Road Rage In Phuket

[jdwphuket]

German expat Wolf Kesselheim was stabbed to death on Wednesday, apparently for honking and shouting at a guy who cut him up on a motorcycle. A couple of weeks before that, another German guy was shot dead in Chiang Mai after 'flipping the bird' at a Thai man at some traffic lights. Has something like this ever happened to someone you know in Phuket? Have you ever been threatened after honking or getting angry at someone on the road here? I want to know how common this is. Scary stuff.

[samuibeachcomber]

road rage is a needless curse,happens a lot in australia and more often than not the aggrieved party gets out of the car and starts attacking.Why cant people just keep their cool,whats the rush,or is it that we all think we are so important.

[onnut]

Probably nothing to do with the fact that they are in a rush! More to do with some prick cutting them up or pulling out in front of them without looking.

[samuibeachcomber]

Probably nothing to do with the fact that they are in a rush! More to do with some prick cutting them up or pulling out in front of them without looking.

yes he got angry cos they cut in front of him,and it cost him his life,why not just chill out,not get angry,and live a little longer.These things happen all the time,and i see alot of road rage back home for what benefit,higher blood pressure getting angry.

[onnut]

Some people get upset when they get cut up or some teat on a bike swerves in front of them. I know I do, I suffer from road rage and can get really pissed of and when I look back I think it was over nothing and can't understand why I get so upset.

It's very hard to stay calm especially in Bangkok.

You guys that say relax take it easy, I envy you all as I wish I could. How do you do it?

[samuibeachcomber]

well i work on the theory that if someone cuts me up on the road,he's already pissed off with me,thats why he's cut me off,so whats the point of enraging them more.There are so many nuts out there who maybe drunk,taking drugs,its a dangerous world today.One thing thailand has taught me and that is to relax.

[LivinginKata]

One thing thailand has taught me and that is to relax.

Completely agree with that. Especially as I see a lot of road rage about Phuket Island.

[MyphuketLife]

I used to get pissed and honk, now I just say to myself idiot. The drivers in Phuket are mad, I can't believe how people drive here. What’s worse is they do it in front of police without incident, cutting cue is ok, wrong side of the road ok, I see so many traffic violations that happen in front of police, with the police taking no action....

[gvallee2]

people who look like maniacs on the road, just block them

Dont let them pass. or pass them and then block them.

They'll either get crazy behind you and end up crying the rest of the night, or they'll do a stupid move and get into a fatal accident

win/win

[Atmos]

people who look like maniacs on the road, just block them

Dont let them pass. or pass them and then block them.

They'll either get crazy behind you and end up crying the rest of the night, or they'll do a stupid move and get into a fatal accident

win/win

well that's really going to calm them down; passing and then blocking makes you just a big a w****r doesn't it? And the fatal accident you wish upon them - no-one else involved of course?

I'd prefer they got as far away from me as possible, let tailgaters get past they're obviously in more of a hurry than I am.

As a cyclist 50% of my time here I can't afford road rage, too busy looking after my own skin. Everyone should try it - good for the concentration/alertness, maybe not for the nerves though, certainly more aware of what's happening around you than protected in a tin-top.

[LivinginKata]

people who look like maniacs on the road, just block them

Dont let them pass. or pass them and then block them.

They'll either get crazy behind you and end up crying the rest of the night, or they'll do a stupid move and get into a fatal accident

win/win

Sure, most likely crash into you. Bad bad advice...

[Doz]

One thing thailand has taught me and that is to relax.

Completely agree with that. Especially as I see a lot of road rage about Phuket Island.

Im totally with you guys on this one

[Turkish]

people who look like maniacs on the road, just block them

Dont let them pass. or pass them and then block them.

They'll either get crazy behind you and end up crying the rest of the night, or they'll do a stupid move and get into a fatal accident

win/win

well that's really going to calm them down; passing and then blocking makes you just a big a w****r doesn't it? And the fatal accident you wish upon them - no-one else involved of course?

I'd prefer they got as far away from me as possible, let tailgaters get past they're obviously in more of a hurry than I am.

As a cyclist 50% of my time here I can't afford road rage, too busy looking after my own skin. Everyone should try it - good for the concentration/alertness, maybe not for the nerves though, certainly more aware of what's happening around you than protected in a tin-top.

Totally with you on this on

[patong]

being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

[cdmtdm]

people who look like maniacs on the road, just block them

Dont let them pass. or pass them and then block them.

