Is She Stupid, or Stupid?

[AnotherOneAmerican]

There appears to be little respect for life in Thailand especially when it comes to the roads. I have been here 6 years, before that had never seen a dead body due to an accident. Now I have lost count, and as above everything from adults to a baby only a few Months old.

Driving through town in my lunch break today I see an accident on the opposite side of the road, middle age women from what I can see near Lotus. A "rescue" pick up and an ambulance from one of the hospitals comes flying past me with sirens blaring to do a U turn at the next set of lights, obviously going to the accident. Only one problem there is a BIB at the lights. Stops me the ambulance and all the traffic for about 5 minutes so an "important person" can drive down the road without stopping. Meanwhile, who knows what the condition of the poor women is like. Like others have said, no respect for their or anyone else's life on the roads.

A few weeks back I was driving along with the neighbours 2-year-old on their m/c (child seat + child helmet). An important person was about to drive by, Kings son had been handing out degree certificates, so we were all stopped at the traffic lights. Baby had flopped over asleep in front of me and it was hot and sunny, I had crept to the front of the queue. The police captain in charge came over to me, asked me where I lived, then escorted me across the lights, stopping all other traffic so I could carry on. "Can't have baby sitting in the sun", he said.

Some Thai police are really nice and considerate.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

This 5 year olds mother drives like this, and she will drive tye exact same way with her 5 year old 15 years from now.

The problem is all laws favor scooters too. If a car hits a scooter even though 99 out of 100 times its the scooters fault the car will get the blame. I live in chiang mai and everyday I see scooters going around parked cars on the roads switching lanes without looking... or they come out of a soi... instead of stopping and looking they just go around the corner... they know u will stop for them. Its what thailand has allowed...

I believe you have mistaken Thai road rules.

Most main roads have scooter/bike lanes clearly marked out. You aren't supposed to drive your car in those lanes.

So when a scooter comes out of a soi, it has right of way in the scooter lane. They only have to give way to other scooters already in the lane.

Thai roads are a river, cars are the rocks, scooters are the water that flow around the rocks.

[h90]

This 5 year olds mother drives like this, and she will drive tye exact same way with her 5 year old 15 years from now.

The problem is all laws favor scooters too. If a car hits a scooter even though 99 out of 100 times its the scooters fault the car will get the blame. I live in chiang mai and everyday I see scooters going around parked cars on the roads switching lanes without looking... or they come out of a soi... instead of stopping and looking they just go around the corner... they know u will stop for them. Its what thailand has allowed...

Sent from my GT-I9500

"she will drive exact the same way with her 5 year old 15 years from now".

But only if the 5 year old doesn't age in the next 15 years.

Lol you completely misunderstood what I said. Im typing on a phone so the english isnt perfect, but im sure if you read it again you will pick up what im dropping... know what I mean?

Sent from my GT-I9500

No understand it :-) only tried to be funny

I found it funny, the always 5 year old :-)

[transam]

This 5 year olds mother drives like this, and she will drive tye exact same way with her 5 year old 15 years from now.

The problem is all laws favor scooters too. If a car hits a scooter even though 99 out of 100 times its the scooters fault the car will get the blame. I live in chiang mai and everyday I see scooters going around parked cars on the roads switching lanes without looking... or they come out of a soi... instead of stopping and looking they just go around the corner... they know u will stop for them. Its what thailand has allowed...

I believe you have mistaken Thai road rules.

Most main roads have scooter/bike lanes clearly marked out. You aren't supposed to drive your car in those lanes.

So when a scooter comes out of a soi, it has right of way in the scooter lane. They only have to give way to other scooters already in the lane.

Thai roads are a river, cars are the rocks, scooters are the water that flow around the rocks.

But it doesn't work as it should does it. Numnut truck/car drivers drive in a marked scooter lane cos they can't be assed to wait and scooters pull out on roads that have no scooter lane markings. Let's be honest, nobody has a clue about anything.

[pancakeman]

So there was no newborn in the front basket? She's not that bad.

[RaysFan]

I rarely see marked scooter lanes in chiang mai... most roads in tue city are either 2 or 3 lanes wide and cars always park in the far left lane so that doesnt count.... so that leaves a middle lane open and a right lane open... or in most cases just the right lane open.... my biggest beef with the thai scooter drivers is when they enter the road... no hesitation, no looking... they just expect u to see them and yield. Or when they have a parked car in the left lane... do they look for an open chance to come over? No, never... they just get in your lane... they never get hit because the car drivers know that they will be cut off by this idiot scooter driver....

Sent from my GT-I9500

[RaysFan]

I think the scooters are a bigger problem in chiang mai than most other places... I think a much larger percentage of the population rides them here... when im in bkk scooters dont normally bother me...

