a rare sight or maybe thai taxi types arn't all so bad

[zoza]

I was having a beer last night with a few friends, and around 6pm there was an accident in the road, a thai lady

decided to turn left into a small soi, she couldn't of looked as she hit a Russian tourist and his girl and sent him

flying through the air and knocked the woman for six. she got out of the car had a quick look and then dived

back behind the wheel, to most onlookers delight the thai motorbike lads and girl ran to the car and started

shouting for the woman driver to stop the car, in the end about four of them surrounded the car, and the driver

got out.i went to see how the tourists were doing and despite their heavy impact they only showed a few minor

wounds (I know that internal injuries can kill) I did try to suggest a check up was best and that they had loads of

witnesses if needed, but I'm not sure they understood me.

around ten minutes later they ended up getting in the car with the woman and went to the hospital I presume,

but it made a nice change to see the good side of the majority of thai people.

[ebcal]

Nice to hear, as normally we mostly hear only the negative stuff.

[kurnell]

Thais are changing. They are aware if the bad rap they are getting in foreign press and are determined to prove not all Thais are like the Shinawatra clan.

[KunMatt]

If this is a good news story then it just means whatever is a "normal" situation here is still pretty horrific. It was still a multiple hit and run, the driver accepted no accountability for the 2 people she may have killed for all she knew and she fled, no ambulance was called or came, no police involvement. Just some bystanders showed some normal humanity and that's supposed to be lauded.

If this was a story in the UK that a mob of bystanders had to stop a hit and run driver who had run over 2 pedestrians, got out to see they were injured and then intermediately got back in their car to flee, would we all be saying how wonderful our society is??

[Docno]

Thais are changing. They are aware if the bad rap they are getting in foreign press and are determined to prove not all Thais are like the Shinawatra clan.

And we're getting slower off the mark at TV. Had to actually read up to the second post before someone managed to force-fit an anti-Thaksin/Yingluck post into a non-political thread. Or maybe it's just the weekend doldrums....

Gotta love this place... the entertainment never quits

Reality dose: my overseas friends don't have the same rabid anti-Thaksin sentiment as many around here. They simply see him as a democratically elected leader who was ousted in a military coup and whose party/sister was returned to power in the first free elections following that coup. So Thais have no reason to try to distinguish themselves from the 'Shinawatra clan' as you suggest.

Now back to the real topic at hand: It's great that the Thai bystanders helped make this situation right. Most of the bad press they get is in ThaiVisa (rather than in the foreign press), so maybe we'll start realising that there are many many good Thai people out there after all.

Edited December 15, 2013 by Docno

[fasteddie]

Thais are changing. They are aware if the bad rap they are getting in foreign press and are determined to prove not all Thais are like the Shinawatra clan.

What an inane post!

"Thais are changing"

No they're not, they've always been basically good people, just some of them on the tourist trail have been tainted by meeting the low life drunken arrogant ignorant farangs they've had to put up with.

"They are aware if the bad rap they are getting in foreign press"

No, what do they know about the foreign press?

"and are determined to prove not all Thais are like the Shinawatra clan"

<deleted>! grow up!

[Suradit69]

Thais are changing. They are aware if the bad rap they are getting in foreign press and are determined to prove not all Thais are like the Shinawatra clan.

What an inane post!

"Thais are changing"

No they're not, they've always been basically good people, just some of them on the tourist trail have been tainted by meeting the low life drunken arrogant ignorant farangs they've had to put up with.

"They are aware if the bad rap they are getting in foreign press"

No, what do they know about the foreign press?

"and are determined to prove not all Thais are like the Shinawatra clan"

<deleted>! grow up!

"<deleted>! grow up!"

Amen, but it'll never happen. The US versus THEM mentality is too entrenched.

It is amazing isn't it? People just read negative things here on TV and assume (a) all Thai people are innately bad and ( the whole world and the international press have been pressuring them to change their evil ways. The white man's burden just never ends, does it?

[kurnell]

Thais are changing. They are aware if the bad rap they are getting in foreign press and are determined to prove not all Thais are like the Shinawatra clan.

What an inane post!

