Driving In/around Pattaya

[gburns57au]

I have had two accidents in Pattaya. One my fault when I ran into the back of a pickup that stopped suddenly and the other when a motorcycle ran into the side of my car when I was stopped at a stop sign. This was also judged to be my fault since I happened to be there when she wanted to turn.

Thanks for proving my point...

[penzman]

<snip> How many threads do we need to rehash the same old stories....

I agree, if we can look at the original issue regarding insurance rather than driving habbits, we will all be better off.

The essence of the original posting related to the "style" of Thai drivers; the issue about insurance developed from that. The number of threads is really not important. Every one of us can post a topic for discussion and we have no control of how that topic will unfold.

Yes, everyone will "be better off" if the drivers, especially the Thais, showed a greater sense of social responsibility in their driving. I will give a "bah" also and also a ho hum. It makes me puke how you can stick up for these outlaws.

OIC.....sorry about that....I didnt realise that because Thais dont drive in the manner that you expect them to, then they are all outlaws......

Americans dont go to England and drive on the right hand side of the road...well most of them dont So why as a farang do you expect Thais to conform to your way of driving....you have to conform to theirs....for good or bad...if you cant then you will have accidents...

The old saying always comes to mind....if you dont like it then go back

In any country, having a driver's licence is not a right but a permission given to you by a government. If drivers make up their own laws once they're issued a licence, they should not drive. SAme goes for guns, pilot's licence, broadcast licence and many other "permissions" given to us.

The government here is guilty of the messes you see on the roads since there's practically no law enforcement or public education on safe driving.

As for the "if you don't like it then go back" remark by Mr Burns, it stays posted but will be the last one you will ever read on here, you can easily guess the consequences of mentioning again such a useless comment.

[Pattaya_Fox]

The government here is guilty of the messes you see on the roads since there's practically no law enforcement or public education on safe driving.

Absolutely correct....until the government educate people on safe driving and back it up with strict law enforcement and the appropriate punishments then I am afraid that the carnage and accidents will continue.

[Simbo]

The government here is guilty of the messes you see on the roads since there's practically no law enforcement or public education on safe driving.

Absolutely correct....until the government educate people on safe driving and back it up with strict law enforcement and the appropriate punishments then I am afraid that the carnage and accidents will continue.

Seconded. The police don't seem to care. Have you noticed The purge on safety helmets has brought good results. However, as soon as darkness falls, the hard hats go missing along with the police. Farangs follow suit too.

[teletiger]

As for the "if you don't like it then go back" remark by Mr Burns, it stays posted but will be the last one you will ever read on here, you can easily guess the consequences of mentioning again such a useless comment.

A very fine line between censorship and moderation it seems, and if you don't like it....go somewhere else.

regards

[Maigo6]

Absolutely correct....until the government educate people on safe driving and back it up with strict law enforcement and the appropriate punishments then I am afraid that the carnage and accidents will continue.

Goverments will not make any difference, it's the individuals that drive that can make the difference, You think with USA's strict laws and Driving tests and speed limits and well maintained roads, lots of Police, harsh penalties etc etc things would be pretty good, read on..........................

United States - The death toll on our highways makes driving the number one cause of death and injury for young people ages 5 to 27. Highway crashes cause 94 percent of all transportation fatalities and 99 percent of all transportation injuries, yet traffic safety programs receive only one percent of the funding of the U.S. DOT budget. The staggering loss of life and the incidence of life-threatening injuries occurring each year is best described as a public health crisis.

Road deaths and bad driving are just part of everyday life all over the world, people here seem to slam the driving in Thailand, whilst calmly ignoring the Public Health Crisis occuring in the most developed of countries.

Edited March 14, 2006 by Maigo6

[bander]

Yes you do....

There are some civilised countries that have a worse death toll than Thailand..per head of population.

This sounds unbelivable, what civilised countries are you refering to?

I totaly agree with the fact that thais are bad drivers!

[Maigo6]

I totaly agree with the fact that thais are bad drivers!

You mean some Thais are bad drivers.

If you would care to look at USA's figures and traffic Carnage, you will also see that some Americans are also bad drivers.

