tifino Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 @billd7666...did they at least 'make a play' in trying to make you pay??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kannot Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 e It is fear of the folk who get caught on a red and and think "<deleted> it, I ain't stopping" and jump the light......... That may be true when lights change to green, but what gets me is how slowly they take off when it's safe to. It's almost as if they take their foot off the brake, but forget to put any pressure on the accelerator and then later will drive at 140kph 1 metre from your rear bumper................thats whats hard to figure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lust Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 i dont know where you guys are driving but everywhere i go, people dont wait for green. they start going while the timer is still red for 2 seconds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaikahuna Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 You have to understand that Thais are the most loving caring people in the world until they get behind the wheel of a car and YOU are in their way. Then all bets are off. Aside from getting T-Boned They like to sit and admire the color and decide if it really is green of if the traffic cops are just toying with their emotions to go ahead and proceed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert24 Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 I don't know where you stay but where I live people move 2-3 seconds BEFORE it turns green whilst still being red. And people still try to rush over a crossing even of it turnes just red. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thailand49 Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 I think the only slow thing here is you and your wife do not seem to get the big picture when it comes to driving! In Pattaya especially at each intersection you will have the bikes in front.. once the light changes it would be a good practice since Thais are famous for just running lights. For your own safety take a moment before leaving the light unless you know 100% it is cleared otherwise you are asking for trouble especially at night? If you ever take the time along with your wife stand at a intersection and take you watch and count down it will take at less 10 seconds for the majority of the bikes to move forward before the car does and any cars thereafter there is also a delay. Watch it sometimes and you will have your answer! Patients get the big picture and you just might stay alive here? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tifino Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 so, I guess for a Thai on the road: Saving the 2 seconds to Stop is better than; Losing the 10 seconds to Start Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuenyongman Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 Having most of my 61 years of driving,I always preferred manuel vehicles. I have owned two automatics .one for around 2 months and the other for around 6 months. Then I came to live in Thailand. My wife could expertly change gear up and down withour clashing the gears but had no idea WHEN to change up or down. I had to say ,change up or change down. So we ended up getting a car with an automatic gearbox. Now an automatic is not supposed to stall when you take off from a standing start. Mine used to stall sometimes three times in a row. I felt like a learner driver whilst cars were honking me. The problem is you cannot disengage the clutch and flick the starter, you have to find neutral or park, then Start the engine then select drive again . When you have done this procedure 3 times running you feel a bit of a charlie. Hopefully it has been sorted out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucjoker Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 We live amongst a majority of "@#$*mfrs*&". So we have to adapt on their s-behaviour ,you can not fight it ,it is overwhelming ,so relax and feel happy that you are a 1 % -r . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deacon Bell Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 To answer the OP: Because they are both more intelligent and more aware of their surroundings than you are. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tifino Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 It's very difficult to assert you were in the Right, if you're dead... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigfarang1948 Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 (edited) You're forgetting about all the people who run the reds. Nobody wants to be t-boned. Quite the lovely exaggeration on the green light. Maybe three second delay is more like it, but your wife got so annoyed it seemed like a minute. Lights don't even stay green for more than 1 minute. Take a chill pill because you will not change the other drivers. I better go now; cars are honking their horns behind me and for some reason it is really annoying my wife. She said they had been honking their horns for a minute at least for some reason Edited August 31, 2014 by Bigfarang1948 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacko45k Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 Reason 1) Because people are still going through red from the other direction! Reason 2) Haven't finished my phone call. Reason 3) Have fallen asleep. Reason 4) Died of old age. Reason 5) Guy in front is in the wrong lane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
how241 Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 You're forgetting about all the people who run the reds. Nobody wants to be t-boned.100% correct...NEVER jump off the green light fast and if on a motorbike, ALWAYS let a few go through the light first...Many, many times someone or two will run through the opposite red light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathias24 Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 <script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script> You're forgetting about all the people who run the reds. Nobody wants to be t-boned. I am English and NOT a slow driver and in the UK I will always move away quickly when the lights turn to green. But beware here in Thailand when cars jump the red lights up to 10 seconds after the lights have changed to red. I suggest that those who make comments about slow to respond drivers should sit for 30 minutes at the lights on Sukumvit and Siam Country Club and count the number oof idiots jumping the lights on RED Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victor70 Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 The ones that amuse me are the ones that edge forward all the time the lights are on red, and yet when the lights change to green they don't move. they are color