Warn Tourists About Thai Driving Habits, Expert Says

[marialinsley]

Having lived in Samui for 18 months, driving both a car or scooter can be problematic. You need to expect the unexpected at all times and if you are not comfortable with driving - DON'T. I agree that there should be more stringent laws in place for Thai drivers but foreigners are often to blame also - having the freedom of riding without helmets and no safety clothing and drinking and driving. (Even though it's the law to wear a helmet it is rarely enforced). There are increasingly more road stops on the main ring roads whereby you are fined for not wearing a helmet - but when only one person on a scooter is required to wear it (and not necessarily the driver! - it is really about safety or the fine? At the end of the day, it would appear that it doesn't matter who is at fault in an accident; if a foreigner is involved - it's their fault regardless!

[Pimay1]

They should also tell tourists.Not to rent motorcycles,

If they have No or Little,previous riding experience in their homeland.

Agreed, so many of them crash on scooters especially since they are here "partying".

Actually I think Thai drivers are relatively well behaved when you factor into the equation that there is no real traffic control by police. Think about what it would be like back in your home country if the police suddenly announced that they will no longer stop anyone for DUI, speeding, running red lights,etc.! The worse drivers I have ever seen were in Italy and Miami has some real nutcases also.

Agree on the Italy drivers. I arrived in Milan, took a taxi to the hotel. This idiot was driving through peoples' yards at break neck speed to avoid a traffic jam.

[duffsoby]

I've lived in Thailand a number of years, also driven on the roads a number of years. The driving habits are absolutely insane.

Everyday I drive to work I have a near miss, people have no idea of the consequences.

Here are just a few crazy habits which are wide spread.

• I see cars pull out then look, nose out first, then look attitude is so dangerous.
  
• Taxi's see a potentail customer on the sdide of the road, they don't look they just lay on the brakes, goes as well when they drop customers off.
  
• The left side of the road, people just pull over and park with no cares in the world. The attitude of, just pull over and put on the flashers or not. One car can cause a huge chain of events and unsafe moves by simply pulling over on a main road. The big problem with traffic in Thailand is the left lane is rendered non functioning because a person decides he needs to walk in to 7-11 to a few minutes, even in the most congested roads. No cares what is happening behind them and the domino effect it creates.
  
• The Buses are a huge hazard, they will stop in the middle lane and let people out with no warning, they also think it is a race. You would think that the bus drivers in Thailand are paid a bonus by the number of reckless moves they make in a day.
  
• The turning lane most all the time ends up blocking out the middle lane as well, there is always one looser who last minute decided that he will turn from the middle lane and shut down that whole lane as well. This leaves one far left lane open for traffic to flow. All this as well creates a huge hazard because now the middle lane is trying to get in the far left to clear the intersection. The Police just sit and watch this everyday and do nothing
  
• The Red light thing is really bad, I was taught back in Canada as a precaution, when the light turns green to say, one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand then look left, right then go, just to be safe. Here they try to time it just before the light turns green to have a head start on the intersection.
  
• Motor Bikes pay no concern to Red Lights at all, is it actually legal in Thailand drive a motor bike and disregard red lights? I really believe that they have there own rules, please someone advise me if motor bikes can ignore the lights and all other rules including driving the wrong way.
  

• I have a motor bike as well a car, I was sitting at a light yesterday on my motorbike at Ekamai & Rama 9, the light turned green, I was amongst approximately 30 motor bikes. I could see that the light was about to turn green, as usual the motor bikes try to get a jump on everyone. With the habits I have learned back in Canada I aways clear the intersection before moving. I could see a bus racing to make the light from the opposite side, and could see as well clearly he would not make it. That did not bother him at all, the light was red and he was still a long ways from entering the intersection, not intention of stopping. The motor bikes ahead of me started to drive, I screamed at the top of my lungs to stop, luckily they all heard me, sure enough the bus came racing through the intersection.
  
