Pattaya Bungy

[thebounder]

On my way to work this morning, I was about to turn onto Sukhumvit Road (there was one car ahead of me at the junction) when a mini-van that was emblazoned with advertising for the Pattaya Bungy Jump (and which I thus assumed belonged to the company operating it) drove alongside us in the wrong lane (and in doing so took a very significant risk as a car could turn off Sukhumvit Road at any time on what is a blind turn and drive head on into him). He then cut me up completely and very nearly caused an accident. In doing this he must have saved himself all of 5 seconds as the car in front of me, and I were both pulling out into Sukhumvit without delay. At the U turn just down the road, he performed a similarly reckless, very dangerous and entirely unnecessary manouvre, nearly taking out another car. When he cut me up I noticed that it was a farang driving and that a very young child was unrestrained in the front seat of the van.

While I could of course be wrong, I assumed that the driver is probably some sort of senior figure at the Bungy Jump to which the van seemingly belonged. Even if he isn't, the fact that he is driving around in a mini-van covered in their advertising means that he will be judged by other road users as if he is.

The point is that anyone who saw what I did would be fully entitled to come to the conclusion that this man is reckless and pays very little attention to safety issues. To my mind, he is probably not the kind of person you would want to be associated in any way whatsoever with the operation of something so potentially dangerous as a bungy jump. At least that was the first thought that went through my mind.

If the guy doesn't have anything to do with the operation of the bungy, then the person who runs it should be a lot more careful about who he lends the mini-van to, cos, whether he likes it or not, he will be judged negatively when the van is involved in such awful and very dangerous driving.

[britmaveric]

Driving does not have anything to do with bungee jumping - apples/oranges.

[Johnty]

Fair comment I guess and certainly food for thought

[Phil Conners]

Driving does not have anything to do with bungee jumping - apples/oranges.

Do you always have to be contrarian?

If the guy drives like he doesn't care about anybody's safety I think it's probably safe to say that he runs his business in the same vein.

[andyww]

Anyone who does bungy jumping or any other activity where you voluntarily place your life in someone elses hands in Thailand has to be completely crazy anyway...

[britmaveric]

^well guess I am crazy - done bungee before. Actually quite safe - run under Kiwi standards.

Phil - I hate being contrary, but saying the bungee jump is unsafe on how an unknown person drives a van advertising the bungee jump certainly has no relevance to the business at hand. All this indicates by logic is someone is driving a van that advertises the bungee jump who is a sh*te driver.

[raro]

usually such cars with advertisements on it also have a phone number of the company. If I find the offense bad enough to report, I call that number and complain. Most of the time I see the driver a minute later slowing down and picking up his mobile...

If I would run a business and my driver advertising it with decals on the company car they would be strictly instructed NOT to offend traffic laws but be rather polite. It all falls back to my business...probably a reason why I do not have logos of my company on the car

[joskydive]

Anyone who does bungy jumping or any other activity where you voluntarily place your life in someone elses hands in Thailand has to be completely crazy anyway...

Really? I've been skydiving for the last 36 years and haven't killed anyone yet and yes, we have a skydiving operation here in Thailand too!!! You need to get out more!

[craigt3365]

I was considering doing a jump until I saw this video from Phuket...this guy got seriously messed up. Think I will pass...at least here in Thailand.

There have been many, many, many sky jumping accidents. Definitely not a safe sport...but fun I am sure. My father got seriously messed up on one while he was a pilot in training. Had problems his whole life due to it.

Check out the video here:

Bungy Jump Gone Wrong

[doggie888888]

Sad to say this but after 2 years here, I generally adopt a very cautious approach to foreigners in Pattaya due to more bad expereinces than positive ones. This is definitely not the environment to trust any old foreigner who sets up shop here with fanciful tales of how safe and capable they are, until they are able to provide credible and verifiable evidence to support their claims. So, regardless of how this man drives, I certainly would not try bungee jumping at his establishment.

[Jonathanpattaya]

Are you suggesting that the driving skills (or rather, lack of them) of the minivan driver might indicate the way they operate the Pattaya Bungy Jump?

GULP!

Edited March 16, 2010 by Jonathanpattaya

[Pakboong]

Anyone who does bungy jumping or any other activity where you voluntarily place your life in someone elses hands in Thailand has to be completely crazy anyway...

Really? I've been skydiving for the last 36 years and haven't killed anyone yet and yes, we have a skydiving operation here in Thailand too!!! You need to get out more!

I could go into my X aptitude theory but you probably wouldn't be interested. Those that need and do well at the X factor sports will never be taken seriously by the seemingly safer Y aptitude sports. No point in discussing it. I am a Y guy myself. Reality is, the number of people who get injured in Y aptitude sports outnumber the X guys by a huge number. Number of deaths is another matter.

Edited March 16, 2010 by Pakboong

[Rimmer]

There is no proof of connection between the person driving the vehicle and the owner operator of the Bungy jump, to infer that bad driving could spill over into the way that the jump is run is not good so please refrain from making any further speculation or connection.

We can talk about extreme sports instead OK

[Chopper]

Anyone who does bungy jumping or any other activity where you voluntarily place your life in someone elses hands in Thailand has to be completely crazy anyway...

Really? I've been skydiving for the last 36 years and haven't killed anyone yet and yes, we have a skydiving operation here in Thailand too!!! You need to get out more!

joskydive, please post details or PM me with your operation. I am interested. Are you thaiskyadventures by chance?

Cheers.

[Jing-jo]

Just watched the video and it appears that the only thing holding the bunjy cord to his legs was some gaffer tape!!!

look at the ankle area just after the start then look again after 11 secs just after he says"F##K!" to see what I mean

had to pause it several times but it did NOT look safe of strong enough or anything like the quality of kit they used in Turkey or Victoria falls

co-incidently both operations run by Kiwi's and both places looked well operated and the kit was constantly checked

It's your life and if anything seems iffy walk away

[britmaveric]

Done the Bungee Jump in CM, and they were very professional. Everything was triple checked and verified by 3member team. They used a checklist and went down it. Legs were tight with the velcro harness wrapped around it. (no way in this earth would by legs get free) The only unknown I would think would be the actual bungee cord and wear/tear its exposed to. Anyways good fun and highly recommend to do it once. I wouldnt do it again simply because I think I'd be bored by it.

Edited March 17, 2010 by britmaveric