"..60 Tourists Die Per Month, On Motorbikes In Koh Samui."

[LaoPo]

What truth is there in this claim by member spidermike007 here: ?

TOPIC: Tourist Dies On Rented Motorbike In Pattaya

********

Posted Today, 08:57 (Friday January 11, 2013)

This is so "not news". I have heard that as many as 60 tourists die PER MONTH, on motorbikes in Koh Samui. It remains the most lawless land in Thailand. The police talk about the helmet laws, and all they do is collect tea money once per month, at their monthly fund raising roadblocks. No concern for safety, whatsoever. Lip service whenever these deaths are publicized, but the fabulously timid Samui Gazette, and Samui Express will not report about these deaths, nor with the Bangkok Post, or the Nation, since they are highly censored. So, it remains a big secret that I found about from my friends at Samui Rescue. Whenever I go to the hospital, I see many bike injuries. No one really knows how many are injured every month, but the mixture of drinking while driving, lack of motorbike skills, the unlicensed 10 year olds riding motorbikes (that the toy police refuse to do anything about) and the young men (boys really) that drive like kamikazes, plus the central governments absolute refusal to put any priority on the completion of the main road in Samui (the ring road), make Samui a very toxic mix, when it comes to driver safety.

********

FROM this post:

http://www.thaivisa....50#entry6009689

Opinions and facts (if possible) please

LaoPo

[saweden]

Being a regular long term visitor to Samui this does not come as a surprise to me.

I always get to hear that riding a motorbike "is the lowest form of travel" from everyone I know who lives on Samui and drive a car themselves. I get to hear this every year when I arrive with no exception. Mainly this is due to the carelessness of others, mainly tourists being over confident in their (drunk) driving skills. Surely this must happen everywhere but on Samui there are more variety in places you can reach on your own by motorbike giving you a certain kind of freedom thus being the cheap adventurous alternative for many tourists. (just my idea here..)

But what personally put me off any kind of motorbike riding in the future was that last year a Thai local drove out of a side road carrying a 5 meter long, 2-3 cm thin iron bar on his shoulder on his motorbike. My spouse almost got it through his chest since the dam_n thing was barely visible as it came out way before the driver himself. I can't for the world understand how anyone would be so careless as to take that kind of thing into a road on a motorbike.

There will be car rental in the future on our part. Samui is great but life is greater!

Edited January 11, 2013 by saweden

[Boater]

Once speaking to an officer in phuket at the police station there , he commented there was on average 5 deaths per day , 150 a month in phuket , so 60 in samui could be about right if they include deaths in hospital and after the crash

Some days in samui , on a short drive I coul pass upto 3 crashes , and that is in a 3 km radius in 10 mins

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[concerned]

Although I agree that motorbike riding in Samui is extremely hazardous and have seen many unpleasant accidents over the years, I find these figures to be almost unbelievable!

60 tourists a month! I would be very surprised but interested to know if this is an anywhere near accurate figure.

[samuijimmy]

I don't buy several things in this "story" ..

I really cannot comment of death figures, but I would say that is too high. Accidents perhaps yes. and perhaps combining tourists and locals.(?)

I do agree there are too many that drive irresponsibly, but not just young Thai kids, there are just as many idiot farangs and Thai's of all ages, on the road too.

As for the comment the in the original post, that there are helmet checks once a month is not correct. In Maenam they are at least once a week, and locations vary a little more lately...for both helmets and seat belts in vehicles...

There are also other road checks around the island... Plus too, it infers that Samui is the only place to have checks... that is not the case... Even small towns which are not tourist oriented, also have these checks....

There are towns or cities in Thailand, where the message about helmet waring has gotten across... in Krabi city limits, for instance, everyone wears a helmet... (or least did last time I was there)... One wonders how they managed that???

The comment also about the roads not being worked on is also not correct, they are working on the sections between Nathon and Hau Thanon, although not as fast as some would like, but it is underway.

To me, much of this is a "story" , without correct facts, for the most part...

Perhaps they need to raise the amount of the fines for no helmet and seat belts ... ?..At least the Thai and Farang price is the same.....

[NHJ]

i'm sure it's 60 accidents involving tourists per month out these 60 certainly a few of them unfortunately die....

[Boater]

i'm sure it's 60 accidents involving tourists per month out these 60 certainly a few of them unfortunately die....

Agree , on the accident side

But overall including Thais ect , the figure could be 60 .... As the figure for Phuket I quoted was including Thais

It is a shame they don't keep an accurate record

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[LaoPo]

HUGE exaggeration springs to mind.

