Is Phuket the Most Dangerous Place in the World to Drive?

[FBlue72]

It's evident from the shortest journey, the most selfish, unsafe, even outright suicidal drivers are congregated here and the last few days have been especially full of news about deaths in "accidents" which of course are due to high speed and careless drivers.

Thailand recently came in second in a world survey for road fatalities, and Phuket is the worst place in Thailand, so are we all driving in the most dangerous location in the world? Additionally that second place may be closer to first. Paraphrasing from article yesterday in Bkk Post, not allowed to link to it

(a Big Brother smiley is needed.)

Mr. Prommin Kantiya, who is the director of the Accident Prevention Network (APN) was quoted accidents are actually under reported due to differing criteria in the govt ministry from the police......WHO also states the figures actually may be 42% higher.

I've driven all over the world and by virtue of the roads in Phuket specifically being made to drive fast on, I think it is the most likely place to die.

Edited November 7, 2015 by FBlue72

[Somtamnication]

Slow news day?

[FBlue72]

More of an general hazard awareness topic

[grumpyoldman]

Bit of an exaggeration IMO.

http://www.complex.com/sports/2014/01/10-most-dangerous-countries-to-drive-in/

[stevenl]

I much rather drive here than in many other places in the world. Kenya, India to mention a few were IMO much more dangerous and difficult.

[FBlue72]

^ The roads are fine, it's the drivers that make it hazardous, the difficult driving, as in pot holes, dirt lanes, etc make it safer regarding fatalities.

I've noted when the widen a road, like was done to the airport road, then drivers just go faster, which is essentially making it unsafer because then the crashes are more deadly. I never saw a traffic jam, that road did not need 4 supersonic lanes. And I never understood why the east side of Heroine's Circle Paklok road was widened, the traffic did not warrant it and as soon as it was , several horrific accidents occurred.

[NamKangMan]

Whether Phuket's roads are the most dangerous in the world in debatable, but Phuket sure would be at, or near, the top of the list.

Whether Phuket's roads are the most dangerous in the world for a place that is a major global holiday destination, I think this is indisputable.

Phuket's roads surely must kill more people than any other major tourist destination in the world.

As the OP alludes to, a person is not counted as a road fatality if they die in the hospital, shortly after an accident.

This would make the road fatality statistics a lot lower than what they actually are, and they are already frighteningly high.

[LivinginKata]

Bangkok driving is much worse than Phuket. Multiple vehicle deaths per day, Phuket is about 25 - 30 per month. Phuket is Ok for driving except for high speed idiots like minbus and taxi. Just keep out of their way, let them by right away, but what can you do if the cross over and hit you head on - just your luck.

I've driven in Cairo, Egypt - much worse than Thailand.

[NamKangMan]

Bangkok driving is much worse than Phuket. Multiple vehicle deaths per day, Phuket is about 25 - 30 per month. Phuket is Ok for driving except for high speed idiots like minbus and taxi. Just keep out of their way, let them by right away, but what can you do if the cross over and hit you head on - just your luck.

I've driven in Cairo, Egypt - much worse than Thailand.

"Bangkok driving is much worse than Phuket. Multiple vehicle deaths per day" - one would obviously have to view topic on per capita basis.

[Roel]

Surely in most third world countries the death toll statistics are completely unreliable.

I often hear people say that victims not count as traffic casualties when they die later in hospital. Anyone know if this is actually true or just something people read on the internet and keep repeating. And if so, is there a fixed time frame like for instance within 24 hours after the accident or is it decided case by case?

And how is this counted in the West?

[AhFarangJa]

No.....Try Riyadh in Saudi......compared to them the Thais are Courteous, gentle, well mannered drivers.

[Mudcrab]

the roads in Phuket specifically being made to drive fast on,

Really? Like a race track you mean? Or is that just your personal attitude?

[NamKangMan]

Surely in most third world countries the death toll statistics are completely unreliable.

I often hear people say that victims not count as traffic casualties when they die later in hospital. Anyone know if this is actually true or just something people read on the internet and keep repeating. And if so, is there a fixed time frame like for instance within 24 hours after the accident or is it decided case by case?

And how is this counted in the West?

"Surely in most third world countries the death toll statistics are completely unreliable." - yes, but the statistics from the various foreign Embassies in Thailand can be relied upon.

[spidermike007]

No. Koh Samui is. The numbers prove that. Up to 60 road deaths per month.

[ronaldo0]

Koh Samui i reckon. The numbers are insane and they dont include people who die after getting taken to hospital !!

Idiots think its their own Monza racetrack.

Think the Dominican rep is the worlds most dangerous place as everyone is drunk !! They have drive through bars !!

[steven100]

no ............... my soi is

[bearpolar]

It could be phuket. We have so many terrible farang drivers.

