British Embassy Hopes To Raise Awareness Of The Dangers Of Driving In Thailand

[hawker9000]

Neither as a victim in need of serious medical attention nor as a driver in an accident involving personal injury or property damage to Thais (no matter who's at fault) would I want to be involved in driving myself in Thailand. Just a risk factor that holiday-makers don't need. Public & private transportation is just too available and too cheap. Expats who live there, have accumulated a lot of road experience, have the appropriate insurance, and can handle themselves with police, claims, and local Thais are a different story.

[Andre0720]

Part of the problem is that there is no education on how to drive for thais... But they want us to have an international drivers liences and to follow what we are taught... But this only works if the other 90% of the domestic drivers that are on the roads have the same learning... Thais just dont care about the consequinces of there actions... Dont think its just Thais either... Farang come here and think that renting and driving moped is so easy, but they need to understand that we at home don't drive them and dont have the expeience on them...

''Thais just dont care about the consequences of their actions... ''

That I fully agree with.

The rest of it, not too sure.

Most of the thais I see on the road drive well. They drive so well that most of them survive driving up and down Chao Fa road at very excessive speeds, with no consideration of road rules, of other people using the same roads, overtaking and undertaking(sic) other vehicles, Traffic lights are merely insignificant colored lights. One place in the world where driving through a green light without looking both ways, is more dangerous than driving through a red light after having looked both ways.

It is merely UNDISCIPLINED driving, nothing less.

And these undisciplined good drivers know that they will get away with it 100% of the time.

Just no fear of possible consequences from thai authorities, because there are none.

The only reality checks are accidents and visits to the hospital, for those who survive.

[mistephenso]

50mg of alcohol per 100ml blood........

This one would make a hell of a cocktail!

No wonder there are so many accidents

Don't understand your reasoning as this is just over half that allowable in England or 1 pint of beer or less!!!

Sorry SICHONSTEVE, laughing hopefully not at you but with you, when you realize that 50 mg alcohol per 100 ml blood would actually mean that your alcohol level would be 50%!!!

"A bit" more than the 0,5 it should be and the 0,8 of the UK

No it wouldn't...?! How about you go look up the legal 'drink driving' limits in the UK?

What SichonSteve is saying is correct. The legal limit in the UK is 80 'milligrammes' of alcohol per 100 'millilitres' of blood. And that certainly does NOT mean that someone's alcohol 'level' would be 80% of anything! What do you mean by that anyway - milligrammes and millilitres are two completely different measurements.

And remind me not to let eddie61 make my cocktails if I want to get hammered as well...

Edited November 16, 2012 by mistephenso

[WildChilli]

"An international or Thai driving licence is required to drive in Thailand."

Here we go again?

You forgot to add OR 200 baht

[QED]

50mg of alcohol per 100ml blood........

This one would make a hell of a cocktail!

No wonder there are so many accidents

Don't understand your reasoning as this is just over half that allowable in England or 1 pint of beer or less!!!

Sorry SICHONSTEVE, laughing hopefully not at you but with you, when you realize that 50 mg alcohol per 100 ml blood would actually mean that your alcohol level would be 50%!!!

"A bit" more than the 0,5 it should be and the 0,8 of the UK

No it wouldn't...?! How about you go look up the legal 'drink driving' limits in the UK?

What SichonSteve is saying is correct. The legal limit in the UK is 80 'milligrammes' of alcohol per 100 'millilitres' of blood. And that certainly does NOT mean that someone's alcohol 'level' would be 80% of anything! What do you mean by that anyway - milligrammes and millilitres are two completely different measurements.

And remind me not to let eddie61 make my cocktails if I want to get hammered as well...

Haha, this one gave me a laugh too, especially that they are so confident in what they say, and everyone else is soooo stupid.

Even if you could put it in %age terms, which is not really relevant, 50mg = 0.05 grams. 100ml of blood weighs (approx) 100 grams (100ml of water does, suspect blood is slightly heavier). In simplistic weight terms that equals 0.05%, not 5% or 50%!

