Pik Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 in my case, we both have cars so there is not an issue b.t.w, when we eat out and drink, she is designated driver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petermik Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 I,ts my car and I DRIVE it...............under strict instructions obviously Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostinisaan Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 I'm usually driving and it makes sense having 40 years experience..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwasaki Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainman34014 Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 Me....been doing it for 9 years since i got here as wife is terrified of driving on Thai roads. Before i got here she only drove to work and back because she had to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kannot Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 1 hour ago, lostinisaan said: I'm usually driving and it makes sense having 40 years experience..... but that experience could be wrong, experience does not mean everything Ive often been told here " this is the way we do it" and many times its blatantly incorrect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dabhand Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 I tend to be the driver when we are both in the vehicle. For no other reason than I have no real issues driving in Thailand. My driving style does tend to be a touch aggressive, having driven in West Africa, Riyadh and over a decade in Cairo being passive was not an option. My wife would tell me off for employing the same way of driving during the first few days back home, frowning particularly on the use of the horn. I would tend to see her point after the initial negative reactions!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
otherstuff1957 Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 I drive ... from the front seat, but she drives from the back seat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villagefarang Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 (edited) I really enjoy driving so when we are together she lets me drive. If she needs to go somewhere on her own then of course she drives. We have two cars but very seldom do we both go out on the same day if we are not together. Our main question is which car we are going to choose on any given day and that depends on what we are doing and which car hasn’t been driven for a while. We have no need of designated drivers. Edited October 18, 2016 by villagefarang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_smith237 Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 In Thailand I much prefer to do the driving myself... thats wherever in Thailand I am and whoever I'm with... I don't think I'm a very good passenger !... I'm of the belief that I tend to see things before they happen, I'm sure many feel the same... Its difficult to explain but I'll try... just by a car's 'body language' and road positioning their next action is usually predictable... i.e. when they're about to change lanes but are somehow undecided until you are pulling up to their hind quarter... Many I've been in a car with are unable to predict and interpret the behaviour of other road users. Now... All of that said: My Wife still drives quite a lot with me as a passenger, she is sometimes hesitant which I believe can sometimes be the cause of issues... which is why I prefer to drive - Calm Assertiveness is the manner in which I try to approach driving here. When we're out for dinner and I've had a drink my Wife will drive and I'll do my best to keep my mouth shut !!... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 15 minutes ago, kannot said: but that experience could be wrong, experience does not mean everything Ive often been told here " this is the way we do it" and many times its blatantly incorrect. Yeah but at least in my driving history we are tought defensive driving techniques. Avoiding situations that can increase the likelihood of being in an accident. This concept does not exist here. Experience does mean a hell of a lot in reality. Experience will teach you why its not a good idea to ride the ass of another driver. How to handle a skid, a water patch, rain, on and on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OJAS Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 She does all the driving in my case, and, to be quite honest, I am more than happy for her to do so. I really have absolutely no desire to get behind the steering wheel of a moving vehicle on the highways and byeways of LOS - mainly because, according to popular folklore that was certainly doing the rounds 8 years ago when I moved out here, it was always the farang who was judged responsible for any prang with a local, even where the facts clearly indicated otherwise. Not to mention that all the hassle involved in obtaining and subsequently renewing a driving licence here really does sound to me like an awful lot of hard work, if the many reports I've read on here are to be believed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_smith237 Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 6 minutes ago, OJAS said: She does all the driving in my case, and, to be quite honest, I am more than happy for her to do so. I really have absolutely no desire to get behind the steering wheel of a moving vehicle on the highways and byeways of LOS - mainly because, according to popular folklore that was certainly doing the rounds 8 years ago when I moved out here, it was always the farang who was judged responsible for any prang with a local, even where the facts clearly indicated otherwise. Not to mention that all the hassle involved in obtaining and subsequently renewing a driving licence here really does sound to me like an awful lot of hard work, if the many reports I've read on here are to be believed. First part - Foreigner is always to blame - Thats total bar stool paranoia... There have been cases where the foreigner was blamed incorrectly, as there are cases where Thai drivers were blamed incorrectly... This is simply the BiB taking the path of least resistance and placing blame conveniently at the feet of those who appear to be able to afford it... Polite Resistance usually puts the kibosh on this idea and issues are subsequently dealt with fairly, unless of course the foreigner wouldn't say 'boo-to-a-goose' and out of some ill found fear of authority accepts blame unnecessarily. I'm not sure obtaining the driving licence is a great hardship.. its much less of a hassle than having to catch taxis and dealing with the poor taxi service we get here in Bangkok (and other cities in Thailand)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OJAS Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 8 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said: I'm not sure obtaining the driving licence is a great hardship.. its much less of a hassle than having to catch taxis and dealing with the poor taxi service we get here in Bangkok (and other cities in Thailand)... I'm more than happy to rely on the excellent taxi service provided by my teerak! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanderer555 Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 We both share the duties, and compared to most, her skills on the road are very sharp. Having a Honda City that she had when I arrived, a new truck and a couple of scooters, we generally just let however wants to drive take the wheel. At barely 5' (152cm) she catches more than a few stares when she takes the PCX150 to town, as her feet barely reach the ground when stopped, but absolutely fearless & very safe when moving... