First Samui Road Safety Meeting takes place in Maenam

[oldsailor35]

ive been riding on samui for more than 12 years

most competent drivers /riders are taught to drive according to the prevailing conditions

its called defensive driving /riding

as everybody seems to know about the driving conditions on samui its very easy to drive accordingly without incident

if i go to the uk i drive to the conditions there

on samui i drive to the conditions here

stop complaining about the conditions on samui and just drive defensively

your life will be happier this way and very safe

Pretty much until you talk about it being easy to drive on Samui without incident. Thats just not the case.

These roads are a nightmare no matter how sensible you are.

as stated ive been riding on samui for many years

just about every day in fact

when the road to my house was just a mud track , full of water holes and over grown ,I rode according to the conditions with little incident

now the road is concrete and instead of mud and holes to look out for , we now lookout for people riding on our side of the road , overtaking into oncoming traffic, etc etc

same defensive driving technique [differing conditions ]

still with little incident

so yes as far as im concerned its easy to ride on samui without incident

im quite happy to teach anybody my defensive riding technique

tried and proven for more than 12 years

Well done you, very good to have stayed safe for so long.

So Samui is full of people like you who drive defensively and follow the rules of the road then?

Well I already know the answer to that, I have a dear friend on the island who is both a police officer and also does rescue work. He paints a very different picture of the road situation. How do you console a women who has just had her baby run over due to her dropping it from the bike she was trying to ride?

On my first visit to Samui some years ago I met a guy who was there for his brother. He had managed to find work selling time share. The reason he was there was that his brother was in hospital, in a coma after a bike accident.

Two stories, you don't have to look far to fiind many more.

We are not perfect in the UK, 3 deaths a day on motorcycles. Just had a quick look for Thailand and for 2012/13 the average was 53 deaths a Day for Motorcycles alone.

Nice of you to offer your services as well. Do you have any teaching qualifications?

I am a certified (some say mentally!) Driving Standards Agency Instructor who has 30 years of teaching experience.

But of course any idiot can learn to ride a bike.

Just remember, those 53 deaths are only counted if they died at the scene of the accident ! bears thinking about does it not !

[evadgib]

Why quote the entire page when adding a single line?

[BigC]

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6) Do not post comments that could be reasonably construed as defamation or libel. Defamation is the issuance of a statement about another person or business which causes that person to suffer harm. Libel is when the defamatory statement is published either in a drawing, painting, cinematography, film, picture or letters made visible by any means, or any other recording instruments, recording picture or letters, or by broadcasting or spreading picture, or by propagation by any other means. Defamation is both a civil and criminal charge in Thailand.

Corr Rooo i dont envy your job having to read every single post looking for broken rules. Yes it has to be done to protect the website but personally if it was me i would have trouble as if my reading is as bad as my spelling i would either be wrongly banning people or promoting the bad posts ha ha

[BigC]

Personally i reckon its a step in the right direction. Allot of these expats who have lived here a long time have lost allot of their friends due to road accidents. I cannot count how many Thai and forang friends i have lost.

So promoting awareness can only be a positive step. If you were to look at some of the photos of some of these victims that might be enough to help people but

Samui's Police wish to get a balance between freedom and safety as people don't want to come on holiday to be arrested every 5 minutes at the same time 1 every 5 people end up spending all their time in hospital.

So either people start to follow the rules or at some point there shall be so much pressure from the Embassys from their subjects dying that one day this balance of freedom could be gone.

Yesterday i see for every 10 people 6 no helmets. many Thais and forages driving at night with no lights on.

People pulling out on a busy road with no indication forcing the car to slam on their brakes which nearly forces a collision from behind.

Traffic lights there is no understanding on them for new people about turning left at some lights is aloud and they block the road.

Other times the lights go green to go straight but not green to go right and people go right and nearly hit on coming cars.

I would suggest small video and information leaflets that hotels could play as an educational advert just outlining the basic rules and after following those rules if you decide to drive then it is at your own risk as the Thai Law for foreigners is in event of a crash it is the foreigners fault for not knowing the Thai way to drive.

I know these boundaries are pushed right to the limit but as long as people are aware on how to drive and what they re up against then this should help

unfortunately allot of crashes that involve death are alcohol ole related and they crash into other drunks which means they they are all wrong.

Getting bored of blaming Taxis for this. England they had designated drivers. If sensible then we could do the same. Biggest worry is that at the moment there is allot of freedom on the Island and to keep it this way we must look after ourselves as it is up us to do something about it.

Why do we need fro rely on the police to protect ourselves from ourselves.

Allot of people say to me that they reckon helmets should be forced to be worn all the time then drive on with nothing but a cap on about 20 minutes later. So why need the police as we already know what we are doing.

As for other bad drivers. A good driver is always away of bad drivers and ready to act. Such as driving too close to another car.

indicating 50 meters before turning.

having a dvr in th car might help if someone comes out of no where and hits you though i would back up your cctv before handing it over to the police.

also if you have a car then make sure you have full insurance be cheaper in the long run.

If driving a bike be aware of front brake on sand road corners, you shall come off, check over your shoulders to be also away of whats behind u is just as important as whats in front.

and on and on

in case your lot were wondering i was not at the meeting but i am up for raising awareness. Not so much enforcing the laws this is not my place so i don't have the right to do that but to raise awareness. Then the next time my mate gets on a bike drunk as a skunk with no helmet and is taken to the morgue then at least i can say to myself well there is only so much i can do.

Another thing i find amazing 1 people seem to carry their helmets in their front baskets rather than put them on their heads

also when it rains i see the holding an umbrella over there heads whilst driving rather than a helmet with protection so can see.

Unbeleivable when it rains helmets go away and all of a sudden people bring out a hidden umbrella

[spidermike007]

ive been riding on samui for more than 12 years

most competent drivers /riders are taught to drive according to the prevailing conditions

its called defensive driving /riding

as everybody seems to know about the driving conditions on samui its very easy to drive accordingly without incident

if i go to the uk i drive to the conditions there

on samui i drive to the conditions here

stop complaining about the conditions on samui and just drive defensively

your life will be happier this way and very safe

"Very safe" you make it all sound so easy. I am a very careful driver and have had two accidents in the last 12 mths. First i was sitting at the red traffic lights ( watching defensively) when a drunk ( or drugged) Thai ploughed into the back of me doing Bht 140.000 damage and then driving away. Cops told me "Mai phen lai. you have insurance" Second i was riding my m/c at a steady 40 klm when another Thai driver coming in the opposite direction decided to do a 'U' turn in in his Toyota pick up truck right in front of me......................just saying !