"Thais are changing"

No they're not, they've always been basically good people, just some of them on the tourist trail have been tainted by meeting the low life drunken arrogant ignorant farangs they've had to put up with.

"They are aware if the bad rap they are getting in foreign press"

No, what do they know about the foreign press?

"and are determined to prove not all Thais are like the Shinawatra clan"

<deleted>! grow up!

I need to grow up??? Sunshine I am making a tongue in cheek post and you are the goose blowing a gasket. Suggest you BIOYA (hint: B = blow and A = ass)

[kurnell]

Thais are changing. They are aware if the bad rap they are getting in foreign press and are determined to prove not all Thais are like the Shinawatra clan.

What an inane post!

"Thais are changing"

No they're not, they've always been basically good people, just some of them on the tourist trail have been tainted by meeting the low life drunken arrogant ignorant farangs they've had to put up with.

"They are aware if the bad rap they are getting in foreign press"

No, what do they know about the foreign press?

"and are determined to prove not all Thais are like the Shinawatra clan"

<deleted>! grow up!

"<deleted>! grow up!"

Amen, but it'll never happen. The US versus THEM mentality is too entrenched.

It is amazing isn't it? People just read negative things here on TV and assume (a) all Thai people are innately bad and ( the whole world and the international press have been pressuring them to change their evil ways. The white man's burden just never ends, does it?

Shall we call you "SuperThai" from now on?

Isn't it amazing that people just love to rant on TV and go off the handle at any post that "in their twisted opinion" is anti-Thai?? You 2 have to be yanks, as they really have no sense of sarcasm

[HeavyDrinker]

Incredible. One fair comment and the apologists are all over it bleating on about how the poor Thais have to put up with 'drunken farangs'.

Why not try and address what Kurnell wrote instead of using it to register your 'disgust' at people who have the freedom and money to enjoy themselves (bearing in mind that some of us are here to work and are not on some glorious cultural exchange)

[wprime]

Most Thai people are good, the real rare sight here is that they actually did anything, most lack initiative, though it only really takes one to get the ball rolling - then the others come to help.

[nottocus]

It's Thakkie's fault. The blame can be squarely be laid at the feet of that bloody Montenegrin

[CPT]

I don't understand why this is supposed to be so surprising. In my experience Thais are quick to help if they can but are often hindered by a lack of language skills, training, and/or resources. They certainly do have a reputation for fleeing the scene of accidents and the 'nice change' to me would have been to see the driver take responsibility voluntarily. I think a lot of it has to do with cultural problems regarding conflict resolution (a smile and 'mai bpen rai' or battery with little inbetween). It seems to me that Thais try so hard to avoid conflict/confrontation that when it happens, even accidently, they lack the skills to deal with it.

[ableguy]

If this is a good news story then it just means whatever is a "normal" situation here is still pretty horrific. It was still a multiple hit and run, the driver accepted no accountability for the 2 people she may have killed for all she knew and she fled, no ambulance was called or came, no police involvement. Just some bystanders showed some normal humanity and that's supposed to be lauded.

If this was a story in the UK that a mob of bystanders had to stop a hit and run driver who had run over 2 pedestrians, got out to see they were injured and then intermediately got back in their car to flee, would we all be saying how wonderful our society is??

Negativity at its best.

[96tehtarp]

Thais are changing. They are aware if the bad rap they are getting in foreign press and are determined to prove not all Thais are like the Shinawatra clan.

What an inane post!

"Thais are changing"

No they're not, they've always been basically good people, just some of them on the tourist trail have been tainted by meeting the low life drunken arrogant ignorant farangs they've had to put up with.

"They are aware if the bad rap they are getting in foreign press"

No, what do they know about the foreign press?

"and are determined to prove not all Thais are like the Shinawatra clan"

<deleted>! grow up!

Obviously The Shiniwatra clan has become the great Satan! to so many.

I couldn't agree with this post more. Thai people are not changing one iota. They are the same as they have always been and always will be. They are Thai. They are good and bad.

Taxi drivers come in all flavors, good and bad. Their customers come also in all flavors, good and bad. Farangs come in all flavors, good and bad.

Thai people know absolutely nothing about the foreign press, and most employed as taxi drivers couldn't find any foreign country on a world map.

