Road Safety In Issan

[sezzo]

Yesterday while bringing my young bloke home from school I witnessed an accident involving the car in front of me. We had just turned right at the traffic lights on a minor arterial road in Ubon outside the northern end of the airport near the ring road. The pickup in front of me was travelling about 20 - 30 kph when out from the side of the road came a school kid (about 12 yrs old) on a motorbike (no helmut) straight onto the road in front of the pickup. Naturally he didnt look to see if it was clear and ended up being bounced off the front of the pickup and landed with his motorbike on top of him almost wedged under the car on the opposite side of the road which had stopped to wait for the lights to change. I drove past and noticed that he wasnt moving but looked to have no serious injuries. Hopefully he is ok.

I dont know whether they have a deathwish or just think that they are immortal but no matter who they are or whether they are on a bicycle, motorbike or car they dont have any regard for their own safety or anybody elses. I have just finished a couple of road trips around southern and northern Thailand and I have come to the conclusion that the lack of road safety displayed is at its worst in the Issan area and in particular in and around Ubon. I am constantly on guard and have my head spinning constantly to ensure that I am not going to hit somebody.

I try and ensure that I drive as safely as I can but no matter what I do I am constantly seeing many possible dangerous situations everyday.

[LucidLucifer]

Bad road habits are ingrained in Thais at such a young age.

You have to ask what was he doing on a motorbike on the road at such a young age, with no driver training, no license and of course, no helmet? The blame lays fully at the feet of his parents. I'll never understand why Thais would put their children in danger like this.

I hope he is okay, and he and people close to him learn from the accident.

[DJH77]

Sorry Sezzo, In Mukdahan they are far worse than Ubon and this includes the Car Drivers as well. I have had the opinion for years that Mukdahan has the worst drivers in Thailand, you only have to watch their driving license test, it's like watching the Keystone Cops or Laurel and Hardy, one big laugh.

[happyaussie]

Guys if you want to see bad driving visit Vietnam, or better still India.

I've lived in Thailand for about 8 years and agree that there are some pretty crook drivers and bad habits.

Youth, drugs, alcohol, motorbike = Disaster

But I think Thailand gets a bad rap for it's roads and driving. Overall I think the roads and driving are pretty good.

It's the wired bus drivers and lack of signage for road works which is my greatest fear when driving, especially at night.

[Cuban]

I think you will find that the logic in the child's mind was that he was driving/riding his bike and if his actions were to affect another road user then it was their responsibility to have sounded their horn.

A few years ago I was driving back home after visiting a relative in hospital (motorbike crash - not his fault) with a pick-up full of family, all quite subdued. At a very wide traffic light junction waiting to turn right I saw three kids on motorscooters come up to an pass through a red stop signal on the oncoming carrageway, as my green filter now allowed me to proceed I slowly made my turn knowing that the kids were unaware that they were about to be flattened. I stopped just short and gave a long sustained horn blast to wake them up - maybe it was a lesson in road saftey that they lacked elsewhere?

[cooked]

ehmmm... I just learnt something... these guys are capable of going out into the rice paddies to work with their families and then just walking on past without noticing that their family is there. Alcohol, yes sir. My son in law is drinking with the big guys at the age of 14 and passing out with the big guys for an afternoon... Not much I can do about that at his age I guess.

[sirchai]

Road safety in Isaan.

I've been driving in the lower north east for almost ten years now.Our 13 year old son isn't allowed to use a motorbike to school. I saw so many weird accidents where young people died. Most of them not wearing a helmet. Mirrors are mostly a decoration. Yes, you can see if at a parked motorbike if a girl's driving it.

You can see at the position of the mirrors if a "check her Make Up female" is driving, they don't need to see vehicles behind them. They want to be seen. Fancy lights under guys' bikes make them faster, no head light or rear light needed.

When rescue cars pick the victims up, they throw them onto an old Pick Up truck, no way to help immediately. Many die on the way to a hospital where help isn't really available, especially on weekends.

Songtaews full with school kids and other people are always on the roads in the morning and afternoon.

. Some are sitting on the roof, many are standing on the back. Would the driver have to step on the brake, many would just fall on the road, maybe in front of you.

There's no right before left law, usually the bigger vehicle may drive first. U- turns on highways don't make driving here easier.

But humans are not the only danger here. Buffaloes, cows, dogs, guys on Kubotas, filled up with Lao Khao etc make me wonder why I haven't seen a reindeer on the road yet.

I always drive around with fullest concentration, as I know how many people just can't drive here. A green traffic light isn't enough for me. I double check if there's a red light runner coming from somewhere.

