Thai driver heavily criticized for eating while driving a bus

[phitsanulokjohn]

Never mind my responsibility to my passengers.My food comes first.

[jollyman]

All these anti Thai commebts will result in Mas deportations soon

[Estrada]

What rules? You mean there are rules! I thought the rules were Mai Bpen Rai and Up To You.

[spidermike007]

"This offense was said to be illegal in the Thai driving rules."

I bet they obey the rest of the driving rules..

The driver is now at risk of either being fined 200 baht, or if prosecuted for reckless driving (is there such an offense on the books here?) serving a 30 day suspended sentence. Is anyone in the Thai jails? Seems sentences are nearly always suspended. And why are the fines so low? I have seen 2,000 baht fines given to someone convicted of a serious assault. What is that? Seems like a fine that would be levied in 1890, not 2013. Why are the courts here so horribly incompetent? No wonder some people behave the way they do. Little in the way of a deterrent here.

The public prosecutors and the Courts are bound, like in your country, to and with laws.

And that includes the measure of fines, imprisonment and suspended punishments.

That's why the grandson and heir to the Red Bull fortune is sitting in prison right now after killing a policeman with his Ferrari. Take your head out of the dark place and give it a little

sunshine.

Yes, and this is also why his trial has been postponed for the fifth time recently. There is a little known concept out there called reform, and it is something that drastically needs to be applied to the Thai judiciary system, which according to many I talk to is nearly completely broken. Let's get with it. These 200 or 2000 baht fines do nothing in the way of helping to prevent crime. Is that not what the judiciary is all about anyway?

[harber8]

More photos like this from every aspect of unprofessional Thailand please.

Videos are even better. Then post them on YouTube.

Force these people to pull their socks up. It will prevent accidents and save lives.

[Docno]

That's why John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich invented the sandwich. Leaving one hand free to do other things.

Thais have never cottoned on to the sandwich. If somebody can figure out how to get som-tam and sticky rice between two pieces of non-drip edible polystyrene, you're on to a winner.

Maybe a som-tam and sticky rice pie might be a better idea. Everybody knows that back in Farangland you can drive while eating a pie, drinking coffee, and talk on your cellphone at the same time.

The Japanese invented this long ago, but don't tell the Thai's they weren't first! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onigiri

And the Chinese had it before the Japanese, but don't tell the Japanese that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticky_rice#History

[PaulHamon]

A tour bus?

You mean a Thai snapped this shot?

A driver eating while driving with his belly comes as no surprise.

But a Thai concerned about it?

Wow!

My Thai wife is always concerned about crazy bus and minivan drivers, admittedly she's the only Thai in the minivan that will tell the driver what she thinks, even when you can see other passengers are not happy either with the situation.

[newermonkey]

This is shocking!!! He should eat sandwiches, hamburgers, hot-dogs, tarts, or pies that's what they are for.! Very stupid driver trying to eat sloppy disgusting thai food on the move.

The risks here are huge:

Sloppy vulgar thai food all over the wheel and other controls making them sticky and slippery.

The driver also is at risk of spontaneous vomiting or even worse sudden diarrhea.

Also the passengers could react badly to the disgusting smells and end up vomiting on the driver.

They should all be shown the western way to do this as the food has evolved for this very use and have been eating food as they drive for thousands of years.

Why don't the thais ever learn from the people who have a long successful history of these things, I would be quite surprised if I saw a bus driver in the UK tucking into his full English breakfast of bacon, fried eggs, fried bread, sausages, grilled tomatoes and backed beans all balanced on top of the wheel along with his mug of tea, yes it would be stupid, that's why they don't generally do it that's why we have food for every occasion unlike thailand that has the same mixed up pig swill for every meal.

Edited October 21, 2013 by newermonkey

[8OA8]

I can remember being in the UK on a long distance (Glasgow to London) coach, maybe Stagecoach, during the night I saw the relief driver take over the drivers position (in the fast lane of the motorway without slowing down) an obviously well practiced maneuver. No one else on the coach apart from me witnessed this as I had gone forward to stretch my legs and the driving position wasn't visible from any of the seats.

Edited October 21, 2013 by 8OA8

[Bagwan]

"Passengers of a certain tour bus became frightened after they saw their tour bus eating while he was driving at a high speed towards their destination. This offense was said to be illegal in the Thai driving rules."

That probably should read: "Passengers of EVERY tour bus.." And won't they be surprised when "their destination" is the front of another tour bus coming in the opposite direction, whose driver is doing the same.

And as far as the offense being illegal under Thai...rules. When has that stopped someone before?

Care to make a further amendment? Unless the bus was eating a pink Bentley of course, an event that would brighten many people's day.

[Cheapcharly]

Where is the problem..?

And don't say anything, don't offend the driver.

If you are not happy, ... Just walk! You lazy!

[Redhawk]

Looks like he is copying my driving style! It is normal here, one reason why I quited the service of tour coaches which actually I really liked, seeing one coming always on alert when riding the highway!

[8OA8]

A tour bus?

You mean a Thai snapped this shot?

A driver eating while driving with his belly comes as no surprise.

But a Thai concerned about it?

Wow!

My Thai wife is always concerned about crazy bus and minivan drivers, admittedly she's the only Thai in the minivan that will tell the driver what she thinks, even when you can see other passengers are not happy either with the situation.

Suggest to your wife that she download the app Traffy bSafe it can log the speed the vehicle is traveling at for the entire journey. If she looks at the graph and it's showing as exceeding the spwed limit just add the van reg and auto sent to the MOT and they take it from there. Obviously it can't check on drinking, eating...