In tourist areas the bad Thai people hunt foreigners for a living. It is a blood sport for them. There are still many good and honest Thai people in tourist areas, unfortunately those who hunt us usually find and scam us before the good ones have a chance to warn us..

But I know deep in my heart with and with great conviction that all that ails Thailand is all the fault of the Shiniwatra clan. Down with the Great Satan! Death to Satan! His initials are TS.

[KunMatt]

If this is a good news story then it just means whatever is a "normal" situation here is still pretty horrific. It was still a multiple hit and run, the driver accepted no accountability for the 2 people she may have killed for all she knew and she fled, no ambulance was called or came, no police involvement. Just some bystanders showed some normal humanity and that's supposed to be lauded.

If this was a story in the UK that a mob of bystanders had to stop a hit and run driver who had run over 2 pedestrians, got out to see they were injured and then intermediately got back in their car to flee, would we all be saying how wonderful our society is??

Negativity at its best.

However you want to look at it. The OP setup the original negative theme implying that every taxi driver is inherently bad. He then told a story where a driver hit and ran 2 pedestrians leaving them to die for all she knew. Some people then did what normal human beings ARE SUPPOSED TO DO and it takes a thread here because he thinks it's such a rare occasion to see an act of kindness by them.

This just shows the mindset of guests here and that they have such a low expectation for the locals. In actual fact the reason you only see negative stories on ThaiVisa is because the millions of times somebody took a taxi without getting ripped off today here, those millions of people did not come and make a post about it. However the one time someone gets a bad driver then they will come and tell everyone how bad EVERY taxi driver is and it gives everyone a skewed biased opinion. It's the TripAdvisor effect.

I'm not being negative at all. Maybe I just have a greater expectation and view of the locals so that when they do something humanely normal I don't think they all deserve a medal for it and we need to make a thread applauding them as if they are all retards.

[fasteddie]

Thais are changing. They are aware if the bad rap they are getting in foreign press and are determined to prove not all Thais are like the Shinawatra clan.

What an inane post!

"Thais are changing"

No they're not, they've always been basically good people, just some of them on the tourist trail have been tainted by meeting the low life drunken arrogant ignorant farangs they've had to put up with.

"They are aware if the bad rap they are getting in foreign press"

No, what do they know about the foreign press?

"and are determined to prove not all Thais are like the Shinawatra clan"

<deleted>! grow up!

"<deleted>! grow up!"

Amen, but it'll never happen. The US versus THEM mentality is too entrenched.

It is amazing isn't it? People just read negative things here on TV and assume (a) all Thai people are innately bad and ( the whole world and the international press have been pressuring them to change their evil ways. The white man's burden just never ends, does it?

Shall we call you "SuperThai" from now on?

Isn't it amazing that people just love to rant on TV and go off the handle at any post that "in their twisted opinion" is anti-Thai?? You 2 have to be yanks, as they really have no sense of sarcasm

Well I'm flabbergasted, my flabber has never been so gasted! Does that sound yank to you? how dare you sir, feather dusters at dawn?

by the way, "blow it out you a.." is not an english insult, it comes from, hmm, let me think, American!!!

[tingtongteesood]

Thais are changing. They are aware if the bad rap they are getting in foreign press and are determined to prove not all Thais are like the Shinawatra clan.

And we're getting slower off the mark at TV. Had to actually read up to the second post before someone managed to force-fit an anti-Thaksin/Yingluck post into a non-political thread. Or maybe it's just the weekend doldrums....

Gotta love this place... the entertainment never quits

Reality dose: my overseas friends don't have the same rabid anti-Thaksin sentiment as many around here. They simply see him as a democratically elected leader who was ousted in a military coup and whose party/sister was returned to power in the first free elections following that coup. So Thais have no reason to try to distinguish themselves from the 'Shinawatra clan' as you suggest.

Now back to the real topic at hand: It's great that the Thai bystanders helped make this situation right. Most of the bad press they get is in ThaiVisa (rather than in the foreign press), so maybe we'll start realising that there are many many good Thai people out there after all.

If that is what your friends really think then they only know maybe 5% of the real story....

[Nokbkk]

"A rare sight" ?