• I was shaking inside as to the thought of @ least 15-20 getting creamed out by that bus, a number of casualties for sure. I really don't understand this bus drivers thinking, and how he is allowed to put all those people lives in danger. They definitely do not have any training from the bus company, it is all so wide spread with buses in Thailand
  

I dont know what the answer is to the change to attitude of the drivers in Thailand.

• Licensing in Thailand is a joke
  
• Bus Lanes (Buses stay in them)
  
• No parking during peak traffic hours (no exceptions)if they are, tow them immediately.
  
• Clearly traffic enforcements, heavy fines for speeding, reckless driving, running red lights
  
• Taxi laws
  
• Bus training
  
• Motor Bikes, follow the law or heavy fines
  

Enforcement of the laws and heavy fines will help make the roads safer as well create more revenue for the underpaid police in Thailand.

The overall answer for is simple in theory, however not so simple in reality.

[marialinsley]

Having taken a Thai bike licence test here, it is no wonder people don't know how to drive!!! Example of one of the multiple choice questions: When should you not drive: 1) If it is dark : 2) If it is raining : 3) if you are under the influence of drugs and/or alchohol : 4) If you think you are going to have a heart attack! Now, common sense would dictate that the answer was 3) but NO! The "correct" answer was 4)!. EPIC fail on the bike licence test! What hope to the poor buggers have!!!! LOL!

[quandow]

I'm finding myself more and more a recluse - if I don't have to leave my apartment, I don't because I am sick and tired of fighting to stay alive just to go to Big C and get groceries. It's finally to the point I'm looking at other countries with a little more sane traffic regulations. It's a goddam shame, I like just about everything else about the LOS - nice people, beautiful girls, I generally love my situation. I just feel like a prisoner cuz there isn't ONE trip I make where I don't have at least one near-death experience.

[bunuel]

The Minister's position is extremely short-sighted, and he does not understand tourism or public relations. If a tourist is fatally injured in an accident, the resulting bad publicity will be far worse than might be caused by advisories ir warnings, Quite to the contrary - if tourists are properly warned about do' and don't's in any country, there will be fewer accidents and lives wll be saved.

The other day I attended a crime orevention symposium with the Thai police and representatives of the ex-pat community here in Pattaya, and we proposed a pamphlet with do's and don't's to help tourists avoid getting into trouble or being the victims of crime themselves, The Thai police seemed to think this was a great idea.

Of course, it would require honesty about some social issues, but I am afraid the cat is already out of the bag . Thailand can be a wonderful country, but, like most places, it is what it is, and Denial will not change anything.

[quandow]

Having taken a Thai bike licence test here, it is no wonder people don't know how to drive!!! Example of one of the multiple choice questions: When should you not drive: 1) If it is dark : 2) If it is raining : 3) if you are under the influence of drugs and/or alchohol : 4) If you think you are going to have a heart attack! Now, common sense would dictate that the answer was 3) but NO! The "correct" answer was 4)!. EPIC fail on the bike licence test! What hope to the poor buggers have!!!! LOL!

For my bike license driving test, the examiner was in a sour mood, hung over, whatever. All we had to do was drive around the main building twice.

[chrisrazz]

So, there is an expert on driving in Thailand. Where has he been all this time? How many years of academia wasted in what is available in 5 minutes of actual road experience? I bet he doesn't even drive. Most of the previous comments are spot on and I'd only like to raise a couple of points. The most salient quote in the articles refers to the potential damage to the image of Thailand. This is not really about improving driving conditions, or showing concern for the number of tourist road fatalities, the authorities don't care, if they did, a program would have been implemented years ago. Too hard to break the easy earn for the cops, too hard to make good the roads that are damaged due to the 20% skim off at the time of building. Too hard to implement and police strict adherance to the driving rules, which, after all, are basically common sense. The only reason there is an article on this subject in aThai based news outlet is that stories are being picked up by foreign news outlets and 'tarnish' the image. we can thank the internet for this.

Apart from the already discussed driving traits here, can anyone apply logic and rationalise this question? Why when driving on the wrong side of the road in the motorcycle lane, is the rider travelling in the same motorcycle lane required to pass on the outside on the driver travelling in the wrong direction? They are driving on the wrong side of the wrong side of the road. Do two wrongs make a right?

