Topic Of Relevance.

[Rooo]

I had that article sent to me a while back. It covers British subjects in Thailand. At the time it was posted in the news section, but I refrained from posting it on here , as at the time I thought it was inappropriate due to the loss of a local resident.

As I said this only covers the British figures, would be frightening to see the whole combined figures & the rest of foreign figures for Samui.

http://ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk/en/news/?view=PressR&id=694093882

[itishothere]

Shocking numbers, but not surprising I guess.

"So far this year <November 2011> 17 British nationals have died in road traffic accidents in Thailand ........ On Koh Samui alone there were 7 deaths of British Nationals last year <2010> caused by motorbike accidents."

If 2011 and 2010 are similar, then on that basis, some 40% of the road deaths of British nationals in Thailand were on motorbikes on SAMUI?

[PoorSucker]

If 2011 and 2010 are similar, then on that basis, some 40% of the road deaths of British nationals in Thailand were on motorbikes on SAMUI?

Helmets saves lives.

[Rooo]

Would be interesting if we are able to harness more figures from other consulates / embassies Re their nationals.

Absolutely shocking, not to mention the horrific injuries & their long term impact on the injured & their families.

[itishothere]

So, thinking aloud, if 7 British people died on motorbikes on Samui last year, and, bearing in mind the 'foreigners' on Samui are not only British, then how high could the total number of deaths on this island of foreigners as a whole be?

Now this number could be even more shocking!

Edited December 18, 2011 by itishothere

[Tropicalevo]

I am not sure where I read it, but it was my understanding that in Thailand, they only count it as 'death in a road accident' if the poor person dies at the roadside.

If the victim is alive after the accident, but later succumbs to their injuries. this is not classed as a traffic statistic.

This would mean that the real figures of road deaths are much higher.

(This could be an urban legend though!)

I was always told that on Samui there are 2 - 3 a deaths week on average, but it is almost impossible to get a real number.

Edited December 18, 2011 by Tropicalevo

[insertmembernamehere]

I have been away from Samui but still in Thailand for a number of months and I have to say just being back in Samui that the driving actually makes me uneasy (and I am used to it). Even though Samui is pretty dead for this time of the year (that's a different thread) the people on the roads are very unsafe, and I am not talking about helmets or the lack of them on people's heads. Combine the terrible driving habits of the "locals" with the naive driving of the tourists and throw in roads in the worst condition in the entire country and you have a superior blend for disaster. Also, these little scooters with the small wheels are terrible for these poorly constructed and neglected streets that are eroding away day by day.

You would think that the powers-that-be would want to put out the kill statistics, the actual ones, to scare people into being safer. But of course instead of that logic, we have this retarded view that it's better to let people kill themselves and each other off on the roads because actually revealing the truth would possible keep people from coming to Samui. While that might happen in the short term, it would not take much longer for people to start being safer, for the police (don't laugh) to police and for the number of accidents to fall. But long-term thinking is about as scarce around here as decent club sandwich.

[Boater]

I am not sure where I read it, but it was my understanding that in Thailand, they only count it as 'death in a road accident' if the poor person dies at the roadside.

If the victim is alive after the accident, but later succumbs to their injuries. this is not classed as a traffic statistic.

This would mean that the real figures of road deaths are much higher.

(This could be an urban legend though!)

I was always told that on Samui there are 2 - 3 a deaths week on average, but it is almost impossible to get a real number.

the above is true ........

i think the real number is around 10 deaths per week on samui, maybe more, plus at least 50 accendients, remember not all accendiants are recorded....

[Rooo]

I have been away from Samui but still in Thailand for a number of months and I have to say just being back in Samui that the driving actually makes me uneasy (and I am used to it). Even though Samui is pretty dead for this time of the year (that's a different thread) the people on the roads are very unsafe, and I am not talking about helmets or the lack of them on people's heads. Combine the terrible driving habits of the "locals" with the naive driving of the tourists and throw in roads in the worst condition in the entire country and you have a superior blend for disaster. Also, these little scooters with the small wheels are terrible for these poorly constructed and neglected streets that are eroding away day by day.

You would think that the powers-that-be would want to put out the kill statistics, the actual ones, to scare people into being safer. But of course instead of that logic, we have this retarded view that it's better to let people kill themselves and each other off on the roads because actually revealing the truth would possible keep people from coming to Samui. While that might happen in the short term, it would not take much longer for people to start being safer, for the police (don't laugh) to police and for the number of accidents to fall. But long-term thinking is about as scarce around here as decent club sandwich.

