Why Do People Drive So Bad In Thailand

[Vespa]

What is the deal with the way people drive here ?

[Plus]

Traffic laws in the west were codified over nearly a hundred years of evolution. Much of it does not apply in Thailand or evolves in a different way, so you have the discrepancy between the Thai driving habits and Western driving laws.

In short, Thais drive how it suits them.

[teej]

Considering the chaos on the roads, I'm still kind of amazed that there are fewer accidents than one would expect. Traffic still moves (albeit slowly) at times when one little accident would be all it would take to make traffic come to a standstill.

Organized chaos. TIT

edit: spelling

Edited November 22, 2006 by teej

[PhilHarries]

Two threads here and note I/we are making another of those awful sweeping generalisations here. You know, the ones where the thread degenerates into they do, they don't, THEY do, THEY don't , THEY DO!!!!!!!!!!!!! etc etc.

1. Why do Thais drive so badly, if you consider that they do?

and

2. Why do farangs drive so badly despite all the rigourous training and road safety awareness programs?

The Thais seem to lack any cause and effect logic to their thought patterns.

The farangs seem to consider it some kind of mark of being a long termer to be worn with pride.

[nakhonsi sean]

Having driven in going on for fifty countries I would say they are some of the most dangerous drivers I have seen. Down here they could possibly be the worst in Thailand. I'm not saying that we have great drivers at home just that they seem worse here - which can be seen by the death toll on Thai roads.

It seems to stem from an almost complete lack of driver education and non-existent law enforcement. Also the Thai laissez-faire attitude to life does not help. It's much more fun chatting to your friends than paying attention to the road! Down here there also seems to be a large ammount of arrogance in the drivers mixed in.

[Pilchard]

non-existent law enforcement.

Think you hit the nail on the head there.

Zero enforcement of drink drive laws.

You can buy your way out of most traffic offences.

So the answer to the OP should be "Because they/we can"

Sad but true.

[Galong]

I must say that having been to Sumatra a couple of weeks ago, I find the Thai drivers running a close second to the Sumatrans. They are absolutely suicidal AND they never take their hands off of the horn... man, now that's annoying!!

[HDRIDER]

Hi Guys

Sorry for saying this but Thais dont think ahead, they live here and now, anybody seen a Thai look right when he/her has to turn left??, why should he/her,,,, no need when they are going left.

[teej]

Yes I must add that I was replying with my rather Bangkok-centric mind again... I deal with bkk driving and I don't complain often, but when I go out of town... wow... especially at night... I drive in fear!!!!

Nothing scares me more than those divided highway U-turns... I've seen everything from little kids to motorcycles with no lights to wagons of durian to sip-lors jumping out of those things as if oncoming traffic had a red light. And the things people use the narrow shoulder for?!?! Driving the wrong direction... ugh I really can't stand that one...

[Maigo6]

I'm not so sure if it's all down to good driver education and training.......

Surely in the USA they have a strict test and a good education of the road, yet there are over 40,000 road deaths in USA each year, if it was just down to education, there would be a lot less.

It's down to the individual on how they drive, it's not a national trait.

There are bad drivers in all countries, and in Thailand there are many good drivers too, I drive a lot in Thailand, long distances too, I also used to drive long Distances in France and England, there are good and bad drivers in all 3 places.

Considering the ammount of cars on the roads, I'm surprised there are not many more accidents.

The death toll is high because over 70% of all fatalities are Motorcycle related, if you had the same ratio of motorcycle owners in any western country, I'm sure you would have similar figures.

Farangs are also quite happy to pay a Police 200 Baht and drive away after getting stopped for doing 170 KPH in their Fortuners.

Edited November 22, 2006 by Maigo6

[HDRIDER]

Considering the chaos on the roads, I'm still kind of amazed that there are fewer accidents than one would expect. Traffic still moves (albeit slowly) at times when one little accident would be all it would take to make traffic come to a standstill.

Organized chaos. TIT

edit: spelling

Around 1 every hour is coming to a phuket hospital becourse of trafic accident,,, i dont really call that a few, thats only the ones you hear about.

[Loz]

...Farangs are also quite happy to pay a Police 200 Baht and drive away after getting stopped for doing 170 KPH in their Fortuners.

where else can such an indiscretion be overlooked for less than £3! ?? You have to Love Thailand.

Edited November 22, 2006 by Loz

[Eff1n2ret]

One thing in favour of the Thais, as opposed to UK at least, is that there seems to be very little "road rage". OK, they carve each other up mercilessly, but nobody seems to mind. If the same antics were practised in England there would be much frothing at the mouth, shaking of fists and tooting of horns.

I wouldn't want to drive in Bangkok, but I have found driving elsewhere in LOS a relatively stress-free experience. And Thailand does meet Woody Allen's criterion for a civilised country - you can turn left on a red light.