Some Farangs are too narrow minded.

Edited March 14, 2006 by Maigo6

[Artisan]

Some Farangs are too narrow minded.

......and some Farangs just don't know when to let go.

Edited March 14, 2006 by Artisan

[Maigo6]

Some Farangs are too narrow minded.

......and some Farangs just don't know when to let go.

Yes, seeing that you have posted another useless post that has nothing to do with the actual Topic we are discussing, I totally agree with you.

[Mobi]

I'm very sorry, but I just had to come out of retirement on this one. (like all good pugilists!

The following are some extracts of a global road accident statistics report, based on stats from the mid nineties, so they are about 10 years old. However, recent individual country stats, show broadly similar numbers, so I think we can draw something meaningful from these 'league' tables.

EXTRACT FROM TABLES:

a b c d (see explanation below)

USA 41,967 15.8 787 2

Japan 9,942 7.9 669 1.2

Germany 8,758 10.7 559 1.9

France 8,080 13.8 524 2.6

Italy 6,198 10.8 617 1.8

Spain 5,483 14.0 488 1.9

UK 3,598 6.1 408 1.5

Canada 3,082 10.3 573 1.8

Portugal 12,100 21.1 436 4.8

Greece 2,068 19.7 497 4

China 71,495 6 23 26

India 59,927 6 31 20

Thailand 16,782 28 294 10

Korea 12,653 28 263 11

Indonesia 10,990 6 73 8

Malaysia 6,304 31 362 9

Vietnam 5,581 7 70 11

Turkey 5,428 9 83 11

Pakistan 4,288 3 18 17

Banglades 2,041 2 4 45

Sri Lanka 1,916 11 42 25

a. Road fatalities

b. Deaths per 100,000 population

c. Motor Vehicles per 1,000 population

d. Deaths per 10,00 motor vehicles.

So: Deaths per 100,000 pop. UK 6.1, USA 15.8, THAILAND 28

Deaths per 10,000 motor vehicles: UK 1.5, USA 2, THAILAND 10.

EXTRACT FROM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

QUOTE Results show that the highest fatality rates (deaths per 10,000 motor vehicles) worldwide occur in African countries, particularly Ethiopia, Uganda and Malawi whilst fatality risk (deaths/100,000 population) is highest in a disparate group of countries including Thailand, Malaysia, South Africa and Saudi Arabia UNQUOTE

Those who argued that there are other civilised countries with a worse accident record than Thailand are arguably correct, if you call Korea civilised.

Maigo et al can argue the toss to the cows come home, but it doesn't chang the facts. THE FACTS MAN.. THE FACTS....

Back to retirement.. snooze...zzzzz

Edited March 14, 2006 by Mobi D'Ark

[gburns57au]

a

USA 41,967

Thailand 16,782

So 25,000 more Americans are killed on the road per year than there are Thais killed on the road per year...according to your report.....

We can all bring up reports from the net.....according to yours the US has the 3rd most fatalities per year than any other country... You can cross reference all you like and add factors to explain why that nearly 42,000 Americans die on their roads per year is not as bad as other places....but it is still a shocking figure.

No death is a good death and wasted lives cant be regained.

But that is not the point in this thread....the point was about the poor driving skills of the Thais in Pattaya.....my contention has and always will be that the Thais in Pattaya are no worse or better than anywhere else, and that the farangs who complain about the Pattaya/Thai driving skills are doing so from the perspective of downtown where ever....as with all places there are local idiocyncracies involved with the local driving practices....By foreigners recognising this and understanding these idiocyncracies...Pattaya is not as dangerous as most people think,

However....If a farang wants to apply Brit, US or Oz practices to Pattaya then they will have problems driving in Pattaya.

I knew you couldnt resist Mobi

Edited March 14, 2006 by gburns57au

[Maigo6]

Mobi,

Ok, let's try this little chestnut..................... 70% of all road fatalities in Thailand are Motorcycle related, I would assume in USA it is nothing like that figure, so if we subtract the motorcycle deaths from each country and just leave cars you will find USA has a worse death rate than Thailand, in fact, its a public health crisis.

