Was hit by car in a crosswalk. Enough is enough.

[scorecard]

17 hours ago, CMKiwi said:

Yep it can be a dogs life out there on the streets.

 

Initially I too thought Thailand as the land of smiles would have a very caring and thoughtful attitude towards their fellow neighbour (Even the foreign ones).   Just 5 years ago that feeling was still alive.

 

Nowadays I see more and more an attitude of 'what's in it for me' or 'I don't give a damn about you' coming to the front.

 

It's not an enticing attitude to come across and if I am to do as the Romans do....then the missus will surely give me an ear bashing about my attitude!

 

You just gotta be very vigilant on these here roads. Life is cheap on all Thai roads and no one is exempt.

 

I've thought many a time at moving to Cambodia...but I haven't come across my 'straw' yet, but my back is getting a bit strained!

 

Hope you find a place that fits your expectations.

 

And have you guys found Utopia?

 

 

[Emster23]

You ought to know by now that Thailand is all about status. As someone on foot, you don't have any.

There is a jungle like pecking order when it comes to traffic: Big trucks then buses then vans then cars then motorbikes and lastly someone on foot. Clearly a sign you have no money. If you did, you'd be driving (Thais hate to walk anywhere it seems).

 I approach crossing the street like bull fighter training. I'm not dead yet.....

 Side note: City was repainting zebra stripes at crosswalk near my condo on 2nd road Jomtien other day. Asked them if they were going to fix the crosswalk light (It has worked one week in two years it has been there). "No just paint"

 Perhaps that is for the best. Many Russian tourists stay at my condo. One might think they would see a crosswalk, light flashes "walk" and then assume traffic will stop. See you in hospital or next life

[hobz]

I share your pain mate.

But let me assure you first that this incident was most likely not fueled by xenophobia... However it's fueled by something worse. Xenophobia at least has some reason behind it. Even though xenophobia is disgusting there's some belief behind that however wrong at least can make some type of sense.

 

But what actually happened is way worse than xenophobia.

It's a complete lack of regard for others. It's a completely selfish "me first, me only" behavior. It's completely brain dead. It's zero patience. 

Welcome to the roads of Thailand.

The way Thai people drive is very enlightening for somebody new to Thailand. It's very conflicting to the naive perception people have of Thai people as these smiling always polite people.

Now I still think most Thai people do not want to harm a fly. I really believe that.

But, I have come to realize that many if not most Thai people are completely braindead.

They simply do what everyone else does without thinking at all.

They have zero patience. 

They struggle with showing regard for others, not because they hate other people, but because they are too braindead to contemplate how their actions could harm or inconvinience others.

Don't get me wrong, there's Thai people I know or have met that are super afraid and worried about hitting motorbikes with their car, or that will gesture to you before trying to cut in line, or will not play loud music in the middle of the night without shame etc.

I don't know the percentages, but there's definitely "good" Thai people out there.

But there's also definitely "bad" ones that are completely braindead. My estimate about traffic is that between 5 and 20 percent drive like complete psychopaths.

[hobz]

I recommend you start using uber. It's cheap and it promotes anti taxi mafia, so you can feel good about putting the taxi mafia out of business.

[1FinickyOne]

You make it sound as if you were targeted because you are a foreigner... if you really feel that way, you should move. 

 

If you feel that, maybe you could have done a better job by changing the light as suggested - - then maybe reconsider.

 

Sorry you are pissed off, but glad you are ok...

 

The 3x in the last year that I have become annoyed in CM it has been by the acts of farang.... not Thai.

 

 

[hobz]

23 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

You make it sound as if you were targeted because you are a foreigner... if you really feel that way, you should move. 

 

If you feel that, maybe you could have done a better job by changing the light as suggested - - then maybe reconsider.

 

Sorry you are pissed off, but glad you are ok...

 

The 3x in the last year that I have become annoyed in CM it has been by the acts of farang.... not Thai.

 

 

If you're not annoyed by traffic you must be blind or maybe you're as bad a driver as the Thais lol. Ignorance is bliss I guess.

