Farlang Drivers..Phuket

[Valentine]

One thing I like about farrangs though, is that they will look you in the eye - his eyes said - 'oh my god...i'm an idiot.' Priceless!

True, I find that a major difference. If a Thai makes a mistake in traffic they will look straight ahead and simply ignore you. A lot of foreigners if they make a mistake will acknowledge that and say sorry.

I tend to find Thais burst into giggles when they almost cause an accident. I have witnessed this on many occasions. I suppose it is the embarrassed smile/laugh.

Check this out http://www.thetraveltart.com/thai-smiles-land-of-smiles-good-bad-ugly-and-the-10-in-between/ as it gives some insight into Thai smiles but you are right as I believe the smiling/giggling is a cover for embarrassment.

[Valentine]

Not trying to brand sterotype but the worst farlang drivers seem to be either in a Toyota Vigo or Fortuner drivers.

I think it's a case of monkey see, monkey do because Thai fortuner drivers seem to be oblivious to anyone else on the road.

I agree as bad/impolite Fortuners do not seem to discriminate by race. One of my daughters who has been driving a little over a year now thought Fortuner drivers were bad because they consider themselves to be rich and therefore think can drive how they please without consideration for others. In the smaller car section I am seeing quite a few Jazz drivers, again both foreign & Thai, who fall into the bad/impolite category.

[KarenBravo]

Not trying to brand sterotype but the worst farlang drivers seem to be either in a Toyota Vigo or Fortuner drivers.

I think it's a case of monkey see, monkey do because Thai fortuner drivers seem to be oblivious to anyone else on the road.

Black Fortuners are the worst, white ones slightly better.

[petercallen]

I think its because a lot of farang drivers get there driving license here

and have never driven or held a license in another country

Anyone can pass for there driving license here even if they cannot drive

[Sharp]

You know for the people who have been driving here a while for me 15 yrs as much as it pains me to say it ,the Thai drivers are crazy but i have seen it replicated by Falangs many times, i argued the other day with a falang calling him a @#$%^ idiot and should know better he said sorry but when in Rome ,fair comment i suppose !!!! for me i buckle up and hope i get home safely from my journey we say.

It is wot it is

[Briggsy]

Not trying to brand sterotype but the worst farlang drivers seem to be either in a Toyota Vigo or Fortuner drivers.

I think it's a case of monkey see, monkey do because Thai fortuner drivers seem to be oblivious to anyone else on the road.

Black Fortuners are the worst, white ones slightly better.

I have noticed this too. Why on earth is this? There has to be some psychological correlation between selecting a black Fortuner and/or driving a black Fortuner and aggressive and dangerous driving. There's a phD thesis in there for someone somewhere.

[katabeachbum]

Not trying to brand sterotype but the worst farlang drivers seem to be either in a Toyota Vigo or Fortuner drivers.

I think it's a case of monkey see, monkey do because Thai fortuner drivers seem to be oblivious to anyone else on the road.

Black Fortuners are the worst, white ones slightly better.

I have noticed this too. Why on earth is this? There has to be some psychological correlation between selecting a black Fortuner and/or driving a black Fortuner and aggressive and dangerous driving. There's a phD thesis in there for someone somewhere.

there is defo something about choosing a fortuna or pickup in black, and reflected by most black fortuna drivers

however I see daily terrible farang drivers in all kind of vehicles, and I reckon they are still around cause they get away with it.

Thai bad drivers often are in another world while driving badly. Farang do it on purpose

and yes LiK, we do need another thread on bad driving, the only way to improve traffic safety is publicity. Why do you think traffic casualties are down to 1/3 of what it was a decade ago?

barka, sorry to hear about your partner, hope she will recover swiftly, and who the heck care about spelling

[grumpyoldman]

id rathjer have all the bad drivers in the world than all the farangs writing falang/forang/farong on thaivisa.. at least the first have a chance to have a proper wife

You forgot "farlabg.." lol

classic that thailand who has admitted to forcing motorbike riders over with his vehicle pipes in here, and surprisingly enough throws in a funny !!

I think we should start a thread new words using "farang" (or farlang if you will......not!).

I'll start, a really old foreign woman- farbag.

[barka]

Not trying to brand sterotype but the worst farlang drivers seem to be either in a Toyota Vigo or Fortuner drivers.

I think it's a case of monkey see, monkey do because Thai fortuner drivers seem to be oblivious to anyone else on the road.

Black Fortuners are the worst, white ones slightly better.

