Wearing Helmets In Phuket

[petercallen]

I have noticed in our travels around Thailand that Phuket is probably the worst area for people riding a motorbike and not wearing a helmet

You can buy a decent helmet for between 600 to 900 baht, hard outer shell lined with foam and padding

certainly a lot harder than your skull

The tourist who come here mostly wear helmet but a lot of expats do not, most sensible riders on small bikes travel at 60 KPH or less and the locally made helmets are adequate

A expensive imported helmet will not save you if riding a high powered bike and you drive into the side of a bus

Whats your opinion

[dogpoo]

You obviously drive a motorbike with the correct headwear and body protection, others do not have to because there is no policing of the roads!!

Edited November 17, 2012 by dogpoo

[noob7]

You obviously drive a motorbike with the correct headwear and body protection, others do not have to because there is no policing of the roads!!

You're right. The policing on Phuket roads can only be seen as a income policy from/for the BiB's

[petercallen]

You obviously drive a motorbike with the correct headwear and body protection, others do not have to because there is no policing of the roads!!

I rarely ride a a motorbike only once in the last 6 months and used a helmet

My wife uses the motorbike daily and always wears a helmet

Do you wear a helmet or are you one of the people who do not wear one because you want to look handsome as Thai people say???

[Semper]

Tourists shouldn't drive bikes at all in Thailand, with or without helmet.

[petercallen]

You obviously drive a motorbike with the correct headwear and body protection, others do not have to because there is no policing of the roads!!

You're right. The policing on Phuket roads can only be seen as a income policy from/for the BiB's

The police are more interested in charging tourists for not having a license

They could easily fix the problem of people not wearing helmets and reduce the road toll

By stopping and fining people not wearing them randomly they do not need road blocks to do this

Edited November 17, 2012 by petercallen

[petercallen]

Tourists shouldn't drive bikes at all in Thailand, with or without helmet.

Who are all the motorbike renters going to rent there bikes to

Some people i know only a few have a bike license in there home country

If the bike renters here had to see a valid bike license before renting out bikes they would end up broke

[Semper]

Tourists shouldn't drive bikes at all in Thailand, with or without helmet.

Who are all the motorbike renters going to rent there bikes to

Some people i know only a few have a bike license in there home country

If the bike renters here had to see a valid bike license before renting out bikes they would end up broke

Who cares about the renters?

[robblok]

You obviously drive a motorbike with the correct headwear and body protection, others do not have to because there is no policing of the roads!!

You're right. The policing on Phuket roads can only be seen as a income policy from/for the BiB's

The police are more interested in charging tourists for not having a license

They could easily fix the problem of people not wearing helmets and reduce the road toll

By stopping and fining people not wearing them randomly they do not need road blocks to do this

I am all for safety and part of me says wear helmets (i know i always do). But this is one rule that is there for yourself and not for others. Only thing i can think of how it affects others if you die because of no helmet and they are trying to put the blame on the other party in the accident.

I know i always have a full face helmet on, real brand. Better safe then sorry.

[grumpyoldman]

Used to ride the scooter without a helmet quite often.

Combination of someone I know hitting the pavement and getting lucky with just stitches in his noggin and higher CC bike has me pretty much wearing the helmet permanently now.

My biggest worry is getting T-boned by a driver coming out of a soi, because as we all know, many drivers don't stop, just pull on out. Flung to the ground having been hit from the side, arm and shoulder will be tweaked but without a helmet we're talking smashed melon, no bueno....

[hansgruber]

A decent helmet for 900 baht??

Not likely. Nothing more than a ice cream container.

[eeeya]

Those cheap helmets gotta be ok if your just cruising. If your on holiday why go fast?

Must get to next beach immediately.

Me and mrs rarely go above 40 cause we can't chit chat.

[Shot]

Left and slow. Expect the worst. Anything will happen.

[bikkalad]

Thai helmets are <deleted>..........better bringing your own from farrangland.......but then again not gonna help ya if your gonna get dragged 500 meters up the road by a coach etc

[stevenl]

Thai helmets are <deleted>..........better bringing your own from farrangland.......but then again not gonna help ya if your gonna get dragged 500 meters up the road by a coach etc

There are good helmets for sale here, no problems there.

Wearing or not wearing is IMO a personal choice, but the law does not agree with me there (daily life does agree with me there).

[robblok]

Thai helmets are <deleted>..........better bringing your own from farrangland.......but then again not gonna help ya if your gonna get dragged 500 meters up the road by a coach etc

There are good helmets for sale here, no problems there.

