Eleven Dead in Motorway Smash Between Pattaya & Bangkok

[slipperylobster]

11 die from a flat tire?

I have had several "blowouts" ..... not once did it cause me to flip. Even at normal speed.

[vrskrng]

Thailand would be the perfect place for selfdriving cars. The money and life it would save would even justify fully autonomous cars right now. Perfect real life testing environment with benefits for all parties. At least make autopilot for every bus and van mandatory.

[denkiblue555]

Once again, a tragedy like this shines the light on 2 glaring inadequacies in Thailand - education and regulation.

I grew up with a simple mantra for driving - Speed Kills. It really is as simple as that.

TV adverts like this one have had an effect on me. Could they be used to good effect in Thailand?

[media]

[/media]

yeah +1

The Kiwis make some great Ads - not sure how well they would translate here lol

A little off-topic - This is one of my favorites:

[lvr181]

11 die from a flat tire?

I have had several "blowouts" ..... not once did it cause me to flip. Even at normal speed.

Same same but I do use tubeless tyres and they just tend to go flat, not "blowout".

[impulse]

11 die from a flat tire?

I have had several "blowouts" ..... not once did it cause me to flip. Even at normal speed.

On a personal vehicle, probably not- but if you drove something as top heavy as a fully loaded passenger van (or a Ford Explorer- Google it), you may have flipped, too.

[balo]

I'm surprised that anyone's surprised. I promised myself never to ride with a minivan again 4 years ago after a crazy trip. I kept that promise. Stay away from minivans.

[Fookhaht]

I'm surprised that anyone's surprised. I promised myself never to ride with a minivan again 4 years ago after a crazy trip. I kept that promise. Stay away from minivans.

I swore off them after a wild ride at well over 120kph in a driving rainstorm with the driver careening constantly between 2 lanes and tailgating everything on the road.

All the other passengers were asleep (all Thai) while I clutched leather the whole trip. I felt like that Twilight Zone movie where only one unlucky airline passenger could see a monster tearing up the wing outside his window on a dark stormy night.

Surreal.

[neal david]

same old story time over again and again ..... its just the thai way ...and no matter what we say here things will never change ...because in there eye's there doing nothing wrong .... crazy place thailand .... why not not fit all P.S.V vehicles with speed governor say to 80klim ... and fit taco's to a;; trucks and white vans , and tour buses ....simple really ....but W.T.F the general; has it all sorted ....

[Redline]

More innocents burned alive because of negligence

[cumgranosalum]

There is a lot of trip spoken about "Thai drivers" and the apportion of blame on this thread..

Watch this video and learn!

http://www.saferjourneys.govt.nz/about-safer-journeys/the-safe-system-approach

[cumgranosalum]

11 die from a flat tire?

I have had several "blowouts" ..... not once did it cause me to flip. Even at normal speed.

a standard sedan is VERY difficult to roll, it has to hit an object to flip it...on European roads a lot of effort is spent on road design so that this can't happen.

Higher CoG vehicles such as SUVs, 4x4 pickups and especially the 2WD "hi-rider" type are more prone.

[cumgranosalum]

My Thai friend is a nurse who deals with road trauma victims on a daily basis - mainly motorcyclists. Yet when we get in a car I have to ask her to use the seat belt! Inwardly, I wonder about her attitude.

Yup - many Thai people (and their leaders) have become de-sensitised to road trauma. And the Government is unwilling or unable to clearly think through how road deaths and injuries can be DRAMATICALLY lowered for the benefit of the country and its people. They talk about it but rarely do anything of lasting effect.

Sadly those who deal with the results of poor road safety often fail to understand the science behind WHY they happen.

[cumgranosalum]

I'm surprised that anyone's surprised. I promised myself never to ride with a minivan again 4 years ago after a crazy trip. I kept that promise. Stay away from minivans.

I swore off them after a wild ride at well over 120kph in a driving rainstorm with the driver careening constantly between 2 lanes and tailgating everything on the road.

All the other passengers were asleep (all Thai) while I clutched leather the whole trip. I felt like that Twilight Zone movie where only one unlucky airline passenger could see a monster tearing up the wing outside his window on a dark stormy night.