Edited October 21, 2013 by 8OA8

[newermonkey]

I can remember being in the UK on a long distance (Glasgow to London) coach, maybe Stagecoach, during the night I saw the relief driver take over the drivers position (in the fast lane of the motorway without slowing down) an obviously well practiced maneuver. No one else on the coach apart from me witnessed this as I had gone forward to stretch my legs and the driving position wasn't visible from any of the seats.

Do you mean swapping out to relief drivers on the move? this is normal throughout Europe and normally done with finesse. Don't tell the thais this well known practice as they would get it so wrong if they tried copping it, with obvious disastrous results.!!! You would have drivers leaving the seat when the relief driver is still asleep on the back seat. You would have drivers swapping out to people who have never driven a vehicle, You might even find them trying to swap out to a non existent 2nd driver!!!!! Anything is possible.

[nachiket]

Better he was not drinking. This is very normal thing for drivers everywhere.

[Alwyn]

That's why John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich invented the sandwich. Leaving one hand free to do other things.

Thais have never cottoned on to the sandwich. If somebody can figure out how to get som-tam and sticky rice between two pieces of non-drip edible polystyrene, you're on to a winner.

Maybe a som-tam and sticky rice pie might be a better idea. Everybody knows that back in Farangland you can drive while eating a pie, drinking coffee, and talk on your cellphone at the same time.

Thais have cottoned to the sandwich concept, in fact I'd go as far as to say they love a sandwich. Okay.. it's not a sandwich that we would eat in the UK as ice cream in bread is a bit wierd but the Thais do love an ice cream sarnie!!

[Bagwan]

I live in Korat and take interprovincial buses to Bangkok all the time. The drivers are always either eating or talking on the telephone driving with no shoes on all the time. I think this is the norm in Thailand. I think these buses are dangerous, but it's basically the only way I have to travel other than a train which is probably more dangerous given their record this yesr.

Barry

I always drive without footwear. A whole lot safer than driving in flip-flops. Sweaty slippery feet in rubber flip-flops is not a good idea IMO. Many ladies slip off their high heels and drive in stockinged feet, a practice that I support.

Money may be No.1 but eating is in hot pursuit.

[Bagwan]

A tour bus?

You mean a Thai snapped this shot?

A driver eating while driving with his belly comes as no surprise.

But a Thai concerned about it?

Wow!

Thais on a TOUR bus? Camera, think Japanese.

[Garry]

In typical Thai fashion, you take a picture and post in on facebook. Because telling the driver would confrontational and "unpleasant", and therefore not in line with "thainess".

"Driving at high speed towards their destination", so the driver was just having his last meal!

Perhaps they didn't want to distract him from his multi-tasking efforts

[outsider]

The sub-headline read: "Passengers of a certain tour bus became frightened after they saw their tour bus eating while he was driving at a high speed towards their destination."

I would be out-of-my-wits frightened if I saw my car eating... never mind a bus!!!

[SuwadeeS]

That is Thai style. Many Thais, do not obey traffic rules and laws. How often do you see somebody using the cell phone while driving. 100 times a day.

As long the rules and laws are not strictly enforced, nobody will care about them and stop.

Thats why I call it a third world country.

Edited October 21, 2013 by SuwadeeS

[Gonzo the Face]

They may investigate....... they may even bring charges against the driver [though doubtful]

but when questioned by the investigators, I was led to believe that he answered them with a retort of a recent US President

Q ?Mr. President did you smoke that joint???

A But I didn't inhale

Driver answered ala Ms Lewinsky

A I ate but I didn't swallow

[Dogbarker]

after the recent comments on poor foreign drivers... I look forward to being taught how to drive properly in the Thai style ... Not texting at the same time ?

eyes , specks of sawdust and planks spring to mind ..

for what it is worth it looks like cow pat moo to me :-)

[stickylies]

Thais have never cottoned on to the sandwich.

except for the ICE-CREAM sandwich...

[Fullstop]

This offense was said to be illegal in the Thai driving rules.

The Thai what?

[yingyo]

Must have been during a break in the race against the bus next to him.

[VisaProblem]

About two months ago I was on a minibus heading to Bkk, IN THE RAIN, and the driver was playing his iPad, and driving at speed through puddles and swerving around other cares. The ipad was held against the steering wheel by his two hands whilst driving. Every once in a while one hand would come off the steering wheel to swipe the pad, change page etc. Even the usually easy going Thais started freaking out. When remanded the driver got grumpy and bitchy. I don't remember the name of the company but don't ever take the minibuses nearby to WatMai in Chanthaburi.

[yingyo]

To be fair, it's little wonder that driving habits are so bad, 95% of the population are 2nd generation rice farmers.

2 generations ago they had nothing but buffalo and cart, now they can get big powerful pick-ups on credit and take to the road without any sort of knowledge or sense of what is going on.

This guy will be sacked, then when the story is forgotten in a week's time either hired by the same company or some other that want a stooge to drive their clapped out intercity bus 30 days a month for 6,000b. Getting around the minimum wage by offering sleeping quarters next to the engine.

[Bakseeda]

He should be immediately suspended, charged and prosecuted by Thai authorities. If guilty of negligence and risk to human life he should be terminated, jailed, fined and prohibited from working as a driver again.

WoW... maybe just cut his balls off...... angry birds about...!

[little mary sunshine]

Not like he is eating a candy bar or a hafl of a sandwich, This is an entire meal. This

guy needs to be FIRED for not being serious about the number of perples lives he is

endangering....