A Foolproof Way To Never Collide With A Thai

[travelmann]

I just like to stop dead before we collide and let them walk into me, its kind of funny......well I think it is.

[pauljones]

I need a foolproof method of passing them from behind.

Usually a Thai will be veering to the left as I approach from behind so I move to the right to pass but as I do so they move right to block my move.

Like you say they seem to have a psychic ability to know where you are going to go.

A method that I've had some success with is to 'sell them a dummy' to use a footballing term, where you feign to move right and as soon as they veer right you jump left and pass.

I was thinking of trying to refine it to be more like a Ronaldo 'step over' move but haven't had the patience lately and am more likely to just shove them out the way.

So maybe we could combine our techniques in that patent application?

What irks me is when they walk slowly and drift from side to side when they are aware you are behind, attempting to pass.

If they ignore me, I step on their heels(by accident).

It's fun and makes me feel a whole lot better.

Try it. You'll be glad you did.

[craigt3365]

One incredibly strange post and a few replies deleted. Sorry for having to delete your replies. I'm sure you are all unhappy about it.

:jap:

[onnut]

I need a foolproof method of passing them from behind.

Usually a Thai will be veering to the left as I approach from behind so I move to the right to pass but as I do so they move right to block my move.

Like you say they seem to have a psychic ability to know where you are going to go.

A method that I've had some success with is to 'sell them a dummy' to use a footballing term, where you feign to move right and as soon as they veer right you jump left and pass.

I was thinking of trying to refine it to be more like a Ronaldo 'step over' move but haven't had the patience lately and am more likely to just shove them out the way.

So maybe we could combine our techniques in that patent application?

What irks me is when they walk slowly and drift from side to side when they are aware you are behind, attempting to pass.

If they ignore me, I step on their heels(by accident).

It's fun and makes me feel a whole lot better.

Try it. You'll be glad you did.

This is what I do also. It happened in Silom last week coming off the skytrain to into Central some guy on his phone walked right in front of me and slowed down blocking me. So I trod on his heal and his shoe came off. Lol

Doubt he learnt from it though.

Try it when they have flip flops on. They normally fall over!

[seekingfriends]

I often end up walking on the road facing the oncoming traffic. Its easier than playing dodgems on the footpath. And if there are stalls on the side of the footpath things are even worse as when viewing the goods on sale they often stop and stand in the middle of the path instead right next to the stall. So you have both ambulatory and stationary objects to avoid. They should invent a pinball machine based on the footpaths of Sukhumvit and others.

our friend is correct . try walking in hong kong its like a stampade at a football match . talk about shoulder charging . stay in bangkok is safer james hat yai sydney

[jazzbo]

I have a reconstructed right collar bone thanks to a Pick-up truck driver (me on bicycle) in Florida ... I developed a habit that at any mere hint of a collision I turn to the right and lower my left shoulder such that there is no question that I will knock-over any potential collider ... during my 6 month stint in BKK I never had any problem although I did in fact knock a few lightly ...

What I find universal in Thailand is that they will stand in front of the elevator doors waiting to get on so that you have to practically knock them out of the way before you can get off.

BTW I just noticed Weslh1 at #25 has much of the same technique

Edited March 23, 2011 by jazzbo

[JAS21]

My wife suggests (and there is not much that she doesn't know!)....that this walking whilst looking down is 'built in' as in the past there was more danger on the pavement..holes etc..than ahead. Things haven't improved a lot even now have they.

[craigt3365]

My wife suggests (and there is not much that she doesn't know!)....that this walking whilst looking down is 'built in' as in the past there was more danger on the pavement..holes etc..than ahead. Things haven't improved a lot even now have they.

Funny you should mention that. My wife does exactly the same thing. And it has worked well during our many trips....especially in Buenos Aires where dog poop is all over the sidewalks. I wasn't so lucky....

[pauljones]

I need a foolproof method of passing them from behind.

Usually a Thai will be veering to the left as I approach from behind so I move to the right to pass but as I do so they move right to block my move.

Like you say they seem to have a psychic ability to know where you are going to go.

A method that I've had some success with is to 'sell them a dummy' to use a footballing term, where you feign to move right and as soon as they veer right you jump left and pass.

I was thinking of trying to refine it to be more like a Ronaldo 'step over' move but haven't had the patience lately and am more likely to just shove them out the way.

So maybe we could combine our techniques in that patent application?

What irks me is when they walk slowly and drift from side to side when they are aware you are behind, attempting to pass.

If they ignore me, I step on their heels(by accident).

It's fun and makes me feel a whole lot better.