[Destiny1990]

Relocate to koh samet there is not much traffic.

[stephenterry]

Being street savvy is key, OP. Anticipation, reaction time, and having eyes in the back of your head and on both sides is critical. You really got to learn how and when to cross roads, especially the moat road. Without any crossings, best place is by a U-turn because the traffic is slower there. Crossing near Chiang Mai gate on both sides is a doddle, one of the easiest crossing points. Once Thais start to cross at the traffic lights just stay with them, and on the other side, the market traffic is slow, and easy to dodge through them.

 

If that was the place you suffered your unfortunate near-miss, then you better smarten up, wear an armoured suit and carry a poisoned tip umbrella  - or suffer the consequences.  

 

But don't leave CM - it's really one of the best living places in Thailand (or elsewhere come to that).

 

[theoldgit]

I would love to read a Thai persons perspective on the fact that pedestrians seem to be regarded as little more than road kill when attempting to cross the road, be it on a regular street or a clearly marked pedestrian crossing sometimes protected by a red light, which may you would have thought that would have least made a suggestion that it might be a good idea to at least slow down.

Like most of us I've witnessed elderly people, families with youngsters and even uniformed police officers struggling to cross the road in designated areas, but the majority of drivers seem to feel that the second or two wasted in slowing down isn't worth the bother for those annoying pedestrians.

I for one try and plan my walking route to try and negate the need to cross any busy roads.

Are there any Thai members who could offer an honest view? 

[Destiny1990]

7 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

I would love to read a Thai persons perspective on the fact that pedestrians seem to be regarded as little more than road kill when attempting to cross the road, be it on a regular street or a clearly marked pedestrian crossing sometimes protected by a red light, which may you would have thought that would have least made a suggestion that it might be a good idea to at least slow down.

Like most of us I've witnessed elderly people, families with youngsters and even uniformed police officers struggling to cross the road in designated areas, but the majority of drivers seem to feel that the second or two wasted in slowing down isn't worth the bother for those annoying pedestrians.

I for one try and plan my walking route to try and negate the need to cross any busy roads.

Are there any Thai members who could offer an honest view? 

I think its a money issue if u walk here  than you most be poor so u have to shut up and wait till all cars are gone and than try to cross but still at your own risk of course.In Europe people who walk are regarded as good people for not polluting this planet..

[theguyfromanotherforum]

Interesting post and I can't say anything more than it's a 3rd world country (haters can berate me about the wrong term, I don't care). However, I wouldn't take what happened to you very personal. As a matter of fact, I think most people will slow down just because I am a foreigner. They treat each other much worse in my opinion.

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[kokopelli]

I always wait for a Thai person to cross and walk with them as a bumper just in case. I even notice that the soi dogs will sometimes wait for a pedestrian to cross a busy street.

In Pattaya the car drivers are getting better at yielding at cross walks but not the motorbike drivers.

[ianwheldale]

19 hours ago, Rob13 said:

Get out of CM, maybe Mae Rim or Chiang Rai. CM's getting too crowded and the traffic sucks.

Funnily enough I came to that decision a few weeks ago. Just waiting to get my annual extension and my lease to run out.

[bkkgriz]

Had a similar experience many years ago in BKK. An old Thai-Chinese woman with the official hair helmet almost run me down in her Fortuner. It's always a Fortuner. I slapped her side view mirror, threw her the double bird and then she slowed down to give me the business. Here is my write up from my old blog. 

 

It’s not a long walk from the Sam Yan subway station to my student’s house, but a lot can happen in 800 meters. The first obstacle is Wat Hua Lamphong. It’s a very nice temple that includes an all white building reminiscent of Wat Rong Khun in Chaing Rai. Temples draw crowds, and in Bangkok where there are crowds, there are vendors. In this instance, food vendors are set up on both sides of the sidewalk. The vendors turn a relatively wide sidewalk into a narrow single file path. Now you have to negotiate people looking at food, people trying to get to the subway and out of the subway and of course the scourge of the pedestrian, motorcycle taxi drivers. Yes, motorcycles are allowed to use the sidewalks as a road. It must be legal as I have yet to see a cop stop them from doing this. Of course, I have yet to see a cop do anything in regards to enforcing traffic laws in this country. After negotiating the food vendors you have the fortune tellers. Their tables are set up on the left. On the right are phone booths. I doubt the phones are operational, but the soi dogs use them as a place to get out of the sun. After the fortune tellers, there is a Chinese shrine where you can make merit by buying a coffin for the less fortunate. That is only the first 60 meters.

