Fined In Kata

[Daewoo]

Rash heals..broken skulls mostly dont!

Don't kid yourself tho... rash rarely kills, but it also ain't to pretty and can leave you with some seriously long term injuries...

I have a 1000THB Index Brand Helmet that I use in Thailand... DoT Approved... to my mind, it probably has about the same impact resistance as the Australian Standards Approved $Au100 helmets sold in Australia, which again to my mind will save you in 90% of get offs... One important difference between the DoT approved helmets and the Australian Standard approved helmets it that here the visor has a high 'shatter proof' requirement... Thai visors have been known to shatter and cause eye injuries...

I reckon a 300THB Helmet would save you from 50% of crashes where the impact is from falling from the bike and donking your head straight on the pavement without any enertia from your speed being included (if it was fastened)... a 1000THB would do you alright in a serious crash, probably up to 90% of crashes... The 17,000THB Helmet I use here in Australia would help you in a further 5% of seriousness... for the worst 5% of head impacts, you are pretty much f^cked ...

I am not so concerned that the fine might go into the big pot at the station, and then get divided up... To my mind, it is built into the low salary paid to BiB that they get part of the revenue from fines... as long as the fine is legitimate... better that than accepting payoffs to act as enforcers for mafia types and street hoods...

The alternative is that it goes into Government Revenue and is used to pay a higher salary to the BiB... Here in Australia, the state I live in made 9,131,465,000.THB in SPEEDING fines last year... all into governement revenue... with every step taking a little admin fee...

Cheers,

Daewoo

[markg]

markg..regarding mid range 1000baht helmets..

Even if i agreed with you on this{its just a slighty more expensive plastic piss bucket usualy a flasher paintjob] and i don't, but you are entitled to your view as we all are.

I'm not arguing with you my friend. As a full time motorcyclist for over 20 years, and a UK motorcycling instructor, i absolutely condone the wearing of approved safety equipment.

I agree completely, most people wear a helmet because they don't want to get fined. It's the same in our home countries on lots of different things. Do you think levels of speeding and drink-driving would increase if there was no policing of it? Of course it would! People dont do stuff cos they are afraid of the fine. Do you remember the outcry in the 80's in the UK when they brought in compulsory wearing of seat belts? An OUTCRY ! and they had to police it. Now everyone wears one out of habit!

Riders in Thailand traditionally have habitually not worn helmets. It's only relatively recently that, due to increased policing, riders are getting into the habit of wearing a helmet. This is a good thing. Once it becomes habitual to wear a helmet, then they can look at the legislation about increasing the quality of the helmets.

My point about telling people that a plastic pisspot is useless is that they may then come to the conclusion to NOT wear a helmet at all. This is dangerous. A plastic pisspot is better than nothing and it also gets people into the habit of wearing a lid when riding. In 20 years, and hundreds of thousands of miles riding, all over the world, i've had just one spill, and that was here in Phuket when a pissed Russian jumped off his bike and i ran over it. I remember sliding down the road for some yards on the side of my head. I wasnt going fast, and a plastic piss pot would have protected me. It's better than nothing.

In the Uk i rode with full safety clothing. Leather armoured gloves, leather jacket with shoulder, elbow and spine protectors, zipped into leather pants with hip and knee protectors. Full leather boots with shin protectors. A decent branded helmet which was changed every year.

That sort of stuff aint cheap and is unreasonable to wear in Thailand.

I've had two friends die on motorbikes here in Phuket and they both died from crushing wounds to the body. So where do you draw the line? Full body armour?

I say to everyone, wear a helmet. Wear the best you can afford. Wear it for every ride.

I'm happy the police are taking a strong stance on this. If you live in a tourist area, it may appear they are targetting tourists. Where i live and where i work, i would say that the police appear to stop everyone not wearing a helmet. At chalong circle, they stop the first 10 bikes (or however many the road block area can handle) irrespective of the riders nationality. This is good !