Try it. You'll be glad you did.

This is what I do also. It happened in Silom last week coming off the skytrain to into Central some guy on his phone walked right in front of me and slowed down blocking me. So I trod on his heal and his shoe came off. Lol

Doubt he learnt from it though.

Try it when they have flip flops on. They normally fall over!

You get extra points if you pull them out of their shoes.

Well done.

[Loz]

I'm glad u raised this as I have found the same to be true. Look away and they miss, ackowledge and expect a direct hit with a look of bemusment.

From behind I find if I start talking to myself in English, they soon GTFOOMW.

What I noticed was where there is a solid object they will cross your path to walk between you and the object. Be it a wall or whatever. Like you must be the one to walk around. This prompted me to just stop and wait for them to go around me which seems to upset them. But they went out of their way to cross my path, they changed direction cause an impass. F@&K 'EM!.

[pauljones]

I'm glad u raised this as I have found the same to be true. Look away and they miss, ackowledge and expect a direct hit with a look of bemusment.

From behind I find if I start talking to myself in English, they soon GTFOOMW.

What I noticed was where there is a solid object they will cross your path to walk between you and the object. Be it a wall or whatever. Like you must be the one to walk around. This prompted me to just stop and wait for them to go around me which seems to upset them. But they went out of their way to cross my path, they changed direction cause an impass. F@&K 'EM!.

Someone walking aggressively towards me and they fully expect me to move, I do the 'foot plant'.

Drives em nuts every time.

[Tod Daniels]

Actually, I thought this thread would be a ZERO, as in no replies.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only person here in the glorious "Land 'O Thais" who finds this problematic.

Now if I could just come up with a way to stop errant queue jumping at 7/11 and Thais tryin' to get on a lift or the Sky Train BEFORE people get off, I'd be in tall cotton, or maybe here, tall rice.

[ableguy]

I often end up walking on the road facing the oncoming traffic. Its easier than playing dodgems on the footpath. And if there are stalls on the side of the footpath things are even worse as when viewing the goods on sale they often stop and stand in the middle of the path instead right next to the stall. So you have both ambulatory and stationary objects to avoid. They should invent a pinball machine based on the footpaths of Sukhumvit and others.

Gosh these Thais can be soooooooo annoying.

[surayu]

some guy on his phone walked right in front of me and slowed down blocking me.

They behave the same way(if not worse) while driving, especially when you go at speed....

[craigt3365]

Actually, I thought this thread would be a ZERO, as in no replies.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only person here in the glorious "Land 'O Thais" who finds this problematic.

Now if I could just come up with a way to stop errant queue jumping at 7/11 and Thais tryin' to get on a lift or the Sky Train BEFORE people get off, I'd be in tall cotton, or maybe here, tall rice.

It's a dream here...try China...seriously. Or India, Vietnam, Nepal, Kenya, etc, etc, etc....sometimes we don't know how lucky we have it here!

As for driving, same thing. They do a pretty good job here...I can think of many, many places that are much worse.

[gurnani]

you could say that. Thai people =generally as i noticed take really small steps and walk really fast. Generally if you follow the same way you carry forward your life on the road walking, its not gonna be good and u will bump in to them for sure.

So yeah, the best way is to show them your way as you said and its not gonna happen mate

[Thaddeus]

you could say that. Thai people =generally as i noticed take really small steps and walk really fast.

Seriously, you've noticed that?

[tim armstrong]

G'day Tod-Daniels,

I hate to prick the bubble on what sounds like a very useful piece of research, but maybe the decision to focus your attention to left or right tells your brain in the split second to move in that direction to avoid 'confrontation'. The old 'fight or flight' mechanism, and maybe this is another variation of flight, and the incoming Thai person is just doing the same thing ??

But whatever, if it works. Personally I'm attracted to the Tourettes idea. Sometimes I burst into song, that works a bit.

[nocturn]

The tragic thing is that if you applied this seemingly correct proceedure to driving, their mentality would be the same there too..

For the record, i have never stepped foot on a Country where such a high % of the local people are so incredibly oblivious to their surroundings in the same situation that the OP mentions.

& i'm on 49 Countries now..

Try China in 1997!

and how would you suggest we do that?

try relevance.

[Thaddeus]

Personally I'm attracted to the Tourettes idea. Sometimes I burst into song, that works a bit.

"Losing my religion" by any chance?