This is the story of one especially eventful journey. I successfully navigate the vendors, fortune tellers, beggars, soi dogs and merit makers and begin the walk to my student’s house. About 400 meters down the sidewalk there is a three-way intersection I have to cross. This intersection and I have some history. About three years ago I was taking a motorcycle taxi to my student’s house. Sombat the taxi driver decided to cut through the traffic to take a “short cut.” These generally are no shorter than the normal path, and usually, involve even more dangerous maneuvers. One lane of traffic is stopped for the red light, an unusual occurrence in its own right, but the inside lane is still creeping along to make left turns at the light. My driver shoots the gap. We don’t see the ancient Japanese shit box until it was right on top of us. BANG!! Now I am flying straight up in the air. I fall directly on my ass in the middle of the road. There are about 20 people just standing around watching all of this. Not one came to help me up or ask if I was OK. Just slack-jawed yokels, all of them, staring at me and the driver lying on the road. I survived the incident with a bruised ass and got on another bike to finish the journey. Get back on the horse and all that shit. I haven’t taken a motorbike taxi since.

On this fateful day, I am walking through the intersection. There is a crosswalk (zebra crossing for the Brits), but these mean nothing to Thai drivers. I think they just copied the idea from the west but haven’t applied the meaning. I am halfway through the intersection when a Toyota Fortuner decided it could not wait for me to finish crossing the street. It cuts me off and makes the left turn. That shit really pisses me off. You really can’t wait 5 seconds for a pedestrian to get across the road? Bastards! I couldn’t let it go, so I hit the mirror and it bangs into the driver's side window. I think nothing of it. They cut me off. I banged their mirror. It’s just another passive-aggressive exchange on the streets of Bangkok. So I thought.

I’ve got my earbuds in, so I am pretty oblivious to what is happening next to me. My peripheral vision catches sight of the ominous blacked out SUV creeping along the street. I look over, the window comes down, and there it is. The Helmet! The Helmet is shouting something at me. I can’t hear her thanks to the Foo Fighters blasting away on my eardrum. She is not pleased. I do the natural thing any American male would do in this situation. I give her the bird. Holy shit!!! The look on her face said it all. This woman had never been treated this way in her life. Thailand is very much a class society. You have the Hi-So (High society) class who are the elite, a small, but growing middle class, and basically, everyone else trying to eke out a living. The Helmet was definitely part of the upper class.

I just keep walking as the neighborhood I am in is a very Chinese-Thai area. I will not win any arguments around here. I turn around just in time to see The Helmet getting out of her SUV of death. What is she going to do, I wonder. I must have 40 kg on her. I certainly am in better shape. Is this going become a physical confrontation? No, she hurls her shoe at me. Really? A shoe? I can’t believe George Bush and I now have something in common. She didn’t come close to hitting me, as she throws as well as a Chinese-Thai grandmother would be expected to. I thought about picking up the shoe and chucking it into a nearby construction site. Again, I remember where I am and continued walking. Apparently, this did not assuage her anger. She retrieves the shoe, gets back in the beast, and drives another 50 meters to have another go. Yep, she throws the shoe at me again. What the hell? All of this drama because of one little finger. The Thais are a very mellow bunch, but when they lose the plot, look out.