Some bloody photos of nasty accidents would really help a few of them to slow down. Those who drive too fast, or without a helmet, doing other stupid things should have to work at the emergency room of Sisaket hospitals for ten weekends.

They would be more careful afterwards, I'd bet.

Once a Thai had almost caused a serious accident, by doing a red light, when showing him my middle finger, it turned out that he had a gun and he's chasing me and my family. The only good luck we had was that he wasn't familiar with our town and the roads.

The inspections for cars here are a better joke. Even cars with a pollution worse than a nuclear power plant passes.

Those with not functioning brakes, or other huge problems do get the sticker as well. 200 baht fix the problem. Driver's license isn't needed. But no problem, if there's a police control, they know that they'll have to pay 200 baht. The license is almost the same price.

Seat belts are not necessary, as there are mostly no air bags inside. Makes perfect sense, right?

When you see three on a motorbike, driver wearing something like a cup, a girl holding a baby in front of the secured driver, you might start to think. But that disappears after so many years seeing that.

To be perfectly honest, it's -again- a lack of education. Better people here lose face than lives.----

Edited July 31, 2012 by sirchai

[jamescollister]

Can't blame people for riding 3 or 4 up on a Honda wave, if they had the money they would buy a car.

Road law like any other systems take time to get excepted, Remember in my younger days in Australia, we would say things like he was so drunk we had to carry him to his car.

When some of us were kids watching a man walk on the moon, many Thais had not seen a car.

So before anyone gets to high and mighty about how bad things are, think back to your own countries and the road deaths that occurred, before we were forced to conform to tougher and tougher road rules. Jim

[elwood]

Can't blame people for riding 3 or 4 up on a Honda wave, if they had the money they would buy a car.

Road law like any other systems take time to get excepted, Remember in my younger days in Australia, we would say things like he was so drunk we had to carry him to his car.

When some of us were kids watching a man walk on the moon, many Thais had not seen a car.

So before anyone gets to high and mighty about how bad things are, think back to your own countries and the road deaths that occurred, before we were forced to conform to tougher and tougher road rules. Jim

Nice post Jim, think you just about summed it all up neatly, especially the first sentence; would be nice if a few more car/truck-owning expats understood why the bikes are overladen with passengers and gear.

Although I frequently mutter a few curses when out riding or driving, as my wife would confirm, I have actually been in countries where driving standards are even worse.

Wish the daft buggers would wear crash hats on the bikes though; scares me when I see family members and friends ignoring them.

[NBD]

I hope he is okay, and he and people close to him learn from the accident.

This is the sad thing. Of course I do hope that given 12 year old boy is ok, and that he learns from it.

However a dark part of me, when I see one of these totally avoidable accidents, always thinks I hope that idiot dies and then the people around him might learn something. Or at least if he wipes himself out on someone else's car, or better yet a wall or a lamp post, it's one less moron who might well hit me.

Accidents happen, concentration lapses, misjudgments are made. But some of the idiotic things that you see daily here fall into none of those categories. Rather they are born of an inane, unthinking stupidity that cares nothing for their own lives or those around them, and as one of those around them I can only be glad mine was spared on this occasion.

If you'd told me 5 years ago I would think like this then I'd have been offended. I'd have thought it impossible. But if they care so little for their own lives, why should I care?

[soidog2]

My wife went to a driving school in Korat.

Prior I was teaching her on my car, always drilling, look in the mirrors and signal before you turn.

The Thai instructor told her to turn into intersections without looking!

He said " if she looked she will be to scared to turn! Let the oncoming drivers wory about it"

Now you know why it looks like Thai drivers have a death wish.

They are taught to drive that way, I am not making this up.

[happyaussie]

When teaching my wife around Loei we got stopped by police and were told that as a learner she was not allowed on the roads. She should learn in school grounds or temple.

There are also driving schools in parks where they replicate the exact driving test and teach people the usual half a dozen maneuvers. People pass without ever having to drive on the road.

[SantiSuk]

The one thing that really gets to me is, when you signal to turn right, chances are that a motorbike (usually a boy with his mate of either sex on the back) will totally ignore that and try to get round you before you effect the right turn. I've saved at least 4 bad accidents or worse by rechecking my mirror before turning the wheel.

Makes me so angry, I started out wanting to nudge out to give them a fright, but now I accept it and just make sure I take care for them. I am a so much better driver than I was before I started driving in Thailand 7 or so years ago. In a way I enjoy driving here more because of the concentration and skill needed to keep self and to some extent others safe. I'm just dreading that almost inevitable day when something nasty is unavoidable however.

PS - and add Iran and Turkey to the list of places that are even more mental than Thialand.

