how bad are the roads and traffic getting

[opalred]

i lived in a city for years here and you would hear an ambulance maybe 2 times a day

which you would expect 

i moved outside cm on a country road 6 years ago

you would hear a siren about once in a few weeks

now its 3 to 4 times a day

my Thai wife says now everyone is in a hurry and impolite to give way to others

i think the roads once built for bikes and buffaloes  never improved 

for the mass slaughter of cars

[Kwasaki]

Yeah l always say now for the last 2 years or so " There's too many Thai people in our village."  

[Boon Mee]

People drive like bats outa hell in this country.  Complete maniacs behind the wheel! 

[opalred]

when you read  BBC report a few hours ago expect 24000 killed this year

i stopped driving a year ago other wise i would have killed people in road rage

my wife drives now but she lately starting to swear in Thai at them

[joeyg]

Been here almost 3 years driven a few times in BKK, Issan and Pattaya.  It's not for me.  And I am a former driving and racing enthusiast.

[Deepinthailand]

Personaly I drive every day no problems yes there are idiots on the road. I just ignore them and drive within my safety zone if anyone encroaches my safety zone I back off untill I have my zone back. I am not in a rush so if I get to my destination 10 mins later than planned so what I'm there safe and sound.

[mick220675]

Some times is dose appear to be getting crazy. Yesterday 1 km from our house a car and sugar lorry crashed killing the car driver. Today I drove 20 km to our local town and past a pick up upside down at the side of the road. After a bit of shopping I returned home and passed a crash involving a cyclist and a motorbike. On my journey I all so noticed 2 dead dogs, all victims of the road.

[Tagaa]

It appears it's a 2 part question...

 

The roads are getting a lot better. I notice new and under construction  4 lane highways every time I travel. I'm continually amazed about how good some of the backwater 2 lane roads are.

 

Part 2 - drivers...some of the worlds worst (China & India being even worse that Thailand, if you can imagine that). It's like the first being in space, Laika the dog, teaching the humans that came after her, how to be an astronaut. (yes, I know she died in space). Until there is some QUALIFIED person or entity teaching teenagers how to drive, the carnage will continue. Personally, I'm quite happy that the police don't patrol the roads, giving out speeding tickets & arresting people for drunk driving. But until they stop the inane practice of the useless road blocks outside police stations and do start to patrol the roads, nothing will change.

[kannot]

The roads by me are disgusting and VERY dangerous, no one cares, holes 1  metre across in places and 30cm deep................its always a quick and useless repair done........ within months it  all comes out. Live out in the country

If we're lucky they might fill them in once a year................near Hua  Hin.............tarmac is so thin its laughable, must be 3  mm at best

[samsensam]

 

they laid some new tarmac near my place last year, its so uneven, when it rains water puddles in the dips, i mean, how hard can it be to lay flat tarmac with a gentle incline to the drains?

[little mary sunshine]

Gone from Bad to Horrible already...

[Cake Monster]

I have certainly noticed a sharp decline in the driving standards of most Thai drivers over the past 18 months or so.

The worst drivers ( IMO ) are not the young teenagers, but the 30 somethings that have never owned or driven a car / pickup truck before, but now have money to buy one due to higher earnings . lower interest rates Etc.

and they now think they are the bees knees when driving.

The reality is that they are the murdering scum that drive around with an attitude in a 4 wheeled missile that is primed to kill and maim.

[elgordo38]

On 1/19/2017 at 9:44 AM, Kwasaki said:

Yeah l always say now for the last 2 years or so " There's too many Thai people in our village."  

With cars?

[elgordo38]

Just now, Cake Monster said:

to buy one due to higher earnings . lower interest rates Etc

The Etc part being cheap credit. Cheap credit is what keeps the wheels of this country's economy turning. 

[thailand49]

Once in while you got to listen to your wife, it could be the road but like she said it is her own people add that they never been educated to drive and share the roads with those bikes and buffalo's. 

See one of the key to driving is simple, adjust your driving to the condition at hand. If it rains slow down! Why? simple it is slippery!  It gets dark harder to see.... slow down.  Share the road! 

[thailand49]

Once in while you got to listen to your wife, it could be the road but like she said it is her own people add that they never been educated to drive and share the roads with those bikes and buffalo's. 

See one of the key to driving is simple, adjust your driving to the condition at hand. If it rains slow down! Why? simple it is slippery!  It gets dark harder to see.... slow down.  Share the road! 

The government official here believe it is a right of everyone to drive, it isn't, it is a privilege and when there aren't any enforcement this is what you got year after year the second worse country in the world for accidents!