I have to laugh. 150 meters ago, The Helmet had no time to let me finish crossing the street. Now she has time to chuck her shoe at me not once, but twice. It really makes no sense. Logic is not an easy thing to find here even at the best of times. Traffic is starting to back up on this very busy street now. Horns are honking and of course taking in the drama in front of them. Thais love their drama. The window of the back seat rolls down. The Helmet’s husband is shouting at me now. He’s really giving it to me with both barrels. Once again, I am glad I can’t hear what he’s saying. He’s probably questioning my heritage or some such nonsense. He flings a water bottle at me. The tree catches the bottle. I think someone has called the cops.

A “cop” pulls up on a motorcycle and makes me stop. I put “cop” in quotes for a good reason. He has the helmet, no not that helmet, of a motorcycle cop. He has the Tiger Boxer motorcycle all the cops ride. He just doesn’t have the uniform. He grabs my arm and has me wait for The Helmet and Grandpa to catch up. He just gives me a smile and asks me to wait. Thailand is called the Land of Smiles. However, there is a multitude of meanings behind those smiles. I have found that most of the time when a Thai smiles at you, they either want something or something you aren’t going to like is going to happen to you. The Helmet finally catches up and pulls over. She is out of the Fortuner like a shot. She runs up to me screaming. She gets right in my face and gives me the finger right back. “You understand!” She shrieks in crazy person English. “OK, you understand?” She is a woman possessed. Nuts. Lunatic. She has completely gone off the deep end. Grandpa comes up to me, waves his finger in my face and gives me a shove. It wasn’t much of a shove, but a shove nonetheless. I guess he was hoping I would retaliate right there in front of the “cop.” I’m not that stupid. I just turn to the “cop” and tell him that I have just been assaulted. I want him arrested for assault. The “cop” is seriously conflicted now. I’m sure he saw a few hundred baht coming his way to help the two aggrieved parties come to peaceful terms. But now that I have been pushed and haven’t retaliated, the “cop” doesn’t really know what to do. I tell him again that I want grandpa arrested for assault. The “cop” only sees paperwork and spending more time with The Helmet, Grandpa, and the crazy farang. Yes, I’m the crazy one in this whole scenario. He gets back on his bike and races out of there. He practically leaves flames in his tracks. Grandpa is a bit shocked, to say the least. Now he has a pissed off farang staring at him. I make a move, and he is running back to the safety of the SUV. The Helmet has slunk away as well. They tear off down the street and vanish into the Bangkok traffic.

The last 300 meters are uneventful and I make it to my student’s house unscathed. Oh, her house is right across the street from the police station. I wonder if the “cop” saw me going in the house. I wonder if he was a police officer at all. I tell my student about the incident on the street. She just laughs and says the Thai police are no good. She also thinks she might know The Helmet. I give her description of the woman and her husband and my student tells me it sounds like one of her friend's family members. She is crazy. That is my student’s assessment of the woman. I have to agree.

1. The Toyota Fortuner is a very popular SUV in Thailand. It is big and can carry a lot of people. Both are very important things here in Thailand. However, I have found Fortuner drivers to be the biggest <deleted> on the road. I am convinced that to be eligible to buy one of the beasts you have to either fail your driving test, get a lobotomy, or run someone down during the test drive. It’s kind of like a gang initiation thing. To be honest, I think you have to do all three.

2. Once a woman hits a certain age in Thailand, her hair goes from long free-flowing locks to a shellacked helmet of hair. I truly believe they are impervious to bullets, flying glass, shrapnel and blunt instruments. You can measure the woman’s status by the height of the helmet. I have seen some really impressive helmets at different events held in Bangkok.

[Destiny1990]

3 minutes ago, bkkgriz said:

Had a similar experience many years ago in BKK. An old Thai-Chinese woman with the official hair helmet almost run me down in her Fortuner. It's always a Fortuner. I slapped her side view mirror, threw her the double bird and then she slowed down to give me the business. Here is my write up from my old blog. 