[HDRIDER]

Hi

I got a Kevlar lid, just the half helmet, bought in Thailand for 4000 Baht

[ScubaBuddha]

Dem, afraid markg and DEAWOO are correct. Your comments:

The shit helmets that 95% of people wear here are good for TWO things only;

and

The plastic pot that people wear on their heads is an absolute waste of time.

are quite inaccurate, not to mention bad advice. Take a closer look at these "plastic pots" as you call them sometime. There is a lot more construction to them these days than, say, a bicycle helmet, or the old construction type helmets with no padding in them at all which we used to see a lot of a few years ago. They are made of high impact plastic with a similar wrapped foam core you see in higher end helmets. The purpose is to spread the energy of an impact over a wider area of the skull, as well as spread the deceleration of the brain over a greater period of time, which these helmets do, albeit not quite as well as a 30,000 baht ARAI or SHOI. It's a whole hel_l of a lot better than nothing. In fact I would argue that the improvement in safetly between wearing a cheap 300 baht helmet vs. nothing is 10 times greater than wearing a 300 bath helmet vs. a 30,000 baht helmet.

Although I completely agree with you the "usual posters" either didn't read or didn't understand the OP's post.

Edited September 15, 2009 by Scubabuddha

[katabeachbum]

Hi

You forget one thing, its not about safety at all, i have been pulled over many times, ones i paid and took my helmet on the nice Police man told me i did not need to take the lid on, i had a piece of paper now i could show if another nice police man stopped me, so nothing about safety

Riding without a helmet is getting harder. The fine used to be carte blanche without helmet for one week. Now its only one day

[LivinLOS]

I would think that 90% of m/cycles in LOS are either riden by Thai or westerners on rental bikes...

90% of motorbikes are rentals ?? Yeah sure..

[katabeachbum]

I would think that 90% of m/cycles in LOS are either riden by Thai or westerners on rental bikes...

90% of motorbikes are rentals ?? Yeah sure..

DEM, I would think 99,xx % of all bikes in LOS are owned and riden by thais, not rented. 64 million thai citicens

[harleyclarkey]

The plastic "helmets" are a total waste of time and may even be more dangerous because of splinters penetrating your skull.

What protects you in a spill is NOT just the outer shell it is the inner shell of an absorbent material. Peel back the lining of a good helmet and there it is like Styrofoam. This is the stuff that absorbs the impact and saves your nut.

Dump the rubbish and save your brain. I have been down the road a couple of times with one of them splitting my (quality) helmet. ...and therefore not my skull. I have 4 helmets and all of them Shoei/X-Lite/Nolan.

The old saying....10 euro head...10 euro helmet applies.

Edited September 15, 2009 by harleyclarkey

[ScubaBuddha]

I would think that 90% of m/cycles in LOS are either riden by Thai or westerners on rental bikes...

90% of motorbikes are rentals ?? Yeah sure..

I think we have some punctuation missing here...I'm not sure, but I think what DEM was saying is that 90% of motorbike riders are either Thai's, (comma) or Westerners on rentals. (Maybe meaning not expats who would invest in an expensive helmet?) That's the only way the numbers could possibly make sense.

Edited September 15, 2009 by Scubabuddha

[DEM]

I would think that 90% of m/cycles in LOS are either riden by Thai or westerners on rental bikes...

90% of motorbikes are rentals ?? Yeah sure..

I think we have some punctuation missing here...I'm not sure, but I think what DEM was saying is that 90% of motorbike riders are either Thai's, (comma) or Westerners on rentals. (Maybe meaning not expats who would invest in an expensive helmet?) That's the only way the numbers could possibly make sense.

Exactly.. thank you,,DEM

[DEM]

Thank you scubbabudha..for having the intelligence to see that i simply left out a comma, It did make a difference to my theory but anyone reading it who was not out to provoke ill feeling could have seen that as you did.

