Tuk-tuk mows down Kazakh tourist on Hua Hin zebra crossing

[tails]

I wish there was some way to warn every new visitor that all white paint on the roads means absolutely nothing to Thais. So sad, another senseless and easily preventable death that will likely result in no action.

Nowwhere near as bad... but my trolley was hit in the Tesco carpark on the crossing. The guys reaction was to be pissed off at me for not letting him go first, never mind the people who were infrot and behind me on the crossing at the time...

[koolkarl]

Uneducated pig drivers who couldn't give a rat's ass about pedestrians.

I hope he is thrown in jail for 10 years to teach this <deleted> a lesson.

All of Thailand lacks pedestrian crossings; they are rare and even I am

terrified to cross a road as many of you are.

[NoshowJones]

I have stopped at that crossing, put my hazards on to warn other drivers and yet still had to put my hand up to warn pedestrians to wait as I could see a car on my right with no intention of slowing down......my worry is that I may be causing more harm than good by stopping, which is a ludicrous situation to be in.....would I be accountable if, god forbid, someone was hurt?

You will be accountable by being a Farang.

[captspectre]

Nothing will be done.

Next.

the one thing I learned forty years ago and EVERY Falang should learn is Be aware! never take anything for granted! assume that every idiot in Thailand is behind the wheel and conduct yourself accordngly! be ready to ju,p out of the way on a moments notice! I DO!

[captspectre]

Uneducated pig drivers who couldn't give a rat's ass about pedestrians.

I hope he is thrown in jail for 10 years to teach this <deleted> a lesson.

All of Thailand lacks pedestrian crossings; they are rare and even I am

terrified to cross a road as many of you are.

in your dreams! he will bow and scrape and may even go into the monk hood for a few weeks, but jail time? I think not!

[NoshowJones]

I wonder how Thai's can be so polite but will never give way to anyone. Either in cars or even going through a doorway. They don't seem to understand that if I approach a doorway and am partway through it there is insufficent room for them to pass as well, but they won't stop, just push through anyway. Same on the roads - I flashed my lights, I'm coming through. To hell with you!! Where is the legendary politeness in that?

When any adult crosses my path without looking, I just walk straight through them, I love doing that especially when they are on their smartphone.

[natway09]

I have just returned from my twice a week drive to & from work.

Jumping Red Lights today 8 + one idiot did a right turn on a red.

3 Of these at a police box.

As I have stated earlier the BIB will not work with General Pryut & his merry band.

They have made up their mind to do as little as possible during his tenure

The Thais are actually a soft gentle race of people until they get behind the wheel of a car. Then they become dangerous to themselves & all other drivers & in particular pedestrians.

It goes without saying that it comes back to class. The wealthy drive as though pedestrians are a lesser class.

Those who now drive think that the car makes them better people than those who walk.

Thai logic??

[fullnoon]

When ever i come to TH the first day of driving for me comes with the highest risk. I can't help and stop at pedestrian crossings and several times somebody crashed into the back of my rental car. Police always decided it is my fault. I should not have stopped for people crossing. Once i fully adapt with the local driving option all is "fine".

[GR8fun in LOS]

Easy.

Paint out the Zebra crossing.

It's dangerous as it gives tourists a totally false sense of security.

Thailand hasn't evolved far enough for Zebra crossings to be used here.

Yes the Thai drivers only use the stripes to better line up their targets on the crossing.

Whilst the Foreign Tourists believe they are safe but they are target

Almost the perfect killing zone

[NoshowJones]

I have stopped at that crossing, put my hazards on to warn other drivers and yet still had to put my hand up to warn pedestrians to wait as I could see a car on my right with no intention of slowing down......my worry is that I may be causing more harm than good by stopping, which is a ludicrous situation to be in.....would I be accountable if, god forbid, someone was hurt?

That's exactly it; I make the same judgement on each approach. It can be dangerous to the crossing pedestrians, especially foreign tourists to slow and stop then blocking their view of other traffic approaching with no intention of stopping.

Motor cycles with riders and pax also use this point to illegally U Turn, and the kerbs have levelled to allow this so double trouble. I agree that that an immediate deterrent is to put down 'sleeping policemen' (speed bumps) with enough height to make drivers slow. What's that I hear? There are already too many sleeping policemen in Hua Hin?

This problem needs an active TV safety campaign to educate drivers but, before that the authorities must install beacons and signs indicating that there is a pedestrian crossing ahead. The crossing bars must be maintained to be visual.

A short distance down the road is another pedestrian controlled crossing with traffic signals permitting pedestrians to switch on red stop lights yet traffic still sails through the red ignoring the crossers.

Sleeping policemen, I mean road bumps, should never be there as they prevent the emergency services who are trying to save lives.

Get the police off their asses, catch the speeders, give them very stiff penalties, and keep on doing it, not just a crackdown. Job done.