Indeed you would need to drink several bodies worth of blood at that strength to get wasted, maybe just use as a mixer?

Sorry besth, laughing at you, not with you

Edited November 17, 2012 by QED

[thewug]

Part of the problem is that there is no education on how to drive for thais... But they want us to have an international drivers liences and to follow what we are taught... But this only works if the other 90% of the domestic drivers that are on the roads have the same learning... Thais just dont care about the consequinces of there actions... Dont think its just Thais either... Farang come here and think that renting and driving moped is so easy, but they need to understand that we at home don't drive them and dont have the expeience on them...

''Thais just dont care about the consequences of their actions... ''

That I fully agree with.

The rest of it, not too sure.

Most of the thais I see on the road drive well. They drive so well that most of them survive driving up and down Chao Fa road at very excessive speeds, with no consideration of road rules, of other people using the same roads, overtaking and undertaking(sic) other vehicles, Traffic lights are merely insignificant colored lights. One place in the world where driving through a green light without looking both ways, is more dangerous than driving through a red light after having looked both ways.

It is merely UNDISCIPLINED driving, nothing less.

And these undisciplined good drivers know that they will get away with it 100% of the time.

Just no fear of possible consequences from thai authorities, because there are none.

The only reality checks are accidents and visits to the hospital, for those who survive.

You play with fire long enough,You will get BURNT...

[impulse]

I find that one of the biggest problem with driving in Thailand is that VERY FEW Thai actually know the driving laws and how most of them even got a license is beyond me.

That's like saying that the reason for corruption in any government is that government officials don't know the rules.

Or that the reason for a high murder rate is that people don't know you're not allowed to kill someone.

They all know the rules.

The reason for traffic carnage, corruption and a high crime rate is consequences. The (perceived) consequences of breaking the rules are more favorable than the consequences of following the rules.

The only thing(s) that will change the traffic statistics is improved road design and enforcement of the laws. Just like the only thing that will reduce corruption is a government framework that makes the consequences of participating in corruption less favorable than the consequences doing the right thing.

Good luck with either of those... anywhere in the developing world.

Edited November 17, 2012 by impulse

[jcw]

Where can you buy a real helmet in Thailand, that is stronger than a Tuperware salad bowl?

[impulse]

Where can you buy a real helmet in Thailand, that is stronger than a Tuperware salad bowl?

A couple of good leads...

You may not need the XL size, but some of the places mentioned have a wide selection.

[Ferangled]

What really bugs me is the hypocritical way the police treat the driving laws. They all pile out every day for a couple of hours at the beginning and end of the school day. They help millions of kids get to and from school riding their motorcye WITHOUT WEARING CRASH HELMETS.

Later in the day they then set up checkpoints and start to enforce the helmet law...

In Surin at least they may have had some good effect as most kids now wear helmets. Many very young kids still ride bikes obviously without either training or licences.

So true, before I realised that riding motorbikes in Thailand equates to suicide, I actually carried a photo of a policeman riding without his helmet on my phone in case I got pulled over... I then grew up and started putted my family first, sold the 2 wheeled death trap and never looked back.

Before I came to Thailand a dead body was a very rare sight for me, having travelled the world widely for my profession I rarely came into contact with human mortality. In one single spot in Phuket I have seen 4 fatalities, severed limbs etc. There is an accident there weekly. This is on a straight bit of ride with a slight hill. I have lost count of the number of accidents I have witnessed here on the roads.

Another telling personal statistic for me is the number of people I actually personally knew out here who have recently died in road accidents... one neighbour, guy from cricket club, neighbour's maid, guy from local bar, wife's cousin, local family's son, one work colleague and wife's hairdresser. 25 years in the UK and I knew only one person that died as a result of a road accident.

When you take to the roads here expect the unexpected. It's not your driving you should worry about, it's everyone else's Drive like you would in the West and eventually you will come a cropper. When you pull out of a junction, don't just look both ways, look in the sky, look behind you, expect motorbike riders to regularly try to kill themselves by ramming your pickup from all angles, they will!