Edited August 1, 2012 by SantiSuk

[Huayrat]

No road safety, no brain, no neck muscles. no f all... Been around the world and they r the dumbest road users by far... Everyday i see stupid things

[jamescollister]

The one thing that really gets to me is, when you signal to turn right, chances are that a motorbike (usually a boy with his mate of either sex on the back) will totally ignore that and try to get round you before you effect the right turn. I've saved at least 4 bad accidents or worse by rechecking my mirror before turning the wheel.

Makes me so angry, I started out wanting to nudge out to give them a fright, but now I accept it and just make sure I take care for them. I am a so much better driver than I was before I started driving in Thailand 7 or so years ago. In a way I enjoy driving here more because of the concentration and skill needed to keep self and to some extent others safe. I'm just dreading that almost inevitable day when something nasty is unavoidable however.

PS - and add Iran and Turkey to the list of places that are even more mental than Thialand.

You are right on the concentration thing, when driving here you aware of all that is happening all around you, defensive driving at it's best. Think how many years of driving in OZ and the UK, to and from work and was on auto pilot, never looked back when turning right nor checked the intersection when going through a green light. If I drove like that here there would be bodies and wrecks laying in my wake. Jim

[MobileContent]

1) Last week a young adult died next to our village in a motorbike crash

2) Last week the teacher of my Mrs died in a car accident with his friend (police) after a night out at Tawan Deng

3) Two month ago my neighbor was drunk on Lao Khao and hit a motor-bike driver who died on the spot

All in all about 8 people died this year in and around my village on road accidents.

[stoneyboy]

1) Last week a young adult died next to our village in a motorbike crash

2) Last week the teacher of my Mrs died in a car accident with his friend (police) after a night out at Tawan Deng

3) Two month ago my neighbor was drunk on Lao Khao and hit a motor-bike driver who died on the spot

All in all about 8 people died this year in and around my village on road accidents.

They were meant to die,in the eyes of the locals.

[JurgenG]

When I was a 14, I used to belong to a moped gang. All our motorcycles were modified to go as fast as possible and to make as much noise as possible. Traffic rules, like any other rules, were made to be broken. The only explanation I can find we all made it to adulthood is it seems god has a special affection for idiots.

Everywhere in the world, kids will always be kids. Honestly with teenagers, I don't know what is best, to know where they are and what they do or not to know and hope that statistically they should make it.

Edited August 2, 2012 by JurgenG

[retiredaamt]

Thai thinking is "Me First". All others must observe by turn signal and allow me to cut them off. As for small children on motorbikes with mom and dad and no helmet, "they can be replaced".

[fatfather]

No road safety, no brain, no neck muscles. no f all... Been around the world and they r the dumbest road users by far... Everyday i see stupid things

There are far worse countries than Thailand, you seem to have travelled only the first world. Thais believe in reincarnation!!! So do the Chinese, the Indians......

Fatfather

Sent from my HTC Desire HD A9191 using Thaivisa Connect App

[cardholder]

Can't blame people for riding 3 or 4 up on a Honda wave, if they had the money they would buy a car.

Road law like any other systems take time to get excepted, Remember in my younger days in Australia, we would say things like he was so drunk we had to carry him to his car.

When some of us were kids watching a man walk on the moon, many Thais had not seen a car.

So before anyone gets to high and mighty about how bad things are, think back to your own countries and the road deaths that occurred, before we were forced to conform to tougher and tougher road rules. Jim

Nice post Jim, think you just about summed it all up neatly, especially the first sentence; would be nice if a few more car/truck-owning expats understood why the bikes are overladen with passengers and gear.

Although I frequently mutter a few curses when out riding or driving, as my wife would confirm, I have actually been in countries where driving standards are even worse.

Wish the daft buggers would wear crash hats on the bikes though; scares me when I see family members and friends ignoring them.

Sorry, but breaking the law (and more importantly safety standards) is no excuse for not being able to afford a car. When I couldn't afford a car I rode a bicycle (never with 3 up though !!).

[jamescollister]

Can't blame people for riding 3 or 4 up on a Honda wave, if they had the money they would buy a car.

Road law like any other systems take time to get excepted, Remember in my younger days in Australia, we would say things like he was so drunk we had to carry him to his car.

When some of us were kids watching a man walk on the moon, many Thais had not seen a car.

So before anyone gets to high and mighty about how bad things are, think back to your own countries and the road deaths that occurred, before we were forced to conform to tougher and tougher road rules. Jim

Nice post Jim, think you just about summed it all up neatly, especially the first sentence; would be nice if a few more car/truck-owning expats understood why the bikes are overladen with passengers and gear.