Used 2 have 2 signs, one outside the arrival terminal (old airport ) & one somewhere else I don't recall. These signs had the number of fatalities & used to warn people to beware & wear a helmet.

[koheesti]

I never rode a bike when I lived in Bangrak. It was really inconvenient at times to walk everywhere, or wait, and wait for a songthaew or motorbike taxi. But my list of reasons was for not driving was pretty good, I thought;

* I had never ridden a bike before.

* I have arthritis in my hands and wouldn't be able to grip the handles tight when an emergency came up.4

* The bad conditions of the roads.

* The other drivers - whether just plain bad or just plain drunk.

* I've never driven on the left side of the road before. When I do, I don't want it to be on a tiny motorbike with a speeding cement truck coming the other way.

* Finally, most of the time when I was going someplace I was going to drink. Usually too much.

Add all of those together and I would have been a fool to ride. I've already decided that when I return for my next visit I'm renting a car or truck for when I'm not planning to drink.

I bet most of the expat traffic accidents on Samui are alcohol-related (them or the other person). I'm sure all of us who go out drinking at night have seen people who can barely walk get on a motorbike a drive off. It might not be a bad idea for someone to organize a designated driver service. Multiple pool leagues and social clubs are evidence that the organizational skills are there. How hard would it be, in Bangrak for example, to have a guy each night who was on call hanging out at Premier or M&Ms or wherever until closing time? Or my last trip there we were so drunk we got the driver from the hotel across the street to give us a ride. I have no idea what that cost though and a lot of drunks would probably pass on that.

[BigC]

Shocking numbers, but not surprising I guess.

"So far this year <November 2011> 17 British nationals have died in road traffic accidents in Thailand ........ On Koh Samui alone there were 7 deaths of British Nationals last year <2010> caused by motorbike accidents."

If 2011 and 2010 are similar, then on that basis, some 40% of the road deaths of British nationals in Thailand were on motorbikes on SAMUI?

more than 1 a month dead this year thats just British tourists/expats.

New years police shall be clamping down on drink drivers. they had check points last year pulling people over and breathilizing them.

they do actually do it when u least expect it and bag you up !

[BigC]

I never rode a bike when I lived in Bangrak. It was really inconvenient at times to walk everywhere, or wait, and wait for a songthaew or motorbike taxi. But my list of reasons was for not driving was pretty good, I thought;

* I had never ridden a bike before.

* I have arthritis in my hands and wouldn't be able to grip the handles tight when an emergency came up.4

* The bad conditions of the roads.

* The other drivers - whether just plain bad or just plain drunk.

* I've never driven on the left side of the road before. When I do, I don't want it to be on a tiny motorbike with a speeding cement truck coming the other way.

* Finally, most of the time when I was going someplace I was going to drink. Usually too much.

Add all of those together and I would have been a fool to ride. I've already decided that when I return for my next visit I'm renting a car or truck for when I'm not planning to drink.

I bet most of the expat traffic accidents on Samui are alcohol-related (them or the other person). I'm sure all of us who go out drinking at night have seen people who can barely walk get on a motorbike a drive off. It might not be a bad idea for someone to organize a designated driver service. Multiple pool leagues and social clubs are evidence that the organizational skills are there. How hard would it be, in Bangrak for example, to have a guy each night who was on call hanging out at Premier or M&Ms or wherever until closing time? Or my last trip there we were so drunk we got the driver from the hotel across the street to give us a ride. I have no idea what that cost though and a lot of drunks would probably pass on that.

high cost taxis are add to the problem. If they were bangkok prices people would not need to rent motor bikes. Then again. motor bike renters won't be happy not that there is much money to be made on renting a motor bike out for 200 baht a day when u add up all the expeneses.

[Boater]

I never rode a bike when I lived in Bangrak. It was really inconvenient at times to walk everywhere, or wait, and wait for a songthaew or motorbike taxi. But my list of reasons was for not driving was pretty good, I thought;

* I had never ridden a bike before.

* I have arthritis in my hands and wouldn't be able to grip the handles tight when an emergency came up.4

* The bad conditions of the roads.

* The other drivers - whether just plain bad or just plain drunk.

* I've never driven on the left side of the road before. When I do, I don't want it to be on a tiny motorbike with a speeding cement truck coming the other way.