Mobi Dick, the Rocky Balboa of Thaivisa, he takes a hel_l of a beating, but he keeps coming back. !!

[Artisan]

Mobi Dick, the Rocky Balboa of Thaivisa, he takes a hel_l of a beating, but he keeps coming back. !!

OK...Mobi D'Ark keeps coming back but you, you won't go away.

[Maigo6]

Mobi Dick, the Rocky Balboa of Thaivisa, he takes a hel_l of a beating, but he keeps coming back. !!

OK...Mobi D'Ark keeps coming back but you, you won't go away.

Are you ever going to make a contribution to this thread ?

Mobi is having a laugh, so is Mr Burns, So am I, but you ...................

Here, this is for you, Feel better?

[Mobi]

Mobi Dick, the Rocky Balboa of Thaivisa, he takes a hel_l of a beating, but he keeps coming back. !!

OK...Mobi D'Ark keeps coming back but you, you won't go away.

From the comfort of the victor's dressing room:

I don't remember taking a beating!

Is that the best you can do? re-hash old chestnuts? - We dealt with all that motorcycle argument stuff pages ago. (Many motorcylists are killed by car drivers behaving in a reckless fashion - remember?) (see another thread yesterday on this very subject)

I might not have won on a knockout, but I sure have won the points decision. Two against, and about two dozen or so, so far, (including Artisan, with the wonderful avatar who you keep having a go at - he's contribution's worth it, just for the avatar).

Not bad for an old washed up fighter.

Cheers!

[Maigo6]

I don't remember taking a beating!

I know, I know, it's ok ( spoken softly),

due to the severity of the beating some memory loss is to be expected.

Yes I saw that accident report, another Thai killed on a motorcycle, dangerous to be on a Motorcycle in Pattaya at times.

[Simbo]

its more than 2 years since I posted this thread and nothing has changed. I still hate driving in Pattaya,but unfortunately it is unavoidable. I was recentlystopped by the police fornot wearing my seat belt,while directlyin front of me,was a pickup,fullofThai workers,sitting precariously on the sides. my pointing this out to the officer,wasgreeted with a grin. what chance have we got.

If I'm still alive in 2 more years, I'll let you know.

[PattayaDavid]

My first post on this forum so let me stat by saying hello everyone.

I've been driving here (Pattaya) for some four years now and up to now I have not had an accident with anything moving but plenty on near misses. I find the Thai style of driving very aggressive there is no regimental way of driving as in UK or Australia for that matter but in the end of the day this is Thailand and you have to adopt their way of driving or you wont get anywhere, once you get used to it I find it very easy and you should always expect the unexpected. With accidents most mobile phones have a camera these days so if you have one take photos of the bike/car and the persons involved if you don't then it's down to you how you handle it.

macam

I'll second that; I'm not going to get in a pissing contest with a Thai driver.  I haven't had an accident in my 4 years living in Pattaya (knock on wood), but if (really when, TIT) I ever do, the first thing I will do is to take a picture of the driver and the vehicle, including the license tag (if they actually stop) then call the police.  The police aren't all that efficient as we all know, but I think they pretty much frown on hit and runs.

[NanLaew]

I was recentlystopped by the police fornot wearing my seat belt,

Where in Pattaya did the cops nail you for not wearing your seatbelt?

[cali4995]

The sheer volume of traffic in the city seems to have swelled and it's not

visitors but I guess an increase in the local indigenous population? It is

dangerous just crossing the street as nobody seems to be observing any

traffic rules? Little motorbikes racing and weaving around larger vehicles,

pedestrians are like the lowest on the totem pole of right-of-way, many

motorists almost appear angry if they have to adjust their velocity or

direction even at zebra crossings? They really are going to have to start

enforcing some basic rules of the road as the casualties start mounting.

[philliphn]

Tell us, Gburns57au, about all those considerate Thai drivers you encounter on the road perchance

A lot of them driving bahtbusses, cement trucks, busses perchance?

Do we really need another thread about how bad the Thais drive in their own country compared to the way farangs drive in their own country. How many threads do we need to rehash the same old stories....