"Cops" is a flattering description of a group of men posing as law enforcement who allow "hit and runs" to take place, make zero effort to pursue the perpetrator, and blaming the victim. In the west the hit and run might result in five years in prison. Here it is something the so called "cops" laugh about. The original poster is completely out of his mind, and talking out of his butt. You are right that defensive driving helps, but he is wrong about it making all the difference. The 11 year old kids on bikes, have no concept of the cost of a serious accident, to body and limb. They drive like madmen, in 11 year old bodies. The complete lack of traffic safety standards here is appalling. The inefficiency and indifference of the local cops is heinous. The indifference on the part of the government is a crime against the people. I could go on and on and on.

[robsamui]

In other words, zero in the way of law and order. Some of the most incompetent police in the world work on Samui. No traffic safety. One of the highest fatality rates per capita, in the ENTIRE world. This meeting is a good thing. It is long overdue. But, how do you implement it, without police involvement? How do you get completely incompetent police to start enforcing the law, without regard to cash collection? Are these guys even trainable, or do they need to completely retrain, or dismantle the entire force, and start from scratch, with mainland police. Something needs to be done. Drastically. How do you turn revenue collection agents into policemen?

It is unfair to the tourists that come to Samui expecting that they will remain in civilization, only to find an island that has been completely abandoned by both the Surat Thani and the central government, and completely controlled by the local mafia, who love to collect cash. But they despise giving anything in return, nor improving their Island on any level. We are talking about several vampire families that are super rich, and have nothing in the way of compassion, pride, intelligence, or vision. They should be arrested and jailed for life. Or deported. Not allowed to continue to rule the island, destroy the island, prevent improvement, or continue sucking blood. Someone needs to take control. Samui has been out of control for years now. This is the Wild, Wild West of Thailand. Will the Junta step in? Thousands of people sincerely hope so. Down with the status quo on the long lost land of Samui.

Spidermike007

It's a fact that Samui is effectively a separate ;little piece of the Kingdom that's a law unto itself.

If you accept the "official" figures (and they're dubious) of an average of 35-50 killed on Samui's roads each years, it's horrendous as a percentage of our small population.

(But note that you have to be dead on the road to be counted - if you die tomorrow in hospital then you are not a "road fatality".)

Samui has an average population of 150,000 (which varies due to visitors, but the island gets a million a year of these, so spread this over each month).

Let's be generous and say we have 200,000 people here.

50 dead per year in a population of 200,000. Let's scale that up and relate it to Bangkok.

On the same percentage of the population, if Bangkok had the same road death per capita as Samui, there would be 3,000 deaths in Bangkok each year on the roads.

(Given that BKK has 10 million people - it's actually higher so the fatalities would be greater.)

And if you count all those that die in hospital, or on their way to the hospital, you can probably triple these official figures.

The biggest problem in this respect is the reliability of the statistics. There is no accountability and no way to verify the official figures. Googling this topic reveals wildly varying statistics. Interestingly, in 2010, the Dept of Land Transport deaths figures dropped hugely from previous years, when the job of collating all this info was handed over to another sub-department.

Either way there's currently no attempt at all by the police to uphold existing laws, other than the carnival of a helmet check once a month.

The initial aim of the RAK Samui group is to establish a group with a common concern. The secondary aims are to bring other (established) groups to support the intention (the local branch of the TAT and Thai Hotels Association, Thai business people and resort owners etc) These groups have daily working contact with the Samui local government administration, and the 3rd aim, via these channels, is to introduce a move to compel all police to actively check helmet-wearing as part of their daily duties, as happens everywhere else in Thailand.

It's going to take a while for this to happen, but it *will* happen eventually.

And then maybe we can hope for continual daily random speed scheck and nightl random breathalyser checks as a matter of course - with MUCH higher fines and penalties attached (200 baht is no deterrent at all).

Or maybe the General will turn to Samui for his next stop and begin to clean up the taxi fiasco. And then we can invite him for a drink or two and present him with a few other targets!

R

Edited August 2, 2014 by robsamui

[robsamui]

ive been riding on samui for more than 12 years

most competent drivers /riders are taught to drive according to the prevailing conditions

its called defensive driving /riding

as everybody seems to know about the driving conditions on samui its very easy to drive accordingly without incident

if i go to the uk i drive to the conditions there

on samui i drive to the conditions here

stop complaining about the conditions on samui and just drive defensively

your life will be happier this way and very safe

"Very safe" you make it all sound so easy. I am a very careful driver and have had two accidents in the last 12 mths. First i was sitting at the red traffic lights ( watching defensively) when a drunk ( or drugged) Thai ploughed into the back of me doing Bht 140.000 damage and then driving away. Cops told me "Mai phen lai. you have insurance" Second i was riding my m/c at a steady 40 klm when another Thai driver coming in the opposite direction decided to do a 'U' turn in in his Toyota pick up truck right in front of me......................just saying !

"Cops" is a flattering description of a group of men posing as law enforcement who allow "hit and runs" to take place, make zero effort to pursue the perpetrator, and blaming the victim. In the west the hit and run might result in five years in prison. Here it is something the so called "cops" laugh about. The original poster is completely out of his mind, and talking out of his butt. You are right that defensive driving helps, but he is wrong about it making all the difference. The 11 year old kids on bikes, have no concept of the cost of a serious accident, to body and limb. They drive like madmen, in 11 year old bodies. The complete lack of traffic safety standards here is appalling. The inefficiency and indifference of the local cops is heinous. The indifference on the part of the government is a crime against the people. I could go on and on and on.

So see you at the meeting then - it's in 1 hour and 45 minutes from now at Cafe Talay.

R

Edited August 2, 2014 by robsamui

[robsamui]

Personally i reckon its a step in the right direction. Allot of these expats who have lived here a long time have lost allot of their friends due to road accidents. I cannot count how many Thai and forang friends i have lost.

So promoting awareness can only be a positive step. If you were to look at some of the photos of some of these victims that might be enough to help people but

Samui's Police wish to get a balance between freedom and safety as people don't want to come on holiday to be arrested every 5 minutes at the same time 1 every 5 people end up spending all their time in hospital.

So either people start to follow the rules or at some point there shall be so much pressure from the Embassys from their subjects dying that one day this balance of freedom could be gone.

Yesterday i see for every 10 people 6 no helmets. many Thais and forages driving at night with no lights on.

People pulling out on a busy road with no indication forcing the car to slam on their brakes which nearly forces a collision from behind.

Traffic lights there is no understanding on them for new people about turning left at some lights is aloud and they block the road.

Other times the lights go green to go straight but not green to go right and people go right and nearly hit on coming cars.

I would suggest small video and information leaflets that hotels could play as an educational advert just outlining the basic rules and after following those rules if you decide to drive then it is at your own risk as the Thai Law for foreigners is in event of a crash it is the foreigners fault for not knowing the Thai way to drive.