Now this is probably going to spark some controversy but I think religion has a lot to do with the bad attitude to driving safety and road awareness in Thailand. Every time someone dies here it is accepted so readily as "his time", "it was meant be" etc It's like hey I know he was driving drunk, twice the speed limit on the wrong side of the road but what will be will be and it must have just been his time to move on a come back as a butterfly... madness. Rant over.

Edited November 17, 2012 by Ferangled

[metisdead]

An off topic post has been removed as well as a reply.

[cup-O-coffee]

An off topic post has been removed as well as a reply.

Nah! I just think you wanted to be the first one to page 5. hehe.

[Kilgore Trout]

hahahaha, maybe if the thai drivers actually knew the road rules or had a license it might be better. Considering most thai drivers only care about themselves and what they want to do, trying to drive by the rules here is almost impossible. Double lines on a blind corner mean go fast when you cross over them, the cars coming the other way will go off the road for you, what a joke. I have to admit though, I am getting used to it but it would be nice if they understood they need to stop at red lights.

What rules would that be? To have a good chance of avoiding accidents driving in Thailand, you need to drive defensively all the time and use a lot of common sense. There are around 13000 Thais dying on Thai roads every year probably mostly through drink driving and a severe lack of common sense, which we all know Thais are not known for.

Because they are not taught how to drive properly.If they are taught the rules andfollow them there would be alot less accidents...

Its not that they aren't taught...the ones that obtain their licenses on the up and up are trained. The course (aside from a few abnormalities) is really not that bad.

It comes down to accountability. If you know that you won't be held responsible for your actions then why follow the rules? Do what is convenient for you, as you know nothing will be done about it. At worst you might have to pay 1 or 2 hundred baht Thats the crux of the problem.

Run a red light and you pay 8,000 baht, no exceptions, no bribes. That's why there are less accidents in the west. Has nothing to do with "Thai thinking" in this case.

Consistently enforce the rules with heavy penalties and people will follow them. But we know that will never happen

[soomak]

Just to correct a small point, if I may, actually there are about 35,000 people dying on Thai roads every year. The rest is 100% correct

Where did you get this number?

Here it says 12,500 per year (2009 figures), although it could be that they don't report or count properly.

[comserve]

Something to take heart from is at least on this subject the Embasy is prepared to acknowledge that this is a high risk countr for road users but I note from the tone that ther is little critism of the driving standards here .It is the visitors lack of ability /knowledge that is the main culprit. Yeah Right !

Although much of this UK report is sanctimonious motherhood, having ridden a large motorcycle in the UK & much of the continent I rank the UK as one of the most hazzardous places to drive or ride.

In Thailand & Italy the only road rules obeyed are stopping at a red light. This makes the driver very wary of other drivers on the road.

The biggest danger in the UK is the conservatism of the other driver and coming across roundabouts which are not recognisable as roundablots because they are so small. Also in the UK the number of times I have been almost caught out by the driver in front stopping at a pedestrian crossing because they thought the pedestrian was going to cross the road at a crossing (ie a driver stopping because a pedestrian was within 10 metres of a crossing). You certainly do not have that problem in Thailand.

In fact the biggest danger you face is being rear ended because you DO stop for a pedestrian on a crossing!

Italy was quite exciting to drive in because of the unpredictability of the other drivers!

Now I go by the addage, when in Thailand, do as the Thais do (almost)!

[impulse]

Just to correct a small point, if I may, actually there are about 35,000 people dying on Thai roads every year. The rest is 100% correct

Where did you get this number?

Here it says 12,500 per year (2009 figures), although it could be that they don't report or count properly.

I don't know what the real number is, but Thailand does count differently than the UN accepted method. They only count those who die at the scene.

That begs the questions:

Are the personnel that typically arrive at the scene authorized to pronounce a death?

How many are really dead, but they make every effort to get them to the hospital out of caution?

How many die on their way to the hospital?

How many die subsequently from their injuries?

The more widely accepted count is those that die within 30 days from injuries sustained in the accident.

