EDITORIAL
Some do's and don'ts for cellphone users
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Is your mobile phone putting your or others' lives at risk, or is it becoming a nuisance for others?

A woman was killed in a train accident as she walked across the railway tracks while talking on her mobile phone.

According to initial investigation, the victim was hit by the train when she was walking back to her pickup truck from the local fresh market.

The train was on the return leg of a one-day trip, after carrying tourists from Bangkok to the waterfall in Sai Yok district.

It was a tragic and an unfortunate accident, not to mention that it was something that could have been avoided.

While no one can be absolutely sure of the entire circumstances surrounding her death, nevertheless, one cannot ignore the issue of mobile phone etiquette.

Like almost everything else, what constitutes appropriate behaviour varies from place to place and generation to generation.

In Thailand, we are yet to establish ground rules as to what constitutes appropriateness when it comes to mobile-phone use. It is not an uncommon sight in Bangkok to see people talking or texting on their cellphone while driving.

Whenever one sees a sudden drop in speed of the vehicle in front and/or a swaying from side to side, many of us tend to link such dangerous driving to mobile-phone use. Earlier, bad driving was usually associated with the sex or age of the driver. Today, mobile phones are often the distractions behind such aberrant driving.

After nearly two decades since mobile phones flooded the country and became a major part of people's lives, the country finally passed a law banning the use of mobile phone while driving. Enforcement is another matter.

Aware that the use of a mobile phone in public has become a point of irritation for other people in the same space, service providers have made a bold move by warning their customers and others through commercials about this nuisance.

In some countries, using a mobile phone in public places, like a restaurant or public buses, is considered extremely rude.

Not in Thailand, as long as one keeps the volume to a minimum. However, its use in a movie theatre is frowned upon.

The obnoxiously loud ring tone is another source of irritation. There is a button called "silent mode" that many don't like to make use of.

Similarly, there are always a handful of passengers on a flight who take their own sweet time to say goodbye to whoever they are talking to and switch their phone to airplane mode as the aircraft is about to take off.

And then there are those who are too much in a hurry to turn it back on before the plane has landed, ignoring the request of the pilot and the flight attendants that the use of a mobile phone could interfere with the plane's avionic and communications system.

For those in a life or death situation, the desire to hook up with something is understandable. But when we have so many people so eager to get connected in spite of safety warnings and requests, it becomes an issue of socially tolerable, and not so much about what is technically possible.

The nuisance is not solely from the people at the receiving end of the call, however. Ever wonder about the callers who let the phone rings go on 10-15 times before hanging up and redial the same number almost immediately?

If the person you're calling doesn't pick up the phone within the first four rings, perhaps he or she is not there. Or perhaps he or she doesn't want to talk at that point in time. The caller needs to respect that.

But no matter what part of the world one is from, there is one common rule and that is: Do not use a mobile phone, including its texting feature, when driving, riding a bike or walking across a railroad track.

And while we have to yet establish an etiquette, perhaps we should start with one principle, and that is the need to respect the people around us. We might not find yapping on a mobile phone irritating. But if the people in our vicinity do, perhaps it should be taken into consideration and respected, as a social norm.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Some-dos-and-donts-for-cellphone-users-30249269.html

-- The Nation 2014-12-07

comman sense then!

comman sense then!

No comment.

comman sense then!

Common Sense?

Not so common, especially amongst the younger digital pikey aged individuals.

comman sense then!

......such a foreign concept.

comman sense then!

"Common sense is the least common of the senses....." unknown

Common sight when in public buses and train some people just ignore others by blocking access of door by just playing with phone, that is not Thai culture where people which is caring with handphone they contain themselves in cyber world which ignore other existance.

Interesting read.

-sent from my mobile phone while driving and enjoying sticky rice and chicken for breakfast

the 'common sense ' thing to do would be to promote blue tooth , , i see so many people driving mega buck merc's, bmw talking on expensive phones but haven't a clue how to use or even aware that Bluetooth.is very available. even for older cars adapters are very cheap to buy

Common sight when in public buses and train some people just ignore others by blocking access of door by just playing with phone, that is not Thai culture where people which is caring with handphone they contain themselves in cyber world which ignore other existance.

Grown accustomed to people in the west being absorbed with their cell phones while driving, inline or ordering but really does seem here to be strange places where some people choose to stop and make calls such as the entrance to stairs, middle of sidewalk or anywhere else that impedes others from moving rather than stepping to the side ... interesting it is not just locals as I see farangs doing the same thing here too.

Probably more to do with an age thing of younger folks coming to expect and rely (emotionally) on instant communications. Not like anything has become more urgent, just people are less patient and believe just because you can communicate now doesn't mean you need or should.

Mobile phones / mini computers are great the problem is the people. They let this device take over their lives and then it becomes dangerous (Not just Thailand).

The amount of people that feel the need to use mobile phones while driving is scary.

It time for the authorities to start keeping records of how many people are killed each year from being pre-occupied on a mobile phone.

The number I think would be much higher than drink driving.

