So why didnt they just rent a car ? I don't understand all these tourists coming to Thailand and think it's safe to ride bikes here.

You get a greater feeling of freedom,excitement and adventure on a bike..its easier to  stop and park just about anywhere you want to see the sights and cheaper than a car.

18 hours ago, Assurancetourix said:

if u know how to use your brakes;

if u don't know and nearly 99,9 % of thai drivers don't know , , and u have a truck pickup, u will go in the ditch

Yes in the wet with nothing in the back of a pickup  the rear wheels become very light on braking and tend to swing out to the side

I got caught out on a wet road  (rushing ) to Don Maung airport  the car in front of me braked heavily I did too and the truck fishtailed all over the place managed to keep mostly in my lane and not hit anything but it was quite "a hair raising experience"

I remember commenting about this at the time.

The accident was on the Patong hill and the accounts of both drivers differed. I recall the scooter rider was an expat and relatively experienced in riding bikes in Thailand. (Perhaps her residency here is the reason she didn't attend the much delayed inquest in England?)

The coroner there also couldn't determine who was to blame because of their differing versions of events.

For me, both parties made bad choices, and a passenger paid the ultimate price. The scooter rider turned across traffic, but claims she had the space to do so. The PU driver claims he wasn't speeding down the hill, that hasn't been proven one way or the other. Poor police investigation?

He does state he had time to flash his lights and sound his horn, something I wouldn't be able to do in such a situation, I would be too busy maneuvering away from the scooter. He obviously doesn't have the skills to do something similar. 

Perhaps the lax driver training, poor testing and a lack of police enforcement on the roads, contribute to the void in driver skills of far too many drivers (and bike riders) here? 

1 hour ago, johng said:

Yes in the wet with nothing in the back of a pickup  the rear wheels become very light on braking and tend to swing out to the side

I got caught out on a wet road  (rushing ) to Don Maung airport  the car in front of me braked heavily I did too and the truck fishtailed all over the place managed to keep mostly in my lane and not hit anything but it was quite "a hair raising experience"

I'm fairly sure it was a dry sunny day when this happened.

46 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

I remember commenting about this at the time.

The accident was on the Patong hill and the accounts of both drivers differed. I recall the scooter rider was an expat and relatively experienced in riding bikes in Thailand. (Perhaps her residency here is the reason she didn't attend the much delayed inquest in England?)

The coroner there also couldn't determine who was to blame because of their differing versions of events.

For me, both parties made bad choices, and a passenger paid the ultimate price. The scooter rider turned across traffic, but claims she had the space to do so. The PU driver claims he wasn't speeding down the hill, that hasn't been proven one way or the other. Poor police investigation?

He does state he had time to flash his lights and sound his horn, something I wouldn't be able to do in such a situation, I would be too busy maneuvering away from the scooter. He obviously doesn't have the skills to do something similar. 

Perhaps the lax driver training, poor testing and a lack of police enforcement on the roads, contribute to the void in driver skills of far too many drivers (and bike riders) here? 

Yep.... a total croc, old croc... and we know it.

Flashing lights in Thailand is the signal for I am going to hit you if you don't get out of the way. Clearly the driver was not serious about avoiding the accident. Flashing lights and honking your horn are not evasive actions. And if you have time for those activities, you have time to avoid the crash through steering and braking. Just another arrogant road owner.

15 minutes ago, canuckamuck said:

Flashing lights in Thailand is the signal for I am going to hit you if you don't get out of the way. Clearly the driver was not serious about avoiding the accident. Flashing lights and honking your horn are not evasive actions. And if you have time for those activities, you have time to avoid the crash through steering and braking. Just another arrogant road owner.

Yep... per my post earlier.... it's amazing to me that this isn't universally recognized.

In Britain where these two ladies come from flashing headlights means "im giving way you go first" or at night it can mean "you forgot to turn on your headlights dummy"

On 29/01/2017 at 5:01 AM, Psimbo said:

I guess if she'd got a baht bus (even though we are not in Pattaya) she would have survived! Keep banging the drum.

 

Whilst your post is clearly taking the p*ss, how many intoxicated tourists (not suggesting this girl was intoxicated) and expats, would use proper public transport here, if the option existed?

 

Then, how many who rode home intoxicated, because proper transport doesn't exist here, would still be alive today, not to mention those still alive, but living with life long serious injuries? 

 

By the lack of westerners coming here now, I think they have heard "the drum."  They know there is no freedom of movement on Phuket, and now holiday elsewhere, including Pattaya, where for 10 baht, they can take the same journey that would cost 800 baht on Phuket.

 

Obviously, there are more important issues than public transport and road fatalities on Phuket that must be addressed, like sun lounges. 

10 year in thailand and got only 1 accident  , and it was in phuket  after never use anymore  in phuket  but never go anymore there too  555+