I know these boundaries are pushed right to the limit but as long as people are aware on how to drive and what they re up against then this should help

unfortunately allot of crashes that involve death are alcohol ole related and they crash into other drunks which means they they are all wrong.

Getting bored of blaming Taxis for this. England they had designated drivers. If sensible then we could do the same. Biggest worry is that at the moment there is allot of freedom on the Island and to keep it this way we must look after ourselves as it is up us to do something about it.

Why do we need fro rely on the police to protect ourselves from ourselves.

Allot of people say to me that they reckon helmets should be forced to be worn all the time then drive on with nothing but a cap on about 20 minutes later. So why need the police as we already know what we are doing.

As for other bad drivers. A good driver is always away of bad drivers and ready to act. Such as driving too close to another car.

indicating 50 meters before turning.

having a dvr in th car might help if someone comes out of no where and hits you though i would back up your cctv before handing it over to the police.

also if you have a car then make sure you have full insurance be cheaper in the long run.

If driving a bike be aware of front brake on sand road corners, you shall come off, check over your shoulders to be also away of whats behind u is just as important as whats in front.

and on and on

in case your lot were wondering i was not at the meeting but i am up for raising awareness. Not so much enforcing the laws this is not my place so i don't have the right to do that but to raise awareness. Then the next time my mate gets on a bike drunk as a skunk with no helmet and is taken to the morgue then at least i can say to myself well there is only so much i can do.

Another thing i find amazing 1 people seem to carry their helmets in their front baskets rather than put them on their heads

also when it rains i see the holding an umbrella over there heads whilst driving rather than a helmet with protection so can see.

Unbeleivable when it rains helmets go away and all of a sudden people bring out a hidden umbrella

something of a record post here, oh Large One . . .

[spidermike007]

In other words, zero in the way of law and order. Some of the most incompetent police in the world work on Samui. No traffic safety. One of the highest fatality rates per capita, in the ENTIRE world. This meeting is a good thing. It is long overdue. But, how do you implement it, without police involvement? How do you get completely incompetent police to start enforcing the law, without regard to cash collection? Are these guys even trainable, or do they need to completely retrain, or dismantle the entire force, and start from scratch, with mainland police. Something needs to be done. Drastically. How do you turn revenue collection agents into policemen?

It is unfair to the tourists that come to Samui expecting that they will remain in civilization, only to find an island that has been completely abandoned by both the Surat Thani and the central government, and completely controlled by the local mafia, who love to collect cash. But they despise giving anything in return, nor improving their Island on any level. We are talking about several vampire families that are super rich, and have nothing in the way of compassion, pride, intelligence, or vision. They should be arrested and jailed for life. Or deported. Not allowed to continue to rule the island, destroy the island, prevent improvement, or continue sucking blood. Someone needs to take control. Samui has been out of control for years now. This is the Wild, Wild West of Thailand. Will the Junta step in? Thousands of people sincerely hope so. Down with the status quo on the long lost land of Samui.

Spidermike007

It's a fact that Samui is effectively a separate ;little piece of the Kingdom that's a law unto itself.

If you accept the "official" figures (and they're dubious) of an average of 35-50 killed on Samui's roads each years, it's horrendous as a percentage of our small population.

(But note that you have to be dead on the road to be counted - if you die tomorrow in hospital then you are not a "road fatality".)

Samui has an average population of 150,000 (which varies due to visitors, but the island gets a million a year of these, so spread this over each month).

Let's be generous and say we have 200,000 people here.

50 dead per year in a population of 200,000. Let's scale that up and relate it to Bangkok.

On the same percentage of the population, if Bangkok had the same road death per capita as Samui, there would be 3,000 deaths in Bangkok each year on the roads.

(Given that BKK has 10 million people - it's actually higher so the fatalities would be greater.)

And if you count all those that die in hospital, or on their way to the hospital, you can probably triple these official figures.

The biggest problem in this respect is the reliability of the statistics. There is no accountability and no way to verify the official figures. Googling this topic reveals wildly varying statistics. Interestingly, in 2010, the Dept of Land Transport deaths figures dropped hugely from previous years, when the job of collating all this info was handed over to another sub-department.

Either way there's currently no attempt at all by the police to uphold existing laws, other than the carnival of a helmet check once a month.

The initial aim of the RAK Samui group is to establish a group with a common concern. The secondary aims are to bring other (established) groups to support the intention (the local branch of the TAT and Thai Hotels Association, Thai business people and resort owners etc) These groups have daily working contact with the Samui local government administration, and the 3rd aim, via these channels, is to introduce a move to compel all police to actively check helmet-wearing as part of their daily duties, as happens everywhere else in Thailand.

It's going to take a while for this to happen, but it *will* happen eventually.

And then maybe we can hope for continual daily random speed scheck and nightl random breathalyser checks as a matter of course - with MUCH higher fines and penalties attached (200 baht is no deterrent at all).

Or maybe the General will turn to Samui for his next stop and begin to clean up the taxi fiasco. And then we can invite him for a drink or two and present him with a few other targets!

R

I have a friend working at samui rescue and he says it is really a minimum of 30 per month. Actual road fatalities, including this that die in the hospital from their injuries. As I said, the highest per capita, in the world, by a good margin. And he said 90% are motorbikes. He is a good and accurate reference.

Spidermike007

[robsamui]

In other words, zero in the way of law and order. Some of the most incompetent police in the world work on Samui. No traffic safety. One of the highest fatality rates per capita, in the ENTIRE world. This meeting is a good thing. It is long overdue. But, how do you implement it, without police involvement? How do you get completely incompetent police to start enforcing the law, without regard to cash collection? Are these guys even trainable, or do they need to completely retrain, or dismantle the entire force, and start from scratch, with mainland police. Something needs to be done. Drastically. How do you turn revenue collection agents into policemen?

It is unfair to the tourists that come to Samui expecting that they will remain in civilization, only to find an island that has been completely abandoned by both the Surat Thani and the central government, and completely controlled by the local mafia, who love to collect cash. But they despise giving anything in return, nor improving their Island on any level. We are talking about several vampire families that are super rich, and have nothing in the way of compassion, pride, intelligence, or vision. They should be arrested and jailed for life. Or deported. Not allowed to continue to rule the island, destroy the island, prevent improvement, or continue sucking blood. Someone needs to take control. Samui has been out of control for years now. This is the Wild, Wild West of Thailand. Will the Junta step in? Thousands of people sincerely hope so. Down with the status quo on the long lost land of Samui.

Spidermike007

It's a fact that Samui is effectively a separate ;little piece of the Kingdom that's a law unto itself.

If you accept the "official" figures (and they're dubious) of an average of 35-50 killed on Samui's roads each years, it's horrendous as a percentage of our small population.

(But note that you have to be dead on the road to be counted - if you die tomorrow in hospital then you are not a "road fatality".)