Edited November 17, 2012 by impulse

[Andre0720]

During his recent visit to Thailand, the UK Foreign Secretary Mr William Hague raised road safety with his counterpart , Thai Foreign Minister Dr Surapong Tovichakchaikul. The UK stands ready to share its experience in achieving one of the best road safety records in the world, and would be happy to support Thailand in this area.

Excuse me Mr UK Foreign Secretary but Thailand does not need any help from any foreign country for any situation. I.E. the USA sending a fleet to assist during last years floods that killed 900+ Thai citizens. They were told to go away, we don't need you.

You may even hear the statement "The UK is not our father".

What the fark? You absolute..... insert profanity here

On the one hand the USA offers help for the flooding and you claim 'we dont need you' but in the same sentance declare that 900 people died?

And the UK having one of the best road safety records in the world - offers advice to one of the most dangerous countries in the world for driving.... Free, impartial advice.... And you speak on beahlf of the Thai people and state they dont need help?

You are totaly and utterly off your rocker. Have another beer, keyboard warrior.

Wow sir how in this world did you come up with this rant? Everything I said in my post was true. US sent ships to assist during the floods..........rejected, told to leave. Fact that 900+ Thai citizens died as a resut of the flood. You need to read more carefully sir and read between the lines of my last statement. Of course the Thais need a lot of help but the current government cannot admit it. They have it all under control.

By the way just a suggestion but you might consider being a little less agressive in insulting people with personal attacks in your posts. This a friendly forum and even though some of us disagree on different things we don't personally attack each other. Not nice to do this my friend.

Gotcha... My bad, In hindsight it seems you were being sarcastic and I read your post wrongly.

On another note however, I will insult whoever I like, whenever I like. This forum is full of absolute idiots wo need insulting on a regular basis.

As much as I agree with you that some absolute idiots take part in these fora, insulting them does not create an ambiance of decorum. Actually it appears that I am one of them for some people. And these people appear like idiots to me.

But I do find it refreshing that some people are able to point out some idiocies, with a gentlemanly art.

Sometimes very difficult to do so....

[Pimay1]

During his recent visit to Thailand, the UK Foreign Secretary Mr William Hague raised road safety with his counterpart , Thai Foreign Minister Dr Surapong Tovichakchaikul. The UK stands ready to share its experience in achieving one of the best road safety records in the world, and would be happy to support Thailand in this area.

Excuse me Mr UK Foreign Secretary but Thailand does not need any help from any foreign country for any situation. I.E. the USA sending a fleet to assist during last years floods that killed 900+ Thai citizens. They were told to go away, we don't need you.

You may even hear the statement "The UK is not our father".

What the fark? You absolute..... insert profanity here

On the one hand the USA offers help for the flooding and you claim 'we dont need you' but in the same sentance declare that 900 people died?

And the UK having one of the best road safety records in the world - offers advice to one of the most dangerous countries in the world for driving.... Free, impartial advice.... And you speak on beahlf of the Thai people and state they dont need help?

You are totaly and utterly off your rocker. Have another beer, keyboard warrior.

Wow sir how in this world did you come up with this rant? Everything I said in my post was true. US sent ships to assist during the floods..........rejected, told to leave. Fact that 900+ Thai citizens died as a resut of the flood. You need to read more carefully sir and read between the lines of my last statement. Of course the Thais need a lot of help but the current government cannot admit it. They have it all under control.

By the way just a suggestion but you might consider being a little less agressive in insulting people with personal attacks in your posts. This a friendly forum and even though some of us disagree on different things we don't personally attack each other. Not nice to do this my friend.

Gotcha... My bad, In hindsight it seems you were being sarcastic and I read your post wrongly.

On another note however, I will insult whoever I like, whenever I like. This forum is full of absolute idiots wo need insulting on a regular basis.

Good luck on your insulting posts to all of us absolute idiots but I suspect you will end up like others of your ilk that have come and gone. It's called the Maytag Repairman syndrome. If you don't know what that means you soon will.

[TPI]

During his recent visit to Thailand, the UK Foreign Secretary Mr William Hague raised road safety with his counterpart , Thai Foreign Minister Dr Surapong Tovichakchaikul. The UK stands ready to share its experience in achieving one of the best road safety records in the world, and would be happy to support Thailand in this area.