Sent from my GT-I9500

[Thai at Heart]

When turning right, you need to position your bike very close to the centre of the road, i.e. just left of the white lane. This is if the traffic conditions permit. If you cannot achieve this safely, then pull in to the kerb and stop. Wait for clear traffic in both directions and then execute your right turn.

The OP did a bizarre right turn sweeping to the kerb before swinging right. I don't know where he learnt to drive but this is an insane manouevre and probably gave the shock of her life to the woman behind.

Indeed. I lost it with "I pulled left/inside to make a right turn"

Absolutely idiotic way to make a turn knowing there is someone close behind you.

Edited August 5, 2013 by Thai at Heart

[Thai at Heart]

This 5 year olds mother drives like this, and she will drive tye exact same way with her 5 year old 15 years from now.

The problem is all laws favor scooters too. If a car hits a scooter even though 99 out of 100 times its the scooters fault the car will get the blame. I live in chiang mai and everyday I see scooters going around parked cars on the roads switching lanes without looking... or they come out of a soi... instead of stopping and looking they just go around the corner... they know u will stop for them. Its what thailand has allowed...

I believe you have mistaken Thai road rules.

Most main roads have scooter/bike lanes clearly marked out. You aren't supposed to drive your car in those lanes.

So when a scooter comes out of a soi, it has right of way in the scooter lane. They only have to give way to other scooters already in the lane.

Thai roads are a river, cars are the rocks, scooters are the water that flow around the rocks.

But the scooter lane isn't 2 ways.

[ajarnpot]

I have a rule nowadays, I ignore stupid driving and go for them. Whats that taxi ? you want to pull in front of me and come to a complete stop? not if I do it to you first ha ha ha

What ? oh motorbike rider with 3 children sandwiched between and wife holding baby, you want to cut me up ? and trust my brakes do actually work? ha ha ha <deleted> not if I do it to you befo9re you even think about doing it to me

If everyone did more of this you would all feel better, less stress and you understand why the locals do this, simply because if you don't do it to them they will do it to you

note: its not worth doing this to big trucks, let them cut you up its not worth doing the same to them

[bangkokstick]

Don;t worry she will die soon anyway :-)

[tartempion]

Thai road rules?

No have.

[Bcgardener]

There appears to be little respect for life in Thailand especially when it comes to the roads. I have been here 6 years, before that had never seen a dead body due to an accident. Now I have lost count, and as above everything from adults to a baby only a few Months old. 

Driving through town in my lunch break today I see an accident on the opposite side of the road, middle age women from what I can see near Lotus. A "rescue" pick up and an ambulance from one of the hospitals comes flying past me with sirens blaring to do a U turn at the next set of lights, obviously going to the accident. Only one problem there is a BIB at the lights. Stops me the ambulance and all the traffic for about 5 minutes so an "important person" can drive down the road without stopping. Meanwhile, who knows what the condition of the poor women is like. Like others have said, no respect for their or anyone else's life on the roads.

A few weeks back I was driving along with the neighbours 2-year-old on their m/c (child seat + child helmet). An important person was about to drive by, Kings son had been handing out degree certificates, so we were all stopped at the traffic lights. Baby had flopped over asleep in front of me and it was hot and sunny, I had crept to the front of the queue. The police captain in charge came over to me, asked me where I lived, then escorted me across the lights, stopping all other traffic so I could carry on. "Can't have baby sitting in the sun", he said.

Some Thai police are really nice and considerate.

Great to hear a good story about this sort of thing. I was leaving Bangkok via the tollway that goes past the airport one afternoon after a meeting. BIB closed the whole tollway at 5.15 pm so an important person could drive to the airport. I'm sure you can imagine the utter chaos.

Sent from my GT-P5100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[jackr]

Folks, if you are in the north or Bangkok and think the driving is bad, try visiting the deep south sometime. Believe me, the former are the most astute, saintly drivers in comparison.

[Gsxrnz]

When turning right, you need to position your bike very close to the centre of the road, i.e. just left of the white lane. This is if the traffic conditions permit. If you cannot achieve this safely, then pull in to the kerb and stop. Wait for clear traffic in both directions and then execute your right turn.

The OP did a bizarre right turn sweeping to the kerb before swinging right. I don't know where he learnt to drive but this is an insane manouevre and probably gave the shock of her life to the woman behind.

Indeed. I lost it with "I pulled left/inside to make a right turn"

Absolutely idiotic way to make a turn knowing there is someone close behind you.