[Maigo6]

...Farangs are also quite happy to pay a Police 200 Baht and drive away after getting stopped for doing 170 KPH in their Fortuners.

where else can such an indiscretion be overlooked for less than £3! ?? You have to Love Thailand.

Yep, I thought it was very reasonable.

[Casanundra]

I took my Thai driving tests here (both bike and car) because I wanted to just do things legally here and I have to say it was comical compared to the driving test I had to endure back in the UK.

One lady ahead of me in the Thai test failed because she didn't stop at the very BIG 'stop' sign almost knocking some poor chap off his bike has he went around the circuit

Another lady failed because she couldn't quite manage to reverse into a 'straight' parking spot within the allowed 26 gear changes that she was allowed to have

One guy fell off his bike and failed because he went over the sleeping policeman too slow

As for me, I passed without any bother and went into the parking spot on my first go with one gear change (i.e. from neutral to reverse and back to neutral) and came out to a round of applause from the watching audience of Thai's who couldn't believe it...

Driving in Bangkok is barmy I admit and don't know how so many do it and not lose their rag and just goes to show you how good a nature the Thai's actually have

Edited November 22, 2006 by Casanundra

[Little Black Duck]

Traffic laws in the west were codified over nearly a hundred years of evolution. Much of it does not apply in Thailand or evolves in a different way, so you have the discrepancy between the Thai driving habits and Western driving laws.

In short, Thais drive how it suits them.

This is totally incorrect..All the laws are on the statute book they are just not enforced..

in a word interpretation..Like Everything..

Most of the posters are correct a huge percentage of drivers don't have a license never had a lesson..Road Rage nah very seldom but ask yourself why are there relatively so few accidents >??

[taxexile]

OK, they carve each other up mercilessly, but nobody seems to mind

its not carving up .

they drive assertively here , but not particularly aggressively.

everybody drives the same way , and they know what to expect from each other.

[Sam Drucker]

I think about the driving techniques here and ponder what to do for my girlfriend when she gets her driving license (she does some driving out in the village, where there aren't cops). Are driving schools around in the bigger cities? How is their driving philosophy?

My observations have been that the driving patterns of Thais are due to:

Lack of driver training;

Lack of serious enforcement of traffic laws;

"Defensive Driving" education and awareness is non-existant; In so many driving situations I'm in, the people around me do not anticipate the moves I (and others) will be making. Thai teeenagers on motorbikes seem to be the worst at this, driving erratically and way too fast for conditions. One from the west could make the assumption it is aggressive driving, but I don't see the Thai nature that way. It seems more to be a result of being ignorant and oblivious to what is going on around you, and what is likely to happen next.

Some of the Thai death wishes I see daily that make me cringe are:

People turning left to enter the road from a side street, without ever looking right to see what is coming at them;

Motorbikes and cars driven at night without lights;

You're stopped, signalling a right turn, and waiting for oncoming traffic to clear, when (usually a motorbike) passes you on the right;

No respect for the centerline, and crossing over into your oncoming lane for various reasons;

- Unsafe passing in an area that is blind to oncoming traffic;

- Expecting other traffic to react and move after an unsafe pass has been initiated;

Topping the list of annoyances, I'd have to put the practice of people turning left at an intersection, proceeding against oncoming traffic as soon as the light turns green, and especially when the cars behind the first one turning left try to "freight train" through the turn with the originator, blocking oncoming traffic from proceeding through the intersection.

[womble]

My biggest hates on the roads here are racing lorries and buses.

Could someone please tell me how a coach load of people racing around at break neck speeds and overtaking on a bend going up a hill is allowed to continue doing this? all the while beeping their horn to cars infront.

It's crazy, downright dangerous and I can't believe people on the bus don't tell them to slow down.

Every week you see horrific accidents on the news involving multiple deaths. I've seen two in the last week, one was a bus of worker near kanchanaburi and one a coach load of students.

Still the government does nothing. They moan about the social cost of alcohol what about bad driving habits?

I think it is significantly worse to drive badly and risk other peoples lives than to drink alcohol of your own choice and only hurt yourself, proving you do not drive home ofcourse.

[HDRIDER]

What is the deal with the way people drive here ?

Up to you

[LaoPo]

Another lady failed because she couldn't quite manage to reverse into a 'straight' parking spot

1. within the allowed 26 gear changes that she was allowed to have

2. One guy fell off his bike and failed because he went over the sleeping policeman too slow

not lose their rag and just goes to show you how good a nature the Thai's actually have

1. 26 gear changes ???

2. Huh...... ???

LaoPo

[think_too_mut]

I don't see any problems...taking the local culture into the account...while driving in BKK. Just like a rock in the waterflow. Do what you have to do and the traffic would flow around you.

