Speeding and reckless driving rank top of all the complaints against public buses

[Lite Beer]

Speeding and reckless driving rank top of all the complaints against public buses

BANGKOK: -- More than 800 public buses were found to be involved in speeding and 19 drivers were caught driving beyond the four-hour limit at a time without taking a break during the December 30-January 2 safety campaign period, said Mr Thirapong Rodprasert, director-general of Land Transport Department, on Saturday.

Moreover, he disclosed that 631 public buses were found to be not in good working conditions but yet they were put into services by their operators during the same period.

He said that the department had imposed fine on all these road safety offenders without exception. He vowed that officials concerned would strictly enforce the safety measures throughout the safety campaign period during the New Year’s festival which is due to end today.

According to 1584 hotline of the centre for the protection of city bus commuters, altogether 178 complaints were lodged with the centre during December 26-January 2 mostly regarding reckless driving, followed by rudeness by drivers and conductors and drivers’ refusal to stop at bus stops.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/speeding-reckless-driving-rank-top-complaints-public-buses

-- Thai PBS 2015-01-04

[cornishcarlos]

Cheap transport though..

[lee b]

Cheap but deadly

[Fiddlesticks]

reckless driving, followed by rudeness by drivers

Maybe I'm confused but. . . but . . . isn't that what Thainess is all about? As long as they smile . . .

[ratcatcher]

"He vowed that officials concerned would strictly enforce the safety measures throughout the safety campaign period during the New Year’s festival which is due to end today."

And after today, things will be back to their laissez-faire normal pace. Pass the somtam and lao khao khrap.

[Rhys]

in the province, the minivan service are also, problematic..

[Fiddlesticks]

Can you imagine what it would be like to be a city commuter bus driver in Bangkok???

Imagine getting up to go to work each day knowing that you will be working for maybe 12,000 baht salary per month! Now that is about $100 USD per week!

Now imagine you get to work and you know you will be driving this 40 year old piece of s*#t which has no air conditioning and only a lousy little fan blowing hot dusty, smoky air across your sweating face all day while the temperature out on the busy streets reaches 100 degrees Fahrenheit (which is about 38C for you non-Americans).

Then imagine that you have to drive in Bangkok where the traffic crawls most of the day and where thousands of Thai "drivers" are now jamming the roads with their newly purchased autos (thanks to the new car buyer program that was such a huge success). Many of these drivers are now driving for the first time!

Now picture yourself cruising behind the wheel of you jalopy at oh, say 20 KPH and you are in the far right lane where the traffic has even a chance of moving. But you know you have to pick up your riders off to the left hand side of the road! ! ! You also know that the Thai drivers out there are not going to let you over to the left to get where you need to go. Logic says it would be simpler if you just drove in the far left lane all day and avoided having to merge to the left at each stop but you also know that the Thai drivers use the left hand lane as their parking lane for when they need to make a quick 15 minute stop at the 7/11 or the ATM. You see, Thai understand that that police are never around to enforce the silly laws concerning illegal parking.

Then image that the government has the balls to institute a complaint center where passengers can call and vent about you not stopping at assigned bus stops even though there is no way you COULD get anywhere near the bus stop with your beat-up, steamy piece of crap bus because the bus stop is crowded with shiny new automobiles!

I don't know about you but if I had this job, they would have to strap on an IV bag of Prozac to me and run it directly into my carotid artery and even then I would probably still be a stark raving, homicidal maniac after just a few hours.

So, as much as I like to complain about Thai drivers in general, I have to tip my hat to the brave souls that drive the city commuter buses in Thai cities like Bangkok.

[MichaelJohn]

Can you imagine what it would be like to be a city commuter bus driver in Bangkok???

Imagine getting up to go to work each day knowing that you will be working for maybe 12,000 baht salary per month! Now that is about $100 USD per week!

Now imagine you get to work and you know you will be driving this 40 year old piece of s*#t which has no air conditioning and only a lousy little fan blowing hot dusty, smoky air across your sweating face all day while the temperature out on the busy streets reaches 100 degrees Fahrenheit (which is about 38C for you non-Americans).

Then imagine that you have to drive in Bangkok where the traffic crawls most of the day and where thousands of Thai "drivers" are now jamming the roads with their newly purchased autos (thanks to the new car buyer program that was such a huge success). Many of these drivers are now driving for the first time!