Do not compare Thai people to those you see in Pattaya or other tourist places in Thailand.

Pattaya has nothing to do with Thailand. It's a shithole, attracking all dirt worldwide. And the dirt from itself: lowlife Thai people, lazy and stupid enough come down to Pattaya for easy money. (I don't say there are no good Thai people in Pattaya)

Open your eyes. See those old and miserly fallang man in Pattaya, the stupid Russians, the smelling Indians. None show respect. They don't know this is rule number one in Thailand. This is not Thailand.

I see so much negative things on Thaivisa about Thailand or Thai people. I wonder why you visit this country. Things are better in your own country ? Then stay there.

Apology to the mods if I must be censored again for offending some of us.

[Thongkorn]

Not all Thais are bad , the same as other nationality's. I agree with Nokbkk, Pattaya is not the real Thailand,

[IDL]

Thais are changing. They are aware if the bad rap they are getting in foreign press and are determined to prove not all Thais are like the Shinawatra clan.

What an inane post!

"Thais are changing"

No they're not, they've always been basically good people, just some of them on the tourist trail have been tainted by meeting the low life drunken arrogant ignorant farangs they've had to put up with.

"They are aware if the bad rap they are getting in foreign press"

No, what do they know about the foreign press?

"and are determined to prove not all Thais are like the Shinawatra clan"

<deleted>! grow up!

I totally agree with your comments about the "basic goodness" of Thais, but if telling people to "grow-up", you should really try using your own wisdom.

Thais have the same choices as to whether to get into the 'Tourist' industry and/or fringe, as we do to 'stay' in Tryland. Sure there are some less than savory knobs around, but to say that Thai attitude [with regard foreigners in touristic areas] is born from bad experiences with the odd tool, is as pathetic as it gets.

In my experience, the biggest taint-towards-foreigners actually comes from the hardships laid by the Thai employer. Given staff are subject to so many 'fines' for anything that goes wrong, from breakages to wrong orders, the 'BOSS' is the one that creates the staff's ill-feeling towards the visitor.

A prime example: Many, many years ago I did a one-day visa run to the hell-hole Aranyaprathet, with a well used Sukhumvit [mini] bus operator. The usual mind-numbing experience. Over the course of the day the whole group [visa-runners] were aware that I was the only one with previous experience of the day/trip, therefore bombarded me with questions for the duration.

As we were entering Bkk the group started asking me what 'tips' would be expected? I replied a tip is a tip. I will be giving **THB (can't actually remember). They all then started handing their tips to me, thinking it would make things simpler. Of course, it did for them!

On exiting the bus, I handed the guide the pile of Baht that I'd been given. In a nano-second he had roughly counted the sum and then started getting aggressive with me. He said his employer had told him he would get at least ****THB in tips! He then aggressively said the amount I gave him wasn't enough! I stood my ground and told him his employer was in the wrong, and shouldn't make promises he can't keep, then he should accept it, or I'll take it and give back to the people. A bit of ear-smoke and a few choice words, he eventually calmed down as I walked away.

So, he [at least for that moment] hates Farang. This is because Farang are tight/no good??? Nope, it's because his BOSS shafted him by low-balling his salary and putting all the expectation on the passengers of the bus. Have no idea if this guy went on to understand the antics of his boss, or further fuel his anger/hatred of Farang, but hey-ho, not my problem.

[fasteddie]

Thais are changing. They are aware if the bad rap they are getting in foreign press and are determined to prove not all Thais are like the Shinawatra clan.

What an inane post!

"Thais are changing"

No they're not, they've always been basically good people, just some of them on the tourist trail have been tainted by meeting the low life drunken arrogant ignorant farangs they've had to put up with.

"They are aware if the bad rap they are getting in foreign press"

No, what do they know about the foreign press?

"and are determined to prove not all Thais are like the Shinawatra clan"

<deleted>! grow up!

I totally agree with your comments about the "basic goodness" of Thais, but if telling people to "grow-up", you should really try using your own wisdom.

Thais have the same choices as to whether to get into the 'Tourist' industry and/or fringe, as we do to 'stay' in Tryland. Sure there are some less than savory knobs around, but to say that Thai attitude [with regard foreigners in touristic areas] is born from bad experiences with the odd tool, is as pathetic as it gets.