Thanks to harleyclarky..you are on the money for sure!!Plastic is for buckets alone!

400baht helmet =400baht head..

Maybe you can advise these misinformed m/cyclists wher they can buy a 50 baht helmet..lol

50 baht helmet=50 baht head....

Stay happy people...its a big nasty world out there

[LivinLOS]

The 1000 baht real brand helmet are easily the level of 300 USD japanese imports or the low / mid end western brands.

The need for a Arai or similar on a Honda wave or auto click is a little OTT.. I ride a pushbike as fast as those things go.

Yes when I am on the fireblade I ALWAYS wear a full face, CE armour, etc etc etc.. On the scoot I have a throw on open face.

[JiveTalker]

Any helmet is better than no helmet, without any shadow of a doubt. A good helmet is better than a cheap helmet, this is also without question.

Starting a thread everytime someone with a job does what they are supposed to is fairly pointless.

Anyway... where can you buy decent helmets in Phuket?

[ScubaBuddha]

Any helmet is better than no helmet, without any shadow of a doubt. A good helmet is better than a cheap helmet, this is also without question.

Starting a thread everytime someone with a job does what they are supposed to is fairly pointless.

Anyway... where can you buy decent helmets in Phuket?

For decent helmets (REAL brand and similar) just around the corner from Robinson/KFC/Mc Donalds in town there is a decent shop. One a block west, then one block south. Look for the sign with the helmet on it next to the Chinese temple. Huge selection. They even carry some Alpine Star gear which the owner claims is real but not passed QA and so sold on the gray market. I don't remember seeing SHOI or ARAI, but I think he is a dealer for them and can order. Thai owned. (See map)

For chopper helmets, go the other direction from KFC and a couple blocks is an orange and black Harley-esk looking shop on the right. (Near PS Inn on map.)

Another nice little shop for street bike riders is opposite the newer Shell station on Chao Fa west Lots of goodies, including, I think, a couple Shoi or Arai helmets. They will probably have to order what you want. Appears Thai owned/operated

The place about a km north of Tesco on the airport road with the big Suzuki Hyabusa billboard out front, Teera motorcycles, can also order anything from Bangkok but the old German or Dutch guy that sits in their all day is actually dead, but just hasn't stopped moving yet. He seems useless, unknowledgable, and very uninterested in helping anyone, other then throwing a catalog in front of them. Worst salesman I have ever seen. There is 3 bike shops in that same building I think, including Truimph.

Back to the cruiser/choppers, just north of Teera and Triumph, opposite side of the road, is another orange and black Harley-esk looking shop with bikes and gear.

Edited September 15, 2009 by Scubabuddha

[harleyclarkey]

Yes when I am on the fireblade I ALWAYS wear a full face, CE armour, etc etc etc.. On the scoot I have a throw on open face.

Good call LOS. If you have ever seen anyone come off a bike at even low speeds you will know the value of proper protection. It is in fact your expendable skin.

In France a few weeks ago the temp was 37 degrees and we were in full touring gear. Geez man... it was unreal. As you know the Harley is air cooled and we, especially me, were sitting on a furnace whenever we stopped.

On the Aprilia I wear full leathers and full face Shoei. These too have some scrapes and tears (now properly repaired) on them and there would have gone my skin. The gloves got shot too!! But saved my hands.

Edited September 15, 2009 by harleyclarkey

[LivinLOS]

Any helmet is better than no helmet, without any shadow of a doubt. A good helmet is better than a cheap helmet, this is also without question.

Starting a thread everytime someone with a job does what they are supposed to is fairly pointless.

Anyway... where can you buy decent helmets in Phuket?

Sumon in west coast stocks 'real' brand...

I ordered one online and it was here a couple of days later by EMS.

[katabeachbum]

Any helmet is better than no helmet, without any shadow of a doubt. A good helmet is better than a cheap helmet, this is also without question.