Although I frequently mutter a few curses when out riding or driving, as my wife would confirm, I have actually been in countries where driving standards are even worse.

Wish the daft buggers would wear crash hats on the bikes though; scares me when I see family members and friends ignoring them.

Sorry, but breaking the law (and more importantly safety standards) is no excuse for not being able to afford a car. When I couldn't afford a car I rode a bicycle (never with 3 up though !!).

Used to as they say in OZ, dink friends on a push bike, so should have been heavily fined or jail for such disregard for safety. This is not the west where sheepeople comply with ever trivial regulation, Time and living standards will change how things are done.

Do you really think if the wheel came off in the UK, no money, no welfare and nothing to lose, that people would not be riding around 3 or 4 up on a Honda.

Of course the Thai Government could crack down and lock up 4 or 6 million penniless Thais for riding badly. Jim

[transam]

In LOS the culture on the roads is ''F.......You, l am first so you avoid''. I talk with the mrs all the time about stupid stuff l deal with on the road, and l get the same answer.

In Ubon they are spending lots on road junction lights but folk are ignoring them and being killed via their ignorance.

[jamescollister]

In LOS the culture on the roads is ''F.......You, l am first so you avoid''. I talk with the mrs all the time about stupid stuff l deal with on the road, and l get the same answer.

In Ubon they are spending lots on road junction lights but folk are ignoring them and being killed via their ignorance.

Seem to remember, many years ago that there were road safety classes and schools took kids to road safety training grounds. It all starts with education and round here the kids play on swings and slides that I bought years ago. School budgets just don't cover the extras that western kids have [yet] When the money is there, things will change, but it will be the next generation that will lean. You can't jump straight from a peasant rural society to the 21st century over night. Jim

[transam]

In LOS the culture on the roads is ''F.......You, l am first so you avoid''. I talk with the mrs all the time about stupid stuff l deal with on the road, and l get the same answer.

In Ubon they are spending lots on road junction lights but folk are ignoring them and being killed via their ignorance.

Seem to remember, many years ago that there were road safety classes and schools took kids to road safety training grounds. It all starts with education and round here the kids play on swings and slides that I bought years ago. School budgets just don't cover the extras that western kids have [yet] When the money is there, things will change, but it will be the next generation that will lean. You can't jump straight from a peasant rural society to the 21st century over night. Jim

They manage their new iphones OK, l can't.

[jamescollister]

In LOS the culture on the roads is ''F.......You, l am first so you avoid''. I talk with the mrs all the time about stupid stuff l deal with on the road, and l get the same answer.

In Ubon they are spending lots on road junction lights but folk are ignoring them and being killed via their ignorance.

Seem to remember, many years ago that there were road safety classes and schools took kids to road safety training grounds. It all starts with education and round here the kids play on swings and slides that I bought years ago. School budgets just don't cover the extras that western kids have [yet] When the money is there, things will change, but it will be the next generation that will lean. You can't jump straight from a peasant rural society to the 21st century over night. Jim

They manage their new iphones OK, l can't.

Think if you think back when your family first got a video player, it was the kids who had to show the parents how to program it. Have a 3 year old who is a wizz on an Ipad, she has to show me how to use it. We are dinosaurs born into a world of constant change.

When I first bought a TV here, the village would sit in the street and watch, that was 8 or 9 years ago. Now most stilt homes have there own. I can't keep up, so how do they have a chance. Jim

[McMagus]

When I was a 14, I used to belong to a moped gang. All our motorcycles were modified to go as fast as possible and to make as much noise as possible. Traffic rules, like any other rules, were made to be broken. The only explanation I can find we all made it to adulthood is it seems god has a special affection for idiots.

Everywhere in the world, kids will always be kids. Honestly with teenagers, I don't know what is best, to know where they are and what they do or not to know and hope that statistically they should make it.

I agree, when I was about 15, I was riding a BSA around at night without lights so the cops wouldn't catch us ... and...there is the rub. We knew we were doing dopey stuff (we were young boys, n'uff said), BUT we also knew the cops would crucify us if caught. Since then, I have grown up. 'There are old riders and there are bold riders, but there are no old bold riders', is a true statement. I've worked as an advanced motorcycle rider trainer with Oz governments so I know a little about road craft and bike riding in particular. Thai and most Asians (no I am not racist, only observant) are possibly the worst drivers I have ever witnessed. The concepts of forward vision, entry / exit points/ following distances / flexible gearing .. jeeez I could go on forever... are completely unknown. I guess it is a combination of zero education, zero policing and a cavalier attitude to life in general. I no longer take buses here and use planes when I can. I try not to get angry, only when their stupidity endangers my life. Needless to say I never ride big bikes here... risks are just too much and, ...... I have a high death threshold.

