Bangkok mini van driver involved in vicious road rage attack

[Fookhaht]

Some of them very fast regardless passangers safety and very hard to exit incase of any accident.

What makes them anymore difficult to exit than any other vehicle?

You haven't ridden in one, have you?

[menzies233]

Probably something to do with the colour of the shirt - says a lot about entitlement!

[ggt]

Not sure why this is considered news...seems like fairly normal Thai male behavior to me...

Good thing the mini van driver did not have Thai male passengers...they would have gladly joined in the melee...

This kind of behavior is what sets Thailand apart...IMHO

[Briggsy]

The van drivers cannot easily be "reined in" or "regulated" as these van routes are owned by influential people, think, senior army officers and senior police. The drivers are picked because they are tough guys who will vigorously defend their boss's patch at the street level. These routes are now recognised by the government but they evolved from illegal operations.

They are a totally different creature to the regular buses that run from bus stations under strict government concessions and strict control over pick-up points.

[leither69]

Looks like a westerner ( no farangs mentioned here) being attacked. Why oh why does that never happen to me. Pick their victims these guys. Maybe I will be lucky soon

[TommyUK1960]

It’s tempting to blame the cops or the drivers themselves, but all of those drivers just work for the guys who own the vans- and set the rules. Toss one of the drivers in jail and there will be 10 kamikaze drivers standing in line to take his place. Same if you fine a driver enough that he just quits- plenty more where he came from.

Nothing is going to change until it gets too expensive for the van line owners to allow unsafe driving to get there faster and overfull if possible.

Impound the vans, take away their operating permits and put just one of the van lines out of business as an example to all of them, and see how quickly they get GPS and inertial driving monitors and put the fear of God into their drivers if they’re the reason the company loses their vans and their operating license- if only to protect their investment and their cash machine.

Best response yet. It's a shame the Thai government don't get to see these responses and maybe they would do something like this.

Same should be to children driving motorbikes. Put the bike in the crusher.

[Happy Grumpy]

So many Thais are just seething with repressed anger and emotions that they just can't fathom.

Add the culture of face, and the ego issues related to having the smallest penises in the World.

See my sig.

[Beats56]

Have said it time and time again. Those van drivers are raving

lunatics, and I feel sorry for any person who is forced to travel

in their shitty vans..... These crazed van driver videos are

becoming a sort of standard news item, am surprised the

government has not reined them in.

And not only are they quick to either punch out another driver

or threaten them with a gun, they are crappy drivers as well.

After 14 years on the road in Thailand on a motorcycle, I always

steered well clear of them.

Yes, I keep reading about these mini bus drivers and their antics all the time so it must be true.

I do have to say though, having lived in Thailand for ten years and traveled in mini buses many times I have never had an issue

with any of them, never seen any bad driving from any of them, but seen plenty from other drivers.

It must just be the part of Thailand where I live.

[Beats56]

I reported this before. We had a lunatic driver from Rayong to Bangkok. All over the road and passing on the left lane. My boy not quite 4 yet threw up 3 times and he doesn't get sick on car rides. In fact I wasn't feeling that great either. The driver didnt look like he was drugs but you never know for sure.

[Renter]

Combine excessive speed, reckless behavior, very low driving skill level, zero ability to alter your driving to the prevailing road condition , an explosive temper bubbling just below the surface

& the guarantee of safety provided by an amulet, plus unless it's happening 8 inches in front of your vehicle it can't possibly be of concern.....what can go wrong

[samsensam]

back in the early 2000's i remember many thai's telling me; 'thai love thai', 'thai never hurt thai'.

no one says it these days

how times have changed.

[NoshowJones]

I reported this before. We had a lunatic driver from Rayong to Bangkok. All over the road and passing on the left lane. My boy not quite 4 yet threw up 3 times and he doesn't get sick on car rides. In fact I wasn't feeling that great either. The driver didnt look like he was drugs but you never know for sure.

I know how bad Thai drivers are, I am just telling my experience with the mini buses drivers with the company I used to use, and still d0 occasionally.

[SOTIRIOS]

...to pretend they cannot find the culprit is bs.....whoever filmed this clearly saw the license plate number and whatever other identifying marks on the van....

...maybe the victim is in hospital...or dead.....or scared sh*tless.....