5 deaths/day on Phuket, and

2 deaths/day on Samui

That's an astonishing, tragic and sensational number of 2,555 deaths/year due to motorbike accidents on the 2 islands alone?

Shall we add the number from Pattaya as well; maybe a few in Hua Hin and Chiang Mai/Rai...

Really?

Maybe some can recall the exaggerations of bystanders and hear-say if an accident happens...

the guy has a broken leg

one hour later he broke both legs and was hospitalized.

The next thing is that he's on IC with 2 broken legs, a broken back, serious head inhuries...

and 2 hours later..

he died.

Next day, he was sitting in a bar and a friend asks him: "Hey I heard you died?"

exaggeration

Edited January 11, 2013 by LaoPo

[Tropicalevo]

For sure - just a way to sell news and get your 15 minutes of fame.

Let us put it in perspective.

One guy, sadly, gets shot by a stray bullet at the FMP and the British ambassador visits the island and there is a 'travel warning' by HM government.

If 60 tourists a month were to become fatlities, then for sure, every government would be giving a 'travel warning' for Samui.

Also The Sun Newspapeer would have carried out an expose by now.

For various reasons - I visit the hospitals on Samui quite often. The staff always talk about the number of accidents - they rarely mention a fatality.

60 accidents a month involving tourists - over the year - probably quite accurate. At the moment I am seeing mb accidents daily - sometimes more than one. I see accident victims every day. You know the ones - riding a mb like a pratt with the bandages on the elbow, knee, calf and a patch on their face - trying to pass everything on the inside at 60 kph!

My understanding regarding fatalities from mb accidents is - mostly Thai

This article/blog is just beer talk - or trolling

[samuijimmy]

In the five years I have now lived in Thailand, (plus several trips before) I have never witnessed an accident that involved a death and can probably count on two hands the number of accidents I have seen, involving the usual scrapes.. or perhaps broken arm or leg...

Right now, with a lot of dry sand on the roads, one needs to be wary of these patches... they can be very slippery... extra caution needed...

[Boater]

In the five years I have now lived in Thailand, (plus several trips before) I have never witnessed an accident that involved a death and can probably count on two hands the number of accidents I have seen, involving the usual scrapes.. or perhaps broken arm or leg...

Right now, with a lot of dry sand on the roads, one needs to be wary of these patches... they can be very slippery... extra caution needed...

You must not get out much jimmy , in 7 years I have driven past maybe 100 crashes , maybe 10 fatal , and was never even on the roads a lot

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[Boater]

HUGE exaggeration springs to mind.

5 deaths/day on Phuket, and

2 deaths/day on Samui

That's an astonishing, tragic and sensational number of 2,555 deaths/year due to motorbike accidents on the 2 islands alone?

Shall we add the number from Pattaya as well; maybe a few in Hua Hin and Chiang Mai/Rai...

Really?

Maybe some can recall the exaggerations of bystanders and hear-say if an accident happens...

the guy has a broken leg

one hour later he broke both legs and was hospitalized.

The next thing is that he's on IC with 2 broken legs, a broken back, serious head inhuries...

and 2 hours later..

he died.

Next day, he was sitting in a bar and a friend asks him: "Hey I heard you died?"

exaggeration

Not the kind of thing to joke about , as the exact above happened to a friend due to a blood clot from a broken leg ..

Maybe someone could ask the samui rescue how many road crashes a day they are called to ? You would be very surprised !

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[LaoPo]

For sure - just a way to sell news and get your 15 minutes of fame.

Let us put it in perspective.

One guy, sadly, gets shot by a stray bullet at the FMP and the British ambassador visits the island and there is a 'travel warning' by HM government.

If 60 tourists a month were to become fatlities, then for sure, every government would be giving a 'travel warning' for Samui.

Also The Sun Newspapeer would have carried out an expose by now.

For various reasons - I visit the hospitals on Samui quite often. The staff always talk about the number of accidents - they rarely mention a fatality.

60 accidents a month involving tourists - over the year - probably quite accurate. At the moment I am seeing mb accidents daily - sometimes more than one. I see accident victims every day. You know the ones - riding a mb like a pratt with the bandages on the elbow, knee, calf and a patch on their face - trying to pass everything on the inside at 60 kph!

My understanding regarding fatalities from mb accidents is - mostly Thai

This article/blog is just beer talk - or trolling

Good observations!

Q: why do you visit hospitals so much? Because of your profession?

Just curious.

[LaoPo]

HUGE exaggeration springs to mind.

5 deaths/day on Phuket, and

2 deaths/day on Samui

That's an astonishing, tragic and sensational number of 2,555 deaths/year due to motorbike accidents on the 2 islands alone?