I have noticed this too. Why on earth is this? There has to be some psychological correlation between selecting a black Fortuner and/or driving a black Fortuner and aggressive and dangerous driving. There's a phD thesis in there for someone somewhere.

there is defo something about choosing a fortuna or pickup in black, and reflected by most black fortuna drivers

however I see daily terrible farang drivers in all kind of vehicles, and I reckon they are still around cause they get away with it.

Thai bad drivers often are in another world while driving badly. Farang do it on purpose

and yes LiK, we do need another thread on bad driving, the only way to improve traffic safety is publicity. Why do you think traffic casualties are down to 1/3 of what it was a decade ago?

barka, sorry to hear about your partner, hope she will recover swiftly, and who the heck care about spelling

THAKS KBB.. i agree driver Safety is a must,especially with the increased traffic on the roads, and more and more , idiot drivers,both Thai and foreigners

[thaiIand]

thais on motorbike are a lot more dangerous than black fortuners.

Yes the bike won't kill you but they still drive way more dangerously. You may see 2-3 crazy moves per day from a fortuner but how many times per minute do you see a thai on his bike going too slow, passing you by the left at around 1.2km/h faster than you're going (to avoid other bikes blocking your way) when there is a bunch of bikes/cars parked on the left that will make him turn sharply on your front-end if you don't hit the breaks? he'll never look in his miror and stop to let you go. How many times per minutes do you see a motorbike zigzagging in traffic at 10km/h than pulling left, you go on and pass him he decides to turn right again and brake hard then put his flasher without even knowing you almost killed him?

the first example can be applied to those who drive super slowly on the left, they always turn back into the middle to avoid parked cars without regards to oncoming traffic, then you hit the ABS hard and they still have no clue.

Also bikes when turning sharply will go from the far left to the far right, taking up the whole road, dangerous as hell.

million more things. My favorite is when they decide to pass an other motorbike because they are going a whole 2km/h slower than them instead of adjusting. takes about 10km before they finaly pass them thus taking the whole road or while they pass them they decide to take a call and slow down at the adjusted 2km slower speed and zigzag into oncoming traffic.

Edited February 4, 2012 by thaiIand

[katabeachbum]

thais on motorbike are a lot more dangerous than black fortuners.

Yes the bike won't kill you but they still drive way more dangerously. You may see 2-3 crazy moves per day from a fortuner but how many times per minute do you see a thai on his bike going too slow, passing you by the left at around 1.2km/h faster than you're going (to avoid other bikes blocking your way) when there is a bunch of bikes/cars parked on the left that will make him turn sharply on your front-end if you don't hit the breaks? he'll never look in his miror and stop to let you go. How many times per minutes do you see a motorbike zigzagging in traffic at 10km/h than pulling left, you go on and pass him he decides to turn right again and brake hard then put his flashes without even knowing you almost killed him?

the first example can be applied to those who drive super slowly on the left, they always turn back into the middle to avoid parked cars without regards to oncoming traffic, then you hit the ABS hard and they still have no clue.

Also bikes when turning sharply will go from the far left to the far right, taking up the whole road, dangerous as hell.

Th Insurance companies disagree with you. Tunas are expensive to insure. Great vehicles at a low price, but unfortunately attracts maniac drivers

[thaiIand]

difference is thais who break their bike just keep going with no insurance on their old pos.. most motorbike dont even have air in their tires unless they are new.

[grumpyoldman]

And such a practical vehicle..................use very little fuel in start and stop Phuket traffic, and on small Thai Sois leave soooooo much room for all other vehicles.

I'm convinced most of the Tuna drivers have serious Napoleon complexes.

[Shot]

I'm convinced most of the Tuna drivers have serious Napoleon complexes.

[barka]

And such a practical vehicle..................use very little fuel in start and stop Phuket traffic, and on small Thai Sois leave soooooo much room for all other vehicles.

I'm convinced most of the Tuna drivers have serious Napoleon complexes.

OR.Canadia,German,USA,British etc and now.....THE RUSKYS.....[GET OUT OF MY WAY OR ELSE]

[katabeachbum]

And such a practical vehicle..................use very little fuel in start and stop Phuket traffic, and on small Thai Sois leave soooooo much room for all other vehicles.

I'm convinced most of the Tuna drivers have serious Napoleon complexes.

well to be fair, it seats 7 legally and in safety, its a 4x4 great in flooded areas, in the jungle and going all the way home to MIL. It cruises 160kmh at a very relaxing 3000rpm on the highway, it uses same amount of fuel as a honda civic doing all this, and I must have a Napoleon complex since I have had 3 of them.