[Jingthing]

I doubt many of these accidents are intentional killings. It's much more about knowing if you stop, good chance you'll be rear ended, and also not much space in the culture for even perceiving that some pedestrians may actually trust drivers to stop. Culture shock -- SMASH!

[augustwest]

maybe install a few of these electric ones that open when the light turns red.

Or some camera's that will flash you and send you the bill.

Come on Thailand its time to come out of the middle-ages , welcome the 21st century !!

Obviously, tire shredders are too hard core, but I totally agree, the only way to deal with this is to get serious about it. Which I reckon most of use long term people don't see happening anytime soon, if ever.

I actually don't think the shredders are so hard core compared with the number of people killed on the roads in Thailand. When you are dealing with hard core law breakers, a suitable deterrent should be available.

I think those shredders would work great but maintenance around here is non-existent. So you'd have a 50/50 chance the bib may have to work when they were stuck open

[NoshowJones]

Can anyone tell me what the actual law states (layman terms) as far as the zebra crossings? As a resident of Hua Hin I wait at these crossing for the traffic to pass because no one stops anyway. Education and enforcement needed

Forget the "education" part. This is Thailand.

IMO, about 80% of Thai drivers and riders have no common sense at all, and as that is about 80% of the Thai population, that tells you how much of the population

actually has any common sense.

Yes, this is a Thai bashing post, sad, but true.

[Usual Suspect]

The whole frontal area of Market village is an absolute mess!

Cars going in, taxis, songteaws, tuk-tuks, buses all pulling up inbetween entrance & exit points (right in the front)..Cars coming out, then a U-turn point 20m after..all means snarled up traffic. So then because Thai motorists have already had to stop up the road for a red light at BKK Hospital, & now are expiriencing hold-ups from traffic queuing to go in..(Seen this many times daily)..Somchai in his Fortuner, or his brother in the tuk-tuk are always accelerating past the front of M.V. after being snarled up 20/30metres previous..it's all about patience & respect for other road-users, to which 'other road-users'.. in the area slap-bang in front of the main entrance-way

..DO include pedestrians, & a big %age of the pedestrians here are tourists who are not familiar with the pure arrogance & the selfish tosspot manner

of Thai drivers..!

* There has been no police report about this incident..?

* No photos show the tuk-tuk involved..or it's driver..?

*..One more Hua Hin 'incident' that maybe the local MiB wish to keep hushed eh..?

[manutfarang]

Crosswalk are useful only when there is a group of people crossing. Then they generally stop. So their reasoning is probably that pedestrians have to wait their turn.

[Golden Triangle]

"Calling Bill Gates to the conversation" Maybe he can post something, that would fix the problem. RIP Mr Khazak man, How bad is Thai driving ? Failing to stop at a (any) Red light, speeding, double parking with no consideration to other road users, lack of courtesy to other road users, the "Me First" mentality etc etc etc, please feel free to add your own, Oh, I almost forgot - Me take a driving test, no no no, my brother, uncle, sister, grandfather,grandmother, mother,father, niece or nephew do for me

[The Deerhunter]

thais apparently do not understand the concept of zebra crossing.

wonder what their traffic code says about it.

make some zebra crossings a part of the driving test

for learner driver and instil in them the importance of zebra crossings.

those who still flout the rules make them pay

with heavy punishment.

They understand very well. As only about 10% of motorists stop or even slow down for Zebra crossings, it gives every other Thai driver a 10% chance of passing someone he was failing to outrun just seconds ago. What Thai driver would pass up a 10% chance of passing anyone?

Tragic, sad and totally preventable!!!! Just like traffic accidents in any any country. It is just that much worse here because of lack of road courtesy and total lack of road traffic law enforcement.

[Aussieroaming]

Unfortunately in Kazahkstan if you step onto a crossing the traffic stops immediately.

I have seen many tourists with baffled looks when no one even notices them on crossings and certainly won't stop even when light controlled.

That should probably read "fortunately in Kazakhstan" and you are correct, Kazakh's are very civilized in regards to pedestrian crossing and people generally don't jaywalk at all, they wait for the walk signal in most cases and someone with that background would have assumed traffic was meant to stop. Though during winter Kazakh's make sure that traffic has slide to a stop before even attempting the crossing.

RIP to the gentleman

[mcfish]

Believe it or not the Thai authorities are capable of learning from mistakes. Remember when some genious decided to add and subtract lanes on lower Sukhumvit? Depending on traffic they would swap one of the 2 lanes and split them so they were going in opposite directions ..until a tourist who had been to Thailand before and crossed the same way as always near soi 4 nana bts but surprise as he crossed a cement truck was coming the other way and killed him. They did away with that stupid system straight away after that.

[hansnl]

Talk, talk, talk.

Nothing will change in road behaviour, whatever you do.

Fines, prison, whatever, no results.

Better driver education?

Same, will not help, at all.

It is quite impossible to change Thai in their ideas, thinking, mentality.

Don't even try.