Now picture yourself cruising behind the wheel of you jalopy at oh, say 20 KPH and you are in the far right lane where the traffic has even a chance of moving. But you know you have to pick up your riders off to the left hand side of the road! ! ! You also know that the Thai drivers out there are not going to let you over to the left to get where you need to go. Logic says it would be simpler if you just drove in the far left lane all day and avoided having to merge to the left at each stop but you also know that the Thai drivers use the left hand lane as their parking lane for when they need to make a quick 15 minute stop at the 7/11 or the ATM. You see, Thai understand that that police are never around to enforce the silly laws concerning illegal parking.

Then image that the government has the balls to institute a complaint center where passengers can call and vent about you not stopping at assigned bus stops even though there is no way you COULD get anywhere near the bus stop with your beat-up, steamy piece of crap bus because the bus stop is crowded with shiny new automobiles!

I don't know about you but if I had this job, they would have to strap on an IV bag of Prozac to me and run it directly into my carotid artery and even then I would probably still be a stark raving, homicidal maniac after just a few hours.

So, as much as I like to complain about Thai drivers in general, I have to tip my hat to the brave souls that drive the city commuter buses in Thai cities like Bangkok.

That's very understanding of you and perhaps why you're not a bus driver?

It's just the same as understanding why taxi drivers can refuse fares or not put the meter on.

If you're a bus driver you need to follow the rules, have the safety of your passengers and fellow road users at the forefront of your mind and ensure that you get from A to B safely.

I have yet to experience a Thai bus driver that I would willingly "tip my hat" too.

[mojaco]

I have heard they get paid by the number of rounds they make. If so that would make it tempting for them to not stop to pick up riders. Also might explain some of the bus speed contest for same route buses I have seen.

Edited January 4, 2015 by mojaco

[thesetat2013]

Funny to see this article since prior to new years I saw a TV report with the inspectors checking buses and showing bald tires and giving breath and drug test. Must have been all for show on the TV though and they allowed those unsafe buses to operate anyway after reading this article. Save face and make it look like something is being done on the surface and all the while doing absolutely nothing.

[Asiantravel]

Can you imagine what it would be like to be a city commuter bus driver in Bangkok???

Imagine getting up to go to work each day knowing that you will be working for maybe 12,000 baht salary per month! Now that is about $100 USD per week!

Now imagine you get to work and you know you will be driving this 40 year old piece of s*#t which has no air conditioning and only a lousy little fan blowing hot dusty, smoky air across your sweating face all day while the temperature out on the busy streets reaches 100 degrees Fahrenheit (which is about 38C for you non-Americans).

Then imagine that you have to drive in Bangkok where the traffic crawls most of the day and where thousands of Thai "drivers" are now jamming the roads with their newly purchased autos (thanks to the new car buyer program that was such a huge success). Many of these drivers are now driving for the first time!

Now picture yourself cruising behind the wheel of you jalopy at oh, say 20 KPH and you are in the far right lane where the traffic has even a chance of moving. But you know you have to pick up your riders off to the left hand side of the road! ! ! You also know that the Thai drivers out there are not going to let you over to the left to get where you need to go. Logic says it would be simpler if you just drove in the far left lane all day and avoided having to merge to the left at each stop but you also know that the Thai drivers use the left hand lane as their parking lane for when they need to make a quick 15 minute stop at the 7/11 or the ATM. You see, Thai understand that that police are never around to enforce the silly laws concerning illegal parking.

Then image that the government has the balls to institute a complaint center where passengers can call and vent about you not stopping at assigned bus stops even though there is no way you COULD get anywhere near the bus stop with your beat-up, steamy piece of crap bus because the bus stop is crowded with shiny new automobiles!

I don't know about you but if I had this job, they would have to strap on an IV bag of Prozac to me and run it directly into my carotid artery and even then I would probably still be a stark raving, homicidal maniac after just a few hours.

So, as much as I like to complain about Thai drivers in general, I have to tip my hat to the brave souls that drive the city commuter buses in Thai cities like Bangkok.

Hang on a minute.

Commuters van drivers have new or recent model air-conditioned vehicles but that still doesn't stop them from driving kamikaze style?

