2 Welsh Tourists Killed In Road Accident In Pattaya

[george]

2 Ukrainian tourists killed in road accident in Pattaya

Pattaya, Chon Buri: -- Two Ukrainian tourists were killed Friday morning when their big bike crashed into a sidewalk in front of Big C Pattaya Friday morning.

The two tourists were identified as Jenkin Matthien, 35 and Alexterre Jonathan, 25.

Witnesses told police that the two were riding a big bike and speeding their bike from an intersection at Central Pattaya heading to the Dolphin Curve in Northern Pattaya.

The motorcycle lost control at the curve and crashed into the sidewalk before it was hurled into a sign in front of the superstore.

The two's bodies were sent to Bang Lamung Hospital pending contact by relatives.

-- The Nation 2009-05-22

[Westerner]

"Speeding their bike". When will they ever learn. Thank God they didn't kill anybody else.

[horsewell]

I live in Phuket and on only the other day see a man fall of his scooter because he was going too fast on a road that had a few bumps in it. Myself and a few others stopped to pick up his bike, that was loosing fuel, he left in the middle of the road while he walked off cursing. He was bleeding but just got back on the bike and sped away. I understand that there is a devil may care attitue for many of the people here. I too enjoy the freedom that Thailand allows compared to my home country. However, there maybe serious consequences.

I agree with Westerner, it's lucky they didn't take anyone else with them.

Edited May 22, 2009 by horsewell

[MeetJohnDoe]

It's pretty much criminal the renting of high-powered motorbikes to anyone who comes along with a passport and the daily rental fee. Booze, pretty girls, and fast bikes can make for a deadly combination.

[stumonster]

Mathew Jenkins and Alex George from Llanelli in West Wales

[duceahearts]

bloody stupid, booze and bikes. they weren't even wearing protective gear, stupid waste of life.

http://www.pattayadailynews.com/shownews.p...NEWS=0000009297

[SPIKECM]

"Speeding their bike". When will they ever learn. Thank God they didn't kill anybody else.

"when will they ever learn" ?? .. a bit too late now.

[SPIKECM]

It's pretty much criminal the renting of high-powered motorbikes to anyone who comes along with a passport and the daily rental fee. Booze, pretty girls, and fast bikes can make for a deadly combination.

Why? Thailand is the antithesis of the nanny state. The problem is that western countries have taken over from common sense and there is some silly assumption that as you are allowed to do something silly in Thailand that it must then be safe to do so.

Forget at your peril that the Thai state doesn't give one shit for the lives of any Thai, never mind the life of a foreigner (except where it might dent the tourist figures). It doesn't just apply to road casualties.

[StrandedBusinessPerson]

as an expat who lives in nepal and who drives a "big" bike - a 500cc enfield -ha! it really saddened me to see those pics. i have lost many local and one or two non-native-to-asia friends here from bike accidents and it just sucks. most of the accidents here are due to road conditions and crazy transport vehicles (like 5 ton tatas with no brakes) and crazy public transport drivers who drive drunk all the time. everyone here wears a helmet however, but not that it would do any good, as they are of the cheap flimsey non-DOT variety - sold for about 400bht. well, enough said except to remark that all these deaths in tland just do not make good press for the nation. its just bad news all around...

Edited May 22, 2009 by StrandedBusinessPerson

[patklang]

I have got a 1,000 cc Honda Blackbird,which i am saving for a friend and would not dare to drive the monster.People come to Pattaya and rent big bikes out knowing they havent got full control,and certainly not wearing appropriate protection.

[wrecker]

That is what will happen when you have never driven a Bike and than rent one when you are on holiday.

[mhan77]

I met Alex on Wednesday while doing a visa run to Laos..really cool cat.

It's a shame..........rest in peace buddy.

[MeetJohnDoe]

It's pretty much criminal the renting of high-powered motorbikes to anyone who comes along with a passport and the daily rental fee. Booze, pretty girls, and fast bikes can make for a deadly combination.

Why? Thailand is the antithesis of the nanny state. The problem is that western countries have taken over from common sense and there is some silly assumption that as you are allowed to do something silly in Thailand that it must then be safe to do so.

Forget at your peril that the Thai state doesn't give one shit for the lives of any Thai, never mind the life of a foreigner (except where it might dent the tourist figures). It doesn't just apply to road casualties.

I think there is a happy medium between the overly protective nanny state, that many of us came to Thailand to avoid, and the complete lack of controls when it comes to renting high-powered (and often poorly maintained) motorcycles to tourists. To be frank, I really don't give a rats arse about people who kill themselves on these machines but I do care about myself (and other innocent bystanders) who are imperiled by such people.

Edited May 22, 2009 by MeetJohnDoe

[MeetJohnDoe]

It's pretty much criminal the renting of high-powered motorbikes to anyone who comes along with a passport and the daily rental fee. Booze, pretty girls, and fast bikes can make for a deadly combination.