Excuse me Mr UK Foreign Secretary but Thailand does not need any help from any foreign country for any situation. I.E. the USA sending a fleet to assist during last years floods that killed 900+ Thai citizens. They were told to go away, we don't need you.

You may even hear the statement "The UK is not our father".

What the fark? You absolute..... insert profanity here

On the one hand the USA offers help for the flooding and you claim 'we dont need you' but in the same sentance declare that 900 people died?

And the UK having one of the best road safety records in the world - offers advice to one of the most dangerous countries in the world for driving.... Free, impartial advice.... And you speak on beahlf of the Thai people and state they dont need help?

You are totaly and utterly off your rocker. Have another beer, keyboard warrior.

Idiot! He was being sarcastic by quoting the Thai government, not speaking on behalf the Thai people...shesh!

[lee68]

hahahaha, maybe if the thai drivers actually knew the road rules or had a license it might be better. Considering most thai drivers only care about themselves and what they want to do, trying to drive by the rules here is almost impossible. Double lines on a blind corner mean go fast when you cross over them, the cars coming the other way will go off the road for you, what a joke. I have to admit though, I am getting used to it but it would be nice if they understood they need to stop at red lights.

What rules would that be? To have a good chance of avoiding accidents driving in Thailand, you need to drive defensively all the time and use a lot of common sense. There are around 13000 Thais dying on Thai roads every year probably mostly through drink driving and a severe lack of common sense, which we all know Thais are not known for.

Drink Driving is the main one,I live in a Thai community and they all think nothing of driving shitfaced its not a problem for them,i was at a party next to my house on friday night and all the people that were there were drinking whisky and every one of them had a motorbike or car,and all left pretty drunk ond drove home,and dont get me wrong alot of my falang freinds do it to, and im no angel

[lee68]

Part of the problem is that there is no education on how to drive for thais... But they want us to have an international drivers liences and to follow what we are taught... But this only works if the other 90% of the domestic drivers that are on the roads have the same learning... Thais just dont care about the consequinces of there actions... Dont think its just Thais either... Farang come here and think that renting and driving moped is so easy, but they need to understand that we at home don't drive them and dont have the expeience on them...

''Thais just dont care about the consequences of their actions... ''

That I fully agree with.

The rest of it, not too sure.

Most of the thais I see on the road drive well. They drive so well that most of them survive driving up and down Chao Fa road at very excessive speeds, with no consideration of road rules, of other people using the same roads, overtaking and undertaking(sic) other vehicles, Traffic lights are merely insignificant colored lights. One place in the world where driving through a green light without looking both ways, is more dangerous than driving through a red light after having looked both ways.

It is merely UNDISCIPLINED driving, nothing less.

And these undisciplined good drivers know that they will get away with it 100% of the time.

Just no fear of possible consequences from thai authorities, because there are none.

The only reality checks are accidents and visits to the hospital, for those who survive.

Thats just so True mate.

[FNQ]

hahahaha, maybe if the thai drivers actually knew the road rules or had a license it might be better. Considering most thai drivers only care about themselves and what they want to do, trying to drive by the rules here is almost impossible. Double lines on a blind corner mean go fast when you cross over them, the cars coming the other way will go off the road for you, what a joke. I have to admit though, I am getting used to it but it would be nice if they understood they need to stop at red lights.

I think you have Nailed it here,

The one I would like to try in the 100-110 zone (if i had a death wish) is the Flashing of the head lights which indicates I am comming through and not stopping, used frequently in the (any) city.

[fish fingers]

Well done British Embassy. Sit in your comfy offices and tell us how to survive on the open road.