 

It’s not a long walk from the Sam Yan subway station to my student’s house, but a lot can happen in 800 meters. The first obstacle is Wat Hua Lamphong. It’s a very nice temple that includes an all white building reminiscent of Wat Rong Khun in Chaing Rai. Temples draw crowds, and in Bangkok where there are crowds, there are vendors. In this instance, food vendors are set up on both sides of the sidewalk. The vendors turn a relatively wide sidewalk into a narrow single file path. Now you have to negotiate people looking at food, people trying to get to the subway and out of the subway and of course the scourge of the pedestrian, motorcycle taxi drivers. Yes, motorcycles are allowed to use the sidewalks as a road. It must be legal as I have yet to see a cop stop them from doing this. Of course, I have yet to see a cop do anything in regards to enforcing traffic laws in this country. After negotiating the food vendors you have the fortune tellers. Their tables are set up on the left. On the right are phone booths. I doubt the phones are operational, but the soi dogs use them as a place to get out of the sun. After the fortune tellers, there is a Chinese shrine where you can make merit by buying a coffin for the less fortunate. That is only the first 60 meters.

This is the story of one especially eventful journey. I successfully navigate the vendors, fortune tellers, beggars, soi dogs and merit makers and begin the walk to my student’s house. About 400 meters down the sidewalk there is a three-way intersection I have to cross. This intersection and I have some history. About three years ago I was taking a motorcycle taxi to my student’s house. Sombat the taxi driver decided to cut through the traffic to take a “short cut.” These generally are no shorter than the normal path, and usually, involve even more dangerous maneuvers. One lane of traffic is stopped for the red light, an unusual occurrence in its own right, but the inside lane is still creeping along to make left turns at the light. My driver shoots the gap. We don’t see the ancient Japanese shit box until it was right on top of us. BANG!! Now I am flying straight up in the air. I fall directly on my ass in the middle of the road. There are about 20 people just standing around watching all of this. Not one came to help me up or ask if I was OK. Just slack-jawed yokels, all of them, staring at me and the driver lying on the road. I survived the incident with a bruised ass and got on another bike to finish the journey. Get back on the horse and all that shit. I haven’t taken a motorbike taxi since.

On this fateful day, I am walking through the intersection. There is a crosswalk (zebra crossing for the Brits), but these mean nothing to Thai drivers. I think they just copied the idea from the west but haven’t applied the meaning. I am halfway through the intersection when a Toyota Fortuner decided it could not wait for me to finish crossing the street. It cuts me off and makes the left turn. That shit really pisses me off. You really can’t wait 5 seconds for a pedestrian to get across the road? Bastards! I couldn’t let it go, so I hit the mirror and it bangs into the driver's side window. I think nothing of it. They cut me off. I banged their mirror. It’s just another passive-aggressive exchange on the streets of Bangkok. So I thought.

I’ve got my earbuds in, so I am pretty oblivious to what is happening next to me. My peripheral vision catches sight of the ominous blacked out SUV creeping along the street. I look over, the window comes down, and there it is. The Helmet! The Helmet is shouting something at me. I can’t hear her thanks to the Foo Fighters blasting away on my eardrum. She is not pleased. I do the natural thing any American male would do in this situation. I give her the bird. Holy shit!!! The look on her face said it all. This woman had never been treated this way in her life. Thailand is very much a class society. You have the Hi-So (High society) class who are the elite, a small, but growing middle class, and basically, everyone else trying to eke out a living. The Helmet was definitely part of the upper class.

I just keep walking as the neighborhood I am in is a very Chinese-Thai area. I will not win any arguments around here. I turn around just in time to see The Helmet getting out of her SUV of death. What is she going to do, I wonder. I must have 40 kg on her. I certainly am in better shape. Is this going become a physical confrontation? No, she hurls her shoe at me. Really? A shoe? I can’t believe George Bush and I now have something in common. She didn’t come close to hitting me, as she throws as well as a Chinese-Thai grandmother would be expected to. I thought about picking up the shoe and chucking it into a nearby construction site. Again, I remember where I am and continued walking. Apparently, this did not assuage her anger. She retrieves the shoe, gets back in the beast, and drives another 50 meters to have another go. Yep, she throws the shoe at me again. What the hell? All of this drama because of one little finger. The Thais are a very mellow bunch, but when they lose the plot, look out.