* Finally, most of the time when I was going someplace I was going to drink. Usually too much.

Add all of those together and I would have been a fool to ride. I've already decided that when I return for my next visit I'm renting a car or truck for when I'm not planning to drink.

I bet most of the expat traffic accidents on Samui are alcohol-related (them or the other person). I'm sure all of us who go out drinking at night have seen people who can barely walk get on a motorbike a drive off. It might not be a bad idea for someone to organize a designated driver service. Multiple pool leagues and social clubs are evidence that the organizational skills are there. How hard would it be, in Bangrak for example, to have a guy each night who was on call hanging out at Premier or M&Ms or wherever until closing time? Or my last trip there we were so drunk we got the driver from the hotel across the street to give us a ride. I have no idea what that cost though and a lot of drunks would probably pass on that.

high cost taxis are add to the problem. If they were bangkok prices people would not need to rent motor bikes. Then again. motor bike renters won't be happy not that there is much money to be made on renting a motor bike out for 200 baht a day when u add up all the expeneses.

i think high taxi costs and no law inforcement is a key factor

no one drives when drunk in the UK, as they face a Driving Ban, massive fine and possible prison ( and if you kill / injure someone while drink driving, that is 5 years !!! ) , so the thought to do is out the window, plus most taxi firms charge 150 THB ( 3 Pounds ) for a txi here upto about 5 kms !, so if you judge the cost here against thailand that should be 50 THB ( which happens in BKK !! )

although it would never happen, if a mini cab company started on samui ( chaweng / Lamai ) charging say a flat fee of 150 THB, there would be loads of profit in the business, plus people would use the service, but 500 THB from green mango to nr tesco is taking the piss,

samui really needs to address the issue, and before posters say , if you dont like it go back to the UK, wait untill you have friends killed , then you will change your tune

[Higgins]

Whatever you choose.... drive slow

[smokie36]

I never rode a bike when I lived in Bangrak. It was really inconvenient at times to walk everywhere, or wait, and wait for a songthaew or motorbike taxi. But my list of reasons was for not driving was pretty good, I thought;

* I had never ridden a bike before.

* I have arthritis in my hands and wouldn't be able to grip the handles tight when an emergency came up.4

* The bad conditions of the roads.

* The other drivers - whether just plain bad or just plain drunk.

* I've never driven on the left side of the road before. When I do, I don't want it to be on a tiny motorbike with a speeding cement truck coming the other way.

* Finally, most of the time when I was going someplace I was going to drink. Usually too much.

Add all of those together and I would have been a fool to ride. I've already decided that when I return for my next visit I'm renting a car or truck for when I'm not planning to drink.

I bet most of the expat traffic accidents on Samui are alcohol-related (them or the other person). I'm sure all of us who go out drinking at night have seen people who can barely walk get on a motorbike a drive off. It might not be a bad idea for someone to organize a designated driver service. Multiple pool leagues and social clubs are evidence that the organizational skills are there. How hard would it be, in Bangrak for example, to have a guy each night who was on call hanging out at Premier or M&Ms or wherever until closing time? Or my last trip there we were so drunk we got the driver from the hotel across the street to give us a ride. I have no idea what that cost though and a lot of drunks would probably pass on that.

high cost taxis are add to the problem. If they were bangkok prices people would not need to rent motor bikes. Then again. motor bike renters won't be happy not that there is much money to be made on renting a motor bike out for 200 baht a day when u add up all the expeneses.

i think high taxi costs and no law inforcement is a key factor

no one drives when drunk in the UK, as they face a Driving Ban, massive fine and possible prison ( and if you kill / injure someone while drink driving, that is 5 years !!! ) , so the thought to do is out the window, plus most taxi firms charge 150 THB ( 3 Pounds ) for a txi here upto about 5 kms !, so if you judge the cost here against thailand that should be 50 THB ( which happens in BKK !! )

although it would never happen, if a mini cab company started on samui ( chaweng / Lamai ) charging say a flat fee of 150 THB, there would be loads of profit in the business, plus people would use the service, but 500 THB from green mango to nr tesco is taking the piss,

samui really needs to address the issue, and before posters say , if you dont like it go back to the UK, wait untill you have friends killed , then you will change your tune

All valid points but I wouldn't get on a bike drunk to ave a couple of hundred Baht. Try finding a taxi in Bangrak late at night!!