[Beats56]

I hardly drive here. Even though I have a Mc driver license and a good armor protected riding jacket. Use to have a big bike back home and had no problem. The only place I go is to the market and a hardware store down the road. Too many nut bars here for my liking.

 

[01322521959]

I've a nice motorcycle but often say to myself, no, I won't go for a ride. Now I just enjoy the ride to my infrequent work. That's fun enough.

Sent from my i-mobile_i-STYLE_219 using Thaivisa Connect mobile app

[NoshowJones]

On 1/19/2017 at 9:46 AM, Boon Mee said:

People drive like bats outa hell in this country.  Complete maniacs behind the wheel! 

They don't all, some people drive far too slow and they can be just as dangerous as the ones who drive too fast.

[NoshowJones]

19 hours ago, samsensam said:

 

they laid some new tarmac near my place last year, its so uneven, when it rains water puddles in the dips, i mean, how hard can it be to lay flat tarmac with a gentle incline to the drains?

Nothing is easy in Thailand except collecting brown envelopes.

[NoshowJones]

45 minutes ago, elgordo38 said:

With cars?

No motorbikes, all the underage children riding them.

[kannot]

1 hour ago, possum1931 said:

They don't all, some people drive far too slow and they can be just as dangerous as the ones who drive too fast.

especially when crossing  main roads or doing u turns...............they  pull out with loads of time then dawdle  like a moron so that you end up slamming the brakes on to avoid them when really there was  plenty of time for them to be out and gone

[Hutch68]

22 hours ago, kannot said:

The roads by me are disgusting and VERY dangerous, no one cares, holes 1  metre across in places and 30cm deep................its always a quick and useless repair done........ within months it  all comes out. Live out in the country

If we're lucky they might fill them in once a year................near Hua  Hin.............tarmac is so thin its laughable, must be 3  mm at best

We don't even get tarmac just a load of clay  leveled  out. As soon as a rainstorm comes it's almost impossible to get out and if its a big storm it just slides down to the dam. So what do they do when its all gone? The same again, they must be throwing thousands of baht at it every year.

[Hutch68]

1 hour ago, possum1931 said:

No motorbikes, all the underage children riding them.

The underage bikers round here drive around like Barry Sheen, countless accidents and I think 3 or 4 schoolkid deaths this year alone, again do they learn? no just the other week one bloke in the village was trying to teach an 8 year old to ride a fino, his legs couldn't touch the ground it was clear he would never be able to stop but he did it all the same and on his arse the young kid went. Did they stop? no just carried on.

[NoshowJones]

22 minutes ago, Hutch68 said:

The underage bikers round here drive around like Barry Sheen, countless accidents and I think 3 or 4 schoolkid deaths this year alone, again do they learn? no just the other week one bloke in the village was trying to teach an 8 year old to ride a fino, his legs couldn't touch the ground it was clear he would never be able to stop but he did it all the same and on his arse the young kid went. Did they stop? no just carried on.

and I get slagged off as a Thai basher when I post about things like this, well I'm going to say it again, most Thais are the most decent, helpful people that you will meet, but I still say there mentality sure leaves a lot to be desired.

[Hutch68]

7 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

and I get slagged off as a Thai basher when I post about things like this, well I'm going to say it again, most Thais are the most decent, helpful people that you will meet, but I still say there mentality sure leaves a lot to be desired.

That was my first Thai bash, I don't usually bother but I had to have a bit of a rant on this one as children's lives are being lost. I'm dreading the day my kid's get to the age when they will be wanting a motorbike.

[lungnorm]

They are not getting. They got already.!!!!!

[louse1953]

On 1/19/2017 at 10:57 AM, Deepinthailand said:

Personaly I drive every day no problems yes there are idiots on the road. I just ignore them and drive within my safety zone if anyone encroaches my safety zone I back off untill I have my zone back. I am not in a rush so if I get to my destination 10 mins later than planned so what I'm there safe and sound.

I just did a Surin Bangers round trip.Nothing life threatening,all rather sedate actually.

[NoshowJones]

1 hour ago, Hutch68 said:

That was my first Thai bash, I don't usually bother but I had to have a bit of a rant on this one as children's lives are being lost. I'm dreading the day my kid's get to the age when they will be wanting a motorbike.

Yes, I have heard that a few times, their stupid parents will be teaching their ten year olds to ride their motorbikes, then will hand them the keys to it, and your kids will want to know why you are not, and you will be the bad one, I sympathise with you, and there is no easy answer.

[louse1953]

Just now, possum1931 said:

Yes, I have heard that a few times, their stupid parents will be teaching their ten year olds to ride their motorbikes, then will hand them the keys to it, and your kids will want to know why you are not, and you will be the bad one, I sympathise with you, and there is no easy answer.

No is the answer.Being a parent is not easy.