Samui has an average population of 150,000 (which varies due to visitors, but the island gets a million a year of these, so spread this over each month).

Let's be generous and say we have 200,000 people here.

50 dead per year in a population of 200,000. Let's scale that up and relate it to Bangkok.

On the same percentage of the population, if Bangkok had the same road death per capita as Samui, there would be 3,000 deaths in Bangkok each year on the roads.

(Given that BKK has 10 million people - it's actually higher so the fatalities would be greater.)

And if you count all those that die in hospital, or on their way to the hospital, you can probably triple these official figures.

The biggest problem in this respect is the reliability of the statistics. There is no accountability and no way to verify the official figures. Googling this topic reveals wildly varying statistics. Interestingly, in 2010, the Dept of Land Transport deaths figures dropped hugely from previous years, when the job of collating all this info was handed over to another sub-department.

Either way there's currently no attempt at all by the police to uphold existing laws, other than the carnival of a helmet check once a month.

The initial aim of the RAK Samui group is to establish a group with a common concern. The secondary aims are to bring other (established) groups to support the intention (the local branch of the TAT and Thai Hotels Association, Thai business people and resort owners etc) These groups have daily working contact with the Samui local government administration, and the 3rd aim, via these channels, is to introduce a move to compel all police to actively check helmet-wearing as part of their daily duties, as happens everywhere else in Thailand.

It's going to take a while for this to happen, but it *will* happen eventually.

And then maybe we can hope for continual daily random speed scheck and nightl random breathalyser checks as a matter of course - with MUCH higher fines and penalties attached (200 baht is no deterrent at all).

Or maybe the General will turn to Samui for his next stop and begin to clean up the taxi fiasco. And then we can invite him for a drink or two and present him with a few other targets!

R

I have a friend working at samui rescue and he says it is really a minimum of 30 per month. Actual road fatalities, including this that die in the hospital from their injuries. As I said, the highest per capita, in the world, by a good margin. And he said 90% are motorbikes. He is a good and accurate reference.

Spidermike007

Spider, back around 2000 - 2002 or so one of the regular papers (it might have been ' Community'?) printed the road accident stats as released by the police. every month. Back then I clearly remember that it was between 20 and 25 killed every month.

Then suddenly, around the early-mid 2000s, it dropped down to only 3 or 4 a month. I emailed the editor of the paper about this and had a private reply off the record saying that a new method of calculating the deaths was being used - 'dead' means dead on the road. Suddenly the deaths dropped from 25 a month to only 3 or 4 a month.

So 8 years back it was officially suddenly 3 or 4 a month - and that number has remained more or less the same ever since.

But the volume of traffic must have doubled since 2000, if not increased by more than that.The volume of tourists has been going up by 8 - 10% a year. And the resident population has also doubled or more, farangs and Thais taken together.

Somebody in an office somewhere is just making these figures up - to get a number that sounds respectable. Like I said - there's no accountability and no way of checking the actual figures. The only way to get an idea is to talk to the people who go to the accidents, like members of Samui Rescue. I have a chum in there too, and he confirms the estimate is more like what you say - 30 a month or thereabouts.

And if you then relate that per capita to the number of people in BKK - it would comparatively mean that 25,000 to 30,000 would be killed there every month if they had the same death rate as Samui.

Scary stuff.

R

[evadgib]

The numbers of foreigners killed or injured on the roads per annum should be available via an FoI request to the respective Govt.

HTH

Edited August 2, 2014 by evadgib

[robsamui]

The numbers of foreigners killed or injured on the roads per annum should be available via an FoI request to the respective Govt.

HTH

1. Why only foreigners?

2. What's this got to do with the dubious official figures?

3. Why would you think that this is relevant to the topic?

4. The number of official road deaths hasn't changed in the last 10 years.

Now we are back on topic.

R

[BigC]

ive been riding on samui for more than 12 years

most competent drivers /riders are taught to drive according to the prevailing conditions

its called defensive driving /riding

as everybody seems to know about the driving conditions on samui its very easy to drive accordingly without incident

if i go to the uk i drive to the conditions there

on samui i drive to the conditions here

stop complaining about the conditions on samui and just drive defensively

your life will be happier this way and very safe

"Very safe" you make it all sound so easy. I am a very careful driver and have had two accidents in the last 12 mths. First i was sitting at the red traffic lights ( watching defensively) when a drunk ( or drugged) Thai ploughed into the back of me doing Bht 140.000 damage and then driving away. Cops told me "Mai phen lai. you have insurance" Second i was riding my m/c at a steady 40 klm when another Thai driver coming in the opposite direction decided to do a 'U' turn in in his Toyota pick up truck right in front of me......................just saying !

"Cops" is a flattering description of a group of men posing as law enforcement who allow "hit and runs" to take place, make zero effort to pursue the perpetrator, and blaming the victim. In the west the hit and run might result in five years in prison. Here it is something the so called "cops" laugh about. The original poster is completely out of his mind, and talking out of his butt. You are right that defensive driving helps, but he is wrong about it making all the difference. The 11 year old kids on bikes, have no concept of the cost of a serious accident, to body and limb. They drive like madmen, in 11 year old bodies. The complete lack of traffic safety standards here is appalling. The inefficiency and indifference of the local cops is heinous. The indifference on the part of the government is a crime against the people. I could go on and on and on.

I would not assume that the police do nothing

As sometime specially with forang accidents when they hit and run is gathering all the details.

Sometime they make an arrest within a few minutes

Remember once a car hit someone and drove off but a local samui man called the police with the registration plate and with known phone number to mañana police they nicked the driver straight away

Other times the police turned up and the in formation is so confusing that the hitter had long gone

Plus people all saying different things

Thailand has allot of freedom one of those freedoms is that people have the power to look after themselves

I know so a drivers are totally not at fault who are hit by drunk people whilst driving home

Yet most of us have driven drunk at some point

If get nicked then all of a sudden the police are the enemies and they are being picked on

Of they do nothing they get the blame

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[drsokrates]

On Koh Samui at least one person per day dies on the road.

365 people per year equal:

200.000 casualties per year in the UK

292.000 casualities per year in Germany

1.100.000 casualties per year in the U.S.

If these numbers do not matter to you, so be it.

If you think, that it makes sense to talk about beerbottles on a table, so be it.

If you think that it's more important to complain and judge Thais and Pharangs alike, so be it.

My opinion is very clear: It's time to attempt change, no matter what the odds are. The situation on Samui is unacceptable.

[BigC]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

On Koh Samui at least one person per day dies on the road.

365 people per year equal:

200.000 casualties per year in the UK
292.000 casualities per year in Germany
1.100.000 casualties per year in the U.S.