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kannot Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 2 hours ago, Strange said: Yeah but at least in my driving history we are tought defensive driving techniques. Avoiding situations that can increase the likelihood of being in an accident. This concept does not exist here. Experience does mean a hell of a lot in reality. Experience will teach you why its not a good idea to ride the ass of another driver. How to handle a skid, a water patch, rain, on and on. im not saying youre wrong but Im sure many crap drivers ( and there are many in Thailand) think exactly the same...........ie "ill drive up his arse because experience tells me he'll move over" u see, having a rear ender doesnt even come into it for some people Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 10 minutes ago, kannot said: im not saying youre wrong but Im sure many crap drivers ( and there are many in Thailand) think exactly the same...........ie "ill drive up his arse because experience tells me he'll move over" u see, having a rear ender doesnt even come into it for some people I know but thats what I mean about being taught defensive driving techniques witch at least for me started at 14 years old in school. The whole Idea of tailgating in any situation is the polar opposite of driving defensively. Its far and away the biggest idiot move ever. Experience would tell you that while the other driver might move over, being up his ass can just as easily cause a panic attack (or death - the whole spectrum) when he actually does and reveals an obstacle in the road that you couldn't see because you were tailgating. Endless possibilities. Anyway your example of thai driving logic is why I drive everywhere. Wife can drive well, but she puts herself in potentially dangerous situations because she thinks that its ok, because the other driver is wrong. Does not matter who is wrong or right with a totaled car and injuries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 3 hours ago, richard_smith237 said: I'm of the belief that I tend to see things before they happen, I'm sure many feel the same... Its difficult to explain but I'll try... just by a car's 'body language' and road positioning their next action is usually predictable... i.e. when they're about to change lanes but are somehow undecided until you are pulling up to their hind quarter... Its because you are actually paying attention to your surroundings and being the pilot of your vehicle. This concept isn't popular with a lot of the locals because it fills their headspace with "stuff". I mean Im not bashing here its true. What you are saying makes complete sense and should to any rational driver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deepinthailand Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 We look at each other decide who is the soberist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deepinthailand Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 Then whoever is the soberist calls a taxi?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tutsiwarrior Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 when at home the stepdaughter always drives...before she got her license the wife (who's never learned) would just collar one of her brothers to get behind the wheel...then, a couple of times I surprised everyone by driving myself... many years of driving in the middle east puts me off the whole thing altogether... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i claudius Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 We both drive , but if we are both in the same car i tend to do it , our son has a car as well ,sometimes i drive that and he drives mine , and when the wife has to take a client out she drives herself . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impulse Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 Like a lot of the guys I work with, there's no "her" in my household. So the car generally stays parked except for emergencies. I despise driving in Thailand. I love getting on the road back home, but the style of driving in Thailand just saps my energy. I can go months between close calls back home. If I go an hour between close calls in Thailand, that's a good drive- and rare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirasan Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 I don't find driving that taxing but I drive 30-40 km slower here than I would in Australia. I do most of the driving just because she doesn't have as much experience behind the wheel. We're getting there but I can tell it's going to take a while lol.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elgordo38 Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 On 10/18/2016 at 5:09 PM, lostinisaan said: I'm usually driving and it makes sense having 40 years experience..... Ah your avatar looks so deceiving little girl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seancbk Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 I let my driving licence lapse so I can no longer drive legally. Not that it matters as I use the BTS, Taxis or Uber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shiver Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 In my previous life I was a very high mileage driver. Since Thailand I have very little need for transport, and for 80-90% of visits that's for social reasons, so I almost never drive now (GF doesn't drink anything remotely alcohol like except ginger ale or Apple Cider (fruit juice not fermented product), though I do prefer my own driving (even though I've slowed down *a lot* here to reflect the driving environment. I won't even drive with one small can of beer in me. So in my case it is definitely GF who is driver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoshowJones Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 On 10/18/2016 at 5:09 PM, lostinisaan said: I'm usually driving and it makes sense having 40 years experience..... When we go out in the truck, Mrs Possum always drives, and I'm happy with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman20 Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 her, ive been driving over 40 years im board with driving Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dotpoom Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 I have recently decided to let her do most of the driving (even if it does mean looking through the gap in my fingers that are covering my eyes,... you know,.... like when we used to watch "Dracula" in the movies when we were kids. I put the car in her name also. My reasons....(1) My eyes are not as good now as they used to be...but my biggest reason.... (2) One day I got the notion into my head that I could lose everything I have here (house and a couple of condos) in a jiffy if I got myself tangled up in a nasty accident. God forbid, but suppose I maimed, or even worse ....while I was driving and the car and insurance were in my name? I know at home I would be fully covered for all eventualities, but after living here 16 years now I have come to the conclusion that if "they" decided to stick it to me....they would win and I would come out on the losing side of things. I have really enjoyed driving over almost every inch of Thailand since coming here and thank God that there have been no major disasters. (there was one incident about 8 years ago where an old lady on a motorcycle came across 3 lanes of traffic and appeared in front of the bonnet of my car like an apparition, she went sailing through the air into the middle gully on the Sukhumvit Rd.after I hit her and out of sight). I remember thinking at the time "What if she is dead"? She hadn't a screed of paperwork for her motorcycle , not even a helmet on her head. Even so, even though her husband and all the witnesses told the police that she was absolutely in the wrong, they made me come to the police station on more than one occasion and wouldn't let it lie until I got a quotation for the damage to my car which cost 2,400 Baht at the garage they recommended I go to. I didn't want to get it but my wife insisted. It turned out the garage was owned by the sister of the one who recommended it. It brought home to me the reality of being a Farang and driving over here. I was never comfortable after that behind the wheel. I now try and stick to my motorbike and let herself deal with the worries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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