So I think it's more to do with attitude that is wrong no matter what size the bus

[Fiddlesticks]

Can you imagine what it would be like to be a city commuter bus driver in Bangkok???

Imagine getting up to go to work each day knowing that you will be working for maybe 12,000 baht salary per month! Now that is about $100 USD per week!

Now imagine you get to work and you know you will be driving this 40 year old piece of s*#t which has no air conditioning and only a lousy little fan blowing hot dusty, smoky air across your sweating face all day while the temperature out on the busy streets reaches 100 degrees Fahrenheit (which is about 38C for you non-Americans).

Then imagine that you have to drive in Bangkok where the traffic crawls most of the day and where thousands of Thai "drivers" are now jamming the roads with their newly purchased autos (thanks to the new car buyer program that was such a huge success). Many of these drivers are now driving for the first time!

Now picture yourself cruising behind the wheel of you jalopy at oh, say 20 KPH and you are in the far right lane where the traffic has even a chance of moving. But you know you have to pick up your riders off to the left hand side of the road! ! ! You also know that the Thai drivers out there are not going to let you over to the left to get where you need to go. Logic says it would be simpler if you just drove in the far left lane all day and avoided having to merge to the left at each stop but you also know that the Thai drivers use the left hand lane as their parking lane for when they need to make a quick 15 minute stop at the 7/11 or the ATM. You see, Thai understand that that police are never around to enforce the silly laws concerning illegal parking.

Then image that the government has the balls to institute a complaint center where passengers can call and vent about you not stopping at assigned bus stops even though there is no way you COULD get anywhere near the bus stop with your beat-up, steamy piece of crap bus because the bus stop is crowded with shiny new automobiles!

I don't know about you but if I had this job, they would have to strap on an IV bag of Prozac to me and run it directly into my carotid artery and even then I would probably still be a stark raving, homicidal maniac after just a few hours.

So, as much as I like to complain about Thai drivers in general, I have to tip my hat to the brave souls that drive the city commuter buses in Thai cities like Bangkok.

Hang on a minute.

Commuters van drivers have new or recent model air-conditioned vehicles but that still doesn't stop them from driving kamikaze style?

So I think it's more to do with attitude that is wrong no matter what size the bus

That's why the article and I were talking about commuter BUSES and not about VANS. I agree with you that van drivers are horrible drivers and should be thoroughly vetted before allowing them to drive vans.

[englishoak]

Im going to start cut and pasting headlines from a decade ago soon, take off the date and youd never know the difference to today.

[retarius]

In my part of the world, I would say that the bus drivers have actually improved since the coup. I was thinking about this only yesterday while passing a NongChai Air bus. I'm not a big bus user, but from a rood users point of view NongChai Air bus drivers seem to be a cut above the norm....they don't tailgate, they drive at reasonable speeds, and have good lane discipline. I don't know whether they train their drivers better than other companies, or whether they use that 'spy-in-the-cab' device to monitor driver performance.

My pet peeve is these double decker tour buses that travel in packs of 3 or 4 and hog the right hand lane.

[bangkokheat]

Can you imagine what it would be like to be a city commuter bus driver in Bangkok???

Imagine getting up to go to work each day knowing that you will be working for maybe 12,000 baht salary per month! Now that is about $100 USD per week!

Now imagine you get to work and you know you will be driving this 40 year old piece of s*#t which has no air conditioning and only a lousy little fan blowing hot dusty, smoky air across your sweating face all day while the temperature out on the busy streets reaches 100 degrees Fahrenheit (which is about 38C for you non-Americans).

Then imagine that you have to drive in Bangkok where the traffic crawls most of the day and where thousands of Thai "drivers" are now jamming the roads with their newly purchased autos (thanks to the new car buyer program that was such a huge success). Many of these drivers are now driving for the first time!

Now picture yourself cruising behind the wheel of you jalopy at oh, say 20 KPH and you are in the far right lane where the traffic has even a chance of moving. But you know you have to pick up your riders off to the left hand side of the road! ! ! You also know that the Thai drivers out there are not going to let you over to the left to get where you need to go. Logic says it would be simpler if you just drove in the far left lane all day and avoided having to merge to the left at each stop but you also know that the Thai drivers use the left hand lane as their parking lane for when they need to make a quick 15 minute stop at the 7/11 or the ATM. You see, Thai understand that that police are never around to enforce the silly laws concerning illegal parking.