[koheesti]

I never rode a bike when I lived in Bangrak. It was really inconvenient at times to walk everywhere, or wait, and wait for a songthaew or motorbike taxi. But my list of reasons was for not driving was pretty good, I thought;

* I had never ridden a bike before.

* I have arthritis in my hands and wouldn't be able to grip the handles tight when an emergency came up.4

* The bad conditions of the roads.

* The other drivers - whether just plain bad or just plain drunk.

* I've never driven on the left side of the road before. When I do, I don't want it to be on a tiny motorbike with a speeding cement truck coming the other way.

* Finally, most of the time when I was going someplace I was going to drink. Usually too much.

Add all of those together and I would have been a fool to ride. I've already decided that when I return for my next visit I'm renting a car or truck for when I'm not planning to drink.

I bet most of the expat traffic accidents on Samui are alcohol-related (them or the other person). I'm sure all of us who go out drinking at night have seen people who can barely walk get on a motorbike a drive off. It might not be a bad idea for someone to organize a designated driver service. Multiple pool leagues and social clubs are evidence that the organizational skills are there. How hard would it be, in Bangrak for example, to have a guy each night who was on call hanging out at Premier or M&Ms or wherever until closing time? Or my last trip there we were so drunk we got the driver from the hotel across the street to give us a ride. I have no idea what that cost though and a lot of drunks would probably pass on that.

high cost taxis are add to the problem. If they were bangkok prices people would not need to rent motor bikes. Then again. motor bike renters won't be happy not that there is much money to be made on renting a motor bike out for 200 baht a day when u add up all the expeneses.

i think high taxi costs and no law inforcement is a key factor

no one drives when drunk in the UK, as they face a Driving Ban, massive fine and possible prison ( and if you kill / injure someone while drink driving, that is 5 years !!! ) , so the thought to do is out the window, plus most taxi firms charge 150 THB ( 3 Pounds ) for a txi here upto about 5 kms !, so if you judge the cost here against thailand that should be 50 THB ( which happens in BKK !! )

although it would never happen, if a mini cab company started on samui ( chaweng / Lamai ) charging say a flat fee of 150 THB, there would be loads of profit in the business, plus people would use the service, but 500 THB from green mango to nr tesco is taking the piss,

samui really needs to address the issue, and before posters say , if you dont like it go back to the UK, wait untill you have friends killed , then you will change your tune

All valid points but I wouldn't get on a bike drunk to ave a couple of hundred Baht. Try finding a taxi in Bangrak late at night!!

I used to wait 30 or more minutes just for a songthaew - during the day.

Last Spring when I was staying near Big Bhudda (on the road to Choeng Mon where the big turn is) I used to walk home from Premier. Fifteen minutes in the dark. On that road with poor lighting and in some places difficult to not walk off the road. It was a real sobering experience being on constant look out for drunk drivers. There was a kid at the market (yes, at midnite) who would ask me if I needed a ride. By that time I was only 5 minutes away so I always said no thanks.

There used to be a motorbike stand next to the old 7-11 that burned down. Did it move permanently? I think those guys have certain areas they are allowed to operate in. I used one guy who was based by The Wave and when he would come pick me up in Bangrak he had to take off his vest to avoid trouble. Anyway, all it takes is one to hang around the bars in Bangrak and he would get more business than he could handle. Keep his phone number with the cashiers who could call him when needed.

[insertmembernamehere]

I am also aware of this "killed on the road only if casualty dies at the scene" idea, but I have not seen any actual proof of this. Whatever the Samui Express or whatever might say is irrelevant. They have zero reliability.

I would think a safe bet is that this is a local urban legend and that at best, death on the road statistics are tacitly suppressed as not to alarm the tourists.

[harrry]

Sad to see the fatality rate is near 10% of accidents....probably more if you count those who die after.

In the west it is less. When I had my accident in australia it took 14 minutes for the ambulance with fully trained people to arrive...seemed like an hour. Here it will take much longer and the people who come are not trained like the fantastic people that helped me.

Pays to be careful out there guys.

[robsamui]

It is safe to assume that Samui is the most dangerous place in the world when it comes to road deaths.

The local govt have been disguising the road deaths here since the early 2000s. The old Community magazine regularly used to report between 25 and 35 deaths a month back then.

In Europe fatalities are measured as a factor of deaths per million inhabitants. The UK, for instance, has 31 per million.