I have to laugh. 150 meters ago, The Helmet had no time to let me finish crossing the street. Now she has time to chuck her shoe at me not once, but twice. It really makes no sense. Logic is not an easy thing to find here even at the best of times. Traffic is starting to back up on this very busy street now. Horns are honking and of course taking in the drama in front of them. Thais love their drama. The window of the back seat rolls down. The Helmet’s husband is shouting at me now. He’s really giving it to me with both barrels. Once again, I am glad I can’t hear what he’s saying. He’s probably questioning my heritage or some such nonsense. He flings a water bottle at me. The tree catches the bottle. I think someone has called the cops.

A “cop” pulls up on a motorcycle and makes me stop. I put “cop” in quotes for a good reason. He has the helmet, no not that helmet, of a motorcycle cop. He has the Tiger Boxer motorcycle all the cops ride. He just doesn’t have the uniform. He grabs my arm and has me wait for The Helmet and Grandpa to catch up. He just gives me a smile and asks me to wait. Thailand is called the Land of Smiles. However, there is a multitude of meanings behind those smiles. I have found that most of the time when a Thai smiles at you, they either want something or something you aren’t going to like is going to happen to you. The Helmet finally catches up and pulls over. She is out of the Fortuner like a shot. She runs up to me screaming. She gets right in my face and gives me the finger right back. “You understand!” She shrieks in crazy person English. “OK, you understand?” She is a woman possessed. Nuts. Lunatic. She has completely gone off the deep end. Grandpa comes up to me, waves his finger in my face and gives me a shove. It wasn’t much of a shove, but a shove nonetheless. I guess he was hoping I would retaliate right there in front of the “cop.” I’m not that stupid. I just turn to the “cop” and tell him that I have just been assaulted. I want him arrested for assault. The “cop” is seriously conflicted now. I’m sure he saw a few hundred baht coming his way to help the two aggrieved parties come to peaceful terms. But now that I have been pushed and haven’t retaliated, the “cop” doesn’t really know what to do. I tell him again that I want grandpa arrested for assault. The “cop” only sees paperwork and spending more time with The Helmet, Grandpa, and the crazy farang. Yes, I’m the crazy one in this whole scenario. He gets back on his bike and races out of there. He practically leaves flames in his tracks. Grandpa is a bit shocked, to say the least. Now he has a pissed off farang staring at him. I make a move, and he is running back to the safety of the SUV. The Helmet has slunk away as well. They tear off down the street and vanish into the Bangkok traffic.

The last 300 meters are uneventful and I make it to my student’s house unscathed. Oh, her house is right across the street from the police station. I wonder if the “cop” saw me going in the house. I wonder if he was a police officer at all. I tell my student about the incident on the street. She just laughs and says the Thai police are no good. She also thinks she might know The Helmet. I give her description of the woman and her husband and my student tells me it sounds like one of her friend's family members. She is crazy. That is my student’s assessment of the woman. I have to agree.

1. The Toyota Fortuner is a very popular SUV in Thailand. It is big and can carry a lot of people. Both are very important things here in Thailand. However, I have found Fortuner drivers to be the biggest <deleted> on the road. I am convinced that to be eligible to buy one of the beasts you have to either fail your driving test, get a lobotomy, or run someone down during the test drive. It’s kind of like a gang initiation thing. To be honest, I think you have to do all three.

2. Once a woman hits a certain age in Thailand, her hair goes from long free-flowing locks to a shellacked helmet of hair. I truly believe they are impervious to bullets, flying glass, shrapnel and blunt instruments. You can measure the woman’s status by the height of the helmet. I have seen some really impressive helmets at different events held in Bangkok.