If these numbers do not matter to you, so be it.
If you think, that it makes sense to talk about beerbottles on a table, so be it.
If you think that it's more important to complain and judge Thais and Pharangs alike, so be it.

My opinion is very clear: It's time to attempt change, no matter what the odds are. The situation on Samui is unacceptable.

yes the rate is too high. My main problem starts not with the police even though they could do more but with the people themselves.

Yes police are needed butIf parents were more responsible for their kids, If people stopped driving drunk, if people actually know how to ride a bike rent a bike, then the accident rate shall drop. Maybe not amongst Thais as they don't seem to listen but with foreigners most of us should know better. Tourist here for the short term also are problem. These are the people who come here and know nothing.

Without putting them off samui they need to be educated. If the police don't want to detain them and fine them then they don't know what the rules are.

Also people that rent the bikes out should be responsible to check the riders ability to ride. If they are terrible then push them into renting a car.

Problem is that if they don't let them rent the bike then they shall go next door but at least could save one a damaged bike.

i must have counted again last night about 4 or 5 vehicles with no lights on. 1 over taking car in the dark coming towards me with no lights.

this is what car dvrs can be use full for.

maybe a Facebook for people that drive dangerously with a moderator making sure they the posts are bound by the rules also bad taxis, with plate number video evidence if they brake the law

[drsokrates]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

On Koh Samui at least one person per day dies on the road.

365 people per year equal:

200.000 casualties per year in the UK

292.000 casualities per year in Germany

1.100.000 casualties per year in the U.S.

If these numbers do not matter to you, so be it.

If you think, that it makes sense to talk about beerbottles on a table, so be it.

If you think that it's more important to complain and judge Thais and Pharangs alike, so be it.

My opinion is very clear: It's time to attempt change, no matter what the odds are. The situation on Samui is unacceptable.

yes the rate is too high. My main problem starts not with the police even though they could do more but with the people themselves.

Yes police are needed butIf parents were more responsible for their kids, If people stopped driving drunk, if people actually know how to ride a bike rent a bike, then the accident rate shall drop. Maybe not amongst Thais as they don't seem to listen but with foreigners most of us should know better. Tourist here for the short term also are problem. These are the people who come here and know nothing.

Without putting them off samui they need to be educated. If the police don't want to detain them and fine them then they don't know what the rules are.

Also people that rent the bikes out should be responsible to check the riders ability to ride. If they are terrible then push them into renting a car.

Problem is that if they don't let them rent the bike then they shall go next door but at least could save one a damaged bike.

i must have counted again last night about 4 or 5 vehicles with no lights on. 1 over taking car in the dark coming towards me with no lights.

this is what car dvrs can be use full for.

maybe a Facebook for people that drive dangerously with a moderator making sure they the posts are bound by the rules also bad taxis, with plate number video evidence if they brake the law

There is a page on facebook, which collects evidence and gives information:

"Roads of Koh Samui"

If you have pictures or if you have seen any accidents, post them there.

Generally, when you see accidents on Samui, stop and take a picture, but don't forget to help the victims.

[evadgib]

The numbers of foreigners killed or injured on the roads per annum should be available via an FoI request to the respective Govt.

HTH

1. Why only foreigners?

2. What's this got to do with the dubious official figures?

3. Why would you think that this is relevant to the topic?

4. The number of official road deaths hasn't changed in the last 10 years.

Now we are back on topic.

R

1. Because the figures will likely be accurate and will include those that reached hospital.

2. See 1

3. How is it not, given the target audience of RAK & posted on an English language board?

4. N/a

My reply provided a direction in which to look to anyone that might be interested. Had you thought of it it would have been a wonderful idea!

Edited August 3, 2014 by evadgib

[BigC]

Also cars have to be aware of bikes and bad bike drivers or just any bikes

Easy to open a door on to one

The bike accelerate faster than cars and they don't seem to stop for anyone

Normally when a bike crashed the person on the bike is badly injured which does not help the driver. Right or wrong

Need to avoid the bikes is the best way out

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app ooponxb

[BigC]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

In other words, zero in the way of law and order. Some of the most incompetent police in the world work on Samui. No traffic safety. One of the highest fatality rates per capita, in the ENTIRE world. This meeting is a good thing. It is long overdue. But, how do you implement it, without police involvement? How do you get completely incompetent police to start enforcing the law, without regard to cash collection? Are these guys even trainable, or do they need to completely retrain, or dismantle the entire force, and start from scratch, with mainland police. Something needs to be done. Drastically. How do you turn revenue collection agents into policemen?

It is unfair to the tourists that come to Samui expecting that they will remain in civilization, only to find an island that has been completely abandoned by both the Surat Thani and the central government, and completely controlled by the local mafia, who love to collect cash. But they despise giving anything in return, nor improving their Island on any level. We are talking about several vampire families that are super rich, and have nothing in the way of compassion, pride, intelligence, or vision. They should be arrested and jailed for life. Or deported. Not allowed to continue to rule the island, destroy the island, prevent improvement, or continue sucking blood. Someone needs to take control. Samui has been out of control for years now. This is the Wild, Wild West of Thailand. Will the Junta step in? Thousands of people sincerely hope so. Down with the status quo on the long lost land of Samui.

Spidermike007

It's a fact that Samui is effectively a separate ;little piece of the Kingdom that's a law unto itself.

If you accept the "official" figures (and they're dubious) of an average of 35-50 killed on Samui's roads each years, it's horrendous as a percentage of our small population.

(But note that you have to be dead on the road to be counted - if you die tomorrow in hospital then you are not a "road fatality".)

Samui has an average population of 150,000 (which varies due to visitors, but the island gets a million a year of these, so spread this over each month).

Let's be generous and say we have 200,000 people here.

50 dead per year in a population of 200,000. Let's scale that up and relate it to Bangkok.

On the same percentage of the population, if Bangkok had the same road death per capita as Samui, there would be 3,000 deaths in Bangkok each year on the roads.

(Given that BKK has 10 million people - it's actually higher so the fatalities would be greater.)

And if you count all those that die in hospital, or on their way to the hospital, you can probably triple these official figures.

The biggest problem in this respect is the reliability of the statistics. There is no accountability and no way to verify the official figures. Googling this topic reveals wildly varying statistics. Interestingly, in 2010, the Dept of Land Transport deaths figures dropped hugely from previous years, when the job of collating all this info was handed over to another sub-department.

Either way there's currently no attempt at all by the police to uphold existing laws, other than the carnival of a helmet check once a month.

The initial aim of the RAK Samui group is to establish a group with a common concern. The secondary aims are to bring other (established) groups to support the intention (the local branch of the TAT and Thai Hotels Association, Thai business people and resort owners etc) These groups have daily working contact with the Samui local government administration, and the 3rd aim, via these channels, is to introduce a move to compel all police to actively check helmet-wearing as part of their daily duties, as happens everywhere else in Thailand.