[Berkshire]

I sort of shook my head when I first read this thread, but now I just can't help myself. What planet are you people from? Is there anything you won't complain about? Assuming most of the folks here are relatively old farts (myself included...sort of), how have you people survived for this long? You'll complain about the driving, the ATM fees, the women, the police, the neighbors, the noise, etc., and now, you guys are having difficulty walking around without colliding into a Thai? <deleted>??? I've been walking around all over this country for years, in markets and crowded streets and events and universities and government buildings and malls and I don't see much difference here than I do anywhere else in the civilized world. What is it with you guys? Do you need someone to help you tie your shoes? Does your wife pick out clothes for you in the morning? Are you that freakin helpless that you literally can't walk down the street without running into someone? God help us. (rant over)

[surayu]

...

Why are you complaining?

[cardholder]

Sa

I sort of shook my head when I first read this thread, but now I just can't help myself. What planet are you people from? Is there anything you won't complain about? Assuming most of the folks here are relatively old farts (myself included...sort of), how have you people survived for this long? You'll complain about the driving, the ATM fees, the women, the police, the neighbors, the noise, etc., and now, you guys are having difficulty walking around without colliding into a Thai? <deleted>??? I've been walking around all over this country for years, in markets and crowded streets and events and universities and government buildings and malls and I don't see much difference here than I do anywhere else in the civilized world. What is it with you guys? Do you need someone to help you tie your shoes? Does your wife pick out clothes for you in the morning? Are you that freakin helpless that you literally can't walk down the street without running into someone? God help us. (rant over)

Satire is clearly lost on you, Berkshire.

[Berkshire]

Sa

I sort of shook my head when I first read this thread, but now I just can't help myself. What planet are you people from? Is there anything you won't complain about? Assuming most of the folks here are relatively old farts (myself included...sort of), how have you people survived for this long? You'll complain about the driving, the ATM fees, the women, the police, the neighbors, the noise, etc., and now, you guys are having difficulty walking around without colliding into a Thai? <deleted>??? I've been walking around all over this country for years, in markets and crowded streets and events and universities and government buildings and malls and I don't see much difference here than I do anywhere else in the civilized world. What is it with you guys? Do you need someone to help you tie your shoes? Does your wife pick out clothes for you in the morning? Are you that freakin helpless that you literally can't walk down the street without running into someone? God help us. (rant over)

Satire is clearly lost on you, Berkshire.

Satire....yeah, right. Perhaps my satire was lost on you....

[Loz]

I sort of shook my head when I first read this thread, but now I just can't help myself. What planet are you people from? Is there anything you won't complain about? Assuming most of the folks here are relatively old farts (myself included...sort of), how have you people survived for this long? You'll complain about the driving, the ATM fees, the women, the police, the neighbors, the noise, etc., and now, you guys are having difficulty walking around without colliding into a Thai? <deleted>??? I've been walking around all over this country for years, in markets and crowded streets and events and universities and government buildings and malls and I don't see much difference here than I do anywhere else in the civilized world. What is it with you guys? Do you need someone to help you tie your shoes? Does your wife pick out clothes for you in the morning? Are you that freakin helpless that you literally can't walk down the street without running into someone? God help us. (rant over)

Awareness is a relative concept. If you are not aware of these things, it is unlikely they'll trouble you in the way they trouble someone who is more aware. Awareness tends to bring a solutions oriented mind set with it, which is why we share solutions to the challenges we find rather than simply bemoaning the fact. Maybe we should rate threads on the level of awareness required to appreciate them. This one seems to have been beyond your capacity. Please accept our collective apologies. :jap:

[Berkshire]

I sort of shook my head when I first read this thread, but now I just can't help myself. What planet are you people from? Is there anything you won't complain about? Assuming most of the folks here are relatively old farts (myself included...sort of), how have you people survived for this long? You'll complain about the driving, the ATM fees, the women, the police, the neighbors, the noise, etc., and now, you guys are having difficulty walking around without colliding into a Thai? <deleted>??? I've been walking around all over this country for years, in markets and crowded streets and events and universities and government buildings and malls and I don't see much difference here than I do anywhere else in the civilized world. What is it with you guys? Do you need someone to help you tie your shoes? Does your wife pick out clothes for you in the morning? Are you that freakin helpless that you literally can't walk down the street without running into someone? God help us. (rant over)

Awareness is a relative concept. If you are not aware of these things, it is unlikely they'll trouble you in the way they trouble someone who is more aware. Awareness tends to bring a solutions oriented mind set with it, which is why we share solutions to the challenges we find rather than simply bemoaning the fact. Maybe we should rate threads on the level of awareness required to appreciate them. This one seems to have been beyond your capacity. Please accept our collective apologies. :jap:

Do you actually believe what you're shoveling? Farangs on TV are probably the least "aware" people in Thailand--if you're not "aware" of that, you're more clueless than I suspect. Being "aware" is recognizing that walking down a crowded street may be a tad different than walking down an empty street. Walking down a crowded street in Bangkok is not much different than walking down a crowded street in Time Square. Now if you want to nit-pick the differences, go right ahead. I would classify that as being more "anal-retentive" than "aware." Or to put it more scientifically, a bit "loonie."

