Thailand To Change From Left To Right Hand Driving

[AjarnMartin]

Do any of the erudite and knowledgeable people on this forum realise the date? Oh Dear!

[Rogerde]

Very Good, Very Good nearly got me have a nice day. On the 1st of April.

[DesflyTdesme]

40 years of driving on the right side in Sweden

http://www.wikihow.com/Adjust-to-Driving-a-Car-on-the-Left-Side-of-the-Road

Over the course of the 20th century, there was a gradual worldwide shift

from driving on the left to the right. Portugal changed to right-hand

traffic in 1928, and the parts of Canada which were still driving on the

left changed over by 1923. The remainder of Italy changed over in the

1920s after Benito Mussolini came to power; Austria and Czechoslovakia

changed when Germany annexed or occupied them in late 1930s, and Hungary

followed suit. In Austria the build-up of new traffic lights and

rebuilding of tram tracks was started before the annexation. The Latin

American countries of Panama and Argentina changed in 1943 and 1945

respectively, and the Philippines and China followed suit in 1945 and

1946 respectively. Belize changed to right-hand traffic in 1961. Sweden

changed in 1967 and Iceland did as well in 1968. Burma changed,

allegedly on the advice of a wizard,[15] in 1970. (For the logistics

involved, see the Swedish experience at Dagen H.)

Taiwan drove on the left under Japanese rule, but changed to driving on

the right in 1946 after the government of the Republic of China assumed

administration; the same happened in North and South Korea, another

former Japanese colony. However, some trains in Taiwan and Seoul still

keep to the left, as does pedestrian traffic in the Seoul subway system.

The most common reason for countries to switch to right-hand traffic is

for conformity with neighbours, as it increases the safety of

cross-border traffic. For example, several former British colonies in

Africa, such as The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Ghana, have

changed from driving on the left to the right, because they all share

borders with former French colonies, which drive on the right. The

former Portuguese colony of Mozambique continues to drive on the left,

which is a legacy of its Portuguese past; even though Portugal itself

changed over in the 1920s, Mozambique continues to drive on the left

because all its bordering countries do. More info at:

[pacovl46]

Sounds like an April fool's joke to me. ;-)

[thailandsam]

I am sure today is April Fools Day.

[pacovl46]

So, are they going to replace all the public busses over night by the end of the year as well because otherwise people will have to enter busses from the middle of the road as opposed to from the boardwalk? I think it's an April's fool joke.

[cbluck58]

Guess some people didn't check the date when they were reading this .....

[Danbit]

HELL! thats gonna be dangerous . Anyhow, a large % of them drive on the wrong side already.

1 April - good morning, but they did it in Sveden and Burma.

[Jing Joe]

I saw the title and just naturally assumed it was an April Fools joke.

I still think it is.

I can't believe it went three and a half pages before anybody even mentioned April Fools...

APRIL FOOLS DAY SURELY? I scrolled through 4 or 5 pages and began to think Aussies were the only ones to "celebrate" April fools day. Hope thats all this is. Sure created lots of debate. Tomorrow will tell?

[hellodolly]

Nah my wife knows about it. No joke.

If it was an April fools joke why would it make so much sense?

[Jayman]

I treat every news posting on TVF as a April 1 posting. Utter garbage the reporting here.. the lot of it.

Really, you treat every article here as an April Fool's joke? It appears that you in fact totally fell for it, along with so many other gulls. Sounds like sour grapes.

Which is actually even funnier.

of yes I fell for it.. like thais would ever all change their cars to left hand drive to be able to resell them.. guess you must be new here and don't understand that nearly all posts here on TVF are ripe with sarcasm. Is the joke on you?

[CapeCobra]

The fact that this most likely serves as an April Fool's story is the real joke. Such a move would make sense. The OP doesn't think so and tries to ridcule the idea. At all times degrading jokes evolved when opinion makers didn't understand new ideas (Darwin, Einstein, et al.). Though, changing sides is in the blood of many, Thailand may have bigger problems than that. Driving on the wrong side is nothing new to the country. The rule, or the suggestion, to drive on the right side may not be such a big issue for the locals. When my tailor took measures for my new pants, he asked if I carried left or right. I said "Let'm swing".

[Cholorado]

Please tell me this is an APRIL'S FOOLS joke as this is really a scary prospect. I cant imagine how many
people are going to die during this "transition" but it's going to get uglier than it already is. A lot uglier. And I think that it's pretty low that they even mention that another reason they're doing this is because of drunk tourists that travel here. What a slap in the face to have them mention that when not even a month ago 2 brits died just walking on a sidewalk.

[Goshawk]

excellent idea...! lets all move over from the LEFT to the bRIGHT side of the road...

Congrats crew.. ..So much better than previous years April Fools jokes on TV. Was quite entertaining reading the early gullible believers who totally fell for it! ..

[marto]

Today is which date???

[uty6543]

I treat every news posting on TVF as a April 1 posting. Utter garbage the reporting here.. the lot of it.

so why have you posted almost 3,500 replies to TVF if you think it is all Utter garbage?

[agam]

I treat every news posting on TVF as a April 1 posting. Utter garbage the reporting here.. the lot of it.

Really, you treat every article here as an April Fool's joke? It appears that you in fact totally fell for it, along with so many other gulls. Sounds like sour grapes.

