BruceMangosteen Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 A rescue pick up truck attempted to chase me down yesterday. While I may have caused his/their(may have been a driver and passenger)anger by flicking an out of order bird to whomever had honked at me crossing Sukhumvit, I certainly didn't cause any traffic delay or go in front of an active ambulence. No accident was caused etc.. Next thing I knew, a rescue truck was after me, lights and loud speaker. I managed to evade him/them, but it wasn't easy. At first I didn't grasp why he pulled up next to me and he said "what was that?" saying "stop now", flicking me a bird. As I say, I was wrong and would have said I was sorry as only a guest here, but to chase me and attempt to run me down seemed a bit over the top. I had no intention of stopping and discussing it all. Two armed? men, maybe with police friends or off duty policemen themselves? Just a warning, cars do have the right of way over motorcycles and you never know who is around and don't tell car/truck drivers to stick it. I was lucky and learned this from the incident. Road rage does exist. Don't get it started by your own antics thinking you are equal or have rights. Just take whatever they do to you that angers you and remember anger is within. They lost face since I didn't stop but they did teach me a lesson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazygreg44 Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 TIT . . i never want to be asked how many times I escaped a near accident, by being foresighted and defensive in Thai everyday traffic. I was told . . open eye, open ears, high-up antennas. It is the only way to bear with Thais who "break" the law by defining their own "law". This is Thai Traffic. TITT ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceMangosteen Posted April 14, 2011 Author Share Posted April 14, 2011 TIT . . i never want to be asked how many times I escaped a near accident, by being foresighted and defensive in Thai everyday traffic. I was told . . open eye, open ears, high-up antennas. It is the only way to bear with Thais who "break" the law by defining their own "law". This is Thai Traffic. TITT ! Yes, same with me, I avoid accidents every day which had I held my "ground" would have happened. I didn't attempt to hold my ground, crossed safely and flicked the bird to whomever didn't like me crossing safely. My bad as I say for caring that someone didn't like me crossing in front of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovetotravel Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Road rage exists everywhere, not just here. Wasn't long ago that pilot got shot for flashing his lights at somebody who cut him off. I have a friend whose car was attacked after she made an improper turn. A driver chased her down and smashed in her windscreen. She contacted the police and they indicated it was a hiso politician so they wouldn't pursue it. Police are corrupt and won't help, so these guys know they can literally get away with murder. Best not to make things worse...even beeping your horn or flashing your lights will get you in trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glanville63 Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Never, never, never use the swivel finger here to display displeasure. It will probably not be appreciated too much in UK but here it's the supreme insult and will get you killed if you show it to the wrong person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWalkingMan Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Some people have skin as thin as a micro wafer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schooner Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 My wife has warned me many times (I did this once) to never flip off anyone over a traffic incident and it is good advice. I have changed, really. Now I expect to have these things happen and I have adjusted my driving. Being a good driver means adapting to the local conditions so I have been doing that and I have to admit that my blood pressure is the better for it. Driving is crazy here and the true test is managing it. Like my wife says, never, ever flip off another driver. BTW I've seen as much crazyness from my fellow farangs as the Thai's and there are far fewer of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rimmer Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Troll post removed from view Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickA Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Mate you be careful with that finger! Life is cheap here and you could have annoyed the wrong person ... I do not want to hear of a friend being killed over something trivial .... Pies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovetotravel Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 My wife has warned me many times (I did this once) to never flip off anyone over a traffic incident and it is good advice. I have changed, really. Now I expect to have these things happen and I have adjusted my driving. Being a good driver means adapting to the local conditions so I have been doing that and I have to admit that my blood pressure is the better for it. Driving is crazy here and the true test is managing it. Like my wife says, never, ever flip off another driver. BTW I've seen as much crazyness from my fellow farangs as the Thai's and there are far fewer of us. There are some bad Thai drivers for sure, but the farangs are right in there also. Some of the rudest driving I have seen has been farangs. Especially on scooters... With such a lack of police control, I'm amazed at how good the Thai drivers are? Can you imagine back in your home country if the police were this lax? In mine, it would be chaos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmicheald Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 This is NOT Road Rage. It is simply a Thai reaction to the finger... The "Bird" is a much more serious gesture here in Thailand than it is in the States or UK or elsewhere. It is a sign of supreme disrespect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ESB7 Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Troll post removed from view Have never heard 'flicking me a bird' befor and really would like to know what it means, so hardly a troll Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raro Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 remember that even honking can bring the devil out f some over sensitive Thais (usually those who really deserve getting honked at....). The finger is certainly the last resort in body language. NB, I Do honk if some imbecile indecisive idiot blocks a crossing with his rusty pickup/black window Fortuner/pink Honda Jazz with 20 extra gauges on the dashboard... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Conners Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Troll post removed from view Have never heard 'flicking me a bird' befor and really would like to know what it means, so hardly a troll Wikipedia Explains. Now you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ESB7 Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Troll post removed from view Have never heard 'flicking me a bird' befor and really would like to know what it means, so hardly a troll Wikipedia Explains. Now you know. Wow.learn something everyday, cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaifan2 Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 OP ,i would not like to travel in the same car with yourself and Mr M of the RH .You giving the bird and Mr M giving the fist ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceMangosteen Posted April 15, 2011 Author Share Posted April 15, 2011 (edited) OP ,i would not like to travel in the same car with yourself and Mr M of the RH .You giving the bird and Mr M giving the fist ;-) Not the same BM, I did get a PM about this some year ago. Sorry for any confusion. The honking for no reason other than you are upset, the flicking of a bird, and the chasing down of a motorcycle with a car/truck are all three road rage IMHO. I wasn't aware giving the finger so serious in Thailand. We are here to learn the culture and today I have learned something new. I did speak with a 20year ExPat today about this and he advised that Thai's "always" want to stop and talk about things which happen on the highway. With that reminder, I recall seeing them do just that as well as seeing someone being closely and dangerously followed on the highway. Edited April 15, 2011 by BruceMangosteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Conners Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 This is NOT Road Rage. It is simply a Thai reaction to the finger... The "Bird" is a much more serious gesture here in Thailand than it is in the States or UK or elsewhere. It is a sign of supreme disrespect. Quite an ironic post considering the avatar you have chosen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovetotravel Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 At least Thailand is not like China....honking horns all the time. It's horrible there. Let's hope Thai's don't start this practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarangBuddha Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 (edited) This is NOT Road Rage. It is simply a Thai reaction to the finger... The "Bird" is a much more serious gesture here in Thailand than it is in the States or UK or elsewhere. It is a sign of supreme disrespect. And it goes the same with the verbal form of this of this gesture as well...never say to a Thai "<deleted> you" or to "<deleted> off" unless you want an immediate physical confrontation. These rank pretty high up on the insult list in farangland but in and amongst themselves are usually not fighting words (unless there was much more to the matter than just these words). Thai have just learned that these farang words are "very bad" so they react accordingly. Sorta like every man in farangland knowing that in an argument, insulting ones opponent's mother, like maybe calling her the "C" word, would immediately escalate the matter to a physical confrontation...the "F" word is the same with Thais. Edited April 15, 2011 by FarangBuddha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pieandmash Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 I prefer showing them the bottom of my foot than the middle finger, that really gets their blood boiling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArNaSu Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Similar kind of thing happened to me maybe 8 years ago. A tour bus turned across oncoming traffic and then stopped as they do. I skidded kind of around his stopped bus ending up in front of him. I hit the horn yelled at him and gave him the finger thinking that was an appropriate response. His reaction then was to rev his engine drop it into gear and try to run me over. What can you say I wasn't going to win that fight, I took off as quick as I could. The weird thing was I could clearly see his face when he dropped the clutch to run me over and I don't believe he was bluffing. His expression went from confusion to some sort of rage just like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropo Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 (edited) With such a lack of police control, I'm amazed at how good the Thai drivers are? Can you imagine back in your home country if the police were this lax? In mine, it would be chaos! You have a very good point. If traffic enforcement was as bad in Australia as it is here the mayhem would be unbelievable as Aussie drivers tend to be very aggressive. Edited April 15, 2011 by tropo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raro Posted April 16, 2011 Share Posted April 16, 2011 I prefer showing them the bottom of my foot than the middle finger, that really gets their blood boiling. you don't mean that serious, do you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmicheald Posted April 16, 2011 Share Posted April 16, 2011 This is NOT Road Rage. It is simply a Thai reaction to the finger... The "Bird" is a much more serious gesture here in Thailand than it is in the States or UK or elsewhere. It is a sign of supreme disrespect. Quite an ironic post considering the avatar you have chosen. Well, if you read the post I was speaking about the Thais... as this board is for people from the States, Canada, UK etc I don't see what my avatar has to do with it... Unless you are so sensitive, you took it to mean it was given to you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pieandmash Posted April 16, 2011 Share Posted April 16, 2011 I prefer showing them the bottom of my foot than the middle finger, that really gets their blood boiling. you don't mean that serious, do you? Yes I do depending on the circumstances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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