Starting a thread everytime someone with a job does what they are supposed to is fairly pointless.

Anyway... where can you buy decent helmets in Phuket?

If you want fullface at less than 1000 baht, have a look at Carrefour, Youngceilon

[katabeachbum]

I would think that 90% of m/cycles in LOS are either riden by Thai or westerners on rental bikes...

If you had sayd 99,99% I would have agreed. As many as 0,01 % could be riden by farang owner, but actually doubt such high number too.

35 million thai citicens travel on small motorbikes between provinces every day. They kinda outnumber us Add another 20 million going for a shorter ride.

Most fatal accidents have no helmet, so quality of helmet isnt that much of an issue.

Phuket fatals have actually been reduced from 360 a year 5 years ago, to presently approx 260 a year. Helmet, driving lisence and daytimedrivinglight are probably causes.

[LivinLOS]

Any helmet is better than no helmet, without any shadow of a doubt. A good helmet is better than a cheap helmet, this is also without question.

Starting a thread everytime someone with a job does what they are supposed to is fairly pointless.

Anyway... where can you buy decent helmets in Phuket?

If you want fullface at less than 1000 baht, have a look at Carrefour, Youngceilon

Problem (for me) with those index ones is they seem to be made for a round head and not (my) a head shaped head.. Hence they pinch on the forehead quite badly.

[LivinLOS]

35 million thai citicens travel on small motorbikes between provinces every day. They kinda outnumber us Add another 20 million going for a shorter ride.

Total Thai population is 65 million.. Thats man woman and child.

You really believe that >50% of the population travels inter provincially daily ?? Even taking out all the old / kids / car users / etc that dont get on a bike all day.

Sorry but I think thats one of the 86.34 % of statistics thats made up on the spot.

[harleyclarkey]

Certain brands of helmet will fit certain shapes/types of head. Shoei fit me perfectly but Arai and Schubert won't. So try on a few and make sure it can not be pulled off when strapped nor pinch anywhere. A new helmet with proper padding will feel kinda tight at first and this will ease off. If there is no inner padding...well then, I give up.

[chuppachops]

Its quite simple really, If your going to ride your bike wear a helmut! It could save you life we all know how dangerous the roads are here.

[JiveTalker]

For decent helmets (REAL brand and similar) just around the corner from Robinson/KFC/Mc Donalds in town there is a decent shop. One a block west, then one block south. Look for the sign with the helmet on it next to the Chinese temple. Huge selection. They even carry some Alpine Star gear which the owner claims is real but not passed QA and so sold on the gray market. I don't remember seeing SHOI or ARAI, but I think he is a dealer for them and can order. Thai owned. (See map)

For chopper helmets, go the other direction from KFC and a couple blocks is an orange and black Harley-esk looking shop on the right. (Near PS Inn on map.)

Another nice little shop for street bike riders is opposite the newer Shell station on Chao Fa west Lots of goodies, including, I think, a couple Shoi or Arai helmets. They will probably have to order what you want. Appears Thai owned/operated

The place about a km north of Tesco on the airport road with the big Suzuki Hyabusa billboard out front, Teera motorcycles, can also order anything from Bangkok but the old German or Dutch guy that sits in their all day is actually dead, but just hasn't stopped moving yet. He seems useless, unknowledgable, and very uninterested in helping anyone, other then throwing a catalog in front of them. Worst salesman I have ever seen. There is 3 bike shops in that same building I think, including Truimph.

Back to the cruiser/choppers, just north of Teera and Triumph, opposite side of the road, is another orange and black Harley-esk looking shop with bikes and gear.

Scubabuddha - great stuff, thanks. I'll be checking them out.

[markg]

Scubabuddha - great stuff, thanks. I'll be checking them out.

Yes, good post about where to buy helmets.

Am wondering if a 'where to buy proper motorcycle helmets' thread should be pinned in the phuket forum?