In my experience, the biggest taint-towards-foreigners actually comes from the hardships laid by the Thai employer. Given staff are subject to so many 'fines' for anything that goes wrong, from breakages to wrong orders, the 'BOSS' is the one that creates the staff's ill-feeling towards the visitor.

A prime example: Many, many years ago I did a one-day visa run to the hell-hole Aranyaprathet, with a well used Sukhumvit [mini] bus operator. The usual mind-numbing experience. Over the course of the day the whole group [visa-runners] were aware that I was the only one with previous experience of the day/trip, therefore bombarded me with questions for the duration.

As we were entering Bkk the group started asking me what 'tips' would be expected? I replied a tip is a tip. I will be giving **THB (can't actually remember). They all then started handing their tips to me, thinking it would make things simpler. Of course, it did for them!

On exiting the bus, I handed the guide the pile of Baht that I'd been given. In a nano-second he had roughly counted the sum and then started getting aggressive with me. He said his employer had told him he would get at least ****THB in tips! He then aggressively said the amount I gave him wasn't enough! I stood my ground and told him his employer was in the wrong, and shouldn't make promises he can't keep, then he should accept it, or I'll take it and give back to the people. A bit of ear-smoke and a few choice words, he eventually calmed down as I walked away.

So, he [at least for that moment] hates Farang. This is because Farang are tight/no good??? Nope, it's because his BOSS shafted him by low-balling his salary and putting all the expectation on the passengers of the bus. Have no idea if this guy went on to understand the antics of his boss, or further fuel his anger/hatred of Farang, but hey-ho, not my problem.

"in your experience", tipping a visa run driver? in all my 47yrs of coming to Thailand I have never heard of such a thing. In fact up until around 20yrs or so ago, tipping was unheard of in Thailand

As for your assertion that the bosses low wages and rules, and not the ignorant, disrespectful often drunken tourists, is the reason so many thais are sick to death of farangs, now THAT'S "about as pathetic as it gets"..

[zoza]

If this is a good news story then it just means whatever is a "normal" situation here is still pretty horrific. It was still a multiple hit and run, the driver accepted no accountability for the 2 people she may have killed for all she knew and she fled, no ambulance was called or came, no police involvement. Just some bystanders showed some normal humanity and that's supposed to be lauded.

If this was a story in the UK that a mob of bystanders had to stop a hit and run driver who had run over 2 pedestrians, got out to see they were injured and then intermediately got back in their car to flee, would we all be saying how wonderful our society is??

Negativity at its best.

However you want to look at it. The OP setup the original negative theme implying that every taxi driver is inherently bad. He then told a story where a driver hit and ran 2 pedestrians leaving them to die for all she knew. Some people then did what normal human beings ARE SUPPOSED TO DO and it takes a thread here because he thinks it's such a rare occasion to see an act of kindness by them.

This just shows the mindset of guests here and that they have such a low expectation for the locals. In actual fact the reason you only see negative stories on ThaiVisa is because the millions of times somebody took a taxi without getting ripped off today here, those millions of people did not come and make a post about it. However the one time someone gets a bad driver then they will come and tell everyone how bad EVERY taxi driver is and it gives everyone a skewed biased opinion. It's the TripAdvisor effect.

I'm not being negative at all. Maybe I just have a greater expectation and view of the locals so that when they do something humanely normal I don't think they all deserve a medal for it and we need to make a thread applauding them as if they are all retards.

over the last seventeen years ive had quite a few incidents with thai taxis not all in pattaya or Bangkok from the seventy year old cycle rick-Shaw driver in udon thani to the forty year old fluent in English+german thai bloke that

was supposed to pick up my wedding guests from the airport, I have also had things to complain about in the uk with taxis, but the percentage of incidents is far higher in Thailand. is that because I'm a foreigner in Thailand , I don't know,

maybe because I was a lot younger in the uk they didn't try it on as much, I don't know.

in the post I asked a question basically do thai taxi drivers actually get a bad press.

I witnessed an incident that showed them in a positive light,i posted what happened, some people seem to think that's its a negative post, it is what it is,

regards zoza