How Much Safer Is Riding Baht Buses Than Running A Motorcycle?

[timekeeper]

That's a good point about standing on the back. However, I never saw a news item about people falling off (not including crash incidents).

i remember a man from Blackpool UK fell of the back of a baht bus almost outside the police station on beach road

he died of a fractured skull, he left behind a wife and young child

the driver was charged with dangerous driving but do not know if it ever went to court

RIP fella

[NALAK]

at least 100 times safer i would say, i stay out late and wathc motorbike taxi boys start drink as soon as they start shift. you are only as a good a driver as the person coming th eother way. my car is in the garage for 5 days renting a bike now. been about 10kms in 3 days, never ever would i go back to a bike in Thailand. the guy i rented off has a customer in hospital 25 years old been in Pattaya 2 days and lost a leg. Baht bus every time

[threelegcowboy]

I am off topic here but this is a good place for my comment...

If you are ridding any kind of taxi and the conditions are not safe...consider getting off/out and getting another ride. It might be the best money spent to avoid an accdent.

[tropo]

at least 100 times safer i would say, i stay out late and wathc motorbike taxi boys start drink as soon as they start shift. you are only as a good a driver as the person coming th eother way. my car is in the garage for 5 days renting a bike now. been about 10kms in 3 days, never ever would i go back to a bike in Thailand. the guy i rented off has a customer in hospital 25 years old been in Pattaya 2 days and lost a leg. Baht bus every time

More people die or lose legs in car crashes - yet you still drive? People die in airplane crashes, yet you probably flew here.

Despite what you say about the motorbike taxi boys and the crazy way the drive, I've never seen one down. You'd think seeing them crash would be an hourly occurrence - a mystery in Pattaya.

[ArNaSu]

I atually live on motorcycle taxis. Use them just about every day for at least the last 12 years. From my place of resdience: Jomtien, Darkside, Central, Pratamnuk to work, bars or whatever. Always use one when coming

home late at night/early morning - in all this time I have had one minor accident - the rider was not going fast just sand on a bend which he slid in - no damage done apart from a muffler burn to my leg.

Ride Baht buses too and the only time ever had a problem was that the driver was drunk and so drunk I managed to get him to stop outside the Tourist Police (when they were on 2nd Road) - I was actually in the front seat because it was raining and went and told a policeman who came out and took him away.

That's a classic, I guess Mensa didn't miss him then.

[aussiechick]

I atually live on motorcycle taxis. Use them just about every day for at least the last 12 years. From my place of resdience: Jomtien, Darkside, Central, Pratamnuk to work, bars or whatever. Always use one when coming

home late at night/early morning - in all this time I have had one minor accident - the rider was not going fast just sand on a bend which he slid in - no damage done apart from a muffler burn to my leg.

Ride Baht buses too and the only time ever had a problem was that the driver was drunk and so drunk I managed to get him to stop outside the Tourist Police (when they were on 2nd Road) - I was actually in the front seat because it was raining and went and told a policeman who came out and took him away.

That's a classic, I guess Mensa didn't miss him then.

Yes, the tourist policeman couldn't stop laughing either Mind you this was about 11:00a.m. as well

[Danlo]

Baht bus easy, just have a few 10 bahts in your pocket, motorbike, life threatening just make sure you have very good medical insurance.

[Darrel]

I've been coming to Pattaya for 30+ years and have never been on a motorbike taxi at all (though I did used to rent a motorbike on occasions, back when traffic was light). Having seen the inebriated state of most of the drivers, I have no intention of ever putting my life in their hands.

I live on 2nd Rd and in 5 or 10 minutes I can walk to just about everywhere I want to go. Occasionally I take a bahtbus to get to Jomtien etc., and never have any problem paying 10B for that and never have to wait more than a minute or two to get one. I would not consider living anywhere in Pattaya that was not within a couple of minutes walk of a main bahtbus route, though I would consider living completely out of town (Bang Saray, Si Racha etc) and having a car. Living on the dark side and using a motorbike for all transport would be out of the question for me, but if I lived somewhere like Pratumnak, I would probably have a motorbike just for getting to Jomtien or Pattaya.

It seems to me that the worst that is likely to happen to you on a bahtbus is that someone will pick your pocket or puke on you. And if you avoid the ones with many people on (which is easy) even that isnt very likely. The bahtbuses rarely go fast enough in town to suffer real damage if they crashed.

[electrozebra]

I use a combination of Bant Buses, Motorcycle Taxis, my own Fino and the car.

To get to the night life itself and back home again after a few beers I find the morcycle taxis seem safe enough.

Trundling around Beach Road and 2nd Road I find the Baht buses to be best for safety and value.

Going to the shops for small items or out to a specific place the Fino does the job but it is far more of a hair-raising experience with so many idiots about on the roads.

For the weekly shopping trip and a bit further away, I prefer the car for that and it is far safer mode of transport than the rest.

To answer the actual question, I think Baht buses are a lot safer than going by bike - where the Baht buses are readily available.