License To Kill?

[AlexLah]

Hi all,

I was just wondering who in the Thai cabinet is responsible to sort of make sure that people that get their driver license are really able to drive/control a car in daily situations.

Let me tell you. A friend of mine called me and told me she got her driver license and was going to pick up her car she already bought and wanted me to do some final check on the car.

Ok No problem I always want to help, so checked out the car and appart from some very bad external repairs it looked OK. I was allowed to drive 200 meters and at least brakes and steering wheel were working.

Now my friend goes behind the wheel and try to drive me back home..........

It was only 3 KM but during those 3 KM she caused almost 4 accidents.

I should have known better when she stepped behind the wheel and never took time to at least adjust the mirrors and check where the various controls are.

So my question is: Is there any insttution that checks the quality of lessons people take ( She took 10 Hours) and are there rules for people that offer driving lessons. Is there any regulation on that. By the way she applied two times before and failed. After that she was informely told that when bringing some drinks she would pass.

If this happens with most of the 'students' then I am not really surprised about the accident rate in Thailand.

KR,

Alex

[corkscrew]

Driving in Thailand is an art...not a science. There are very few (if any) rights and wrongs.

[Dragonman]

Hi all,

I was just wondering who in the Thai cabinet is responsible to sort of make sure that people that get their driver license are really able to drive/control a car in daily situations.

Let me tell you. A friend of mine called me and told me she got her driver license and was going to pick up her car she already bought and wanted me to do some final check on the car.

Ok No problem I always want to help, so checked out the car and appart from some very bad external  repairs it looked OK. I was allowed to drive 200 meters and at least brakes and steering wheel were working.

Now my friend goes behind the wheel and try to drive me back home..........

It was only 3 KM but during those 3 KM she caused almost 4 accidents.

I should have known better when she stepped behind the wheel and never took time to at least adjust the mirrors and check where the various controls are.

So my question is: Is there any insttution that checks the quality of lessons people take ( She took 10 Hours) and are there rules for people that offer driving lessons. Is there any regulation on that. By the way she applied two times before and failed. After that she was informely told that when bringing some drinks she would pass.

If this happens with most of the 'students' then I am not really surprised about the accident rate in Thailand.

KR,

Alex

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My missus never had a lesson in her life. Went for the test, drove up a football field, reversed between 2 cones and drove the 100 metres back down the field. 1 hour later she had her driving licence. My brother in law failed, but his boss phoned the Inspector to say he needed a licence urgently for his job. Got it instantly.

[sierra01]

And you let her buy the car after you only being allowed to drive it 200m? That's a smile, say thank you, and walk away situation for me.

On the subject of driving licences, TIT, money has a very loud voice. There are rules and regulations but if you don't like any of them you ignore them, who's going to make you comply?

[AlexLah]

(Quote) And you let her buy the car after you only being allowed to drive it 200m? That's a smile, say thank you, and walk away situation for me.

The car was OK. I have advised and trained people from Interpol on how to find out if a car was made from two (Dunno the English word for it). I told my friend to have some lessons from me (on the parking lot of my condo in my car). I told her 10 hours is not enough but she just showed her driver license and said: I can drive car look I have license. If you not want to come and look at my car then I will buy anyway.

I just think when governement want to reduce the number of road accidents they should start at the source. The company where she took lessons had not even a double control in the car so therefore I really wonder how starting up a driving school is being controlled. Can you just own a car and put a sign outside of your house saying driving school? 10 hours of 'lessons' for 2500 Bath, what a joke.

If she causes an accident and people die as a result from it and the case will be brought to court can she blame the school ore the institute that issues driver licenses?

Just some thoughts and don't say TIT, I have had enough of this whole mai pen rai attitude.

KR,

Alex

[sierra01]

Joining 2 halves together to make 1 car is called cut and shut I think. I don't really know if recognising a cut and shut requires a thorough knowledge of car mechanics but if it does then ok you can spot a dud pretty quickly, some people think that because they have been driving for x amount of years they know all there is to know about cars.

Whether or not driving schools are controlled in any way I don't know, not much seems to be here. I base that on knowing of a 'Vet' in a village in Lampang, I lived in the village, whose 'qualifications and experience' came from being an untrained assistant to a real Vet for a couple of years. If you know one end of a car from another then yes you probably can just stick a sign in front of your house and become a drving school. If you're farang then you no doubt need the maximum qualifications available in your own country, set up a company majority Thai owned, have a B visa and work permit, brand new dual controlled cars etc etc etc.

As for accountability in an accident, that and responsibility don't figure very highly in Thailand.