Yes thai drivers are bad but the farang tourist are insane. Yesterday i was driving chaofa west going down. I was going maybe 70kph @ the big buddah junction with 35secs left on the timer and almost no cars on the road around me (hence the speed) a gang of 4-5 very white tourist on their bikes we're in front of 7/11 and 2 of them drove into the first lane, i slowed down a bit and they stopped moving then when i started going back to my regular speed he started crossing to his bigi buddah destination with me less than 30m away from him. When i honked for 5 secs he started dancing around hapilly with his friends and as soon as i passed him he went for the red light crossing AGAIN with cars coming behind me at much faster speed and they also had to break very very hard.

Most of my encourters that are similar to this are with farang tourist or even expats (most likely ones that have only been here a year or two and around 50 of age) on their PCX zig zagging between the 2 lanes on the bypass at 40kph, lots lots lots of them.

Way more dangerous than the dangerous stuff thais do.. and when you think about it most thai drivers are very safe to drive around(granted sometimes they get annoying with what they do). It's really just a few dangerous one when with tourists its a large percentage.

Edited November 7, 2015 by bearpolar

[merlen10002]

Bangkok driving is much worse than Phuket. Multiple vehicle deaths per day, Phuket is about 25 - 30 per month. Phuket is Ok for driving except for high speed idiots like minbus and taxi. Just keep out of their way, let them by right away, but what can you do if the cross over and hit you head on - just your luck.

I've driven in Cairo, Egypt - much worse than Thailand.

Many more road deaths per 100,000 in all area outside of Bangkok than in Bangkok, for one simple reason, there is so much traffic the speeds are much lower and accidents or crashes as they should be called are not as severe as outside of Bangkok so lower amounts of deaths per 100,000 , many more crashes in Bangkok than out side of Bangkok but less severe , can easily Google it many articles about it on the internet.

[yooyoo]

Bangkok driving is much worse than Phuket. Multiple vehicle deaths per day, Phuket is about 25 - 30 per month. Phuket is Ok for driving except for high speed idiots like minbus and taxi. Just keep out of their way, let them by right away, but what can you do if the cross over and hit you head on - just your luck.

I've driven in Cairo, Egypt - much worse than Thailand.

Many more road deaths per 100,000 in all area outside of Bangkok than in Bangkok, for one simple reason, there is so much traffic the speeds are much lower and accidents or crashes as they should be called are not as severe as outside of Bangkok so lower amounts of deaths per 100,000 , many more crashes in Bangkok than out side of Bangkok but less severe , can easily Google it many articles about it on the internet.

Driving habits in a country I believe expose the social fabric of society... And I therefore am of the opinion that Thais are some of the nastiest people on the planet...the nice face they put up is a facade... as soon as I can hide behind anonymity in a vehicle (often with dark tainted windows) their real personality comes to the front... they will do anything as long as they can get away with it... they are a bunch of insular and arrogant people that comes from their lack of command of the English language as a result of which the only thing they know is Thailand...

[stevenl]

It could be phuket. We have so many terrible farang drivers.

Yes thai drivers are bad but the farang tourist are insane. Yesterday i was driving chaofa west going down. I was going maybe 70kph @ the big buddah junction with 35secs left on the timer and almost no cars on the road around me (hence the speed) a gang of 4-5 very white tourist on their bikes we're in front of 7/11 and 2 of them drove into the first lane, i slowed down a bit and they stopped moving then when i started going back to my regular speed he started crossing to his bigi buddah destination with me less than 30m away from him. When i honked for 5 secs he started dancing around hapilly with his friends and as soon as i passed him he went for the red light crossing AGAIN with cars coming behind me at much faster speed and they also had to break very very hard.

Most of my encourters that are similar to this are with farang tourist or even expats (most likely ones that have only been here a year or two and around 50 of age) on their PCX zig zagging between the 2 lanes on the bypass at 40kph, lots lots lots of them.

Way more dangerous than the dangerous stuff thais do.. and when you think about it most thai drivers are very safe to drive around(granted sometimes they get annoying with what they do). It's really just a few dangerous one when with tourists its a large percentage.

Chinese tourists are much, much worse than the farang.

[NamKangMan]

Bangkok driving is much worse than Phuket. Multiple vehicle deaths per day, Phuket is about 25 - 30 per month. Phuket is Ok for driving except for high speed idiots like minbus and taxi. Just keep out of their way, let them by right away, but what can you do if the cross over and hit you head on - just your luck.

I've driven in Cairo, Egypt - much worse than Thailand.

Many more road deaths per 100,000 in all area outside of Bangkok than in Bangkok, for one simple reason, there is so much traffic the speeds are much lower and accidents or crashes as they should be called are not as severe as outside of Bangkok so lower amounts of deaths per 100,000 , many more crashes in Bangkok than out side of Bangkok but less severe , can easily Google it many articles about it on the internet.