My favorite color is white tho

[katabeachbum]

And such a practical vehicle..................use very little fuel in start and stop Phuket traffic, and on small Thai Sois leave soooooo much room for all other vehicles.

I'm convinced most of the Tuna drivers have serious Napoleon complexes.

OR.Canadia,German,USA,British etc and now.....THE RUSKYS.....[GET OUT OF MY WAY OR ELSE]

and sooner or later they are in a body shop with front deformated due to rearending or T- boning someone. visit toyota phukets body shop and its crowded by above nationalities waiting to get back in their napoleon seat

[madmitch]

And such a practical vehicle..................use very little fuel in start and stop Phuket traffic, and on small Thai Sois leave soooooo much room for all other vehicles.

I'm convinced most of the Tuna drivers have serious Napoleon complexes.

well to be fair, it seats 7 legally and in safety, its a 4x4 great in flooded areas, in the jungle and going all the way home to MIL. It cruises 160kmh at a very relaxing 3000rpm on the highway, it uses same amount of fuel as a honda civic doing all this, and I must have a Napoleon complex since I have had 3 of them.

My favorite color is white tho

But do you drive with the window opened, suntanned, tattooed arm outside holding a cigarette, left arm steering onto Chalong Circle in front of cars already on the roundabout, totally ignored by the totally ineffective police that hang out there?

[stevenl]

<snip>You may see 2-3 crazy moves per day from a fortuner but how many times per minute do you see a thai on his bike going too slow, passing you by the left <snip>

How many more motorbikes are there than Fortuners? Do the math and you'll see that one Fortuner is a lot more dangerous than one motorbike.

Passing you on the left? So you were not driving on the left hand side of the road then?

[katabeachbum]

And such a practical vehicle..................use very little fuel in start and stop Phuket traffic, and on small Thai Sois leave soooooo much room for all other vehicles.

I'm convinced most of the Tuna drivers have serious Napoleon complexes.

well to be fair, it seats 7 legally and in safety, its a 4x4 great in flooded areas, in the jungle and going all the way home to MIL. It cruises 160kmh at a very relaxing 3000rpm on the highway, it uses same amount of fuel as a honda civic doing all this, and I must have a Napoleon complex since I have had 3 of them.

My favorite color is white tho

But do you drive with the window opened, suntanned, tattooed arm outside holding a cigarette, left arm steering onto Chalong Circle in front of cars already on the roundabout, totally ignored by the totally ineffective police that hang out there?

must admit I pass on all above requirements to not have napoleon complexes. phuu, relieved,

[keestha]

Driving a car in the high season, I am always very cautious about farangs on rented scooters/motorcycles, often their riding style leaves much to be desired, they are not used to traffic like it is here, and many of them are not used to riding on the left, or nor used to riding a motorcycle at all.

As far as Thai drivers are concerned, my experience is that cars with Phuket or Bangkok licence plates have the roughest driving style.

[steelepulse]

<snip>You may see 2-3 crazy moves per day from a fortuner but how many times per minute do you see a thai on his bike going too slow, passing you by the left <snip>

How many more motorbikes are there than Fortuners? Do the math and you'll see that one Fortuner is a lot more dangerous than one motorbike.

Passing you on the left? So you were not driving on the left hand side of the road then?

Only problem with driving in the left hand lane are the cars that are parked there, the samlors that are riding the wrong way, and the delivery vehicles that don't feel the need to actually park out of the road. Besides these obstacles, I always drive in the left lane unless overtaking as the law dictates .

[grumpyoldman]

And such a practical vehicle..................use very little fuel in start and stop Phuket traffic, and on small Thai Sois leave soooooo much room for all other vehicles.

I'm convinced most of the Tuna drivers have serious Napoleon complexes.

well to be fair, it seats 7 legally and in safety, its a 4x4 great in flooded areas, in the jungle and going all the way home to MIL. It cruises 160kmh at a very relaxing 3000rpm on the highway, it uses same amount of fuel as a honda civic doing all this, and I must have a Napoleon complex since I have had 3 of them.

My favorite color is white tho

But do you drive with the window opened, suntanned, tattooed arm outside holding a cigarette, left arm steering onto Chalong Circle in front of cars already on the roundabout, totally ignored by the totally ineffective police that hang out there?

must admit I pass on all above requirements to not have napoleon complexes. phuu, relieved,

no offense intended to you KBB, you're probably in a small percentile of civil Tuna owners.