Wearing or not wearing is IMO a personal choice, but the law does not agree with me there (daily life does agree with me there).

Only point that i can make, against it that your personal choice might end up costing the one that hit you a prison sentence if you hit your head and die in an accident. If they took into account that the one you hit could have survived with one then im all ok with it.

I like it to be a free choice too, (i choose to wear one) but would not like to be held accountable for the death of someone if he or she dies during an accident and it could have been prevented by a helmet.

[noob7]

Thai helmets are <deleted>..........better bringing your own from farrangland.......but then again not gonna help ya if your gonna get dragged 500 meters up the road by a coach etc

You 'link' your comment to this, right?

http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket_news/2012/Aunt-niece-die-in-Phuket-tour-bus-hit-and-run-19453.html

I think, in this case, no (or no real) helmet was the better thing!

[eeeya]

If you don't need a head. You don't need a helmet.

Break an arm or a leg.. you body has a good chance to repair them. But damage your brain and your life might change significantly.

Why chance it? I don't understand.

I recently watched an episode of "na ti chook churn" (minute emergency) on channel 5.

It was about a successful thai business woman. Caught a moto taxi and fell off the back hitting her head on the ground and sustained significant brain damage.

The taxi driver offered her a helmet (unusual) but she declined saying that her destination was close.

Consequently due to her brain injury she lost her business, requires expensive care and has lost quality of life.

These days she lectures at schools about the dangers of riding without a helmet.

Very interesting but sad episode.

[NomadJoe]

Tourists shouldn't drive bikes at all in Thailand, with or without helmet.

Who are all the motorbike renters going to rent there bikes to

Some people i know only a few have a bike license in there home country

If the bike renters here had to see a valid bike license before renting out bikes they would end up broke

Who cares about the renters?

I was going to say the same thing, but pc makes a valid point that the way the Thai's in Phuket think. It's a unique situation in Phuket which operates backwards. The tourists are here to support the local transport cartels and their extortionate rates and practices which local government officials benefit handsomely from thus are not willing to change things, rather than the government providing a safe reasonable transport to support the safety and enjoyment of tourists and locals, as it is in every other part of Thailand and the world.

I will say that one positive, safety issues aside, it does get more tourists out exploring the island in bikes, which if you head south ro north from the Kata/Karon/Patong beaches can be a very nice day excursion, if, as mentioned, you can keep from having a Pegus (or any of the others) tour bus running you over and dragging you 500M.

[NomadJoe]

Tourists shouldn't drive bikes at all in Thailand, with or without helmet.

Unfortunately in Phuket there are no reasonable options. The tuk tuk/taxi mafias have artificially inflated their prices to 5 to 10 times the rates in the rest of Thailand and use threats and violence to keep away any competition.

To answer the OP, not counting the odd 200m nip down to 7 or the beach, I am one of those 100% helmet wearers and I often mention to people close to me that are habitual offenders. I am not motivated to wear it by the police unless I have to drive through Karon or Chalong circles. I wear it as a personal choice. I doesn't bother me that the odd expat doesn't wear it, as they are presumably making an educated decision. When I go back to the states most motorcycles don't wear them in the states with no helmet laws. Up to them. I may need an organ they are donating one day so it's all good. It bothers me a little when Thai's don't wear it because I believe they don't wear it out of ignorance, lack of education, lack of enforcement, or a carelessness about safety and life that is so prevalent here. It really bugs me to see adults on a bike with a helmet and a toddler or child/children without. I have seen on more than one occasion a scummy looking Thai guy speeding, threading the needle between moving traffic, blowing red lights driving one handed while holding a baby in the other.

[LivinginKata]

<snip>

It really bugs me to see adults on a bike with a helmet and a toddler or child/children without. I have seen on more than one occasion a scummy looking Thai guy speeding, threading the needle between moving traffic, blowing red lights driving one handed while holding a baby in the other.

I agree. That is something that i think is really stupid. Stupid one handed driving while holding a baby. How can they do an emergency stop in a controlled manner. Drop the baby ? Stupid

[NomadJoe]

Those cheap helmets gotta be ok if your just cruising. If your on holiday why go fast?

Must get to next beach immediately.

Me and mrs rarely go above 40 cause we can't chit chat.

Speed has very little to do with it. The Fortuner/taxi/minibus that hit's you is doing 120 so your 40 is irrelevant.