Might make old and new visitors think a little?

[katabeachbum]

35 million thai citicens travel on small motorbikes between provinces every day. They kinda outnumber us Add another 20 million going for a shorter ride.

Total Thai population is 65 million.. Thats man woman and child.

You really believe that >50% of the population travels inter provincially daily ?? Even taking out all the old / kids / car users / etc that dont get on a bike all day.

Sorry but I think thats one of the 86.34 % of statistics thats made up on the spot.

Could be, just quoting.

In my experience countryside, most kids above 3 months old travel by bike daily. So do adults. Old women tend to not go with bike daily, but lets say 5 days a week. Even if they have a pickup, bikes used frequently for shorter trips.

They still kinda outnumber farang bikeowners/riders

[LivinLOS]

Could be, just quoting.

In my experience countryside, most kids above 3 months old travel by bike daily. So do adults. Old women tend to not go with bike daily, but lets say 5 days a week. Even if they have a pickup, bikes used frequently for shorter trips.

They still kinda outnumber farang bikeowners/riders

Yeah sure.. I might even buy the 50% of the population use bikes daily.. But I doubt 35 million Thais even travel inter provincially daily.. Let alone do so entirely on bikes.

[ScubaBuddha]

Could be, just quoting.

In my experience countryside, most kids above 3 months old travel by bike daily. So do adults. Old women tend to not go with bike daily, but lets say 5 days a week. Even if they have a pickup, bikes used frequently for shorter trips.

They still kinda outnumber farang bikeowners/riders

Yeah sure.. I might even buy the 50% of the population use bikes daily.. But I doubt 35 million Thais even travel inter provincially daily.. Let alone do so entirely on bikes.

I don't think KBB nessarily meant they travel inter-provincially, i.e. from one province to another, but rather intra-provincially, around within provinces. As I am sure you guys both know, the term "provences" is often used in Thailand (and other countries) to simply discribe areas outside the cities or tourist areas.

[geriatrickid]

Some things do change. 5 years ago, if the issue of helmets came up, the posts would have themes like "it's a crushing of my civil rights" or " nasty meddlesome nanny state intrusions". Now, most of the posts say to wear the the helmet or offer tips on what a good helmet is.

The point being is that the approach worldwide was to encourage a change in the mindset, through education and through passive encouragement like fines. Seems to me that it's worked

And I was stopped at a random checkpoint coming into Patong just a bit ahead of the Novotel. I was wearing a helmet and my friend driving was too. We were stopped. Asked where we were going, cursory once over to see if we were drunk (we were good boys - very sober) . The sergeant didn't smile and he was looking for trouble, but he waved us on.

[katabeachbum]

I don't think KBB nessarily meant they travel inter-provincially, i.e. from one province to another, but rather intra-provincially, around within provinces. As I am sure you guys both know, the term "provences" is often used in Thailand (and other countries) to simply discribe areas outside the cities or tourist areas.

Thanks, Scuba, but i m not really sure what I meant since I was just quoting a surpisingly high figure of longdistance bike travellers in LOS. Thai statistics translated to english could very well be as described by you.

Countryside I reckon at least 80% of the population travel by bike daily, short or long distance. Arent that many pickups around, and they are being used for work/agriculture.

Countryside nobody uses helmet, not even bib.

[dartvidar]

Many countries give Sikhs an exemption from wearing a crash helmet on religious grounds. UK as an example : In accordance with the Motor-Cycle Crash Helmets (Religious Exemption) Act 1976 passed by the British Parliament in 1976, Section 2A "exempts any follower of the Sikh religion while he is wearing a turban" from having to wear a crash helmet.

So it should be the same exampt for the Jewish people then, they wearing their small hatts (Kippa).

Or maybe you can make an caps with I love god, and you can say my religion say I need to wear a caps like this.

It should be equal for every body, religion is just bull shit anyway so no reason for sikh to not wearing crash helmet.