April 16, 200916 yr I was born and raised in the west. I cannot remember ever seeing anybody drive a motorbike with an infant onboard. They even have baby seats that attach to the steering column. Since moving out of the west I have witnessed it as common practice. Why don't we do it in the west? There could even be export opportunities exporting the steering column baby seats.
April 16, 200916 yr You might be interested to use the thaivisa search facility to seek out a relatively recent & long-running thread called "Don't the thais care about their children?" or something similar to that. probably also in the general forum. all your questions answered
April 16, 200916 yr Why don't we do it in the west? Probably because to most westerners the idea of having an infant on a motorbike is absolute insanity. No way would it be legal in any western country either.
April 16, 200916 yr I think that there would be a good market in importing these mini-motos for the Thai market.
April 16, 200916 yr Why don't we do it in the west? Probably because to most westerners the idea of having an infant on a motorbike is absolute insanity. No way would it be legal in any western country either. Fair comment, however, their thinking must change when they have been in Thailand for a while, i have seen many westerners in Pattaya with the infant onboard!
April 16, 200916 yr I was born and raised in the west. I cannot remember ever seeing anybody drive a motorbike with an infant onboard. They even have baby seats that attach to the steering column. Since moving out of the west I have witnessed it as common practice. Why don't we do it in the west? There could even be export opportunities exporting the steering column baby seats. Most people in the west have a choice, where as here many don't. Anyone who has half a brain cell who has a choice wouldn't use a motorbike to take babies or kids from A to B on a daily basis. I'm sure you must be taking the piss......
April 16, 200916 yr In the west these westerners are prevented from engaging in such stupdity. However, in Thailand there is no public safety effort so foreigners with limited intelligence levels are are allowed to engage in dangerous activities. As many people have pointed out in other threads, it's not so bad in the long run as the net result is that many of these sub normal intelligence types and their progeny are removed from the gene pool
April 16, 200916 yr clearly the people commenting in this thread have the education of a 1yo child. Clearly a 2 yo child would know that a car getting into a car crashed will get smashed AS MUCH as a motorbike. As far as small collisions go, on a motorbike you can avoid them fairly easily by looking in your mirror at all time and avoiding 85% of thai drivers(the drunk %)
April 16, 200916 yr I was born and raised in the west. I cannot remember ever seeing anybody drive a motorbike with an infant onboard. Maybe it is simply because motorbikes were never the only affordable means of transportation for western societies. I too was born and raised in the west, but when I married and located into a Thai village that did not have an all-weather road, I too transported my kids on a motorbike, in a backpack when they were infants and later to the steering column seat when they became toddlers. But like the vast majority of Thais, I instinctively changed my driving with kids on board to a very conservative (slow speed) and very safe style. It is relatively rare to hear of accidents when kids are on board when you are traveling slow and hugging the shoulder. By the way, that kid of mine who sat on that front seat aboard our Honda Dream in Thailand now rides an R1 that dad rode only once around the block and then said "never again".
April 16, 200916 yr clearly the people commenting in this thread have the education of a 1yo child.Clearly a 2 yo child would know that a car getting into a car crashed will get smashed AS MUCH as a motorbike. As far as small collisions go, on a motorbike you can avoid them fairly easily by looking in your mirror at all time and avoiding 85% of thai drivers(the drunk %) I'll bet you a Bowl of Som Tum that you would come off A LOT worse on your Honda Wave than my Dad, who would be positioned in his new Land Rover & who possibly wouldn't have even noticed the collision you Guys just had, if you had one in those circumstances ???
April 16, 200916 yr clearly the people commenting in this thread have the education of a 1yo child.Clearly a 2 yo child would know that a car getting into a car crashed will get smashed AS MUCH as a motorbike. As far as small collisions go, on a motorbike you can avoid them fairly easily by looking in your mirror at all time and avoiding 85% of thai drivers(the drunk %) I nearly hurt myself falling off my chair laughing at that..... When you're brain develops beyond that of a 2 year old you'll understand why.
April 16, 200916 yr A friend of mine just bought a new 4 door pick-up - bought a baby seat to put in the back of the car. He works away from Thailand six months a year. Do they use that baby seat whilst he is away - of course not - they let the toddler roam free in the loading bay of the pick-up or if going on short distances they use the motorbike where the baby rides pillion without a helmet. It's not the mode of transport that is a problem it is the people that drive here. The standard of driving in Thailand is awful. We all know this. Look at the numbers killed on the road for the past week. Maybe they should introduce a proper test system before handing out driving licenses, but that would be a major problem because less motorbikes and cars would be sold. Sad state of affairs. Putting money before childrens safety.