It's going to take a while for this to happen, but it *will* happen eventually.

And then maybe we can hope for continual daily random speed scheck and nightl random breathalyser checks as a matter of course - with MUCH higher fines and penalties attached (200 baht is no deterrent at all).

Or maybe the General will turn to Samui for his next stop and begin to clean up the taxi fiasco. And then we can invite him for a drink or two and present him with a few other targets!

R

even at 50 per year thats nearly 1 officially a week with 52 weeks in a year. My biggest problem is with drunk people. Everyone should be automatically tested after an accident. Even a minor 1.

Its hard to out my finger on how things work out here. Mostly based on guessing on why thing operate the way they do.

Once a drunk man drove his bike straight into the back of my parked truck

Lost all his teeth. how he was alive i don't know. he told me he fell asleep as he was drunk.

Then i called my insurance and all his mates turned up when he was on the way to hospital.

his mates tries to make it look like my fault. then offer me cash when they relised i had thais in my corner who told me not to talk to them just wait for insurance to come.

Plenty of whitnesses. They tried to offer me 8000 baht. Inssurabce man told me later that lucky i not accept as cost about 15 k to fix.

Anyway the man that crashed into me was not just lucky to be alive but luck not breathalyser

Edited August 10, 2014 by BigC

[spidermike007]

In other words, zero in the way of law and order. Some of the most incompetent police in the world work on Samui. No traffic safety. One of the highest fatality rates per capita, in the ENTIRE world. This meeting is a good thing. It is long overdue. But, how do you implement it, without police involvement? How do you get completely incompetent police to start enforcing the law, without regard to cash collection? Are these guys even trainable, or do they need to completely retrain, or dismantle the entire force, and start from scratch, with mainland police. Something needs to be done. Drastically. How do you turn revenue collection agents into policemen?

It is unfair to the tourists that come to Samui expecting that they will remain in civilization, only to find an island that has been completely abandoned by both the Surat Thani and the central government, and completely controlled by the local mafia, who love to collect cash. But they despise giving anything in return, nor improving their Island on any level. We are talking about several vampire families that are super rich, and have nothing in the way of compassion, pride, intelligence, or vision. They should be arrested and jailed for life. Or deported. Not allowed to continue to rule the island, destroy the island, prevent improvement, or continue sucking blood. Someone needs to take control. Samui has been out of control for years now. This is the Wild, Wild West of Thailand. Will the Junta step in? Thousands of people sincerely hope so. Down with the status quo on the long lost land of Samui.

Spidermike007

It's a fact that Samui is effectively a separate ;little piece of the Kingdom that's a law unto itself.

If you accept the "official" figures (and they're dubious) of an average of 35-50 killed on Samui's roads each years, it's horrendous as a percentage of our small population.

(But note that you have to be dead on the road to be counted - if you die tomorrow in hospital then you are not a "road fatality".)

Samui has an average population of 150,000 (which varies due to visitors, but the island gets a million a year of these, so spread this over each month).

Let's be generous and say we have 200,000 people here.

50 dead per year in a population of 200,000. Let's scale that up and relate it to Bangkok.

On the same percentage of the population, if Bangkok had the same road death per capita as Samui, there would be 3,000 deaths in Bangkok each year on the roads.

(Given that BKK has 10 million people - it's actually higher so the fatalities would be greater.)

And if you count all those that die in hospital, or on their way to the hospital, you can probably triple these official figures.

The biggest problem in this respect is the reliability of the statistics. There is no accountability and no way to verify the official figures. Googling this topic reveals wildly varying statistics. Interestingly, in 2010, the Dept of Land Transport deaths figures dropped hugely from previous years, when the job of collating all this info was handed over to another sub-department.

Either way there's currently no attempt at all by the police to uphold existing laws, other than the carnival of a helmet check once a month.

The initial aim of the RAK Samui group is to establish a group with a common concern. The secondary aims are to bring other (established) groups to support the intention (the local branch of the TAT and Thai Hotels Association, Thai business people and resort owners etc) These groups have daily working contact with the Samui local government administration, and the 3rd aim, via these channels, is to introduce a move to compel all police to actively check helmet-wearing as part of their daily duties, as happens everywhere else in Thailand.

It's going to take a while for this to happen, but it *will* happen eventually.

And then maybe we can hope for continual daily random speed scheck and nightl random breathalyser checks as a matter of course - with MUCH higher fines and penalties attached (200 baht is no deterrent at all).

Or maybe the General will turn to Samui for his next stop and begin to clean up the taxi fiasco. And then we can invite him for a drink or two and present him with a few other targets!

R

even at 50 per year thats nearly 1 officially a week with 52 weeks in a year.

I have factual knowledge it is 30 per month, on the average. One fatality per day on the samui roads. This figure used to be used officially, until the officials appear to have been ordered to reduce it, for PR purposes. Do not believe otherwise. Whitewash at its very utmost.

[Tropicalevo]

In other words, zero in the way of law and order. Some of the most incompetent police in the world work on Samui. No traffic safety. One of the highest fatality rates per capita, in the ENTIRE world. This meeting is a good thing. It is long overdue. But, how do you implement it, without police involvement? How do you get completely incompetent police to start enforcing the law, without regard to cash collection? Are these guys even trainable, or do they need to completely retrain, or dismantle the entire force, and start from scratch, with mainland police. Something needs to be done. Drastically. How do you turn revenue collection agents into policemen?

It is unfair to the tourists that come to Samui expecting that they will remain in civilization, only to find an island that has been completely abandoned by both the Surat Thani and the central government, and completely controlled by the local mafia, who love to collect cash. But they despise giving anything in return, nor improving their Island on any level. We are talking about several vampire families that are super rich, and have nothing in the way of compassion, pride, intelligence, or vision. They should be arrested and jailed for life. Or deported. Not allowed to continue to rule the island, destroy the island, prevent improvement, or continue sucking blood. Someone needs to take control. Samui has been out of control for years now. This is the Wild, Wild West of Thailand. Will the Junta step in? Thousands of people sincerely hope so. Down with the status quo on the long lost land of Samui.

Spidermike007

It's a fact that Samui is effectively a separate ;little piece of the Kingdom that's a law unto itself.

If you accept the "official" figures (and they're dubious) of an average of 35-50 killed on Samui's roads each years, it's horrendous as a percentage of our small population.

(But note that you have to be dead on the road to be counted - if you die tomorrow in hospital then you are not a "road fatality".)

Samui has an average population of 150,000 (which varies due to visitors, but the island gets a million a year of these, so spread this over each month).

Let's be generous and say we have 200,000 people here.

50 dead per year in a population of 200,000. Let's scale that up and relate it to Bangkok.