The OP didn't go left and then turn right. He used the wrong description of "pulled inside", but meant that he moved towards the right. I clarified it with him in an earlier post. To him, "inside" means towards the centre of the road - I think he's using drive on the right terminology.

Sweeping RH turns from anywhere on the road are suicidal anyway. Best advice is to always filter safely to the right hand lane well before the intended point of exit as close to the centre line as possible. Try and judge speed and traffic so you can get across the road without having to go too slow or stop. And if you think anything behind you may be confused by your actions, use hand signals in addition to indicators.

EDIT: and never slow down/brake before you indicate - always indicate well before you change your speed. This is one of the biggest mistakes I see Farang doing in Pattaya. They throttle off before indicating - those behind have no idea where the rider intends to go and must either brake (causing problems for other riders behind them), or go left/right of the dolt in front. If the dolt then indicates and turns at the same time and the rider behind made the wrong choice....bang.

Often I will indicate and then moderately accelerate away from the traffic behind me to create a bigger gap, then throttle off/brake progressively to allow them to make the correct choice. Smooth and flowing is the key as an earlier poster mentioned quoting rocks and water.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Gsxrnz

[evadgib]

I had one yesterday too. A simple manouver at slow speed allows me to put my car in position in order to reverse into my drive. Usually I encounter idiots trying to jump the ever decreasing gap between reversing car and wall on the way in but on this occasion I had one that couldn't even wait for the left turn while driving forwards & instead tried to pass on the left despite my clear signal.

Fortunately a short blast woke her up & persuaded not to be so bloody stupid.

[Thai at Heart]

When turning right, you need to position your bike very close to the centre of the road, i.e. just left of the white lane. This is if the traffic conditions permit. If you cannot achieve this safely, then pull in to the kerb and stop. Wait for clear traffic in both directions and then execute your right turn.

The OP did a bizarre right turn sweeping to the kerb before swinging right. I don't know where he learnt to drive but this is an insane manouevre and probably gave the shock of her life to the woman behind.

Indeed. I lost it with "I pulled left/inside to make a right turn"

Absolutely idiotic way to make a turn knowing there is someone close behind you.

The OP didn't go left and then turn right. He used the wrong description of "pulled inside", but meant that he moved towards the right. I clarified it with him in an earlier post. To him, "inside" means towards the centre of the road - I think he's using drive on the right terminology.

Sweeping RH turns from anywhere on the road are suicidal anyway. Best advice is to always filter safely to the right hand lane well before the intended point of exit as close to the centre line as possible. Try and judge speed and traffic so you can get across the road without having to go too slow or stop. And if you think anything behind you may be confused by your actions, use hand signals in addition to indicators.

Absolutely. Sweeping turns going right are not a very good idea on these chaotic roads. Get in position as early as possible and take your time.

[kannot]

Buddhist get born again when they die. So a bad accident is just an interruption.

It's the failed attempts at rebirth that are worrisome.

That.s just karma that guy whose brain dead shi**ing and pis**g himself in a vegetative state for the next 30 years, see what a great ( <deleted>*** stupid) system it is, absolves you from everything.

[kannot]

I have a rule nowadays, I ignore stupid driving and go for them. Whats that taxi ? you want to pull in front of me and come to a complete stop? not if I do it to you first ha ha ha What ? oh motorbike rider with 3 children sandwiched between and wife holding baby, you want to cut me up ? and trust my brakes do actually work? ha ha ha fuc_ker not if I do it to you befo9re you even think about doing it to me If everyone did more of this you would all feel better, less stress and you understand why the locals do this, simply because if you don't do it to them they will do it to you note: its not worth doing this to big trucks, let them cut you up its not worth doing the same to them

I failed to move out of the way of an oncoming vehicle on my side of the road trying to kill me and a member accused me of manslaughter when his car rolled over.

I couldnt stop laughing for about 10 minutes.

And they removed my post too.

[evadgib]

When turning right, you need to position your bike very close to the centre of the road, i.e. just left of the white lane. This is if the traffic conditions permit. If you cannot achieve this safely, then pull in to the kerb and stop. Wait for clear traffic in both directions and then execute your right turn.

The OP did a bizarre right turn sweeping to the kerb before swinging right. I don't know where he learnt to drive but this is an insane manouevre and probably gave the shock of her life to the woman behind.

Indeed. I lost it with "I pulled left/inside to make a right turn"

Absolutely idiotic way to make a turn knowing there is someone close behind you.

The OP didn't go left and then turn right. He used the wrong description of "pulled inside", but meant that he moved towards the right. I clarified it with him in an earlier post. To him, "inside" means towards the centre of the road - I think he's using drive on the right terminology.