Shall we add the number from Pattaya as well; maybe a few in Hua Hin and Chiang Mai/Rai...

Really?

Maybe some can recall the exaggerations of bystanders and hear-say if an accident happens...

the guy has a broken leg

one hour later he broke both legs and was hospitalized.

The next thing is that he's on IC with 2 broken legs, a broken back, serious head inhuries...

and 2 hours later..

he died.

Next day, he was sitting in a bar and a friend asks him: "Hey I heard you died?"

exaggeration

Not the kind of thing to joke about , as the exact above happened to a friend due to a blood clot from a broken leg ..

Maybe someone could ask the samui rescue how many road crashes a day they are called to ? You would be very surprised !

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

Oh, Boater, I'm NOT joking about it; on the contrary!

I was talking about the exaggeration of the one who said that he heard there were 60 TOURIST deaths per MONTH on Samui due to motorbike accidents.

It's far from a joke and I'm not the person to make easy jokes about deaths.

Just heard last night about a loved one who died

I've lost too many people in the past few years already to make jokes about death!

You misunderstood my post; sorry about that!

[Tropicalevo]

Good observations!

Q: why do you visit hospitals so much? Because of your profession?

Just curious.

Mostly customers - mb accidents or drunken falling over! Quite a few dengue fever victims this year

[samuijimmy]

In the five years I have now lived in Thailand, (plus several trips before) I have never witnessed an accident that involved a death and can probably count on two hands the number of accidents I have seen, involving the usual scrapes.. or perhaps broken arm or leg...

Right now, with a lot of dry sand on the roads, one needs to be wary of these patches... they can be very slippery... extra caution needed...

You must not get out much jimmy , in 7 years I have driven past maybe 100 crashes , maybe 10 fatal , and was never even on the roads a lot

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

Well, Boater, in just over two years I have over 20,000 kms on my bike... (that includes two trips into Malaysia and about four to Songkhla, ....the rest around Samui...main roads and back roads through the island.... If you read some of my posts or look at the Photos of Samui or look at the Photography forum, you'll see I have hundreds of images from many areas of Thailand, posted,

..... I can tell you I am not sitting home twiddling my thumbs... .... not all the time anyway!

So I don't know where you are driving, but it's not what I see... (Chawang perhaps after the bars close?.... Well I don't do bars or late night driving (usually!!!)

Today I was on KP, south to north end and several places in between, I saw one farang girl almost skid her bike, but she did manage to correct it!

So there you go!

Edited January 11, 2013 by samuijimmy

[transam]

Daft. Two sun seekers a day sent home in a box from a smallish holiday spot. Don't think so.

[Humbugged]

Good observations!

Q: why do you visit hospitals so much? Because of your profession?

Just curious.

Mostly customers - mb accidents or drunken falling over! Quite a few dengue fever victims this year

What business you in.....just so I know not to become a customer of yours..

[transam]

Good observations!

Q: why do you visit hospitals so much? Because of your profession?

Just curious.

Mostly customers - mb accidents or drunken falling over! Quite a few dengue fever victims this year

What business you in.....just so I know not to become a customer of yours..

Funeral Directors eh.

[samuijimmy]

Since this is turning into one of those silly threads

I saw this being towed towards Samui today.... perhaps gravel for the roads? or coal for the new electric generating plant? or a new island? .. ... any other constructive guesses ?

[Tropicalevo]

yes - I have been watching this one today.

It was travelling north on the east side of Samui this morning, and then travelling west between KS and KPG this afternooon.

I assumed that it was a floating pontoon for the new airport (or bridge to Surat)!

[samuijimmy]

yes - I have been watching this one today.

It was travelling north on the east side of Samui this morning, and then travelling west between KS and KPG this afternooon.

I assumed that it was a floating pontoon for the new airport (or bridge to Surat)!

oh!!!! never thought of that!!! Guess they can't make up there minds, what it is for.....

Edited January 11, 2013 by samuijimmy

[PoorSucker]

Two dead tourists per day.

That would mean a flight every week just to transport corpses.

60 serious accidents per month, including Thais, yes.

[robsamui]

This topic has bee raised again and again!

Just search through the forum

• Road deaths are now calculated based on fatalities on-site. Victims dying later in hospital not counted.
  
• In 2000 there was an average of 30 deaths a month on Koh Samui (official figures released each month).
  
• Now it is stated that Koh Samui has 3-5 deaths each month (using the new way of reporting road deaths).
  
• In the last ten years the population has almost doubled and there are now 5x more vehicles on Koh Samui.
  