They'll either get crazy behind you and end up crying the rest of the night, or they'll do a stupid move and get into a fatal accident

win/win

I guess you are one of the maniacs , you I***T !!!!

[ScubaBuddha]

people who look like maniacs on the road, just block them

Dont let them pass. or pass them and then block them.

Well I wasn't the maniac, well not at first, but I had the Tuk tuk do just that to me anyway.

I should have called this "I flipped off a tuk tuk and lived to tell about it."

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Crazy-Tuk-Tu....html&st=75

BTW, I don't recommend flipping off a tuk tuk or any Thai, especially after the two recent Thai on farang road rage murders.

[bustersizemore]

If I (as in the referenced article) stabbed to death every driver who "cut me off" and didn't exercise proper right-of-way over the past 15-20 yrs, there wouldn't be anyone left in Phuket, except for a few foreigners.

It's a "trade mark" of Thai driving not to yield proper right-of-way or drive in accordance to basic traffic laws. What's everyone getting so upset about?

[gvallee2]

Sure, most likely crash into you. Bad bad advice...

Doesnt happen to me, unlike most. When the light turn green i dont start picking my nose and trying to go as slow as possible, i do the oposite. I go as fast as possible and end up being alone untill the next redlight

Absolutely no danger since i have no one around me.

If you maintain 80km on chaofa nobody will ever catch up to you before the next light, takes about 5mins for them to hit 50km and from then they go up to 100.

Funny story. in the west i had a jeep with huge wheels, sometimes when someone would do something roadragy against me and really piss me off, i would just scratch off their side mirrors with my wheels..

Best way to deal with those maniacs imo

[paulfromphuket]

I watched an ambulance tonight sirens screaming trying to get to the heroines' so called' roundabout, as luck whould have it one of my best friends was the car ahead of it. She was triing hard to pull left into the middle lane to let it pass, whould anybody let her pull over, no bumber to bumber I despare, no brains, no thought I hope the occupant survived but would a local give a flying f*&^%. don't think so.

as to road rage, I sometimes wish I had an uzi in the car but then think well what a <deleted> he will die before me anyway.

[WarpSpeed]

Some people get upset when they get cut up or some teat on a bike swerves in front of them. I know I do, I suffer from road rage and can get really pissed of and when I look back I think it was over nothing and can't understand why I get so upset.

It's very hard to stay calm especially in Bangkok.

You guys that say relax take it easy, I envy you all as I wish I could. How do you do it?

For me it comes down to a lack of respect, courtesy, consideration and concern for any others personal safety for which I prize mine over ANY b'stard who would do such a thing without regard to me or my family which is completely beyond their comprehension and goes way beyond the immediate moment of the confrontation.

Basically I'm with you.. I have a zero tolerance policy for such actions..

[LivinLOS]

I watched an ambulance tonight sirens screaming trying to get to the heroines' so called' roundabout, as luck whould have it one of my best friends was the car ahead of it. She was triing hard to pull left into the middle lane to let it pass, whould anybody let her pull over, no bumber to bumber I despare, no brains, no thought I hope the occupant survived but would a local give a flying f*&^%. don't think so.

Totally OT from road rage, but you do see this all the time..

Ambulance, sirens and lights, behind some twonk whose not pulled over !!

[paulfromphuket]

I watched an ambulance tonight sirens screaming trying to get to the heroines' so called' roundabout, as luck whould have it one of my best friends was the car ahead of it. She was triing hard to pull left into the middle lane to let it pass, whould anybody let her pull over, no bumber to bumber I despare, no brains, no thought I hope the occupant survived but would a local give a flying f*&^%. don't think so.

Totally OT from road rage, but you do see this all the time..

Ambulance, sirens and lights, behind some twonk whose not pulled over !!

It upset me, thank richard dawkins I dont have the uzi!

[WarpSpeed]

When I lived in Phuket I parked in a mall parking garage in a rented Jazz when my boys were younger and both were in car seats.. I had a post on one side and moved closer to the post and backed in so as to be able to get my other boy in and out of the back seat without too much problem.

There was really only a small bit of room next to me for a small car to park but this was also the reason I parked so close to the pole was to allow me room when I came back out should someone park next to me. When we came back some mindless and inconsiderate twit had parked his raised pickup with running boards right next to me with only about a half meter of space between door center to door center but at the bottom where his runners were there was less then half a meter not even enough to open my car door to get my shoulder in the car let alone a child in the back seat or climb in and move the car out and this was most definitely known to the Jacka__ that parked there though because of the height of his truck he was able to get in and out due to the vehicles contours but it still wasn't easy for him either..

