Racing motorcyclists pay with their lives - girl six months pregnant among dead

[trogers]

Strange. I returned to Chiang Mai this morning from my trip to Sukhothai, 750klm round trip on CB300f, full body armour, good helmet, gloves, boots, without incident, then I see stuff like this, and it just makes me shake my head in wonder at the stupidity, and the sadness for the loss of life.

Don't lament. It's the way of this country to wean out a world champion...

[dcsw53]

5 out of the 38 filmed overtaking had helmets. If this were another country I would ask when the police are ever going to crack down on this type of incident. As we are in Thailand I know the answer.

Young bikers race almost every night near us, around 11pm - 2am. We have complained to the police many times, and last week they finally took action. They told us to stop phoning as they were getting too many complaints. Our calls must have been a distraction from them counting their brown envelopes.

I bet there would be action if someone tied a rope across the road one night.

[prakhonchai nick]

irresponsibility is a national trait and part of "Thainess" can't change it as it's genetically programmed

The only way to change things is to impose very harsh fines for first offence, coupled with 6 months confiscation of bikes, and imprisonment and permanent confiscation of bikes for 2nd and further offences.

If the kids know in advance what the penalties will be, they have the choice of whether to break the law or not and suffer the consequences..

It is way past time to get serious with motoring offences.

[denkiblue555]

........most of em remove those way uncool side mirrors....

By far the worst I've witnessed was the swapping of the front 'white' headlight with the rear 'red' tail light - this is so dangerous at night on those country highways.

[Jonmarleesco]

once again we see the total disregard for human life among these idiot bike riders, sad that people had to die but when you have idiots like these people its bound to happen as we continually see in Thailand. Hopefully the police will follow this through and take action against the bike riders and not the truck driver but wouldnt be surprised if they did, much easier target.

"once again we see the total disregard for human life among these idiot bike riders"

And among those who consider such things to be an opportunity to "humorous" comments on Thai Visa.

Humorous? I can see irony in the comments, and rightly so. Haven't noticed any humour.

[Alive]

Nature saved by less humans. Modern survival of the fittest. You should not worry about this. The quality of the DNA of the human race advances.

[gandalf12]

The Police turn a blind eye 99% of the time to motorcyclists not wearing helmets, and 100% to school kids on bikes.

Schools should ban all motorbikes from entering school premises, when the driver has no licence, and the driver and one allowed passenger have no helmets.

The government should increase the fines to minimum 10,000baht for all motoring offences, and the police should NEVER turn a blind eye.

Visits to morgues, time spent listening to danger warnings etc etc do absolutely nothing to re-educate these kids. A 10,000baht+ fine would hit home with most.

Saw exactly that today in Silom in Bangkok. A guy with no helmet and no license plate and a policeman on a motorbike behind him. The policeman overtook him and carried on as if nothing was wrong

[off road pat]

Amazing how many of those people drive without the minimum protection of a helmet !!!

In My country, "Belgium" All motorcycle drivers ware Helmet, Boots, Thick Gloves and a protective vest with incorporated spinal and arms protection.

It's the law and every body obeys it, and the police enforces it too. and despite this protections there still are deadly accidents !!!

Several of my friends had accidents that would or could have been fatal without those protections...they really save lives.

I can not even Imagine the carnage in Thailand every year having kids and adults drive without the minimum of protection !!!

On the other hand, I have seen so many Farangs drive the same Thai way in Thailand....So it's not only the Thais !

Best regards.

[dotpoom]

Very sad, but all those involved won't learn a thing from it.

Very true......just remembering back......did I ever learn from my mistakes when I was 17?

[metisdead]

An inflammatory post has been removed.

[off road pat]

Amazing how many of those people drive without the minimum protection of a helmet !!!

In My country, "Belgium" All motorcycle drivers ware Helmet, Boots, Thick Gloves and a protective vest with incorporated spinal and arms protection.

It's the law and every body obeys it, and the police enforces it too. and despite this protections there still are deadly accidents !!!

Several of my friends had accidents that would or could have been fatal without those protections...they really save lives.

For scooters 50 cc and below, the law is different but they still have to ware a helmet. Anything above 50cc is regarded as a Motorcycle.

I can not even Imagine the carnage in Thailand every year having kids and adults drive without the minimum of protection !!!

On the other hand, I have seen so many Farangs drive the same Thai way in Thailand....So it's not only the Thais !

Best regards.

Edited July 25, 2016 by off road pat

[Stevemercer]

Scores of farang made indignant posts on TV condemning an Australian caught on video cycling on the wrong side of the road on a mountain climb. They made him out to be the devil himself. Catch a Thai person causing casualties and the reaction seems to be 'ho hum'?