[luckyman]

Just like almost every other zebra in Thailand, this one is more dangerous to cross than anywhere else on Petkasem rd. Because most tourists expect to be safe while walking over a zebra crossing while it actually is just as dangerous as crossing that road anywhere without a zebra.

Just like in Pattaya and Phuket, local traffic police is nowhere to be found at risky spots during the daily rush hours of course. They rather watch tv in an air conditioned room. So this happens often.

Last year an old man got hit by a motorbike on the zebra crossing with traffic light (!!!) which was green for him, in front of BKK Hua Hin hospital. After fearing for his life he is now bound to a wheelchair the rest of his life. That is how Thailand protects its visitors that come here to help the economy. With ignorance and lack of real care and interest....

[NickJ]

I like those double rolling speed bumps like where I grew up. driving slow is fine. Hit them going fast and the first bump compresses the shocks so the next bump bottoms out the entire front end and you know you hit it and can damage your car.

[kinmaew]

Thais don't stop for anyone except you know who otherwise its 15 years in prison, everyone else is fair game, leave some flowers at the template, make it all look good, make a few useless offerings to god knows who, but don't stop for anyone else and ME is the most important. Lovely country. RIP to the poor man.

[soalbundy]

using a zebra crossing in Thailand is asking for trouble

[Golden Triangle]

I know that we shouldn't have to, but, even when trying to cross a one way road either on foot or in the car, I always look both ways, that has got to say something about the standard of driving (or lack of it).

[Enoon]

All that has to be done, to stop the reprehensible driving habits here, is for the police to do their jobs, and the judiciary to grow some cajones. If the law was applied, and the penalties were severe enough, it is what is known in most other countries as a deterrent. There is none here. If this tuk tuk driver was arrested, brought to trial and sentenced to manslaughter, in the first degree, and given the 25 year prison sentence he deserved, along with a million baht fine that his family had to pay, the problem would diminish overnight. All of a sudden, the word would get around, that the police were finally getting serious, and that the judiciary was finally handing out the kinds of sentences they should have been handing out, all along.

As of now, both the police, and the judiciary are acting like small children. Impotent, incapable, and unwilling. And what does that lead to? Mayhem, and alot of unnecessary deaths and injuries. It is all on the government. If they wanted to fix this, they would. It is another blatant reminder of just how little they care about the average person here.

"It is another blatant reminder of just how little they care about the average person here"

The law in Thailand does not exist for the "average person" or the "public good".

The West aspires to and seeks, with varying degrees of success, this:

Rule of law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"The rule of law is the legal principle that law should govern a nation, as opposed to being governed by arbitrary decisions of individual government officials."

The part of the world that Thailand is in has different "aspirations", (a much shorter read):

Rule of man - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Great for the powerful, predatory, self-serving individual/clique.

It's a "History/Geography thing".

Many contributors to ThaiVisa like and profit from it being that way. They live rich, "unequal", comfortable lives as a result of it.

But they don't seem to understand the concept of "taking the rough with the smooth".

Hence the endless "why isn't it like it is back home" mantra.

Not you, or me, of course.

Edited July 4, 2016 by Enoon

[Bangkok Barry]

It is all on the government. If they wanted to fix this, they would. It is another blatant reminder of just how little they care about the average person here.

Upholding and applying the law has nothing at all to do with the government. They make the laws, not enforce them. Enforcing is done by the police. Or, in Thailand, not enforced as that is too much work for them and they get paid anyway so why bother actually doing the job.

[Jonmarleesco]

'The store management at Market Village and the local authority need to get together to do something about it."' I don't know what it has to do with store management; nor, directly, with the local authority. It has everything to do with a far too large majority of Thai drivers' total ignorance of road rules, road signs, road markings (likely the tuk-tuk driver, no doubt one of those taking up space outside the Market Village, wanted to secure his 'parking spot') and driving knowledge and skills in general. And that is down to the government and the DLT to address, preferably by imposing and enforcing rigid driving standards equal to those of countries whose laws incredulously permit Thais to drive on their roads, courtesy of a Thai licence. Of course, the age-old problem is the unbridgeable chasm between practical common sense and Thai mai pen rai.

As for an accident blackspot, I know the location, having stayed close by. In any country where drivers demonstrate half-decent driving skills, it doesn't meet the criteria usually accorded to one of those. Being a straight section of road, however, the majority of drivers approach the crossing as though it were the markings for an F1 track, but minus the associated ability of an F1 driver, and in complete ignorance of what the black and white stripes actually represent.

No doubt when I next visit, it'll be unchanged from when I was last there.

[Edu48c]

Don't worry. It's just another farang! Nothing will change, as most of the Thai people have their heads up their a-holes and know that they are untouchable. Another bribe and it will be sorted!

But hey! This is a corrupt, Middle Ages country trying to live in the twenty-first century! What do you expect?

[gyrosman]

Does darn brakes again and sticky gas pedal while I'm on the phone.