Why? Thailand is the antithesis of the nanny state. The problem is that western countries have taken over from common sense and there is some silly assumption that as you are allowed to do something silly in Thailand that it must then be safe to do so.

Forget at your peril that the Thai state doesn't give one shit for the lives of any Thai, never mind the life of a foreigner (except where it might dent the tourist figures). It doesn't just apply to road casualties.

I think there is a happy medium between the overly protective nanny state, that many of us came to Thailand to avoid, and the complete lack of controls when it comes to renting high-powered (and often poorly maintained) motorcycles to tourists. To be frank, I really don't give a rats arse about people who kill themselves on these machines but I do care about my (and other innocent bystanders) lives who are imperiled by such people.

[crocodilexp]

2 Ukrainian tourists killed in road accident in Pattaya

The two tourists were identified as Jenkin Matthien, 35 and Alexterre Jonathan, 25.

Names don't sound particularly Ukrainian to me. The Nation does its routine sloppy job reporting. The world-class journalists must have though UK stands for Ukraine...

[MeetJohnDoe]

Sorry about the 2x post...your TV software did it

[snuggzzz]

The hiring of such a large bike is a big draw to a lot of motorcyclists, a fantasy brought to life, a modern motorcycle with all the gadgets hired for a negligible amount. Thailand may have less rigid structures in Hiring out motorcycles, but the rider himself in this instance has killed his pillion passenger due to being perhaps drunk or incompetent to ride such a powerful machine.

The early morning accident was at a quiet time, less people about, thank God no-one else was involved. A tradgedy for 2 families, may they RIP.

[BigBikeBKK]

RIP guys.

Thank goodness they didn't take anyone else with them.

Morons that ride big bikes wearing shorts and t-shirts are really asking for it...

Would be nice if Thailand at least required that renters of big bikes have a valid motorcycle license from their home country. Wishful thinking I know, but it would probably save a lot of lives. And who wants to bet they were wearing plastic toy helmets too?

Perfect example of Darwin's survival of the fittest...

Happy Trails!

Tony

[nigelandjan]

It's pretty much criminal the renting of high-powered motorbikes to anyone who comes along with a passport and the daily rental fee. Booze, pretty girls, and fast bikes can make for a deadly combination.

Kinda agree with you fast motor bikes -- booze a deadly combination BUT prettygirls ??? ( the accident was in Pattaya ) I think is stretching the imagination a shade to far

[MickGC]

It's pretty much criminal the renting of high-powered motorbikes to anyone who comes along with a passport and the daily rental fee. Booze, pretty girls, and fast bikes can make for a deadly combination.

I agree with you John Doe.  Is hard to blame the Thais here (I know you are not making any accusations).  Also I am really sorry for the 2 young men who were killed in the prime of their lives.  Their family and friends would be devistated.

You said it all "Booze, pretty girls, and fast bikes".  Such is life .................

[AnthonyR1]

RIP guys.

Thank goodness they didn't take anyone else with them.

Morons that ride big bikes wearing shorts and t-shirts are really asking for it...

Would be nice if Thailand at least required that renters of big bikes have a valid motorcycle license from their home country. Wishful thinking I know, but it would probably save a lot of lives. And who wants to bet they were wearing plastic toy helmets too?

Perfect example of Darwin's survival of the fittest...

Happy Trails!

Tony

i agree T. don't want to take away from the dreadful tragedy but in all fairness, just because you can rent it doesn't mean you can control it. to anyone reading this, please remember; big bikes bite back! they demand the utmost respect

RIP to both their souls.

condolences to their families and friends

[ozzieal]

sad waste of life and grief for their famly and loved ones. i have in patts for 20 months and like others have seen many bike accidents. i have never ridden a bike but it is difficult to understand why anyone needs to ride a high powered bike in such conjested traffic. i can understand the thrill on an open road etc but in the traffic chaos here - crazy!

[1927]

I live about 20 minutes from their home town of Llanelli and what can i say.... sad and pointless loss of life... RIP lads......

but you have to thank God that no inocent pedestrians were killed because of their behaviour .... it was shocking behaviour if the reports are true

having said that the Thai authorities should look at ther accident record and think "hmmmmm what can we do to improve it" ....(im assuming thats someones <deleted> job somewhere)......

at least make some effort to curb the drunk idiots who rent out these bikes....

its crazyness

[RAZZELL]

Very sad

RAZZ

[madforit]

It's pretty much criminal the renting of high-powered motorbikes to anyone who comes along with a passport and the daily rental fee. Booze, pretty girls, and fast bikes can make for a deadly combination.

I agree with you John Doe.  Is hard to blame the Thais here (I know you are not making any accusations).  Also I am really sorry for the 2 young men who were killed in the prime of their lives.  Their family and friends would be devistated.