Surreal.

In a situation like this, have you thought of offering the driver a 100/200 baht tip if he can keep below 90 (national speed limit) for the entire trip? i only problem I've experienced here was the driver then kept turning round and pointing at the speedo and grinning!

[Fookhaht]

All previous attempts to get a driver to slow down backfired because he loses face in the process. They speed up.

[cumgranosalum]

All previous attempts to get a driver to slow down backfired because he loses face in the process. They speed up.

Did you offer a tip? you'll never get anywhere by telling someone to obey you...it's down to people management skills in the end...

[Fookhaht]

All previous attempts to get a driver to slow down backfired because he loses face in the process. They speed up.

Did you offer a tip? you'll never get anywhere by telling someone to obey you...it's down to people management skills in the end...

No, of course not. Your Western "people management skills" are not always pan-cultural.

Face-loss trumps just about everything here, including a lowly 100-200B tip for a megalomaniac Thai van driver. He's got something to prove (or something small to compensate for) and your tip would look like an insulting bribe.

It's down to cross-culture knowledge in the end, when you're the foreigner.

Edited June 14, 2016 by Fookhaht

[cumgranosalum]

All previous attempts to get a driver to slow down backfired because he loses face in the process. They speed up.

Did you offer a tip? you'll never get anywhere by telling someone to obey you...it's down to people management skills in the end...

No, of course not. Your Western "people management skills" are not always pan-cultural.

Face-loss trumps just about everything here, including a lowly 100-200B tip for an megalomaniac Thai van driver. He's got something to prove (or something small to compensate for) and your tip would look like an insulting bribe.

It's down to cross-culture knowledge in the end, when you're the foreigner.

Sounds like you don't know much about Thai culture, psyche or wages. If you enter into negotiations with that attitude you are condemning yourself to failure.

[Fookhaht]

All previous attempts to get a driver to slow down backfired because he loses face in the process. They speed up.

Did you offer a tip? you'll never get anywhere by telling someone to obey you...it's down to people management skills in the end...

No, of course not. Your Western "people management skills" are not always pan-cultural.

Face-loss trumps just about everything here, including a lowly 100-200B tip for an megalomaniac Thai van driver. He's got something to prove (or something small to compensate for) and your tip would look like an insulting bribe.

It's down to cross-culture knowledge in the end, when you're the foreigner.

Sounds like you don't know much about Thai culture, psyche or wages. If you enter into negotiations with that attitude you are condemning yourself to failure.

Sounds like you don't know much about Thai van drivers (ever been in one and tried your born-in-the-Bronx method?).

I've taught cross-culture communications to mixed Thai and foreign groups for over a decade now, and have done post-graduate work in the field. I believe I have a slight insight to the culture here, as well as the experience to back it up.

Sorry, but I see Dorothy's disillusioned eyes when I read your initial post.

Edited June 14, 2016 by Fookhaht

[cumgranosalum]

It seems that despite their qualifications some people are incapable of actually putting forward a reasoned argument - I can't possibly argue with your qualifications - they are bits of paper but the substance of your words seems to say it all....(BTW - it would also appear i'm more experienced than you....but they we go).

[Fookhaht]

It seems that despite their qualifications some people are incapable of actually putting forward a reasoned argument - I can't possibly argue with your qualifications - they are bits of paper but the substance of your words seems to say it all....(BTW - it would also appear i'm more experienced than you....but they we go).

The straw men you're putting up are exceptionally fragile. Ok pissin' contest over. You can have it. Back to the topic...

[dhream]

Driverless 'everything on wheels' can't come quick enough.

Bikes should be outlawed to racetracks. Worldwide.

We've collectively proved humans can't be trusted with anything faster than a horse.

[cumgranosalum]

Driverless 'everything on wheels' can't come quick enough.

Bikes should be outlawed to racetracks. Worldwide.

We've collectively proved humans can't be trusted with anything faster than a horse.

There is a lot of scientific truth in what you say. humans cannot actually physically react fast enough at the speeds anything over human running speed, we also have very poor night time and low light vision.

we are simply not evolved for hi-speed movement.