Sweeping RH turns from anywhere on the road are suicidal anyway. Best advice is to always filter safely to the right hand lane well before the intended point of exit as close to the centre line as possible. Try and judge speed and traffic so you can get across the road without having to go too slow or stop. And if you think anything behind you may be confused by your actions, use hand signals in addition to indicators.

In the days when I still rode a motorcy in LOS I found indicators were taken seriously if coupled with exaggerated bicycle-type hand signals.

HTH

[rijb]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone remember (many years ago) when Thai drivers constantly used their horns? When did that stop?

[Gsxrnz]

I have a rule nowadays, I ignore stupid driving and go for them. Whats that taxi ? you want to pull in front of me and come to a complete stop? not if I do it to you first ha ha ha What ? oh motorbike rider with 3 children sandwiched between and wife holding baby, you want to cut me up ? and trust my brakes do actually work? ha ha ha fuc_ker not if I do it to you befo9re you even think about doing it to me If everyone did more of this you would all feel better, less stress and you understand why the locals do this, simply because if you don't do it to them they will do it to you note: its not worth doing this to big trucks, let them cut you up its not worth doing the same to them

I failed to move out of the way of an oncoming vehicle on my side of the road trying to kill me and a member accused me of manslaughter when his car rolled over.

I couldnt stop laughing for about 10 minutes.

And they removed my post too.

Yeah that was me. Your full post (that was removed by the mods) was a little more enlightening than your few brief words above. Did you ever try and find out if anybody was killed through your senseless act of road rage? I suspect you haven't. At the very least, the occupants of the vehicle that rolled after you proudly ran it off the road will have sustained some serious injuries.

And ask yourself why the Mods removed your post.

Glad you had a laugh and trust that karma will find it's way to your door.

[XJSJohn]

Folks, if you are in the north or Bangkok and think the driving is bad, try visiting the deep south sometime. Believe me, the former are the most astute, saintly drivers in comparison.

Indeed, then go further south into Malaysia, or for utmost arrogance / Kiasu'nes Singapore!!

By general SE Asian standards, thai driving is not too bad.

[welsh1]

Don;t worry she will die soon anyway :-)

Maybe by some falang driver,,,,, and guess who will be footing that bill

[inthepink]

I think the scooters are a bigger problem in chiang mai than most other places... I think a much larger percentage of the population rides them here... when im in bkk scooters dont normally bother me...

Sent from my GT-I9500

I've come across plenty of stupid Westerners on scooters in Chiang Mai - what's their excuse? No manners? Stupidity? A desire to die? Poverty combined with one or all of the preceding issues?

Edited August 6, 2013 by inthepink

[rene123]

This 5 year olds mother drives like this, and she will drive tye exact same way with her 5 year old 15 years from now.

The problem is all laws favor scooters too. If a car hits a scooter even though 99 out of 100 times its the scooters fault the car will get the blame. I live in chiang mai and everyday I see scooters going around parked cars on the roads switching lanes without looking... or they come out of a soi... instead of stopping and looking they just go around the corner... they know u will stop for them. Its what thailand has allowed...

I believe you have mistaken Thai road rules.

Most main roads have scooter/bike lanes clearly marked out. You aren't supposed to drive your car in those lanes.

So when a scooter comes out of a soi, it has right of way in the scooter lane. They only have to give way to other scooters already in the lane.

Thai roads are a river, cars are the rocks, scooters are the water that flow around the rocks.

That is one of the better descriptions of riding in Thailand that I've read. Traffic all flows like water and everything that doesn't flow the same way creates an obstruction. There s no question that what happens in Thailand is dangerous, but there is nothing any foreign group can do about it. All you can do is expect the unexpected and take care of yourself. It makes me sad when I see Thai mothers taking risks with their children, but I understand that there is nothing I can do about it.

I actually enjoy riding a D-Tracker motorbike in Thai traffic. It's far more "interesting" than riding my Yamaha XT 250 in "boring" North America. If I rode my bike in Canada like I do in Thailand then the Canadian police would lock me up,

[Dancealot]

I consider driving the same as walking.

While I am walking I am careful not to hit another person by trying to anticipate their next move and combining this to my own direction to go. Participating in Thai traffic involves different rules. Sometimes it's hard to adapt when you are thought differently.

[ChrisB87]

Don't you know what LOS stands for?

[David48]

Don't you know what LOS stands for?

It means many different things to many different people.

And that meaning changes the longer you stay here.

What it means to you today ChrisB87, for sure will not be the same in 1, 2, 5 or 10 years time.

Just saying like ...

Carry on ...

.

[welsh1]

Don't you know what LOS stands for?

Mai Rooooooooooooooooooooo,,,,, Please do tell