Then image that the government has the balls to institute a complaint center where passengers can call and vent about you not stopping at assigned bus stops even though there is no way you COULD get anywhere near the bus stop with your beat-up, steamy piece of crap bus because the bus stop is crowded with shiny new automobiles!

I don't know about you but if I had this job, they would have to strap on an IV bag of Prozac to me and run it directly into my carotid artery and even then I would probably still be a stark raving, homicidal maniac after just a few hours.

So, as much as I like to complain about Thai drivers in general, I have to tip my hat to the brave souls that drive the city commuter buses in Thai cities like Bangkok.

Hang on a minute.

Commuters van drivers have new or recent model air-conditioned vehicles but that still doesn't stop them from driving kamikaze style?

So I think it's more to do with attitude that is wrong no matter what size the bus

i fully agree, but its not limited to just any size bus drivers, i wouldnt trust any of them in charge of anything with an engine

[HeijoshinCool]

Im going to start cut and pasting headlines from a decade ago soon, take off the date and youd never know the difference to today.

.

Always thought the same about most professional sporting events ….

Back to the exciting thread-

[Emster23]

Speeding and reckless driving rank top of all the complaints against public buses anything with wheels driven in Thailand

[Tuskfish]

I took a public in Thailand ONCE and once only.

The driver was drinking Hong Tong from the bottle.

I asked in Thai for him to drop me off in a specific village, although I had not been to that village previously.

He thought it would be great fun to drop me off in another village instead.

I then thought it would be great fun to share his photo with my police contacts who dealt with him "appropriately".

Edited January 5, 2015 by Tuskfish

[Searat7]

It seems that bus drivers rarely make the effort to pull over to the left side of the road even when space is available. They usually block 2 lanes of traffic when they pick up passengers

[jaywalker]

I'm no Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, but I could probably put together a database of every driver's license in Thailand with 50 Filipinos working 40 hrs/week in 6 months or so and make it a searchable database = a cop could punch a license number into an iPhone & see some clown's record along with validity of their license.

It could probably be done with a $10 USD/month hosting account.

That way they could toss repeat offenders under the jail.

[gandalf12]

Ok so a lot of problems have been identified. So what happens now? My guess would be nothing.

No point is reporting misdoings if nothing is going to happen to rectify the problem.

We all know the buses drive in a dangerous manner, nothing is new there.

Suggest action is taken or there is no point in reporting a known fact

[mok199]

reckless driving, followed by rudeness by drivers

Maybe I'm confused but. . . but . . . isn't that what Thainess is all about? As long as they smile . . .

thais are never rude,as long as they say ''crap'' or ''ka''....such a freekin rediculous word,politeness is more than a word it is a way of life...something thailand knows very little about...sawadee( no crap)

[ratcatcher]

I'm no Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, but I could probably put together a database of every driver's license in Thailand with 50 Filipinos working 40 hrs/week in 6 months or so and make it a searchable database = a cop could punch a license number into an iPhone & see some clown's record along with validity of their license.

It could probably be done with a $10 USD/month hosting account.

That way they could toss repeat offenders under the jail.

Good points, but I am concerned about tossing the repeaters "under" the jail". Is there better accommodation inside the jail, for first offenders?

Edited January 5, 2015 by ratcatcher

[NoshowJones]

Can you imagine what it would be like to be a city commuter bus driver in Bangkok???

Imagine getting up to go to work each day knowing that you will be working for maybe 12,000 baht salary per month! Now that is about $100 USD per week!

Now imagine you get to work and you know you will be driving this 40 year old piece of s*#t which has no air conditioning and only a lousy little fan blowing hot dusty, smoky air across your sweating face all day while the temperature out on the busy streets reaches 100 degrees Fahrenheit (which is about 38C for you non-Americans).

Then imagine that you have to drive in Bangkok where the traffic crawls most of the day and where thousands of Thai "drivers" are now jamming the roads with their newly purchased autos (thanks to the new car buyer program that was such a huge success). Many of these drivers are now driving for the first time!