You said it all "Booze, pretty girls, and fast bikes".  Such is life .................

Firstly, condolonces to the families involved. Yet another poor set of tourists sadly passing away far too early in their lives.

Unfortunately there is one set of Thai's that I would blame, and that is the rental people. As other posters have said, would it be too much to ask to insist on proper helmets and that tourists have a full bike licence.

However, from practical experience of the time when I lived in Phuket I think there is a far more sinister side to the issue. I have seen the results of many accidents when I have been on Phuket, and some of the background behind the rental business. When I was working for a dive centre out there one of the instructor students decided to hire one of these large bikes and promptly stacked it into a wall whilst pissed, as quite a few of the tourists here do. Fortunately he was reasonably ok, just scraped, but the bike was a mess. He was asked to pay for the damage as he'd hired it without insurance...fair enough I though initially though the bill was hellishly steep...the excuse given was the very high cost of all the new parts required.

A week later I saw the same bike up for hire again ..it was very obvious that a lot of the parts that should have been replaced (and were billed for) were still on the bike.......hammered back into shape. Anyone who has ridden or owned a big sports bike (as have I.......25 years riding) will know that things like frame geometry are absolutely critical to the handling of the bike.....a bike that has been crashed needs very careful checking on a proper frame jig and all even slightly suspect parts replaced with new in order for it to ride correctly again.

Given the story above I suspect that a great deal of the rental sports bikes riding around the tourist resorts are in very poor condition and even if the rider is sober and experienced that when the bike is laid over on a bend or when you hit a bump in the road that the bike might not react the way it should, thereby potentially causing accidents.

It was said to me that some of these rental places make more money out of fleecing the farangs for accident repair money than they do from hiring. Given that, then there is no incentive for them to fix the bikes properly in the first place.

Finally factor in the atrocious driving standards of a lot of Thais, the complete lack of protective clothing/proper helmets, and the poor road conditions I think the moral of the story has to be ......take a tuk tuk. I really don't mean that to sound at all callous..its just that biking is so dangerous out here.

Again...many condolences to the families

Edited May 22, 2009 by madforit

[paulspad2002]

freedom of speech, the jokes about bar mats, insultinging an official....these all seem to be very strict and controlled things......yest where is the strictness in renting these machines to people from anywhere in any condition....ahhhh thats right......there isnt cos when it involves money its a take it and piss off rule......

anyway shape or form they will get money off these kind of guys....let them rent a bike let them crash it.....its all money grabbing in the end.....i wonder who will pay for the crashed bike now.............

[vedantafx]

freedom of speech, the jokes about bar mats, insultinging an official....these all seem to be very strict and controlled things......yest where is the strictness in renting these machines to people from anywhere in any condition....ahhhh thats right......there isnt cos when it involves money its a take it and piss off rule......

anyway shape or form they will get money off these kind of guys....let them rent a bike let them crash it.....its all money grabbing in the end.....i wonder who will pay for the crashed bike now.............

Horrible news, and not very nice to see. I was at the north west 200 in Northern ireland last week. Bikes are seriously dangerous, and even the most experienced riders die, as there was 2 last weekend sadly.

However, you seem to be making sweeping generalisations...Its their business, it takes two to tango. Its a business, not money grabbing. It is up to the individual to take care of himself. Thats like blaming the bartender for you getting drunk. Thats like me blaming Guiness for getting me drunk and putting weight on,and blaming the local supermarket for having it on sale. Might it not just be my choice to drink them, to buy them?

Everyone ends up sleeping in the bed they make. At the end of the day you make choices and its up to the individual to inform himself on the risks. This is horrible news, however no one forced these poor guys to rent a bike, it was their own choice. It doesnt take a genius to work out that bikes are dangerous.

[moe666]

Just because you have a passport and the money doesn't qualify you for a vacation to Thailand. Lets stop all of these senseless deaths ny requireing a test before they leave the UK, OZ, and the US and what ever other place they lived and left their common sense if they had any to start with.

[hanno]

I agree with the sentiment that the blame cannot be put square on the guys renting out the motorbikes, the blame rests with the folks that think they need to rent huge bikes and then go on the piss and/or race.

It always amazes me to meet guests here that in Vietnam that will ask endless questions about Malaria, Dengue, snakes, whatever but then go ahead and rent bikes in a country where driving standards might even be worse than in Thailand. The only reason not that many tourists/expats get killed here is that the limit for bikes is officially 175cc.

[regfrancis]

I Use the Buss service from Pattaya to BKk regurarly and are conserned about the speed driven at the later evening service. I've been in a minor accident allready in that service. Lucky they wern't driveing too fast then.

Speeding still seems fashionable and acceptable in Thailand --unlike other places. Speeding also uses around 20% extra fule.