On the same percentage of the population, if Bangkok had the same road death per capita as Samui, there would be 3,000 deaths in Bangkok each year on the roads.

(Given that BKK has 10 million people - it's actually higher so the fatalities would be greater.)

And if you count all those that die in hospital, or on their way to the hospital, you can probably triple these official figures.

The biggest problem in this respect is the reliability of the statistics. There is no accountability and no way to verify the official figures. Googling this topic reveals wildly varying statistics. Interestingly, in 2010, the Dept of Land Transport deaths figures dropped hugely from previous years, when the job of collating all this info was handed over to another sub-department.

Either way there's currently no attempt at all by the police to uphold existing laws, other than the carnival of a helmet check once a month.

The initial aim of the RAK Samui group is to establish a group with a common concern. The secondary aims are to bring other (established) groups to support the intention (the local branch of the TAT and Thai Hotels Association, Thai business people and resort owners etc) These groups have daily working contact with the Samui local government administration, and the 3rd aim, via these channels, is to introduce a move to compel all police to actively check helmet-wearing as part of their daily duties, as happens everywhere else in Thailand.

It's going to take a while for this to happen, but it *will* happen eventually.

And then maybe we can hope for continual daily random speed scheck and nightl random breathalyser checks as a matter of course - with MUCH higher fines and penalties attached (200 baht is no deterrent at all).

Or maybe the General will turn to Samui for his next stop and begin to clean up the taxi fiasco. And then we can invite him for a drink or two and present him with a few other targets!

R

I have a friend working at samui rescue and he says it is really a minimum of 30 per month. Actual road fatalities, including this that die in the hospital from their injuries. As I said, the highest per capita, in the world, by a good margin. And he said 90% are motorbikes. He is a good and accurate reference.

Spidermike007

Spider - you are pretty vocal in your slagging -off of Samui's police and accident record. However (and sadly) these problems are not unique to Samui. Just read today's Phuket and Pattaya papers. eg

http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Phukets-road-nightmare-gets-worse-Italian-man/32501#ad-image-0 6 killed in a 24 hour period.

This does not diminish the fact that something does need to happen to improve things on Samui. I think that the difference between you and I is that I do see improvements. Not enough - but a start.

Improvements like police being more responsive to some traffic accidents. (They do not get called out to many of them. I have seen countless accidents on Samui, but rarely has a policeman been called.)

Improvements like having to now have driving lessons before taking a driving test. (Or a valid license from another country.)

Improvements like the license people refusing to be bribed to give a license. Making sure that the person actualy passed a test.

Improvements like failing the English couple where the husband was 'helping' his wife during the test.

Small improvements admittedly, but a step in the right direction.

So back to the main issue.

How do we stop tourists and young drugged up/drunk/stupid locals from trying to kill themselves (and others)? Sadly - not likely to happen yet in reality. Regardless of any sort of police response.

The first step is that the majority of the local population (foreign and Thai) have to want it to happen first. This is done through education. Just reading through many posts on this forum, and talking to lots of tourists/locals - I see a population where each individual wants to decide which laws to break. If the majority of people decide to break the law - there will never be enough policemen.

Example. I live in a small community of just over 50 villas. Many of us ride a motorbike. I (and my wife) are the only ones who wear crash hemets most of the time. (I forget now and again if I just 'pop' down the road and my wife wears hers 100% of the time.) I have one neighbour who wears his helmet sometimes. The rest - never. Renters on holiday - I would estimate that only 10% of them wear the helmets that I insist that the motobike rental company provides.

Yet - when I meet neighbours for a drink or a meal - every one of them complains about the diving habits on the island - the death rate of motorcyclists - the stupid tourists riding without a helmet etc etc. One neighbour laughed how he was stopped and fined twice in two days for not wearing a helmet. By the same policeman.

This is not a problem that the police can fix. Some of these people have lived here for over 15 years.This is a 'lead by example and educate people' issue. Education at the government level - not Samui police level.

There is not an easy fix to this one - until people really want to solve it. I will continue riding with a helmet. I will use a taxi (now that they they are on meters) on the very rare times that I drink in Chaweng. I will continue to encourage my neighbours and guests to wear helmets and use taxis. (Better still - do not ride a bike at all!) Unfortunately I could not attend the first 'road safety meeting' but I hope to go to the next one.

Until things change - stay safe people and take care.

[BigC]

In other words, zero in the way of law and order. Some of the most incompetent police in the world work on Samui. No traffic safety. One of the highest fatality rates per capita, in the ENTIRE world. This meeting is a good thing. It is long overdue. But, how do you implement it, without police involvement? How do you get completely incompetent police to start enforcing the law, without regard to cash collection? Are these guys even trainable, or do they need to completely retrain, or dismantle the entire force, and start from scratch, with mainland police. Something needs to be done. Drastically. How do you turn revenue collection agents into policemen?

It is unfair to the tourists that come to Samui expecting that they will remain in civilization, only to find an island that has been completely abandoned by both the Surat Thani and the central government, and completely controlled by the local mafia, who love to collect cash. But they despise giving anything in return, nor improving their Island on any level. We are talking about several vampire families that are super rich, and have nothing in the way of compassion, pride, intelligence, or vision. They should be arrested and jailed for life. Or deported. Not allowed to continue to rule the island, destroy the island, prevent improvement, or continue sucking blood. Someone needs to take control. Samui has been out of control for years now. This is the Wild, Wild West of Thailand. Will the Junta step in? Thousands of people sincerely hope so. Down with the status quo on the long lost land of Samui.

Spidermike007

It's a fact that Samui is effectively a separate ;little piece of the Kingdom that's a law unto itself.

If you accept the "official" figures (and they're dubious) of an average of 35-50 killed on Samui's roads each years, it's horrendous as a percentage of our small population.

(But note that you have to be dead on the road to be counted - if you die tomorrow in hospital then you are not a "road fatality".)

Samui has an average population of 150,000 (which varies due to visitors, but the island gets a million a year of these, so spread this over each month).

Let's be generous and say we have 200,000 people here.

50 dead per year in a population of 200,000. Let's scale that up and relate it to Bangkok.

On the same percentage of the population, if Bangkok had the same road death per capita as Samui, there would be 3,000 deaths in Bangkok each year on the roads.

(Given that BKK has 10 million people - it's actually higher so the fatalities would be greater.)

And if you count all those that die in hospital, or on their way to the hospital, you can probably triple these official figures.

The biggest problem in this respect is the reliability of the statistics. There is no accountability and no way to verify the official figures. Googling this topic reveals wildly varying statistics. Interestingly, in 2010, the Dept of Land Transport deaths figures dropped hugely from previous years, when the job of collating all this info was handed over to another sub-department.

Either way there's currently no attempt at all by the police to uphold existing laws, other than the carnival of a helmet check once a month.