If you are so disinterested why partake in this thread at all. I for one find it fascinating!

[philliphn]

another.

You're a bit bitter and twisted aren't you Maig06?

Haha, you're a funny guy.

Just read the constant moaning by Farangs that have a choice to remain in Thailand or leave, therein lies some very Bitter and twisted people.

Too old to have fun, too young to die, don't worry people, not long to wait, then when you are on your deathbeds, you will wonder why the he-ll you spent so much time bitching about life instead of enjoying it.

Be thankful that Thai people are not like you miserable people. v

You are cruel and unkind.

Edited September 2, 2008 by philliphn

[philliphn]

another.

You're a bit bitter and twisted aren't you Maig06?

Haha, you're a funny guy.

Just read the constant moaning by Farangs that have a choice to remain in Thailand or leave, therein lies some very Bitter and twisted people.

Too old to have fun, too young to die, don't worry people, not long to wait, then when you are on your deathbeds, you will wonder why the he-ll you spent so much time bitching about life instead of enjoying it.

Be thankful that Thai people are not like you miserable people. v

You are cruel and unkind.

Edited September 2, 2008 by philliphn

[philliphn]

It has also been my observation that in general Thais are very bad drivers.

Of course bad drivers exhist all over the world.

The way people drive in Thailand in general is horrible.

[Simbo]

I was recentlystopped by the police fornot wearing my seat belt,

Where in Pattaya did the cops nail you for not wearing your seatbelt?

[Simbo]

I was recentlystopped by the police fornot wearing my seat belt,

Where in Pattaya did the cops nail you for not wearing your seatbelt?

twice now. first on lake Mabprachan, second time on Sukumvit, between Nua and Klang.

[moo9]

The only thing which really upsets me is when turning left into a soi, turn indicators running, some stupid motocyc rider tries to pass me on the left side, where is virtually no place between the curb and my car. Another example, you intend to turn right into a soi, tuning signals on, no oncoming traffic, so you almost start the turn and then some bad axx is passing you at high speed on your right side...it drives me crazy.

Knock on wood, I was in my 2.5 yrs here never involved in any accident, neither with my cars nor with my bikes, but yes, being into traffic in Thailand, you need to develop a 360 degrees view, be very much jai yen yen and drive very defensively. It's a good exercise though...

Your rights as foreign motorist = ZERO, unless you suffer from serious injuries yourself caused by irresponsible driving of a maybe drunken Thai.

TiT

Edited September 3, 2008 by moo9

[rudi2008]

You're a bit bitter and twisted aren't you Maig06? Maybe you should drown your sorrows with gburns57au.

Cheer up, its only a debate

You should see the latest posting by Maigo06 in the thread "Songkhran in Pattaya". WOW!!!

Songkhran in Pattaya by Maigo06

Little bit late, but I love Maigo06 !! (I'm not gay)

[thaimate]

The only thing which really upsets me is when turning left into a soi, turn indicators running, some stupid motocyc rider tries to pass me on the left side, where is virtually no place between the curb and my car. Another example, you intend to turn right into a soi, tuning signals on, no oncoming traffic, so you almost start the turn and then some bad axx is passing you at high speed on your right side...it drives me crazy.

Knock on wood, I was in my 2.5 yrs here never involved in any accident, neither with my cars nor with my bikes, but yes, being into traffic in Thailand, you need to develop a 360 degrees view, be very much jai yen yen and drive very defensively. It's a good exercise though...

Your rights as foreign motorist = ZERO, unless you suffer from serious injuries yourself caused by irresponsible driving of a maybe drunken Thai.

TiT

this happened to me ,while turning right ,lights flashing ect when two young girls on a m/bike crashed into me trying to overtake on the inside ,i was alone ,they couldnt speak english ,but phoned someone who demanded money ,i have ist class insurance informed the person that ,girls at fault and would pay nothing but insurance man coming .

anyway stood my ground and refused to give them money .the upshot was it was their brothers m/bike ,they were insured and i got paid out .

the moral is ,you do have rights stand your ground,oh and take pictures immediatly ,it made the differance