You might well have had enough of mai pen rai and TIT but it's a fact of life here, something we all have to live with.

[AlexLah]

(Quote) You might well have had enough of mai pen rai and TIT but it's a fact of life here, something we all have to live with.

You do not have to live with it Sierra, and accept everything that happens to you because you are in a country that sort of preaches that.

Every human being knows that it is not the right way to go. Yep even my team agrees so we started a program to make them understand that mai pen rai is not the way to go.

I do not know the word or meaning of responsabilty in Thai but I think they understood the message I told to them.

KR,

Alex

[RDN]

Driving in Thailand...

Three days ago I saw an accident in Chalong, Phuket. A car passed me on the left at the main roundabout - circle - in Chalong. It was a sports car, low profile tyres, lots of writing on the rear window - clearly a company car. At the roundabout it shot forwards into a motorcycle coming from the right. It actually hit the motorcycle when it was directly in front of the car, so maybe the car driver was blind. The motorcycle had "right of way". (Yes, I know, but there ARE signs before the roundabout saying "Give way to vehicles on the roundabout"). Fortunately there was a policeman directing traffic who saw the whole thing and took control.

Yesterday I saw an accident in Phuket town. Traffic was stationary up ahead of me, so I didn't move forwards when I saw a car waiting at a soi to my left. He wanted to turn right and very slowly crept forwards. As he inched his way forwards I heard a screeching noise from behind. A motorcycle doing about 50 kph was skidding its way along the middle of the road and into the car waiting to turn right. Now that takes nerve to drive at such a speed, overtaking stationary traffic in the middle of Phuket town. Or maybe it was stupidity.

I've been out again today, but not seen any more. Maybe later tonight.

Edited November 20, 2005 by RDN

[sierra01]

(Quote) You might well have had enough of mai pen rai and TIT but it's a fact of life here, something we all have to live with.

You do not have to live with it Sierra, and accept everything that happens to you because you are in a country that sort of preaches that.

Every human being knows that it is not the right way to go. Yep even my team agrees so we started a program to make them understand that mai pen rai is not the way to go.

I do not know the word or meaning of responsabilty in Thai but I think they understood the message I told to them.

KR,

Alex

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Farang are very much made to feel foreign here, we have very little rights and even less say about most things. It's a case of if you don't like it then you know what you can do. The various Goverments over the years don't want us to have any input or say, because we can see through them, and they know that. If you know of a way to change the system then I'm all for it, and I wish you and your team every luck.

We all know that 'never mind' is not the way to go, but the Thai don't, to change that you have to change a 1000 year old social aspect, and take on Mr T and co. We can't do much more than go with the system and rebel when possible.

Getting back to your original post, maybe you can try and teach her the good habits, mirror, signal, manouver etc. Anything is better than nothing. I know a once pretty young lady, she now has a nice collection of facial scars from a m/c accident, and she STILL won't wear a helmet! It's very difficult to change that sort of attitude.

[p_brownstone]

The practical Driving Test in Thailand constitutes having to safely manoeuver through a series of obstacles set out on a Car Park lot or any other piece of ground convenient to the Police Station which issues the License.

Not surprisingly therefore the majority of Driving Schools here simply replicate the Test set-up and teach their students how to get ‘round the course without incurring a penalty by hitting a cone or whatever.

The end result is that most Thais have obtained their first Licence without ever having seen another car coming towards them at speed, much less learned how to overtake safely etc. etc..

It’s no surprise there are so many accidents – the Student walks out of the Test Centre with the piece of paper and believes he / she can drive a car as well as anyone else on the highway.

Patrick

[thaibebop]

And I thought all the accidents were from drinking.

[ThaiPauly]

In BK a driving license can be bought for 1,000 Baht from the examiner by a Thai regardless of how good (or bad) a driver you are.

its hardly surprising that there are so many accidents when this practice is allowed to go on.!

the only way to stay safe on Thai roads is to treat every other driver as an idiot and to expect the unexpected!!

[RDN]

,,,the only way to stay safe on Thai roads is to treat every other driver as an idiot and to expect the unexpected!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[thaibebop]

In BK a driving license can be bought for 1,000 Baht from the examiner by a Thai regardless of how good (or bad) a driver you are.

its hardly surprising that there are so many accidents when this practice is allowed to go on.!

the only way to stay safe on Thai roads is to treat every other driver as an idiot and to expect the unexpected!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good way to stay young, I guess.

[Neeranam]

the only way to stay safe on Thai roads is to treat every other driver as an idiot and to expect the unexpected!!

The only way to stay safe where I stay is to stay off the road.