blind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opalred Posted August 31, 2014 Author Share Posted August 31, 2014 only in los can see some one pick nose scratch arse and drive at same time and sometimes on phone too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victor70 Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 The ones that amuse me are the ones that edge forward all the time the lights are on red, and yet when the lights change to green they don't move. they are color blind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotsoup Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 OP has a perfectly reasoned Q? I have no idea of the answer. Green light: slow down.it might turn red at any moment? Red light? Speed up and go through you might otherwise get stuck for 2 minuted At the the end of the soi we have a light of 30 seconds on green 2 minutes off on red . Lucky if you can get one carthrough the green light, . I have no idea what they are up to while waiting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangkapi Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 Inertia 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanamnon Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 The driver told me yesterday that he had to be careful at the upcoming intersection because of cameras. CCTV or fear of it probably saves a lot of lives. But as far as wondering why they do this or that like in the OP, I just don't expect anything anymore. Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevden Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 A few of the posts above touch on the important point of red light runners which is (to me) a good reason to hesitate . The fact is green lights do not mean 'Go'. Green lights mean you 'May proceed if it is safe to do so'. The difference is lost on most farang I have spoken to in farang land. I agree with the earlier posts about relaxing (to a point) and living longer, either from reduced stress or from lack of being 'T-boned'. Just my thoughts. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSixpack Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 Usually they are just waiting for all the red light runners to go thru first, has happened to me many times, especially small motorcycles that come blasting thru the intersection. Also on the other hand, I've seen many on motorcycles go before the light turns green. Amazing Thailand again and again. Was a story here a few years back of a young farang motorcyclist too anxious to be first off the line--"break away from the pack on muh big bike, man!"--and who promptly ran into a truck that hadn't stopped for the red light. That and "oh, shit!" were his last thoughts. It's story one would do well to keep in mind. Could have happened to me many times if I hadn't proceeded cautiously. A green light only means MAYBE it's safe to go now. Actually once you get used to Thai driving "rules," then you don't think of them as particularly strange but just the way things are--and you adjust automatically to them if you want to live. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macpayne Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 ohh thats a very common problem here, because there so use to going on red :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nielsk Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 That is not just a problem in Thailand. The same happens in Denmark. Often cars in front of me are not ready to move for green light, not have put the gear level in first gear Show patience. Better safe than sorry. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayned Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 They are in the process of texting someone to tell them that they will be late because they are in a traffic jam and haven't realized that the light has changed and they are the cause!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suradit69 Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 You're forgetting about all the people who run the reds. Nobody wants to be t-boned. From personal observation it seems that by the time the light turns green in most cases at least 50 motorbikes that have been inching forward during the count-down are already half way through the intersection and the cars are in motion too. I agree that the cross traffic quite often doesn't come to a stop until their light has been red for a bit, but I've not noticed too many people allowing that to deter them. It takes on the air of Demolition Derby for a moment or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csabo Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 Perhaps not everyone is in as a big hurry as you are. This is not being critical of you just observing that different people from different places are in a different state of mind. Aside from Thailand, I spend time in New York, and in Florida where I have residences. When in NY if I don't move a split second after the light changes , some one will blow the horn, where in Florida people will wait longer. So relax, you will live longer, and you can spend these extra years of life, waiting for people to move It is true that it is a regional thing and your chosen examples being Florida and NY could not have been better examples. I actually tested the theory in NY and sat unmoving at a newly changed green light. It was literally milliseconds before the horns started blowing. It was as if the driver/s behind me had their hands on the horn and got points for "buzzing in" first. And in Florida you can forget the concept of a passing lane. You can flash your lights, blow your horn, fire gunshots but no one has any intention of moving to the right. God forbid you were rushing yourself to a hospital with a rattlesnake bite. Trust me, you never gonna make it. But even when I lived in fast paced cities I knew it was unhealthy to be in this constant quick mode. I have a friend from an island in the Caribbean and while most of the time I wanted to kill him, I knew his island pace was a healthier attitude and tried to be more like him. I was happy to move here and slooooooow down. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhound Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 For several reasons: There are so many red light runners the guys on green have to wait until they have all gone through. The reaction time of each of the drivers waiting on green. The time it actually takes them to get the cars into gear and moving. The time it takes for them all to stop scratching their <deleted>, picking their noses, etc. etc... They have to fi8nish the next level of Candy Crush before they move. Any others? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benmart Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 Easy Does It. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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