I was seething, not knowing how to get this person or how long it was going to be, though this turned out to be one of those rare times when the inconsiderate twit came out while I was there and it was an arrogant twenty something Brit with his nasty mouthed mother which was really the most aggravating and distressing part as it soon became clear where he got his manners from.. I mentioned to him in an irritated but controlled tone of voice about his complete lack of consideration and how next time he should think about others and in response he mumbled some nasty comments, so as he was getting in his truck and squeezing his arse in the seat I trapped him against the door and the B pillar by holding the door closed with him partially in and partially out and told him he could just apologize politely and be on his way or we could step it up and I'd teach him the manners right there that his rude, loud mouthed, inconsiderate mother had failed to do.

Well he changed his tune and apologized and sir this, etc.. So I let him on his way fully expecting him and or his rude mother to make some sort of cowardly parting gesture on his departure while speeding off and true to their nature he shot me a bird as did his mother and shouted obscenities so I ran after the truck and just as I dented the rear quarter panel he stoopidly lost control of his truck as he had tried to accelerate away and turn a corner to leave he spun around the corner and ran into at least one other car all by himself and couldn't get out because he was up against 2 cars, one in front and one in back as he had slid sideways so no way he was getting out!!!!! Laughed my arse off!!

We loaded up and drove away with a courteous smile and wave, it was sweet retribution for many inconsiderate and arrogant B'stards of a life time who are used to getting one over on other people....

Edited January 29, 2010 by WarpSpeed

[tombkk]

people who look like maniacs on the road, just block them

Dont let them pass. or pass them and then block them.

They'll either get crazy behind you and end up crying the rest of the night, or they'll do a stupid move and get into a fatal accident

win/win

Or they'll kill you. As has just happened to my friend Wolf.

[powderpuff]

It happened to me & my wife in BKK. 2 kids on motorcycles did about 10,000 baht damage to my car. They would have killed me & my wife if they could have.

Toward the end of the incident I was trying to run them over with my car.

Lesson learned.

[onnut]

When I lived in Phuket I parked in a mall parking garage in a rented Jazz when my boys were younger and both were in car seats.. I had a post on one side and moved closer to the post and backed in so as to be able to get my other boy in and out of the back seat without too much problem.

There was really only a small bit of room next to me for a small car to park but this was also the reason I parked so close to the pole was to allow me room when I came back out should someone park next to me. When we came back some mindless and inconsiderate twit had parked his raised pickup with running boards right next to me with only about a half meter of space between door center to door center but at the bottom where his runners were there was less then half a meter not even enough to open my car door to get my shoulder in the car let alone a child in the back seat or climb in and move the car out and this was most definitely known to the Jacka__ that parked there though because of the height of his truck he was able to get in and out due to the vehicles contours but it still wasn't easy for him either..

I was seething, not knowing how to get this person or how long it was going to be, though this turned out to be one of those rare times when the inconsiderate twit came out while I was there and it was an arrogant twenty something Brit with his nasty mouthed mother which was really the most aggravating and distressing part as it soon became clear where he got his manners from.. I mentioned to him in an irritated but controlled tone of voice about his complete lack of consideration and how next time he should think about others and in response he mumbled some nasty comments, so as he was getting in his truck and squeezing his arse in the seat I trapped him against the door and the B pillar by holding the door closed with him partially in and partially out and told him he could just apologize politely and be on his way or we could step it up and I'd teach him the manners right there that his rude, loud mouthed, inconsiderate mother had failed to do.

Well he changed his tune and apologized and sir this, etc.. So I let him on his way fully expecting him and or his rude mother to make some sort of cowardly parting gesture on his departure while speeding off and true to their nature he shot me a bird as did his mother and shouted obscenities so I ran after the truck and just as I dented the rear quarter panel he stoopidly lost control of his truck as he had tried to accelerate away and turn a corner to leave he spun around the corner and ran into at least one other car all by himself and couldn't get out because he was up against 2 cars, one in front and one in back as he had slid sideways so no way he was getting out!!!!! Laughed my arse off!!

We loaded up and drove away with a courteous smile and wave, it was sweet retribution for many inconsiderate and arrogant B'stards of a life time who are used to getting one over on other people....