[cyborgx]

How about teaching Thais to drive properly before issuing a DL?

Yeah, and stopping the rampant bribery that will get you one anyway if you fail the test!

testing the road worthiness of the cars properly would also be nice. the MOT test here's not much more than a cusory glance, check the engine and chassis numbers match the ownders book, and perhaps an emmisions test which is just a joke.

[razer]

Since TOT is internationally promoting Thailand as a tourist haven ... a tourist paradise .... doesn't the Thai government and people have a moral duty to make it safe? People spending, in some cases, a lot of money for a relaxing holiday are not going to read a half dozen pamphlets on how to be safe in a tourist paradise.

[PoorSucker]

" many foreigners injured in traffic accidents thought all Thai motorists must stop at a red light, but when they did that they had a collision."

Who would have thought it .

You can turn left when there's a red light if not disturbing traffic.

Same in the US but there you can turn right.

[Westaurel]

For once, I'm happy to see a thai national saying some bad truth about his own country and citizens.

Is it because he's assistant of a professor with enough knowledge and more intelligence than the majority of the country people, he can say the truth without fear to lose his face or making lose its face to Thailand !!

They took long time to recognize the truth until warn the tourists about it ! Congratulations to him, it's better later than never !

Edited February 19, 2013 by Westaurel

[kiwiinasia]

How about teaching Thais to drive properly before issuing a DL?

Hahahaha, jesus thats funny!

[crazydrummerpauly]

This article is so badly pasted together, with slips and breaks in continuity, logic, point-of-view, theme...that it is not worth answering as an organised piece. For example, at one point the view is that because of the behaviour of Thais on the road, foreign visitors should be warned, and then later it shifts to the view that visitor-numbers will not be affected by the dangers on Thai roads because foreigners understand it is only about 'accidents'. It seems to depend on WHICH Thai gvt mouthpiece has been handed the platform.

A while ago, before i'd done much driving & riding in LOS, i read "Thai Law For Foreigners" (2008), by Benjawan Poomsan Becker & Roengsak Thongkaew. In the section on 'Driving in Thailand', this is the first paragraph -

"In this section you will be provided with the legal aspects of how to get a driver's license, some of the rules of the road, and what to do when you get into an accident. But first, we want to present you with an understanding of what it means to drive in Thailand - and hopefully discourage you from attempting this." (my emphasis).

I thought when i read it - oh that IS funny, haha. Now, after 4 years road-experience in LOS, i aint laughing anymore - they had a point !

[crazydrummerpauly]

I'm finding myself more and more a recluse - if I don't have to leave my apartment, I don't because I am sick and tired of fighting to stay alive just to go to Big C and get groceries. It's finally to the point I'm looking at other countries with a little more sane traffic regulations. It's a goddam shame, I like just about everything else about the LOS - nice people, beautiful girls, I generally love my situation. I just feel like a prisoner cuz there isn't ONE trip I make where I don't have at least one near-death experience.

Know how you feel.

[evadgib]

A minister spouting nonsence of this nature is frankly unfit for office.

Can anyone offer first had experience on how insurers view rear end shunts @ traffic lights?

Edited February 19, 2013 by evadgib

[crazydrummerpauly]

If driving yourself does not kill you, you are just as liaable to die in a bus or minibus.

Or trying to simply walk across a one-way street that is not...

[crazydrummerpauly]

One of those 'Unknowables' but still important : How many people do decide to leave Thailand and live either back home or try another foreign country, because of the insane traffic culture here ? I guess it would rarely be THE reason, but for me, it would/will be a huge element if and when i make that decision. This is partly because, as others have said, i am absolutely pissed OFF about having a simple trip to the supermarket turned into a near-death adventure; and partly because in my home country, i actually love driving...and here i find it impossible to enjoy - except on those occasions when i find myself on a quiet country road with no other road-users in sight for 1/4 mile in either direction ! Who the hell wants the simple act of steering a metal box from A to B turned into an EXTREME SPORT ???