Driving habits in a country I believe expose the social fabric of society... And I therefore am of the opinion that Thais are some of the nastiest people on the planet...the nice face they put up is a facade... as soon as I can hide behind anonymity in a vehicle (often with dark tainted windows) their real personality comes to the front... they will do anything as long as they can get away with it... they are a bunch of insular and arrogant people that comes from their lack of command of the English language as a result of which the only thing they know is Thailand...

Quite a racist post, in my opinion.

I'm sure you would feel the sameas the Thai's, if your country was "invaded and occupied?"

Edited November 7, 2015 by NamKangMan

[Tom Cahill]

I much rather drive here than in many other places in the world. Kenya, India to mention a few were IMO much more dangerous and difficult.

I totally agree. I'm not an expert on these statistics so speak with however I do know that like the anti-corruption statistics, they're paid for by interest groups. New Zealand pays for a lot of money to the organisation that produces the result and as a result is always 'voted' and 'analysed' as being the least corrupt.

Thai's aren't good at driving, but they're nowhere near as dangerous as Africa and India. More people die in Africa on the roads than of the AIDS epidemic. I know some little boy (friend of little cousin) and his dad went back for a visit, never came back. It's a total lie that it's that dangerous here by comparison to those places. They have heavy goods vehicles driving about at night without lights on and there's no lights on the roads. It's insanely dangerous.

Thailand is not the third world. It's an in between state of affairs here. The driving in Malaysia's worse than here. Not all Indians, but there's a majority of them who're incredibly worse than westerners. The first time I was there, I got picked up at the airport (driver was OK, and Indian I think) but this Muslim Malay was driving about between lanes, different speeds and veering into the sides and into the path of other traffic. It was scary to watch and I don't scare easily.

[bazza40]

Driving habits in a country I believe expose the social fabric of society... And I therefore am of the opinion that Thais are some of the nastiest people on the planet...the nice face they put up is a facade... as soon as I can hide behind anonymity in a vehicle (often with dark tainted windows) their real personality comes to the front... they will do anything as long as they can get away with it... they are a bunch of insular and arrogant people that comes from their lack of command of the English language as a result of which the only thing they know is Thailand...

A rather gloomy view, with which I disagree. I think the biggest problem with Thai drivers is the driving instructors are incompetent.

My teerak has a full driving licence. I went out with her and the instructor once, and had to intervene before he got all of us killed. Screw his face, our lives were more important. Even now, I am still teaching her basic stuff such as handbrake starts, how to override the gears on an automatic uphill and downhill, and turning into sois on a curve in preference to a 90 degree angle. She has actually learned to check her rear vision mirror every 60 seconds, which most Thai drivers don't do. Along with using her seat belt.

If the instructor she had was representative of most Thai driving instructors, then IMHO it's no wonder Thai roads are so dangerous.

[csabo]

Think the Dominican rep is the worlds most dangerous place as everyone is drunk !! They have drive through bars !!

So does the U.S.

[Sydneycraig]

I've ridden my scooter around most of Thailand including 6 months or so in Phuket... And Phuket is the most dangerous by far. Full of drunks and/or A holes

[NamKangMan]

I've ridden my scooter around most of Thailand including 6 months or so in Phuket... And Phuket is the most dangerous by far. Full of drunks and/or A holes

"And Phuket is the most dangerous by far. Full of drunks" - what did you expect, with no proper public transport here?

[JeffreyO]

This country direly needs police that actually patrol and aren't corrupt so that fines are issued, insurance rates rise and people think twice before speeding. Van drivers losing their jobs due to insurance rates rising for their companies? Yes, please.

[aronp1]

I seen that "One" website that had Thailand ranked number 2 also.

[NamKangMan]

This country direly needs police that actually patrol and aren't corrupt so that fines are issued, insurance rates rise and people think twice before speeding. Van drivers losing their jobs due to insurance rates rising for their companies? Yes, please.

If Thai's don't care about Thai laws, why would they care about "insurance rates?"

If Somchai, the som tum vendor, can't pay a fine, how can he pay for insurance, and how can he pay for your damage when he crashes into you, let alone, your medical bills - you can't get blood out of a stone.

[JeffreyO]

This country direly needs police that actually patrol and aren't corrupt so that fines are issued, insurance rates rise and people think twice before speeding. Van drivers losing their jobs due to insurance rates rising for their companies? Yes, please.

If Thai's don't care about Thai laws, why would they care about "insurance rates?"

If Somchai, the som tum vendor, can't pay a fine, how can he pay for insurance, and how can he pay for your damage when he crashes into you, let alone, your medical bills - you can't get blood out of a stone.

Again, police patrols and enforcement. Pull people over doing dangerous things, when you find that they're not paying their insurance, impound their vehicles. Everyone wins.

Less vehicles on the road, less dangerous roads, the sale of the vehicle goes back to the tax payers through funding government programs, thus requiring less taxes later.

But, once again... it all comes down to police enforcement of existing laws.