[carmine]

I sort of shook my head when I first read this thread, but now I just can't help myself. What planet are you people from? Is there anything you won't complain about? Assuming most of the folks here are relatively old farts (myself included...sort of), how have you people survived for this long? You'll complain about the driving, the ATM fees, the women, the police, the neighbors, the noise, etc., and now, you guys are having difficulty walking around without colliding into a Thai? <deleted>??? I've been walking around all over this country for years, in markets and crowded streets and events and universities and government buildings and malls and I don't see much difference here than I do anywhere else in the civilized world. What is it with you guys? Do you need someone to help you tie your shoes? Does your wife pick out clothes for you in the morning? Are you that freakin helpless that you literally can't walk down the street without running into someone? God help us. (rant over)

Awareness is a relative concept. If you are not aware of these things, it is unlikely they'll trouble you in the way they trouble someone who is more aware. Awareness tends to bring a solutions oriented mind set with it, which is why we share solutions to the challenges we find rather than simply bemoaning the fact. Maybe we should rate threads on the level of awareness required to appreciate them. This one seems to have been beyond your capacity. Please accept our collective apologies. :jap:

Do you actually believe what you're shoveling? Farangs on TV are probably the least "aware" people in Thailand--if you're not "aware" of that, you're more clueless than I suspect. Being "aware" is recognizing that walking down a crowded street may be a tad different than walking down an empty street. Walking down a crowded street in Bangkok is not much different than walking down a crowded street in Time Square. Now if you want to nit-pick the differences, go right ahead. I would classify that as being more "anal-retentive" than "aware." Or to put it more scientifically, a bit "loonie."

Don't get so arsey. We are all on here to discuss issues. Don't turn "everything written" to be anti Thai rhetoric. Some is for sure but not nearly to the extent that you make out. Loz has made a perfectly reasonable post and you fly off the handle. Why?

Please remember that not all "farangs are devils and please don't be so ashamed to be a 'farang." You clearly are. You are not born Thai whether you like it or not so this has eventually to be accepted.

You seem to have a very blinkered impression that this is a forum specifically to knock Thais which ofcourse it isn't. But then again there are some that will always make of something want they want and will never keep an open mind.

Frankly this constant farang bashing is getting very tedious and boring.

Have a nice day to one and all

[wildpikey]

What about when you walking down a quiet street, you are approaching someone (usually female) they have their course set out, they are already set to pass on the outside then suddenly for no apparent reason they veer inwards to take the inward line and try to fit through even the smallest gap! you have to stop and just let them try to squeeze through!

This is also nothing to do with wanting to meet you or interact with you,I have come to the conclusion that being on the open side of a passing must make you susceptible to ghosts which are ready to take you if you stay on the outside.

This happens all the time....

[geriatrickid]

I sort of shook my head when I first read this thread, but now I just can't help myself. What planet are you people from? Is there anything you won't complain about? Assuming most of the folks here are relatively old farts (myself included...sort of), how have you people survived for this long? You'll complain about the driving, the ATM fees, the women, the police, the neighbors, the noise, etc., and now, you guys are having difficulty walking around without colliding into a Thai? <deleted>??? I've been walking around all over this country for years, in markets and crowded streets and events and universities and government buildings and malls and I don't see much difference here than I do anywhere else in the civilized world. What is it with you guys? Do you need someone to help you tie your shoes? Does your wife pick out clothes for you in the morning? Are you that freakin helpless that you literally can't walk down the street without running into someone? God help us. (rant over)

You are one of the people that walks at a snail's pace blocking the way aren't you? Do you also stop at the bottom of the escalator of stand in the middle blocking people from moving along?

[saraburioz]

Try jogging around the streets! Its unbelievable how many Thai's stop in your path to look at you with that 'huh' blank stare on their on their face. I have asked the missus several times to get me a running vest with "Don't look at me just get out of my way" written in Thai on the front. And "See, that was easy, wasn't it" written on the back!

I have now taken, possibly foolishly, to jogging on the road, in to oncoming traffic as i really do believe it's safer!!

I'd stop and look at you too - what a stupid place to jog - go to a gym or a park.