[skildpadden]

Sorry for the pickup driver to be involved in this in stupidity. Very sad for the unborn for the unborn baby. No sympathy for the rest really

[fullcave]

Racing with a girl six months pregnant on the back?

Seems common sense is something they don't teach in school...

[maximillian]

>>>But unexpectedly a pickup truck came out on their way and clashed head-on with the racing bikes.<<<

Unexpectedly ? OMG

[trogers]

Racing with a girl six months pregnant on the back?

Seems common sense is something they don't teach in school...

If there had been common sense, you would not hear of a pregnant teen...

[Docno]

Young males will be young males. We (well, I'm no longer young) evolved to take risks and show off in order to achieve status and attract women. I'm sure thousands of years ago, old men would complain of the stupidity of teenage hunters charging headlong at woolly mammoths. This is one way Thai youths have found to take risks, as stupid and irresponsible as it is. But even in the US, teen drivers are most at risk of being injured or dying in a road accident, not so much as a result of their driving skills but because of their proclivity for risk taking. Nothing unique to young Thai males....

[zyphodb]

........most of em remove those way uncool side mirrors....

By far the worst I've witnessed was the swapping of the front 'white' headlight with the rear 'red' tail light - this is so dangerous at night on those country highways.

Yep, quite agree, that's very popular in my part of Isaan, stops the ghosts following them home at night, real darwin award levels of stupidity.......

[tomyumchai]

Wow! A thai kid pulls a wheelie on the road and falls off!!!

.......well, it makes a change from the hundreds of videos of adult american males doing the same thing on youtube..... those pesky thai kids,eh?

[Rayk]

The Police turn a blind eye 99% of the time to motorcyclists not wearing helmets, and 100% to school kids on bikes.

Schools should ban all motorbikes from entering school premises, when the driver has no licence, and the driver and one allowed passenger have no helmets.

The government should increase the fines to minimum 10,000baht for all motoring offences, and the police should NEVER turn a blind eye.

Visits to morgues, time spent listening to danger warnings etc etc do absolutely nothing to re-educate these kids. A 10,000baht+ fine would hit home with most.

Should, could, won't.

[farcanell]

Two weeks ago, three teen racers died attempting to evade police pursuit.... This forum was up in arms, with some accusing the pursuing police of murder.

This... today, is what we see when there is no attempt at pursuit... Even if that translates to a fore knowledge that there will be no pursuit.

For those who condemned the police pursuit... Enjoy the pictures

For those who support police intervention.... More of it, and sooner than later, is what's needed.

And for those that didn't laugh at the phi phi jb article.... This is why you should (as in, is it right that all those police resources should be spent chasing down a couple of loose lips and a sunken ship?)

[watcharacters]

I always tell the Missus to drive safely and not speed. She knows we have a dash cam so i can check.

Too bad about these young people who thought fun was more important than tomorrow. RIP.

[alanrchase]

I always tell the Missus to drive safely and not speed. She knows we have a dash cam so i can check.

Too bad about these young people who thought fun was more important than tomorrow. RIP.

If your wife drives you monitor the dash cam? Just bought a car and dash cam. My son can knock the fuel consumption figure down a fair bit but I can't be bothered to view dash cam footage.

[catman20]

you cant teach stupid RIP

[Docno]

you cant teach stupid RIP

Yeah, except that research indicates that risky driving in males may be correlated with higher intelligence: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151130113545.htm

It may not be risk taking that indicates stupidity, but risking and failing ...

[geriatrickid]

Very sad, but all those involved won't learn a thing from it.

Well, there were 6 involved of which 3 are dead and the other 3 are most likely more brain damaged than before. Doubt that this would be a teachable moment for them.

[geriatrickid]

Young males will be young males. We (well, I'm no longer young) evolved to take risks and show off in order to achieve status and attract women. I'm sure thousands of years ago, old men would complain of the stupidity of teenage hunters charging headlong at woolly mammoths. This is one way Thai youths have found to take risks, as stupid and irresponsible as it is. But even in the US, teen drivers are most at risk of being injured or dying in a road accident, not so much as a result of their driving skills but because of their proclivity for risk taking. Nothing unique to young Thai males....

I agree, but here lads know there are NO cops behind bill boards, in fact nowhere..

Hmmm. End of the month and we'll see them all over Hua Hin. They love the Family Mart in front of Market Village.

[Colabamumbai]

No sympathy from me, they think that they own the roads.

[prakhonchai nick]

Very sad, but all those involved won't learn a thing from it.

Very true......just remembering back......did I ever learn from my mistakes when I was 17?

Most of us do learn from our teenage mistakes.......providing we survive the teenage years.. Sadly in Thailand far too many do not.

[Thailand101]

Absolute moron's. I've travelled to many countries, and none are as stupid as Thai's on the road.... 24500 dead per annum, speaks for itself really..