You couldn't have wished for a better ending than that, that's classic and I wish I was there to see it.

[onnut]

It happened to me & my wife in BKK. 2 kids on motorcycles did about 10,000 baht damage to my car. They would have killed me & my wife if they could have.

Toward the end of the incident I was trying to run them over with my car.

Lesson learned.

what did you do to upset them? Did they pull in front of you and you honked or what? Some bike riders in Bangkok scare the he'll out of me when they just swerve in front of my car, I think I am going to go straight in to em! You give them a honk and then all hel_l brakes loose!

<deleted>!

I am glad you survived it anyhow.

[TaoNow]

powderpuff: what lesson, exactly, did you learn from your encounter?

WarpSpeed: what did your bullying behavior accomplish? It seems like your chasing the offender caused him to ram into other cars, possibly causing injury to others who had nothing to do with your confrontation. Doesn't seem very skillful of you to manage your grievances by causing more harm.

Both of you need to listen to the other Phuket members commenting on this thread. There are lawless, drug-crazed, and moronic drivers on the road here -- both Thai and farang. Chill out, don't give them the finger or threaten to beat their mother up, and let them go on their way.

[LivinLOS]

When I lived in Phuket I parked in a mall parking garage in a rented Jazz when my boys were younger and both were in car seats.. I had a post on one side and moved closer to the post and backed in so as to be able to get my other boy in and out of the back seat without too much problem.

There was really only a small bit of room next to me for a small car to park but this was also the reason I parked so close to the pole was to allow me room when I came back out should someone park next to me. When we came back some mindless and inconsiderate twit had parked his raised pickup with running boards right next to me with only about a half meter of space between door center to door center but at the bottom where his runners were there was less then half a meter not even enough to open my car door to get my shoulder in the car let alone a child in the back seat or climb in and move the car out and this was most definitely known to the Jacka__ that parked there though because of the height of his truck he was able to get in and out due to the vehicles contours but it still wasn't easy for him either..

I was seething, not knowing how to get this person or how long it was going to be, though this turned out to be one of those rare times when the inconsiderate twit came out while I was there and it was an arrogant twenty something Brit with his nasty mouthed mother which was really the most aggravating and distressing part as it soon became clear where he got his manners from.. I mentioned to him in an irritated but controlled tone of voice about his complete lack of consideration and how next time he should think about others and in response he mumbled some nasty comments, so as he was getting in his truck and squeezing his arse in the seat I trapped him against the door and the B pillar by holding the door closed with him partially in and partially out and told him he could just apologize politely and be on his way or we could step it up and I'd teach him the manners right there that his rude, loud mouthed, inconsiderate mother had failed to do.

Well he changed his tune and apologized and sir this, etc.. So I let him on his way fully expecting him and or his rude mother to make some sort of cowardly parting gesture on his departure while speeding off and true to their nature he shot me a bird as did his mother and shouted obscenities so I ran after the truck and just as I dented the rear quarter panel he stoopidly lost control of his truck as he had tried to accelerate away and turn a corner to leave he spun around the corner and ran into at least one other car all by himself and couldn't get out because he was up against 2 cars, one in front and one in back as he had slid sideways so no way he was getting out!!!!! Laughed my arse off!!

We loaded up and drove away with a courteous smile and wave, it was sweet retribution for many inconsiderate and arrogant B'stards of a life time who are used to getting one over on other people....

You couldn't have wished for a better ending than that, that's classic and I wish I was there to see it.

Why if you read it, because of some bad parking he was the one that did the rage, started to get physical, and cause a accident and damage to anothers car and put people at risk.

And thats good ??

If someone had posted this abotu a Thai attacking them when they 'innocently' parked their car, jumping them as they were half in and half out (unable to act as trapped) and kicking the car as they tried to leave the confrontation everyone would be tut tut terrible Thais.

[Valentine]

Thais could be particularly prone to road rage because of their pent up emotions. I experienced it with my first car about 12 years ago. Starting up the mountain from Kathu to Patong, the road would have been single lane, a private limo driver was going slow & not moving over so as I passed him I gave a short honk. Before I knew it he was going flat out, overtook me, stopped at the crest of the mountain & jumped out of his car shaking his fists at me. I just smiled & continued on.

I am surprised there is not more road rage when I see the way some people drive but on the other hand there many more considerate drivers than rude, arrogant, dangerous ones.