April 17, 200916 yr Maybe they should introduce a proper test system before handing out driving licenses, but that would be a major problem because less motorbikes and cars would be sold. Sad state of affairs. Putting money before childrens safety. I thought the test system was actually quite standard. I did a written test which was probably 20 minutes long on the computer and covered a lot of standard driving laws etc... And the driving test was about 10 minutes of driving around various "situations" on a track (ie left turn, right turn, crossroads, narrow line etc..) I think the problem is more that many people don't even have a license.
April 18, 200916 yr I just saw a mum and 3 kids on a bike - 1 in front and 3 behind. Nothing remarkable about that except she turned right at some traffic lights right in front of a pickup that was going straight on. The pickup had to brake sharply - I was behind him. On the bike, she was the only one wearing a helmet.
April 19, 200916 yr Maybe they should introduce a proper test system before handing out driving licenses, but that would be a major problem because less motorbikes and cars would be sold. Sad state of affairs. Putting money before childrens safety. I thought the test system was actually quite standard. I did a written test which was probably 20 minutes long on the computer and covered a lot of standard driving laws etc... And the driving test was about 10 minutes of driving around various "situations" on a track (ie left turn, right turn, crossroads, narrow line etc..) I think the problem is more that many people don't even have a license. Compared to the UK driving test the Thai test is a piece of piss. And if you don't pass you can always 'buy' a license, or as you say, drive without one.
April 19, 200916 yr I just saw a mum and 3 kids on a bike - 1 in front and 3 behind. Nothing remarkable about that except she turned right at some traffic lights right in front of a pickup that was going straight on. The pickup had to brake sharply - I was behind him. On the bike, she was the only one wearing a helmet. The police only require a helmet on the driver. Passengers are not required to wear helmets. You don't have to signal a social conscience by looking like a frump. Lace knickers won't hasten the holocaust, you can ban the bomb in a feather boa just as well as without, and a mild interest in the length of hemlines doesn't necessarily disqualify you from reading Das Kapital and agreeing with every word. ~Elizabeth Bibesco
April 19, 200916 yr Can't say I've seen the police pull motorbikes when the passenger is not wearing a helmet, only when the driver is not wearing a helmet.
April 19, 200916 yr Passengers are not required to wear helmets. Yes they are. When did this law come in? As far as I know only the driver has to have one. What about passengers on Motorbike Taxis?
April 19, 200916 yr I believe that by the letter of the law they're supposed to, but it seems to be only rarely (if ever) enforced.
April 19, 200916 yr Also have to say that I have never seen an infant helmet either. Do they even make them? And what would be the point? If an infant is involved in a nasty crash, helmet or not, the baby is going to come out the loser in a very big way. I have to say that most of the low income earning people I know whose sole source of transportation is a motorbike would love to have a car or truck and do realize that the motorbike is not the safest means of transporting their baby. But, unfortunately, they cannot afford (and probably never will be able to afford) a car.
April 19, 200916 yr clearly the people commenting in this thread have the education of a 1yo child.Clearly a 2 yo child would know that a car getting into a car crashed will get smashed AS MUCH as a motorbike. As far as small collisions go, on a motorbike you can avoid them fairly easily by looking in your mirror at all time and avoiding 85% of thai drivers(the drunk %) Clearly your brain stopped at 2 years old. In Australia we call motorbike cyclists, temporary Australians, for obvious reasons. Look at the statistics and find the true facts out instead of spouting rubbish.
April 19, 200916 yr Or in the case when I got my only ticket for no helmet, only the farang on the pillion got a ticket, not the bareheaded Thai driver
April 19, 200916 yr clearly the people commenting in this thread have the education of a 1yo child.Clearly a 2 yo child would know that a car getting into a car crashed will get smashed AS MUCH as a motorbike. As far as small collisions go, on a motorbike you can avoid them fairly easily by looking in your mirror at all time and avoiding 85% of thai drivers(the drunk %) 1 yo's don't have any education - nor it seems do you
April 20, 200916 yr Also have to say that I have never seen an infant helmet either. Do they even make them? ... Yes - I have actually seen them. Really cute they look, too. If I see one again I'll try to get a picture. BTW, it was mum + 4 on a bike (not 3) that I saw - one in front and three behind. Two of the three at the back were happily drinking from those clear plastic containers with a straw through the lid. All boys, all about the same age - looked like triplets, all neatly stacked together.
April 21, 200916 yr To be honest, this is pic is a lot more common of what I've seen.-Smelly Why do they use their kids as air bags???? I've seen a lot of non-Thais doing this as well.
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