[katabeachbum]

no offense intended to you KBB, you're probably in a small percentile of civil Tuna owners.

no offence taken, and I know quiet a few decent tuna drivers.

its not the vehicle, its the drivers, and tunas qualities atract some of the bully ones, and often they choose black

in addition as bikers we are more aware of the bullys in tunas, as if they hit us its a major impact, not a tiny yaris

and these days I drive a tiny red car

[grumpyoldman]

no offense intended to you KBB, you're probably in a small percentile of civil Tuna owners.

its not the vehicle, its the drivers, and tunas qualities atract some of the bully ones, and often they choose black

agreed, rarely do you see Mira drivers bulling there way through a circle.......

[BOBBYTIN]

Do we really need another topic about bad driving ??

Thanks for sending me out of the office with a chuckle LIK. Need this just like another hole in the head..........how about a tuk-tuk thread topper!

BTW-can someone tell me what a Farlang is?

is it a box to save lids in. is there a prize. did i win. must say there is a bald headed guy running around in a triton,he drives like a nutter, if you see him coming move out of my way. sorry to here about the accident.

[Valentine]

Italians on motorbikes used to be really bad. They were forever stopping about 3 wide on a corner to have a bit of a chat. As one of the posters said about delivery vehicles parking in the driving lane is quite dangerous to the rest of the traffic but there are numerous instance & variations on this. There is no shoulder to park on so many park in the driving lane to go shopping in Supercheap opposite PTT on Chao Fa West or the ice shop on the same road & of course countless other places. Then we have the big buses turning & parking while a policeman controls the traffic at a commercial establishment opposite Wat Chalong. The same happens on the bypass near Kee Hin along with using the indent of the next U-turn as a truck stop.

Nobody but us seem to care about these dangerous issues yet if they were solved the roads would be much safer & the traffic would flow more smoothly. Another thing about traffic flow, just look at how everybody in the line has to slow down or stop when a rude Fortuner driver pushes in from the outside or inside lane.

[petercallen]

The reason there is a lot more black fortuna drivers who

drive badly is that colour has been around for ever while

white ones have only been available for a couple of years

Give it awhile the white ones will catch up

[LivinginKata]

The reason there is a lot more black fortuna drivers who

drive badly is that colour has been around for ever while

white ones have only been available for a couple of years

Give it awhile the white ones will catch up

Yes, that's what I was thinking. the Fortuna just happens to be one of the most popular SUV's on the road and most are black. Obvious that they will attract more attention as there are so many.

[cgphuket]

In my opinion the bad farang drivers fall (no need to discuss Thai drivers, is there?) into two groups #1 the wealthy expats who simply must have there obnoxious over-sized pick-ups or SUVs (after all, they do add three inches to your penis size, until you step out of the vehicle) who think they should drive like Thais do on motorbikes (cutting in and out, forcing there way into a 3rd lane on a 2 lane road, parking where ever they feel like. and #2, the tourists who cannot even drive a bicycle at home but rent cars and motorbikes here then proceed to go off and drive like complete idiots. This is Phuket, not Koh Samet, this is not a sleepy island where you meander around, people are going somewhere so pay attention and get out of the way. Of the latter group my two favorites are the ones who tool around on there rentals wearing nothing but a bikini brief bathing suit; no shoes, no helmets, no shirt... too hot to wear clothes when you got a belly full of beer. (And people wonder why I have no sympathy when a tourist bites the dust). The second group of tourists are even more amusing to me, these are the boys who rent the 1000cc superbikes (because you really need to go 160mph in Patong), along with the full Kevlar coated racing suits. Tip for these boys, you impress no one as we all no its a rental (you couldn't afford to buy that bike here) and we also know you rented it 30 minutes ago because after one day of boiling in your space suit you will be wearing shorts and flip flops tomorrow.

Yesterday I received a nice laugh from one of the rental warriors; at the intersection of bypass road by tesco a 20-something on a super bike bigger than him tried to impress some girls by popping a wheelie of the red light, and promptly flipped it over in the middle of the intersection. He wasnt hurt badly but fortunately no one had run the red from the other way and turned him into road hamburger.

Now before the hate mail comes (oh, shame, your so judgmental!!!) I realize I will not change anything and this is the way it is here. But seriously, Phuket is not just a beach, people live and work here and most of the island's traffic is not conducive for rapid stop site seeing. Just because you may be on holiday and therefor be immortal and above applying common sense (would you like it if I came to your town and acted like you do here?) I am not and I and my family live here. Others may not value their life but I do and if anyone; Thai, expat, or tourists harms my family due to vehicular stupidity the BIB are the least of their troubles.