To summarise:

• Road deaths on Samui are now calculated based on fatalities on-site. Victims dying later in hospital not counted.

• In 2000 there was an average of 30 deaths a month on Samui (official figures released each month).

• Now it is stated that Koh Samui has 3-5 deaths each month (using the new way of reporting road deaths).

• In the last ten years the population has almost doubled and there are now 5x more vehicles on Koh Samui.

• Based on ‘official figures’ today Koh Samui currently has 60 deaths per million per year. (Compared to 23 in London.)

• Based on the population and traffic density statistics from 10 years ago Koh Samui has in reality around 700 deaths per million per year (depending on what you estimate the population of Samui to be). This is probably the highest rate of road deaths in the world.

Afhanistan is the world's leader with 390 deaths per million inhabitants. Albania comes-in 2nd with 130 deaths per million. Samui appears to have around 700 deaths per million.

That should trigger a healthy debate

R

Edited December 19, 2011 by robsamui

[Rooo]

These figures I posted, are released by The British Foreign Office.

These only encompass reported deaths to the embassy / consulate I suppose.

As I said I would hate to see the cumulative yearly number.

[robsamui]

I am also aware of this "killed on the road only if casualty dies at the scene" idea, but I have not seen any actual proof of this. Whatever the Samui Express or whatever might say is irrelevant. They have zero reliability.

I would think a safe bet is that this is a local urban legend and that at best, death on the road statistics are tacitly suppressed as not to alarm the tourists.

Sorry Membersname, you are 100% wrong on this one. I remember reading the reports every month. Check the old Community magazine reports on figures released every month from the Nathon police. In the early 2000s it was around 30 deaths a month. No urban legend!

Anyone kept any old Community mags from 9 or 10 years ago??

R

Edited December 19, 2011 by robsamui

[Boater]

an interesting state to know would be

How much do the medical facilties of samui make per year from crashes? ..... as an example an expat who had a crash before and sent back to the uk had a bill of 200K, with an average crash ( 3 day stay ) coming to at least 60-70 K ......

i would probably put it into the 10's of Billions ......

there was a rumour before that the hospitals put a block on any safty campaign ect, as protecting tourists and driving down road crashes will effect a few ' peoples ' bank balances

[Rooo]

This was just forwarded to me regarding the link I posted in original post:

FYI:- Info in the public domain is based on cause of death rather than whether or not they made it to hospital. Thai stats are a different matter as I have no idea how theirs are compiled.

[yorkie100]

It is safe to assume that Samui is the most dangerous place in the world when it comes to road deaths.

The local govt have been disguising the road deaths here since the early 2000s. The old Community magazine regularly used to report between 25 and 35 deaths a month back then.

In Europe fatalities are measured as a factor of deaths per million inhabitants. The UK, for instance, has 31 per million.

To summarise:

• Road deaths on Samui are now calculated based on fatalities on-site. Victims dying later in hospital not counted.

• In 2000 there was an average of 30 deaths a month on Samui (official figures released each month).

• Now it is stated that Koh Samui has 3-5 deaths each month (using the new way of reporting road deaths).

• In the last ten years the population has almost doubled and there are now 5x more vehicles on Koh Samui.

• Based on ‘official figures’ today Koh Samui currently has 60 deaths per million per year. (Compared to 23 in London.)

• Based on the population and traffic density statistics from 10 years ago Koh Samui has in reality around 700 deaths per million per year (depending on what you estimate the population of Samui to be). This is probably the highest rate of road deaths in the world.

Afhanistan is the world's leader with 390 deaths per million inhabitants. Albania comes-in 2nd with 130 deaths per million. Samui appears to have around 700 deaths per million.

That should trigger a healthy debate

R

Rob,

Please divulge the source of the above facts/statistics.

[itishothere]

It is safe to assume that Samui is the most dangerous place in the world when it comes to road deaths.

The lack of reliable - and comparable - statistics is going to make it difficult to prove that statement. But my own feeling is that it is probably fairly accurate.

What shocked me in the report was that 7 Brits died here last year on bikes. I would have guessed 2 or perhaps 3, of which half were local guys working here, and the rest tourists. But no, it was 7. I had no idea it was so high.

But either way, people are here by choice, and are having a good time. I wonder how many realise that they are 10 - 20 times more likely to die on the roads here than if they were at home? OK, that might be 2 times, or 5 times depending on the statistics. Whatever the ratio, it is certainly a lot higher than I ever imagined.

