I know this isn't so unusual in Thailand, but the fact that I almost hit the kid got me thinking about the way Thais bring up their kids. If my parents had found me walking a highway in the dark they would have gone crazy, but here its just normal.

On my estate children play at dusk on the same road that cars speed down. I brought it up at a recent community meeting but no one seems to bothered.

I guess the alternative theory is that I didn't hit the kid and there fore his perception of danger was right and all his calculations were proved correct.

A little similar to the fact that I see a dozen very near miss accidents every time I go out but I never see any actual accidents. Maybe it's all worked out to fine margins and I just don't understand them.

The answers are:

1. Children walk home because their parents don't have or can't afford a car. And in areas outside of the main towns there are no buses or taxis. So they have to walk. It's not "rocket science".

2. As the companion of a Thai woman who has rasied 3 children (2 boys and 1 girl), and is now rasing a grandaughter I assure you that Thais do love their children. Once when her youngest son was about 7 years old he was riding his bike in a way I thought was dangerous. I asked my Thai companion why she didn't tell her son to stop riding his bike like that. She looked at me with that "Oh, stupid Farang" look at said."I tell him many time not to do that. But he is a boy, and he not listen to me. So I wait here until he get hurt, then I take him to doctor. That is what mother have to do."

I never questioned her again, she clearlly knew what she was doing. The youngest son is now 26 years old, and still doing well.

Wonder how good a Mother she would be "if" he'd lost both legs or arms in an accident? or left a cabbage in a wheelchair? Have you seen the facilties here for people like this any idea what this sort of thing does to a family afterwards? I have, and to be honest Id blow my brains out rather than end up there. I see Thai people come into some of these places to bring food and money and have a good nose at the "entertaining" freak show.

Yes you have to let children learn from there mistakes but when it comes to death or mutilation its a no no.