Closing the British Consulate in Pattaya is going to put hundreds more people on the road getting to the next nearest consular assistance. Well done. Next week Pizza Hut will be giving out warnings about quatro stagione

They already stated that if a brit is in trouble because of what they see as immoral activities, they don't deserve any help whatsoever. I guess that cd be a factor why they closed it. Some poor UK chap nearly died in prison recently due to mental illness, the Staff didn't raise a finger and scrambled to cover themselves when the story got in the tabloids - he was found by a childrens charity worker, in jail emaciated and chained to the bars on deaths door

Edited November 19, 2012 by fish fingers

[Balance]

It is very much about the economy and about Thai law, or lack thereof. I was here for 3 months before I would drive our car. It simply took that long to figure out the basic rules of the road. For example, Thais on motorbikes do not look at traffic when they make a left turn from another soi onto a larger road. Why? Because if a motor bike is in an accident with a car, it is the driver of the car (Thai and farang) who is at fault, no matter what the facts are. The reason for this is economic; generally Thai people, and some farang also, who ride motorbikes as their only transportation do not have any money, nor do they have insurance. Couple this situation with the rampant corruption in the civil court system and insurance companies and you begin to see the perverse logic to the Thai system. It is simply a pragmatic adaptation to the situation as it exists.

A note on the insurance companies; just because someone has insurance and is at fault in an accident does not mean that there is any obligation for the company to pay for damages to the person not at fault. This happened to my wife, who was stopped at a light and a Thai attorney ran into her in is Merk. He had insurance,but the insurance company simply did not pay the claim and when she went to an attorney, he took 5,000 B and did nothing; attorneys do not sue another attorneys.

Good luck

[jcw]

Driving is what they call it, I thought it was drunken dodge-em cars

[hilltribesamui]

During his recent visit to Thailand, the UK Foreign Secretary Mr William Hague raised road safety with his counterpart , Thai Foreign Minister Dr Surapong Tovichakchaikul. The UK stands ready to share its experience in achieving one of the best road safety records in the world, and would be happy to support Thailand in this area.

Excuse me Mr UK Foreign Secretary but Thailand does not need any help from any foreign country for any situation. I.E. the USA sending a fleet to assist during last years floods that killed 900+ Thai citizens. They were told to go away, we don't need you.

You may even hear the statement "The UK is not our father".

What the fark? You absolute..... insert profanity here

On the one hand the USA offers help for the flooding and you claim 'we dont need you' but in the same sentance declare that 900 people died?

And the UK having one of the best road safety records in the world - offers advice to one of the most dangerous countries in the world for driving.... Free, impartial advice.... And you speak on beahlf of the Thai people and state they dont need help?

You are totaly and utterly off your rocker. Have another beer, keyboard warrior.

Wow sir how in this world did you come up with this rant? Everything I said in my post was true. US sent ships to assist during the floods..........rejected, told to leave. Fact that 900+ Thai citizens died as a resut of the flood. You need to read more carefully sir and read between the lines of my last statement. Of course the Thais need a lot of help but the current government cannot admit it. They have it all under control.

By the way just a suggestion but you might consider being a little less agressive in insulting people with personal attacks in your posts. This a friendly forum and even though some of us disagree on different things we don't personally attack each other. Not nice to do this my friend.

well said

personally i like thailand as it is and dont want to make it anything like the Uk at all

thats the whole reason for being here

so many foreigners want to change thailand to thier home Countries

then go home and stop complaining

[metisdead]

An overly derogatory post has been removed.

[paulchiangmai]

Well done British Embassy. Sit in your comfy offices and tell us how to survive on the open road.

Closing the British Consulate in Pattaya is going to put hundreds more people on the road getting to the next nearest consular assistance. Well done. Next week Pizza Hut will be giving out warnings about quatro stagione

It wouldn't matter what advice the British embassy offered, the likes of you would never fail to complain about them.

[attento]

How many of the farang fatalities or injured on bikes or scooters were not wearing helmets, as they would back in their home countries? So many visitors seem to leave their common sense at home when they go on holiday.

[CharlesGrady]

Went to Sampaeng with the family today to buy Loy Krathong dresses for my daughters. As you can't park over there,we took a taxi .

Both taxi drivers were absolute nutcases , ueber agressive high on yabba at 11 am , ignorant of any road rules and quite simply moronic <deleted>.