[SSSlongtime]

Try Driving in France ,i find it easer in Thailand ,,had one problem elephant no lights that was thailand

[Halion]

Bad driving by Thais has been the subject of great controversay for the past few decades. However in my opinion many Thai's can drive well with the problem being their total lack of adherence to the laws and to common sense.

T

[bekken]

I have motorbike and car and drive everyday in the Thai traffic and I always get angry/stunned/sad or whatever. It seems like the inhabitants not care if they live or die. On a high-speed highway with 3, 4 lanes cars turns out from small crossing soi´s and goes directly to the most right lane where cars are driving in 100+ km/h, in crossing they put on the hazard flashers and goes straight which confuse drivers that are about to perform a turn, instead of driving 40m ahead and turn into a small street/area and make a safe 3-point turn they just put in reverse/u-turn out in the traffic (with closed eyes?).

There is only one solution, raise the tickets for no valid license and make the Police enforce the law and start to stop and check each car. I do not believe that the major people driving here has a proper driving license. Of cause they also need to be proper eductions for getting the license, a bit more than an afternoon with a shitty test.

I get more and more angry actually and just want to hunt people down and kick their ass but then I realize that they might have weapons and it is not worth to get a bullet in the chest over the situation.

PS! I have seen elephants having a red light attached to the tail

[keemapoot]

PS! I have seen elephants having a red light attached to the tail

Was she cute?

[NoshowJones]

In Thailand, as in the US, unless otherwise stated, you can turn left (in the US right) on a red light if it is safe to do so. But in the UK, you can sit for ages on a red light when you want to turn left, even when there is no traffic there. Stupid UK.

[Lancelot]

I was riding my motobike near Buriram, on a two lane road with many slow moving trucks hauling sugar cane. A sugar can truck was on comming but the the far left of the lane. A car decides to pass and straddles the cneter line. Suddenly a pick up flashes his lights and begins passing on the far right- heading directly towards me. I brake hard and go as far left as possible, thinkin I would have to ride in to the ditch to escape a head on collision. At the last moment the Thai driver -yeah I looked- pulls back to the left, passing the car and avoiding a head on wreck.

Did the Thai driver think- "Hey, I'll scare the s@it out of this farang?" ( He did...) Naa, its a power thing, he has the bigger vehicle and he is going to do what ever he wants to smaller vehicles.

Most Thai drivers simply don't care and many longer term expats go local as well, with respect to driving habits.

I just plan that every other vehicle on the road is out to kill me- and its too often true...

Be fcareful out there

[AloisAmrein]

Road safety in Thailand: worse then in India... Every year about 6500 deaths on Thai Roads, no wonder with these habits. Drunk driving, driving without licence, etc.

[NoshowJones]

Tourist also need to be informed not to act didfferent in Thailand than you would at home. Do not stand in the middle of a road having a conversation, do not walk in the middle of the road, if there is a sidewalk use it. These and other dangerous activities I see every day in my neighborhood, I guess normal intelligent people check their brains when they board the flight to Thailand.

I have bicycled in Wales, England, and Scotland always had a blinking red light attached to my bicycle. Driver distraction is the leading cause of accidents and deaths by motor vehicle. Unfortunate for the couple

Use a sidewalk while walking in Thailand???? Going by the amount of motorbikes using the sidewalk, you can sometimes be just as safe walking on the road.

[belg]

i guess you can only comprehend how thais drive after you have been in a few traffic jams or almost accidents here ...

what people should now is: people here don't stop for red lights, don't stop for you when you are on a pedestrian crossing, etc.......

and specially : drivers run away after causing an accident

[Mosha]

This morning, I almost had to dive into the bushes by the roadside. Walking inside the white line, facing the traffic. This truck came round a curve barely 1' from the bushes. He had to swerve to miss me.

[rfukata]

place graphic warnings on travel brochures similar to the ones on cigarettes here, this may be

just the right answer in solving the poor & dangerous traffic habits and protecting the tourists.

[NoshowJones]

The roads are safe, apart from the potholes, it's the majority of Thai drivers who are not.