...they have clear proof that a crime was committed.........to not act upon this....is criminal in itself.......

[WhizBang]

Have said it time and time again. Those van drivers are raving

lunatics, and I feel sorry for any person who is forced to travel

in their shitty vans..... These crazed van driver videos are

becoming a sort of standard news item, am surprised the

government has not reined them in.

And not only are they quick to either punch out another driver

or threaten them with a gun, they are crappy drivers as well.

After 14 years on the road in Thailand on a motorcycle, I always

steered well clear of them.

I doubt the government will do anything.

Let's rephrase that to... 'The Government will do NOTHING'.

Why? Because there is no money in it for officials. And, because they don't care.

[arrowsdawdle]

Have said it time and time again. Those van drivers are raving

lunatics, and I feel sorry for any person who is forced to travel

in their shitty vans..... These crazed van driver videos are

becoming a sort of standard news item, am surprised the

government has not reined them in.

And not only are they quick to either punch out another driver

or threaten them with a gun, they are crappy drivers as well.

After 14 years on the road in Thailand on a motorcycle, I always

steered well clear of them.

Your point of historical experience is well taken, but this OP incident defies LOS reality because it is a one-against-one attack and no Thai would do such a thing.

[Thian]

As much as i dislike those minivan drivers i do understand why they drive the way they do.

1- because they can, nobody will stop them.

2- because there are loads of thai who drive very slow. On mainroads where 80 is the limit (which nobody obeys) there are plenty of cars who drive 50-60 on the middle or fast lane. Very annoying and since we are allowed to takeover left and right they just slalom around them.

3- passengers for those minivans just can stand anywhere and he will pick them up. He also drops them where they like. There are no official pickup/drop points. And when there is a row taxi's parked on the road he just stops on the next lane, who cares.

4- motocycles are not seen as human beings among all thai, so they can just cut them off as much as they like, time is money.

But i really hope the government will try to stop this behaviour.

[NCC1701A]

I ride a motorcycle in Thailand, and as I have said many times before, THEY ARE ACTUALLY TRYING TO KILL YOU ON THE ROAD.

[Thian]

I ride a motorcycle in Thailand, and as I have said many times before, THEY ARE ACTUALLY TRYING TO KILL YOU ON THE ROAD.

Yes i agree but the most dangerous spot to drive is on the left side of the roads like they want you to.

So up to you if you drive there or not.

[jacko45k]

Is this the famous 'Thainess' TAT talks of?

[mikebell]

before anyone considers trusting their lives to these lunatics just look at the statistics

http://driving-in-thailand.com/accidents-involving-minivans/

I make it 50 for 2015 dead (at a glance without clicking on the stories ). A sizable number were tourists. Perhaps if TAT were informed they could put a gloss on these figures. eg '50+ in a year less than the DAILY average for Thailand. Travel in comparative safety - use a mini-bus.'

[northernphil]

These minibus drivers are everywhere not just going into BKK. I live up here in the styx 20k south of the northern border and opposite my house is a small business with 3 minibuses. My TW is a great friend of theirs and about 2 months ago she told me the chap who owns the business was 2 days late coming home as in Lampang he killed a cyclist who I was told was mau. Only 2 weeks ago another driver over the road was sucking dents out of the side of a minibus with a toilet rubber plunger . My TW didn't ask what had happened , I said it didn't matter as it couldn't possibly be the drivers fault .

[arunsakda]

Remember how Thais are not supposed to get upset and show anger in public? I have been a passenger in 2 Taxi accidents, one a total loss, the other hardly a SCRATCH. Both times the drivers screamed bloody murder and made death threats.

Sent via a series of tubes

[Asiantravel]

before anyone considers trusting their lives to these lunatics just look at the statistics

http://driving-in-thailand.com/accidents-involving-minivans/

I make it 50 for 2015 dead (at a glance without clicking on the stories ). A sizable number were tourists. Perhaps if TAT were informed they could put a gloss on these figures. eg '50+ in a year less than the DAILY average for Thailand. Travel in comparative safety - use a mini-bus.'

and here we starting 2016 with more to add to the statistics

Four Mexican tourists dead in Phichit van crash; Six Injured

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/886787-four-mexican-tourists-dead-in-phichit-van-crash;-six-injured/

Edited January 16, 2016 by Asiantravel