Edited December 19, 2011 by itishothere

[robsamui]

It is safe to assume that Samui is the most dangerous place in the world when it comes to road deaths.

The local govt have been disguising the road deaths here since the early 2000s. The old Community magazine regularly used to report between 25 and 35 deaths a month back then.

In Europe fatalities are measured as a factor of deaths per million inhabitants. The UK, for instance, has 31 per million.

To summarise:

• Road deaths on Samui are now calculated based on fatalities on-site. Victims dying later in hospital not counted.

• In 2000 there was an average of 30 deaths a month on Samui (official figures released each month).

• Now it is stated that Koh Samui has 3-5 deaths each month (using the new way of reporting road deaths).

• In the last ten years the population has almost doubled and there are now 5x more vehicles on Koh Samui.

• Based on ‘official figures’ today Koh Samui currently has 60 deaths per million per year. (Compared to 23 in London.)

• Based on the population and traffic density statistics from 10 years ago Koh Samui has in reality around 700 deaths per million per year (depending on what you estimate the population of Samui to be). This is probably the highest rate of road deaths in the world.

Afhanistan is the world's leader with 390 deaths per million inhabitants. Albania comes-in 2nd with 130 deaths per million. Samui appears to have around 700 deaths per million.

That should trigger a healthy debate

R

Rob,

Please divulge the source of the above facts/statistics or include the link.

Erm . . . which parts! Almost all of it is in the public domain . . .

Info re monthly Samui road deaths as released by Samui police reported in Community Magazine in the early 2000s - personal experience of reading it as being 25-35 a month. (I apologise for stating the year 2000 - now I ponder this it was later, around 2005.)

Info re the way road deaths are measured in Europe - public domain via Google.

Info on deaths in the UK - http://fullfact.org/factchecks/road_safety_speed_limit_road_casualty_statistics-3011

World deaths also Googled http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate

The only really contentious element in the equation is the population of Samui.

This varies from month to month according to the season. As well as the indigenous population (call it something between 50k and 100k?) There are a million tourists here in total each year - and it's this that clouds the equation.

Take the two extremes. Assuming Samui has a population of a million, then as the 'real' total of deaths here in 2005 was an average of 30 per month - 360 per year - then that's 360 killed per million in 2005.

And if we assume Samui has a "population" (including tourists) that averages erm . . . let's say a contentious 250,000 from month to month then the "real" count in 2005 was 1,440 deaths per million.

If we assume that Samui has a "population" of half a million, then that would come out somewhere around 700 per million per year . . . which was where my assertion of "around 700 per million" came from.

The one extreme is this 1440 deaths per million assuming Samui has 250,000 residents at any one period and taking the released figures of 30 deaths a month in 2005.

The other extreme is based on the current way of cataloging road deaths - ie about 3 a month ... 36 a year . . . and a with a population of 250,000 that gives us 144 deaths per million.

The two variables are i) whether you believe that over the last decade Samui's road deaths have suddenly for some reason dropped from a previous average 30 a month six years ago down to now 3 a month and ii) how you decide to calculate the population of Samui!

Whichever way you present the figures, it's an insanely high number in relation to the number of people who are here in any given day, week or month.

R

ps. I had a long email correspondence on this very topic with one of the farang staffers on Samui Gazette (name forgotten now) in 2006 or maybe 2007. My question to him was about why the numbers of road deaths had "dropped" suddenly. His reply was to tell me that they were now being based DORs (dead on the road) whereas previously if they died in hospital this was also included.)

Edited December 19, 2011 by robsamui

[koheesti]

Sad to see the fatality rate is near 10% of accidents....probably more if you count those who die after.

In the west it is less. When I had my accident in australia it took 14 minutes for the ambulance with fully trained people to arrive...seemed like an hour. Here it will take much longer and the people who come are not trained like the fantastic people that helped me.

Pays to be careful out there guys.

I'd be interested in seeing how Thailand stacks up against other countries that use motorbikes as a main form of transportation. Having a fender bender between cars is unlikely to hurt anyone. Hit a bike and you coudl kill someone.

[robsamui]

Sad to see the fatality rate is near 10% of accidents....probably more if you count those who die after.

In the west it is less. When I had my accident in australia it took 14 minutes for the ambulance with fully trained people to arrive...seemed like an hour. Here it will take much longer and the people who come are not trained like the fantastic people that helped me.