Which is actually even funnier.

of yes I fell for it.. like thais would ever all change their cars to left hand drive to be able to resell them.. guess you must be new here and don't understand that nearly all posts here on TVF are ripe with sarcasm. Is the joke on you?

Comments are certainly *rife* with sarcasm, news articles only rarely. I did not just fall off the turnip truck yesterday, and recognized TV's Fools' Day joke when I saw the headline this morning in the newsletter. It would not have occurred to me to wonder publicly, "What kind of madness is that?"

It's ok, really. You have plenty of company. Did you know the word "gullible" is not to be found in the dictionary?

[Norvabc]

OK

Ok you guys had me going till i told the wife...she said not possible cos it would take years for the Thai thinking to change this, you would still find people driving on the left years after it was ever changed if they did change. Anyway why would they want to do that and spend all that money when they do it for free now anyways.

April fools day

Ok We all knok the Thais for their thinking and strange attitude to things, they say were are to serious.

This morning when i told the wife she instantly rejected the idea as stupid and as said it could not happen, yet how many of the poster here including myself took this seriously.

I think the joke is well on us for taking this on 55555

Problem is so many ridiculous things come out of the Thai Government it just was believable.

Edited April 1, 2013 by Norvabc

[Jayman]

I treat every news posting on TVF as a April 1 posting. Utter garbage the reporting here.. the lot of it.

so why have you posted almost 3,500 replies to TVF if you think it is all Utter garbage?

The news section is but one part of tvf in case you didn't know.

Sent from my GT-I9100T

[mok199]

this has disaster writen all over it...

[natas]

I saw the title and just naturally assumed it was an April Fools joke.

I still think it is.

I can't believe it went three and a half pages before anybody even mentioned April Fools...

Me either. It's pretty obvious, especially with the mistakes that people are ranting about.

[jgm005]

As soon as I saw this headline I wondered how many would fall for it. Duhh. 01 April. AKA April Fools Day

[tsigane]

Another April's fool post...

[sawadeeken]

If not a joke, then surely it is poor planning, after last years promotions to put a few million more right-hand drives on the Thai highways. I think I heard a figure of about 1.4 million new cars sold thru the tax rebate scheme to first time owners.

[BOS2BKK]

I saw the title and just naturally assumed it was an April Fools joke.

I still think it is.

I can't believe it went three and a half pages before anybody even mentioned April Fools...

I love that it went so long without anyone noticing it was April Fools. Just proves beyond any doubt how many self important spite filled angry haters there are on the interwebs. People too busy criticizing their adopted country to have a good laugh.

[thaibeachlovers]

Guess some people didn't check the date when they were reading this .....

Yeah, I've been having a good chuckle at all the people that got sucked in . Edited April 1, 2013 by thaibeachlovers

[stocchi]

"However busses, trucks and taxis will be exempted as they are driven by professional drivers who can handle their vehicle safely."

That is one of the better jokes in the article!!!

agree ! that s absolutly incredible !!!! professional best bad drivers who try to handle their vehicle without any car of safety or respect of others !!!! professional killers maybee !!!

BTW bus , slow pick up and minibus and mores drive already on right side , without care noboby and causing lot of accidents . they sould maybee care this problem first ... and instore a real licence test :-)

Edited April 1, 2013 by stocchi

[stocchi]

"However busses, trucks and taxis will be exempted as they are driven by professional drivers who can handle their vehicle safely."

That is one of the better jokes in the article!!!

agree ! that s absolutly incredible !!!! professional best bad drivers who try to handle their vehicle without any car of safety or respect of others !!!! professional killers maybee !!!

BTW bus , slow pick up and minibus and mores drive already on right side , without care noboby and causing lot of accidents . they sould maybee care this problem first ... and instore a real licence test :-)

[EyesWideOpen]

I saw the title and just naturally assumed it was an April Fools joke.

I still think it is.

I can't believe it went three and a half pages before anybody even mentioned April Fools...

I love that it went so long without anyone noticing it was April Fools. Just proves beyond any doubt how many self important spite filled angry haters there are on the interwebs. People too busy criticizing their adopted country to have a good laugh.

Before you become too full of yourself, I feel it is only fair to point out to you that as per standard procedures, the mods will automatically delete all posts early on that point out that the thread is an April fools joke.

So most people knew immediately what was going on, and played along.

Except for perhaps you.... :-)

Side note: What are you loving ?? That you live in a country with so many strange headlines, that people believe a strange headline on April 1 is real ?? Where is the joke there??

Psst you are not adopted here. Check your passport, it says you are a tourist with a long stay visa.... :-)

Edited April 1, 2013 by EyesWideOpen

[Sirius1935]

Not a very clever April Fools Joke this one.

Apart from the errors in the piece, there are already five out of ten Asean countries driving on the left.

The population of those Asean countries that drive on the left totals 340 million while those that drive on the right number only 250 million.

So, much more likely that the five counties that drive on the right would change to driving on the left.

Not that anyone would notice the change had taken place.

By the way Indonesia changed from driving on the right to the left during the Stamford Raffles administration.

Oh dear...get caught out did you!!!

Lighten up son...... it's supposed to be a bit of fun <deleted>!!!!

No, I did not get caught out. . See the first line " Not a very clever April Fools Joke" A clever joke would be one that made sense but was still funny. That way some people might have been fooled by it. I remember the BKK Post headline many years ago saying the the Chao Phrya river was going to restricted to One Way traffic. Same same.