Actually, it's irrelevant because traumatic brain injury will occur from very slow impact speeds. People die from hitting their heads when they fall over from a standing position all the time. It's one of the top causes of death.

[britpop]

Riding a scooter at 80kmh with flip flops, shorts, singlet and what only can be called a skate board helmet is crazy, but we all do it, in a accident even if there is no broken bones, the skin always takes a beating and gets cut to shreds, the other day i sore a thai guy riding his bike, his right arm in plaster, so driving the bike with his left arm, but crossed over to the right hand accelerator grip, it's impossible but he was doing it on a open road.

So it's dress up like a power ranger time, full leathers with Kevlar protection, boots and a full face helmet, or go totally the opposite and o'natural,

[NomadJoe]

A decent helmet for 900 baht??

Not likely. Nothing more than a ice cream container.

You hear this nonsense spouted by uneducated people on forums at times. My 900B Avex TIS-5690 rated helmet is made with EPS foam wrapped in ABS plastic, just as your 30,000B SHOE or Arai is. Far more than an "ice bream container." DOT and TIS testing are fairly basic and minimal. SNELL less so, but most helmets will pass them. Certainly a 900B Thai helmet will with ease.

The main problem with the cheap 200B half-helmets that everyone uses in Thailand isn't the construction, it's the fit and design. They only cover half your head, and often don't stay in position correctly. If the helmet isn't between your head and what it's hitting then it is worthless, and most of those helmets aren't worn correctly and don't stay in position. But a 200B Thai half helmet with EPS if properly fitting is going to be markedly better than say a 4000B Harley skull cap with no EPS, and infinatly better than no helmet at all.

A helmets job is to spread the deceleration of the brain over a greater amount of time decreasing the damage from the impact of the soft tissue of the brain against the inside of the skull, including the side opposite to the side impacted as the brain will ricochet back after the initial impact, called a "contra coup" injury. Despite common perception shared by the above poster, it has been proven that the price of a helmet is not directly proportional to it's safety, in fact it can be the opposite:

"In one comprehensive study of real-world impact performance based on research done for Motorcyclist Magazine, presented by Mr. Thom to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, a $79.95 helmet certified to Transportation Department standards performed the best of the 32 tested, withstanding the most violent hits while transmitting as much as 67 g’s less impact force to the headform than a $400 Snell-certified helmet."

http://www.nytimes.c...SNELL.html?_r=0

The above article got the journalist fired due to "advertiser pressure" which is funny because Snell immediately changed their testing to be in line with his recommendations.

http://jalopnik.com/...ournalist-fired

[qdinthailand]

Those cheap helmets gotta be ok if your just cruising. If your on holiday why go fast?

Must get to next beach immediately.

Me and mrs rarely go above 40 cause we can't chit chat.

Oh, you're the old farts always going slow, in the way, holding up traffic - because you're 'chit chatting'?!

[eeeya]

Those cheap helmets gotta be ok if your just cruising. If your on holiday why go fast?

Must get to next beach immediately.

Me and mrs rarely go above 40 cause we can't chit chat.

Speed has very little to do with it. The Fortuner/taxi/minibus that hit's you is doing 120 so your 40 is irrelevant.

Actually, it's irrelevant because traumatic brain injury will occur from very slow impact speeds. People die from hitting their heads when they fall over from a standing position all the time. It's one of the top causes of death.

Guess you never learned statistics or physics

Edited November 17, 2012 by eeeya

[eeeya]

Those cheap helmets gotta be ok if your just cruising. If your on holiday why go fast?

Must get to next beach immediately.

Me and mrs rarely go above 40 cause we can't chit chat.

Oh, you're the old farts always going slow, in the way, holding up traffic - because you're 'chit chatting'?!

I'm old if your 25

[sebastianS]

Except not wearing helmet police should fine for: riding motorbike and talking on the phone, riding motorbike side by side and chit chatting with friend, riding motorbike in the dark without light ( hate it and usualy they have black clothing just to make them more difficult to spot).

[stevenl]

Except not wearing helmet police should fine for: riding motorbike and talking on the phone, riding motorbike side by side and chit chatting with friend, riding motorbike in the dark without light ( hate it and usualy they have black clothing just to make them more difficult to spot).

And the difference is that all these things except not wearing a helmet endanger others.

[TS79]

<snip> riding motorbike in the dark without light ( hate it and usualy they have black clothing just to make them more difficult to spot).

Especially if there is 80% tint film on the windscreen.

Edited November 17, 2012 by TS79