Pays to be careful out there guys.

I'd be interested in seeing how Thailand stacks up against other countries that use motorbikes as a main form of transportation. Having a fender bender between cars is unlikely to hurt anyone. Hit a bike and you coudl kill someone.

It occurred to me that this is a highly significant factor. There are no statistics as to what percentage of Samui's registered residents have a motorbike as their means of daily travel. At an educated guess - 95% of them, including ones who are aged 10 years old. Along with a mobile phone some form of transport is a MUST.

If there are even 30,000 motorbikes on Samui - not counting the thousands of rental motorbikes - then that's an immediate recipe for disaster given how many kilometres of road there is. And even more so in a place where there are no enforced laws relating to age, driving licences, road worthiness of the bike, speed, road discipline, number of people on one bike, ridiculously-dangerous loads (like 60-foot bamboo poles between 2 bikes) driving on the wrong side of the road, not using lights at night, not wearing helmets, sobriety or lack of, ownership, registration, tax, insurance . . . the list is never ending . . .

. . . but I'd rather be here than in Europe, where a spot of rust on your fender will get you stopped and fined!

R

Edited December 19, 2011 by robsamui

[smokie36]

Sad to see the fatality rate is near 10% of accidents....probably more if you count those who die after.

In the west it is less. When I had my accident in australia it took 14 minutes for the ambulance with fully trained people to arrive...seemed like an hour. Here it will take much longer and the people who come are not trained like the fantastic people that helped me.

Pays to be careful out there guys.

I'd be interested in seeing how Thailand stacks up against other countries that use motorbikes as a main form of transportation. Having a fender bender between cars is unlikely to hurt anyone. Hit a bike and you coudl kill someone.

It occurred to me that this is a highly significant factor. There are no statistics as to what percentage of Samui's registered residents have a motorbike as their means of daily travel. At an educated guess - 95% of them, including ones who are aged 10 years old. Along with a mobile phone some form of transport is a MUST.

If there are even 30,000 motorbikes on Samui - not counting the thousands of rental motorbikes - then that's an immediate recipe for disaster given how many kilometres of road there is. And even more so in a place where there are no enforced laws relating to age, driving licences, road worthiness of the bike, speed, road discipline, number of people on one bike, ridiculously-dangerous loads (like 60-foot bamboo poles between 2 bikes) driving on the wrong side of the road, not using lights at night, not wearing helmets, sobriety or lack of, ownership, registration, tax, insurance . . . the list is never ending . . .

. . . but I'd rather be here than in Europe, where a spot of rust on your fender will get you stopped and fined!

R

I simply don't understand why the helmet rule is not more rigourously policed as it is in Phuket. Almost everyone uses a helmet there.

[Tropicalevo]

I'd be interested in seeing how Thailand stacks up against other countries that use motorbikes as a main form of transportation. Having a fender bender between cars is unlikely to hurt anyone. Hit a bike and you coudl kill someone.

It occurred to me that this is a highly significant factor. There are no statistics as to what percentage of Samui's registered residents have a motorbike as their means of daily travel. At an educated guess - 95% of them, including ones who are aged 10 years old. Along with a mobile phone some form of transport is a MUST.

If there are even 30,000 motorbikes on Samui - not counting the thousands of rental motorbikes - then that's an immediate recipe for disaster given how many kilometres of road there is. And even more so in a place where there are no enforced laws relating to age, driving licences, road worthiness of the bike, speed, road discipline, number of people on one bike, ridiculously-dangerous loads (like 60-foot bamboo poles between 2 bikes) driving on the wrong side of the road, not using lights at night, not wearing helmets, sobriety or lack of, ownership, registration, tax, insurance . . . the list is never ending . . .

. . . but I'd rather be here than in Europe, where a spot of rust on your fender will get you stopped and fined!

R

I simply don't understand why the helmet rule is not more rigourously policed as it is in Phuket. Almost everyone uses a helmet there.

Helmet wearing is becoming a lot more common on Samui. Though not widespread enough.

Back to Rob's point. Very valid, but I think that 30,000 motorbikes is an underestimate. 50,000 registered voters, over 100,000 temp workers and immigrant workers, xx,000 ex-pats and over a million tourists a year by plane. Then there are the ferries etc. Not forgetting the people who get a motorbike with their job! However, we have no way of really knowing.