New Road Hazard In Chiang Mai......

[theblether]

We all know the drill by now.......

Stand on pavement ( sidewalk for our American friends ) and........

Watch for unusual height differentials to the road in case we break our ankles......

Beware of random soi dog sleeping in unlikely place in case you step on it and get bitten.......

Look out for uneven surfaces on the road, neigh......potholes that are more like sink holes........

Beware of random attack by scooter piloted by psychotic 14 year old.

Avoid being flattened by agricultural truck manned by hobbit type beehive keepers ( at least, that's what they look like ).

Skip past Red Bull crazed tuk tuk drivers engaged in their own wacky races.

Swerve past the smoke belching songthaew while hoping your brand new shirt is ruined by the oil particles.

and Pray for you life as mad Mercedes driver swerves to run you down,

all that just to cross a road.....and if that wasn't bad enough now we have!!

Swarms of Chinese tourists bearing down in us on pushbikes!!!! I got caught in the middle of a ruckus today with about 17 cyclists all taking off in random directions at the same time.

I swear, the roads in CM are going to be the death of me.

[hellodolly]

Look on the bright side at least you are not in Glasgow Scotland.

I heard a rumor that they did not allow sun shine there. Is there any truth to that rumor.

If it is false let me know right away before I spread it to far.

[jbrain]

I swear, the roads in CM are going to be the death of me.

No empty promises, allright.

[BlackArtemis]

Loud exhaust and a blip of the throttle is how I handle a lot of situations, works well.

[theblether]

You go first

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Another way to say the same thing: thank God all of them aren't renting motorbikes or are in cars!

In fact I wish more people would go by their example.

[britgent]

Ah yes.

I always seem to catch them in packs of two. Females usually.

They seem to prefer pointing into the distance at something then pushing off into the traffic with little to no regard to on coming traffic.

Another favourite is to stop in the middle of a busy junction to discuss future routes.

Sent from my i-mobile IQ 6A using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Ulysses G.]

They seem to prefer pointing into the distance at something then pushing off into the traffic with little to no regard to on coming traffic.

Another favourite is to stop in the middle of a busy junction to discuss future routes.

Agreed and it is not just the Chinese. Tourists should not be riding bicycles in the middle of the city unless they are extremely careful and most of them are not.

[hellodolly]

They seem to prefer pointing into the distance at something then pushing off into the traffic with little to no regard to on coming traffic.

Another favourite is to stop in the middle of a busy junction to discuss future routes.

Agreed and it is not just the Chinese. Tourists should not be riding bicycles in the middle of the city unless they are extremely careful and most of them are not.

Or motorbikes

[uptheos]

They seem to prefer pointing into the distance at something then pushing off into the traffic with little to no regard to on coming traffic.

Another favourite is to stop in the middle of a busy junction to discuss future routes.

Agreed and it is not just the Chinese. Tourists should not be riding bicycles in the middle of the city unless they are extremely careful and most of them are not.

Or motorbikes

What's the alternatives for getting around at your leisure if walking is a problem?

Everyone says it's a great place to visit as a tourist, but you need to get around and there's not enough samlors available.

Tuk Tuks? What a crap way to explore the City.

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

I guess it's because of the crowding in China but it seems they are generally unaware of their surroundings and ride bicycles and motorbikes accordingly.

There might be a couple or group of Chinese at the store and your trying to get to something they are standing in front of and they are completely unaware of people around them.

Edited April 6, 2013 by onthedarkside
off topic remark removed

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Oh great, a Chinese bashing topic.

Yes, if only all visitors to Chiang Mai were British.

Edited April 6, 2013 by WinnieTheKhwai

[daoyai]

Oh great, a Chinese bashing topic.

Yes, if only all visitors to Chiang Mai were British.

Long black hair, glasses and awsome ivory colored legs.....obliviously rolling down the road on a bicycle, no complaints here. the new look of CM tourism,

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

Observations and even criticism isn't bashing.

That's like saying if you don't like something then it's hatred.

Oh you don't like to eat cheesecake. Why do you hate cheesecake?

bash (bsh)

v. bashed, bash·ing, bash·es

v.tr.

1. To strike with a heavy, crushing blow: The thug bashed the hood of the car with a sledgehammer.

2. To beat or assault severely: The police arrested the men who bashed an immigrant in the park.

3. Informal To criticize (another) harshly, accusatorially, and threateningly: "He bashed the . . . government unmercifully over the . . . spy affair" (Lally Weymouth).

v.intr. Informal

To engage in harsh, accusatory, threatening criticism.

n.

1. Informal A heavy, crushing blow.

[zippydedodah]

I guess it's because of the crowding in China but it seems they are generally unaware of their surroundings and ride bicycles and motorbikes accordingly.