[happyaussie]

When I was a 14, I used to belong to a moped gang. All our motorcycles were modified to go as fast as possible and to make as much noise as possible. Traffic rules, like any other rules, were made to be broken. The only explanation I can find we all made it to adulthood is it seems god has a special affection for idiots.

Everywhere in the world, kids will always be kids. Honestly with teenagers, I don't know what is best, to know where they are and what they do or not to know and hope that statistically they should make it.

I agree, when I was about 15, I was riding a BSA around at night without lights so the cops wouldn't catch us ... and...there is the rub. We knew we were doing dopey stuff (we were young boys, n'uff said), BUT we also knew the cops would crucify us if caught. Since then, I have grown up. 'There are old riders and there are bold riders, but there are no old bold riders', is a true statement. I've worked as an advanced motorcycle rider trainer with Oz governments so I know a little about road craft and bike riding in particular. Thai and most Asians (no I am not racist, only observant) are possibly the worst drivers I have ever witnessed. The concepts of forward vision, entry / exit points/ following distances / flexible gearing .. jeeez I could go on forever... are completely unknown. I guess it is a combination of zero education, zero policing and a cavalier attitude to life in general. I no longer take buses here and use planes when I can. I try not to get angry, only when their stupidity endangers my life. Needless to say I never ride big bikes here... risks are just too much and, ...... I have a high death threshold.

The fact that the west has become so sanitized is one of the reasons I choose not to live there. When I was a kid in OZ we'd go on holidays sitting in the back of a station wagon or even more fun, a ute. Now you can't scratch yourself without being fined or some twit saying your breaching OHS. One good example of over regulation is the main Sydney to Newcastle motorway. It's speed limit is slower now than it was when it was built in the early 70's.

Two or three on a motor bike isn't overly dangerous if ridden carefully.

If you think Thailand is dangerous visit Vietnam. 90% of bikes don't even have mirrors and there is total disregard for other vehicles. Riding 3 abreast covering one lane is normal practice. Fortunately the roads are bad and they ride slowly. So not as many deaths, but plenty of accidents. I know, because I've lived there for 2 years.

[sirchai]

When I was a 14, I used to belong to a moped gang. All our motorcycles were modified to go as fast as possible and to make as much noise as possible. Traffic rules, like any other rules, were made to be broken. The only explanation I can find we all made it to adulthood is it seems god has a special affection for idiots.

Everywhere in the world, kids will always be kids. Honestly with teenagers, I don't know what is best, to know where they are and what they do or not to know and hope that statistically they should make it.

I guess you're talking about Germany, right? We also had our Moped gang, drove like we'd never die. Even 1978, when I had my first big bike, there was no law to wear a helmet. And I didn't wear one until 1980

Driving 180km/h, chasing my friends, or they chasing was normal. Ghost Riders KT had lost many members through serious accidents.

But this was many years ago and we do know now that helmets help a lot, that driving drunk is very dangerous and much more. Germany has one of the best rescue and emergency systems. If they can't make it within 10 minutes, they'll pick you up by helicopter.

A huge difference getting picked up by a "Rescue car" in LOS brought to a hospital with no doctor around.

[rct99q]

As with others wish for the young boy to be okay and have a speedy recovery.

It always seems that road safety and drivers education in Thailand is a popular subject among westerners. I have more faith in riding on the back of my bike with my 11 year old son driving than I would any western person currently living in Thailand. Why? Believe it or not there is a system to how they drive. It is an awareness that is impossible to understand unless you were born or raised here from an early age. I drive all sorts of vehicles here and never once have been close to having an accident. WHY? My son taught me how to drive!

Do young kids do stupid things, yes. Do they make mistakes, yes. Do these mistakes sometimes take a life, yes.

Have lived in Canada, US, UK, Ireland, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Morocco and Thailand. The worst drivers were from the US and the UK, hands down. As one poster mentioned one of the reasons they moved here was to escape all the rules and regulations the west has in place. Most non Thais living here do so because it is inexpensive. There are many other factors but this is one I hear all the time. If you start to, as they say, "sanitize" this country with all these little rules then you will have a country that resembles the US, Canada or UK ,cost wise, only warmer.

As for breaking the law or safety standards. When you do not have any money it certainly is acceptable (in my opinion). Some families here have NO money and what little they MAY have comes from items they can sell or find or fix and re sell at local markets. Without this income they have no food, no shelter, nothing. So I will excuse them if they do not meet your idea of health and safety from some North American handbook.