The initial aim of the RAK Samui group is to establish a group with a common concern. The secondary aims are to bring other (established) groups to support the intention (the local branch of the TAT and Thai Hotels Association, Thai business people and resort owners etc) These groups have daily working contact with the Samui local government administration, and the 3rd aim, via these channels, is to introduce a move to compel all police to actively check helmet-wearing as part of their daily duties, as happens everywhere else in Thailand.

It's going to take a while for this to happen, but it *will* happen eventually.

And then maybe we can hope for continual daily random speed scheck and nightl random breathalyser checks as a matter of course - with MUCH higher fines and penalties attached (200 baht is no deterrent at all).

Or maybe the General will turn to Samui for his next stop and begin to clean up the taxi fiasco. And then we can invite him for a drink or two and present him with a few other targets!

R

I have a friend working at samui rescue and he says it is really a minimum of 30 per month. Actual road fatalities, including this that die in the hospital from their injuries. As I said, the highest per capita, in the world, by a good margin. And he said 90% are motorbikes. He is a good and accurate reference.

Spidermike007

Spider - you are pretty vocal in your slagging -off of Samui's police and accident record. However (and sadly) these problems are not unique to Samui. Just read today's Phuket and Pattaya papers. eg

http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Phukets-road-nightmare-gets-worse-Italian-man/32501#ad-image-0 6 killed in a 24 hour period.

This does not diminish the fact that something does need to happen to improve things on Samui. I think that the difference between you and I is that I do see improvements. Not enough - but a start.

Improvements like police being more responsive to some traffic accidents. (They do not get called out to many of them. I have seen countless accidents on Samui, but rarely has a policeman been called.)

Improvements like having to now have driving lessons before taking a driving test. (Or a valid license from another country.)

Improvements like the license people refusing to be bribed to give a license. Making sure that the person actualy passed a test.

Improvements like failing the English couple where the husband was 'helping' his wife during the test.

Small improvements admittedly, but a step in the right direction.

So back to the main issue.

How do we stop tourists and young drugged up/drunk/stupid locals from trying to kill themselves (and others)? Sadly - not likely to happen yet in reality. Regardless of any sort of police response.

The first step is that the majority of the local population (foreign and Thai) have to want it to happen first. This is done through education. Just reading through many posts on this forum, and talking to lots of tourists/locals - I see a population where each individual wants to decide which laws to break. If the majority of people decide to break the law - there will never be enough policemen.

Example. I live in a small community of just over 50 villas. Many of us ride a motorbike. I (and my wife) are the only ones who wear crash hemets most of the time. (I forget now and again if I just 'pop' down the road and my wife wears hers 100% of the time.) I have one neighbour who wears his helmet sometimes. The rest - never. Renters on holiday - I would estimate that only 10% of them wear the helmets that I insist that the motobike rental company provides.

Yet - when I meet neighbours for a drink or a meal - every one of them complains about the diving habits on the island - the death rate of motorcyclists - the stupid tourists riding without a helmet etc etc. One neighbour laughed how he was stopped and fined twice in two days for not wearing a helmet. By the same policeman.

This is not a problem that the police can fix. Some of these people have lived here for over 15 years.This is a 'lead by example and educate people' issue. Education at the government level - not Samui police level.

There is not an easy fix to this one - until people really want to solve it. I will continue riding with a helmet. I will use a taxi (now that they they are on meters) on the very rare times that I drink in Chaweng. I will continue to encourage my neighbours and guests to wear helmets and use taxis. (Better still - do not ride a bike at all!) Unfortunately I could not attend the first 'road safety meeting' but I hope to go to the next one.

Until things change - stay safe people and take care.

Agree it should not be only the polices fault for accidents but the people who have them. I have lost allot of friends on these roads and I hate to say it is their own fault driving drunk

We should not have to rely on a nanny telling us what we already know

Even my own brother broke his leg when drunk and his fault

England people still drink drive and have accidents

Also agree that there have been improvements allot of CCTV more check points than before

My only problem is with with us as we are pushing for accidents to be cut down with the help of police which is pushing towards a close circuit tv place where people are arrested left right and center

Where as if the people try to cut down ourselves then we might be able to have more freedom

Be careful what you wish for

You might get it

And it is all up to us

Allot of us left our own countries due to CCTV

And too much police activity

We want freedom but when is humans get it we cannot control ourselves and almost place ourselves under arrest

Shame

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[BigC]

personally i don't have problem with taxis on samui. They make money or they would not be there. There is always the song tails on the island.

Have to adapt living on a island things are going to be expensive. If cannot afford it then......well????

We all have something we want and cannot have.

personnaly 500 baht to nathong or airport i would not have a problem paying. specially if we shared the fare but that is just my take. i suppose i expect people to dis agree with me but i don't care. If cannot pay don't pay. Walk is my attitude

[PoorSucker]

If cannot pay don't pay. Walk is my attitude

Going to get shit for this one I guess.

[robsamui]

Well done you, very good to have stayed safe for so long.

So Samui is full of people like you who drive defensively and follow the rules of the road then?

Well I already know the answer to that, I have a dear friend on the island who is both a police officer and also does rescue work. He paints a very different picture of the road situation. How do you console a women who has just had her baby run over due to her dropping it from the bike she was trying to ride?

On my first visit to Samui some years ago I met a guy who was there for his brother. He had managed to find work selling time share. The reason he was there was that his brother was in hospital, in a coma after a bike accident.

Two stories, you don't have to look far to fiind many more.

We are not perfect in the UK, 3 deaths a day on motorcycles. Just had a quick look for Thailand and for 2012/13 the average was 53 deaths a Day for Motorcycles alone.

Nice of you to offer your services as well. Do you have any teaching qualifications?

I am a certified (some say mentally!) Driving Standards Agency Instructor who has 30 years of teaching experience.

But of course any idiot can learn to ride a bike.

Just remember, those 53 deaths are only counted if they died at the scene of the accident ! bears thinking about does it not !

Not so. The UK - as with many other EEC nations - allow a period 30 days after a road traffic accident.

On the other hand it is Samui (and the rest of Thailand) which in 2004 changed the ruling to only allow dead on the road to count as a fatality.

R

[robsamui]

On Koh Samui at least one person per day dies on the road.

365 people per year equal:

200.000 casualties per year in the UK

292.000 casualities per year in Germany

1.100.000 casualties per year in the U.S.

If these numbers do not matter to you, so be it.

If you think, that it makes sense to talk about beerbottles on a table, so be it.

If you think that it's more important to complain and judge Thais and Pharangs alike, so be it.

My opinion is very clear: It's time to attempt change, no matter what the odds are. The situation on Samui is unacceptable.

You are confusing deaths with casualties, and mixing your comparisons together to come to a pointless conclusion.

But your final sentence makes sense :--)

R