There might be a couple or group of Chinese at the store and your trying to get to something they are standing in front of and they are completely unaware of people around them.

for me, the phenomena is explained in a slightly different way. And i find this to be true of many asian cultures (compared to western)... the asian cultures have a very different concept/regard for personal and social space. Completely at odd (at time) with what a western person expects... they will crowd you beyond belief (and crowd themselves too), stop at any time, any where...etc...

drives some of my retired friends absolutely crazy... i have gotten used to it...sabai sabai

[jingjoke]

They seem to prefer pointing into the distance at something then pushing off into the traffic with little to no regard to on coming traffic.

Another favourite is to stop in the middle of a busy junction to discuss future routes.

Agreed and it is not just the Chinese. Tourists should not be riding bicycles in the middle of the city unless they are extremely careful and most of them are not.

Or motorbikes

What's the alternatives for getting around at your leisure if walking is a problem?

Everyone says it's a great place to visit as a tourist, but you need to get around and there's not enough samlors available.

Tuk Tuks? What a crap way to explore the City.

Just a while ago I came across a group of tourists on 'electric standing scooters' merrily buzzing past Phra Singh Temple. I pulled off the road behind them as they appeared a danger to themselves and to others despite a group leader with a warning sign he waved at traffic as the group went from road to pavement intermittently.

[true blue]

lucky you can stand on the pavement,it seems to be used more and more by motorbikes,and going the wrong way as well.

[theblether]

lucky you can stand on the pavement,it seems to be used more and more by motorbikes,and going the wrong way as well.

I've seen that a lot in the last few days, more than normal even. In my eyes the traffic has increased dramatically and it's maybe making people take risks in town they wouldn't have done before.

[britgent]

Oh great, a Chinese bashing topic.

Yes, if only all visitors to Chiang Mai were British.

Well done that chap.

I got stuck walking behind two grossly overweight Chinese people and for the life of me couldn't get past. They don't give a toss but seem quite happy when others don't so swings and roundabouts.

Sent from my i-mobile IQ 6A using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[PoodMaiDai]

Bikes or no bikes, I find all the Chinese girls roaming about quite nice.

[masuk]

Pavements in Chiang Mai? where?

I thought those narrow strips filled with poles and signs and advertising stands, was for motor cy parking.

Try walking totally on a pavement in for example, Chiang Moi road. It's a handy place to strip and repair anything mechanical.

On the subject of Chinese cyclists here, they get plenty of practice in their larger cities, where they force their way through pedestrians, crossing on the green light. Same goes for their version of a tuk-tuk and/or electric bikes.

[vagabond48]

Pavements in Chiang Mai? where?

I thought those narrow strips filled with poles and signs and advertising stands, was for motor cy parking.

Try walking totally on a pavement in for example, Chiang Moi road. It's a handy place to strip and repair anything mechanical.

On the subject of Chinese cyclists here, they get plenty of practice in their larger cities, where they force their way through pedestrians, crossing on the green light. Same goes for their version of a tuk-tuk and/or electric bikes.

In the Chinese cities I have been to, the pedestrians are as carefree (less) as the motorcyclists. The cars come a close 2nd.

My Chinese wife always reminds me that Thai drivers more courteous than Chinese.

[Tywais]

lucky you can stand on the pavement,it seems to be used more and more by motorbikes,and going the wrong way as well.

[Mestizo]

Oh great, a Chinese bashing topic.

Yes, if only all visitors to Chiang Mai were British.

Don't worry. As with most topics here, it will somehow quickly deteriorate into an American bashing thread...

-Mestizo

[Mestizo]

Another favourite is to stop in the middle of a busy junction to discuss future routes.

That's the one that bothers me. I always seem to get stuck behind the cars with the Chinese license plates, where the front driver in the pack stops right in the middle of the road to get out and discuss something with the drivers of cars #2 and #3.

Or they stop in the middle of the road to look at something/ read the map/ piss on the side of the road.

-Mestizo

[harrry]

Were the chinese people on bikes wearing black trousers and white shirts with a little rectangulaar black badge on them?

[Thakkar]

I don't know how things are now, but during my6 first trip to Taipei in the late eighties, I was nearly run down by a motorcyclist while strolling leisurely on the pavement. I learned that only half the pavement is for pedestrians, the other half foe motorcycles, and individual cyclists decide which half.

Things here aren't that bad here. Motorists seem fairly tolerant of the many new Chinese cyclists, especially around the Night Bazar area that I tend to drive through around 4 p.m. on certain days, just as the vendors are setting up their stalls. Yet there's not the kind of havoc one would find in similar situations in, say, Mumbai. The cyclists, like tourists everywhere, seem mostly oblivious to the risks they're taking. There's nothing for us to do but behave like the locals and be tolerant of them.

T

[Konini]

Look on the bright side at least you are not in Glasgow Scotland.

I heard a rumor that they did not allow sun shine there. Is there any truth to that rumor.

If it is false let me know right away before I spread it to far.

It's true. One of the official road rules there is always keep the windows and doors locked, and keep your vehicle moving to lessen (although not prevent) your chances of having your wheels stolen

[theblether]

Anything less than 30 miles an hour is asking for it