Nobody wants dents in their cars.

The real problems I see it, is how fast and inconsiderate they get on the highways.

[Plus]

Traffic laws in the west were codified over nearly a hundred years of evolution. Much of it does not apply in Thailand or evolves in a different way, so you have the discrepancy between the Thai driving habits and Western driving laws.

In short, Thais drive how it suits them.

This is totally incorrect..All the laws are on the statute book they are just not enforced..

in a word interpretation..Like Everything..

Most of the posters are correct a huge percentage of drivers don't have a license never had a lesson..Road Rage nah very seldom but ask yourself why are there relatively so few accidents >??

Maybe I wasn't clear - laws are there, but no one understands their meaning and purpose, including the police. Laws were just imported and translated, there was little Thai input in their development.

And I agree with one of the previous posters - Thais know how other Thais drive, there ARE laws, unspoken and unwritten, perhaps, but they work.

[PhilHarries]

One thing in favour of the Thais, as opposed to UK at least, is that there seems to be very little "road rage". OK, they carve each other up mercilessly, but nobody seems to mind. If the same antics were practised in England there would be much frothing at the mouth, shaking of fists and tooting of horns.

I wouldn't want to drive in Bangkok, but I have found driving elsewhere in LOS a relatively stress-free experience. And Thailand does meet Woody Allen's criterion for a civilised country - you can turn left on a red light.

No road rage but the Thai's have other ways to, shall we say, impose their wishes on fellow roadusers.

I was driving along route 3 towards Sriracha in the filter lane for the Laem Chanbang industrial estate. Another car in the middle lane also wished to be in the filter lane, so indicated left and started to pull over. Two thing here, I was driving a Toyota Tiger pickup and it was a company rented vehicle plus it was early morning not a good time to try and push me around. So I declined his kind request to enter the lane full of traffic. Two or three attempts later he adopted a different tactic. Passenger window opens, arm languidly dangles out tapping the business end of a 9mm (or similar) auotmatic against the door.

Errrrm.......after you sir!

[taxexile]

No road rage but the Thai's have other ways to, shall we say, impose their wishes on fellow roadusers.

rarely do you see drivers refusing , or actively preventing another car from pulling in front in filter lanes etc.

by the mores of thai driving it was you showing agressive tendencies , not him..... until he pulled his gun out that is.

[The Dan Sai Kid]

non-existent law enforcement.

Think you hit the nail on the head there.

Zero enforcement of drink drive laws.

You can buy your way out of most traffic offences.

So the answer to the OP should be "Because they/we can"

Sad but true.

Further to that you can buy your way out of trouble relatively cheaply - I'm sure that if they were to impound bikes for non-wearing of helmets then everyone would start wearing them...

[wilko]

Many of the posts here underline how hopelessly bad the foreign drivers are in Thailand. Any driver worth his or her salt will take note of the new (and strange) road conditions and drive accordingly. To say that "Thais" (all of them?) are bad drivers usually reflects on one's own inability to adapt to a different driving environment.

In general driving in Thailand is DIFFERENT......it occurs to me if an intergalactic vacuum cleaner was to suck up all the current motorists on Thai roads and replace them with say British motorists the resulting carnage could possibly be even greater as the roads and traffic systems themselves are a major factor in the Thai style of driving.

I think most Thai motorists do an amazing job given the crappy roads they have to contend with.

[JacknDanny]

I'm not so sure if it's all down to good driver education and training.......

Surely in the USA they have a strict test and a good education of the road, yet there are over 40,000 road deaths in USA each year, if it was just down to education, there would be a lot less.

It's down to the individual on how they drive, it's not a national trait.

There are bad drivers in all countries, and in Thailand there are many good drivers too, I drive a lot in Thailand, long distances too, I also used to drive long Distances in France and England, there are good and bad drivers in all 3 places.

Considering the ammount of cars on the roads, I'm surprised there are not many more accidents.

The death toll is high because over 70% of all fatalities are Motorcycle related, if you had the same ratio of motorcycle owners in any western country, I'm sure you would have similar figures.

Farangs are also quite happy to pay a Police 200 Baht and drive away after getting stopped for doing 170 KPH in their Fortuners.

I drive a Fortuner.

The only Fortuner you will see doing 170kph, is one thats got a Ferrari engine in it

[ilyushin]

Because most drivers bought their DLs or don't have one. Very few have studied and tested.

[Maigo6]

I drive a Fortuner.

The only Fortuner you will see doing 170kph, is one thats got a Ferrari engine in it

It's not that fast for a 3 Litre Turbo Diesel, there must be something wrong with yours, get it checked out.

Edited November 23, 2006 by Maigo6