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

• Based on the population and traffic density statistics from 10 years ago Koh Samui has in reality 720 deaths per million per year. This is probably the highest rate of road deaths in the world.
  

Samui is a fatality death spot that nobody is willing to acknowledge!

I love the place. it's my home and has been for almost 15 years. But it can't be denied!

R

[robsamui]

Just another penny's worth -

WHATEVER the viability of the figures -

Check on how many people are killed on the roads in BKK - a city of 6 or 7 million ( - and the rest - 8/9 million?)

Then compare that per head to whatever official figures you can find from Samui.

Samui might admit to 3 a month - with a fluctuating population of no more than a max of 100,000 (?)

That's 30 deaths per million.

That's 240+ deaths a month compared to BKK's 30

Nuff said!

R

[BigC]

who is his friend with rescue cause i have a friend who works with them and that is absolute over hyped crap.

Lots of accidents yes. lots of deaths yes 60 tourists per month. come on. if one death happens suspicouly or not then it is quite big news if it is a forang. You think that these 60 forangs just disoppear and noone comes looking for them on samui

what a load of crap.

Think who ever wrote that needs to go back to sleep unless he is writing a noval based on fiction then carry on.

it is very hard to cover up a forang death it would hit the web if nothing else eventually

60 deaths per month. not cofussed with Bagdad????

[BigC]

so a tourist dies un Pattaya and this man starts slagging off Samui what an ..................

[Boater]

This topic has bee raised again and again!

Just search through the forum

• Road deaths are now calculated based on fatalities on-site. Victims dying later in hospital not counted.
  
• In 2000 there was an average of 30 deaths a month on Koh Samui (official figures released each month).
  
• Now it is stated that Koh Samui has 3-5 deaths each month (using the new way of reporting road deaths).
  
• In the last ten years the population has almost doubled and there are now 5x more vehicles on Koh Samui.
  

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

• Based on the population and traffic density statistics from 10 years ago Koh Samui has in reality 720 deaths per million per year. This is probably the highest rate of road deaths in the world.
  

Samui is a fatality death spot that nobody is willing to acknowledge!

I love the place. it's my home and has been for almost 15 years. But it can't be denied!

R

I think rob nailed it on the head !

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[Boater]

HUGE exaggeration springs to mind.

5 deaths/day on Phuket, and

2 deaths/day on Samui

That's an astonishing, tragic and sensational number of 2,555 deaths/year due to motorbike accidents on the 2 islands alone?

Shall we add the number from Pattaya as well; maybe a few in Hua Hin and Chiang Mai/Rai...

Really?

Maybe some can recall the exaggerations of bystanders and hear-say if an accident happens...

the guy has a broken leg

one hour later he broke both legs and was hospitalized.

The next thing is that he's on IC with 2 broken legs, a broken back, serious head inhuries...

and 2 hours later..

he died.

Next day, he was sitting in a bar and a friend asks him: "Hey I heard you died?"

exaggeration

Not the kind of thing to joke about , as the exact above happened to a friend due to a blood clot from a broken leg ..

Maybe someone could ask the samui rescue how many road crashes a day they are called to ? You would be very surprised !

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

Oh, Boater, I'm NOT joking about it; on the contrary!

I was talking about the exaggeration of the one who said that he heard there were 60 TOURIST deaths per MONTH on Samui due to motorbike accidents.

It's far from a joke and I'm not the person to make easy jokes about deaths.

Just heard last night about a loved one who died

I've lost too many people in the past few years already to make jokes about death!

You misunderstood my post; sorry about that!

No worries ...

But as rob mentioned , anyone who believes 60 deaths a month on samui roads are are made up , clearly hasn't spent enough time in the roads here ... I they where 30 deaths a month years ago with 3rd of the traffic, and 10 times worst drivers , the states seem clear

But 1 thing to note , it's everyone that 60 includes , not just foreigners

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[LaoPo]

• Based on the population and traffic density statistics from 10 years ago Koh Samui has in reality 720 deaths per million per year. This is probably the highest rate of road deaths in the world.
  

Oh come on Rob, what are you saying?

According to several statistics around 750,000 to 1,5 million tourists come to Samui each year (what's correct?)

In 2010 there were around 760,000 tourists to Samui, from all countries combined.

But, let's assume 1 million in 2012 and that's not very far from the truth but probably more.

That would mean that your figure would be correct?: "720 deaths per million per year"

I dare to doubt that very much.

There would be, at least 100-200 from English speaking countries like the UK, Australia etc and I bet the (tabloid) newspapers would not speak about those deaths but BLAST it FROM THE ROOFS.

Edited January 11, 2013 by LaoPo