What amazes me is you have call back facility and very few people use it.

Are our attentions spans so short nowadays we can only continue reading if the paragraphs consist of single sentences?

Gotta have some common sense before it can be used.

Very sad incident but an element of Darwinism

Douchebags farting about with their phone (cell or smartphone) at the gym is the absolute worst, esp when busy. It takes a special type of clown to just sit and hog a machine as if it's their freakin private couch!

Regards the female that got flattened by the train, I can only imagine what was going through that mind of hers to enable the blocking out of a 100-ton chunk of metal travelling at speed... Darwin at work, right there I'm afraid.

Very sad incident but an element of Darwinism

They keep trying to mess with natural selection, when nothing they say is going to affect those who are adamant about selecting themselves out of the gene pool. If the Chinese keep this up, they are going to have to implement a; "Have as Many Children as Possible" campaign. Unfortunately, Thailand does not have a large enough population to support such a lack of common sense and irresponsibility.

It is getting bad, makes the "feet-draggers" in shopping malls amble along even slower with their tablets. Plus the art of conversation is dead amongst youngsters - see groups in restaurants sat around in silence glued to phones, couples too. Nothing to say to each other, but as long as they get a photo of the occasion for social media everyone can relax

As this is about "do's and don'ts" I think some are missing

- don't throw your phone on the floor when you disagree with whoever you are talking with

- do speak loud enough to drown out the noise of other people talking

Common sight when in public buses and train some people just ignore others by blocking access of door by just playing with phone, that is not Thai culture where people which is caring with handphone they contain themselves in cyber world which ignore other existance.

Grown accustomed to people in the west being absorbed with their cell phones while driving, inline or ordering but really does seem here to be strange places where some people choose to stop and make calls such as the entrance to stairs, middle of sidewalk or anywhere else that impedes others from moving rather than stepping to the side ... interesting it is not just locals as I see farangs doing the same thing here too.

Probably more to do with an age thing of younger folks coming to expect and rely (emotionally) on instant communications. Not like anything has become more urgent, just people are less patient and believe just because you can communicate now doesn't mean you need or should.

I love it when they block doorways of walk slowly on the sidewalk, gives me a good chance to practice kicking ankles or nailing them with the baby stroller, might not be nice of me but it always makes me smile

These will be the same people that barge onto the skytrain before others can get off. See open door: walk through. Hear phone: use it. See dog food: eat it.

Guns phones don't kill annoy people, people do.

comman sense then!

Common Sense?

Not so common, especially amongst the younger digital pikey aged individuals.

Please would you define, in a definitive phrase, "common sense"!!??

Can't think of one myself. Not aware that there is one.... closest might be "that which is generally accepted in the neighbourhood by other persons in similar circumstances" ... but that is as nebulous as attempting to define a God as an amorphous mass of three personages in one big gas ball!!

Mobile phones / mini computers are great the problem is the people. They let this device take over their lives and then it becomes dangerous (Not just Thailand).

The amount of people that feel the need to use mobile phones while driving is scary.

It time for the authorities to start keeping records of how many people are killed each year from being pre-occupied on a mobile phone.

The number I think would be much higher than drink driving.

What amazes me is you have call back facility and very few people use it.

To hell with "keeping records"------- why don't they just enforce the existing law, You know---the one about banning while driving etc !!!!!!!!

what amazes me are the bike riders that try to use them while riding with the wind whistling past their ears and their heads angled trying to stop it so they are not looking at the road at all, I drive close to them then hold the horn on so they cant hear a thing on the phone and absolutely sh*t themselves. It would seem the being stupid is a pre-requisite for all the mobile users here as most tend to become totally ignorant/stop thinking as soon as they hold it in their hands.

Very sad incident but an element of Darwinism

Totally agree, Darwinism's a great insurance policy!....

comman sense then!

Common Sense?

Not so common, especially amongst the younger digital pikey aged individuals.

+1...True.

Sorry for the lady's situational unawareness that got her killed, but it isn't a matter of being on the phone so much as it is relegating situation awareness to an amulet.

Some do's and don'ts for cellphone users

Is there anyone left who is not a cellphone user?

When they start surgically installing them next year, they will all be "hands free".

and much safer!

what amazes me are the bike riders that try to use them while riding with the wind whistling past their ears and their heads angled trying to stop it so they are not looking at the road at all, I drive close to them then hold the horn on so they cant hear a thing on the phone and absolutely sh*t themselves. It would seem the being stupid is a pre-requisite for all the mobile users here as most tend to become totally ignorant/stop thinking as soon as they hold it in their hands.

I agree.

There is something about Thai people and their relationship with electronic devises.

Without exception, every Thai person I know is totally unaware of anything going on around them, including someone talking to them, if they are watching a television.

If the house was burning down, you would need to pick them up and carry them out.

And their eyes would still be glued to the set as you carried them out!

Are our attentions spans so short nowadays we can only continue reading if the paragraphs consist of single sentences?

tl;dr (Too Long, Didn't Read).

We need to start giving out licenses before one can own a mobile phone.