Now picture yourself cruising behind the wheel of you jalopy at oh, say 20 KPH and you are in the far right lane where the traffic has even a chance of moving. But you know you have to pick up your riders off to the left hand side of the road! ! ! You also know that the Thai drivers out there are not going to let you over to the left to get where you need to go. Logic says it would be simpler if you just drove in the far left lane all day and avoided having to merge to the left at each stop but you also know that the Thai drivers use the left hand lane as their parking lane for when they need to make a quick 15 minute stop at the 7/11 or the ATM. You see, Thai understand that that police are never around to enforce the silly laws concerning illegal parking.

Then image that the government has the balls to institute a complaint center where passengers can call and vent about you not stopping at assigned bus stops even though there is no way you COULD get anywhere near the bus stop with your beat-up, steamy piece of crap bus because the bus stop is crowded with shiny new automobiles!

I don't know about you but if I had this job, they would have to strap on an IV bag of Prozac to me and run it directly into my carotid artery and even then I would probably still be a stark raving, homicidal maniac after just a few hours.

So, as much as I like to complain about Thai drivers in general, I have to tip my hat to the brave souls that drive the city commuter buses in Thai cities like Bangkok.

and also know that bus drivers don't get paid by the hours they work, they get paid by the journey from one terminus to the next. Yes I know I've said this before Benalbina.

[Bangkok Barry]

Can you imagine what it would be like to be a city commuter bus driver in Bangkok???

Imagine getting up to go to work each day knowing that you will be working for maybe 12,000 baht salary per month! Now that is about $100 USD per week!

Now imagine you get to work and you know you will be driving this 40 year old piece of s*#t which has no air conditioning and only a lousy little fan blowing hot dusty, smoky air across your sweating face all day while the temperature out on the busy streets reaches 100 degrees Fahrenheit (which is about 38C for you non-Americans).

Then imagine that you have to drive in Bangkok where the traffic crawls most of the day and where thousands of Thai "drivers" are now jamming the roads with their newly purchased autos (thanks to the new car buyer program that was such a huge success). Many of these drivers are now driving for the first time!

Now picture yourself cruising behind the wheel of you jalopy at oh, say 20 KPH and you are in the far right lane where the traffic has even a chance of moving. But you know you have to pick up your riders off to the left hand side of the road! ! ! You also know that the Thai drivers out there are not going to let you over to the left to get where you need to go. Logic says it would be simpler if you just drove in the far left lane all day and avoided having to merge to the left at each stop but you also know that the Thai drivers use the left hand lane as their parking lane for when they need to make a quick 15 minute stop at the 7/11 or the ATM. You see, Thai understand that that police are never around to enforce the silly laws concerning illegal parking.

Then image that the government has the balls to institute a complaint center where passengers can call and vent about you not stopping at assigned bus stops even though there is no way you COULD get anywhere near the bus stop with your beat-up, steamy piece of crap bus because the bus stop is crowded with shiny new automobiles!

I don't know about you but if I had this job, they would have to strap on an IV bag of Prozac to me and run it directly into my carotid artery and even then I would probably still be a stark raving, homicidal maniac after just a few hours.

So, as much as I like to complain about Thai drivers in general, I have to tip my hat to the brave souls that drive the city commuter buses in Thai cities like Bangkok.

If they don't like it then perhaps they could choose another job. There is a near zero unemployment rate in Thailand and many businesses are desperate for workers.

[alantheembalmer]

OK, boys and girls, I am going to nail my colours to the mast, and say how much I appreciate the Bangkok bus drivers and clippies. They work under appallingly stressful conditions at times, and I have personally never come across a rude one, and I live in Bangkok and only travel by bus, so I have a great deal of experience. Of course, some are a little reckless when it comes to getting to their destinations, but at least everyone else stays well away from them.

Oh, and by the way, I have never been told they can't take me, or that I should go with them to a good jewellery store that has a one day sale on, or been overcharged.

[Nemesis7]

We can talk all day about the bus drivers and what can be done but the peop,e concerned do t really give a damn about it, so what's the point..???

[Balance]

Put governors on the them so they cannot exceed a certain speed. Many countries do this for buses and private trucks and buses. If they screw with the governor, they loose the bus, permanently. Problem fixed.