So whats your point?can you make your story more compact?max 60 words txs

[dluek]

I'd wait until there was enough space and time to safe

[dluek]

I'd wait until there was enough space and time to safely cross the road. Here in Bangkok and many other parts of Thailand (including Chiang Mai from time to time) I walk a ton and have been doing so for years, and sometimes I have to wait quite a long while to cross safely. It can seem like the river of traffic will never cease, but it always does eventually, you have to be real patient. In the rare case that a wide enough gap doesn't open, I'll walk down the road and look for a safer place to cross, preferably a "saphan loi" pedestrian bridge. In rare cases I've walked 20 minutes in the wrong direction to find a place to cross safely. If you waded into oncoming traffic the way a lot of Thais do and just hoped that drivers would slow down for you, which is how you've described it, then it sounds like you just weren't crossing safely. That's not to deflect blame away from whoever hit you -- they should have stopped -- but it also sounds like you put yourself in a dangerous situation. When in the jungle you have to adapt the animal kingdom, or you'll get eaten. 

[Destiny1990]

Speed hills and overall speed must be reduced on roads popular with pedestrians max it 40 km zones.example Theprasit road jomtien try crossing it?pure suicide no zebras stops, no speed hills ,no reduced max 40 km zone.no road signs.

[elgordo38]

21 hours ago, CMKiwi said:

Yep it can be a dogs life out there on the streets.

 

Initially I too thought Thailand as the land of smiles would have a very caring and thoughtful attitude towards their fellow neighbour (Even the foreign ones).   Just 5 years ago that feeling was still alive.

 

Nowadays I see more and more an attitude of 'what's in it for me' or 'I don't give a damn about you' coming to the front.

 

It's not an enticing attitude to come across and if I am to do as the Romans do....then the missus will surely give me an ear bashing about my attitude!

 

You just gotta be very vigilant on these here roads. Life is cheap on all Thai roads and no one is exempt.

 

I've thought many a time at moving to Cambodia...but I haven't come across my 'straw' yet, but my back is getting a bit strained!

 

Hope you find a place that fits your expectations.

There you go gentleman do exist what a great answer. You have to ask yourself are you better off to move to another place where because of increased traffic and human ignorance you will faced with the same problem. I am writing a new book called "The Search For Utopia" but only have blank pages starring back at  me. When I finish and God willing I live that long I will send you a free copy. Like you have up to this point in life get up and dust yourself off give praise because nothing is broken (I hope) and continue.After the anger has died down weigh your options your age and medical makeup. Do not let one unfortunate incident side track you. 

[JayBird]

To be honest it is a matter of perspective:

 

Pedestrians are never given right of way

Life is cheap

Pedestrians are a viable target

 

Laws do not matter. Act as if the above rules ARE the law. Adjust behaviour and expectations accordingly.

 

If you can accept this then things are not so bad.

 

Right or wrong are not things to consider in Thailand

[EricTh]

Read the survival guide on thread below

 

 

Edited April 6, 2017 by EricTh

[HaleySabai]

The rules of the road,in a developing country, are simple - they correlate to the laws of the Jungle.

1.) Me First (survival/self-preservation)

2.) Might is Right (Lorry trumps scooter, Merc. trumps Toyota, pedestrian trumps dog et...)

 

Wanting thing to be different than the way they are leads only to a deep sense of hostility and grievance.  Finding some kind of internal 'balance' is essential to living here peacefully.

It can be simple but not easy.

 

[tandor]

..I certainly feel for the OP...one has to compromise our western values including traffic rules in this place.

Not at all in defence of the errant driver who didn't stop for you...but very few pedestrian crosswalks have signage and even less stop lights !

Almost all have faded white paint...which makes it difficult for a driver...particularly an out of towner to know where the pedestrian crossings are situated.

Being clean shaven, well groomed and nicely attired doesn't account for anything..just makes you look good in the Mortuary.

Give it another try.

 

Edited April 6, 2017 by metisdead
Font reset to normal.

[kunfish]

I would love to read a Thai persons perspective on the fact that pedestrians seem to be regarded as little more than road kill when attempting to cross the road, be it on a regular street or a clearly marked pedestrian crossing sometimes protected by a red light, which may you would have thought that would have least made a suggestion that it might be a good idea to at least slow down.
Like most of us I've witnessed elderly people, families with youngsters and even uniformed police officers struggling to cross the road in designated areas, but the majority of drivers seem to feel that the second or two wasted in slowing down isn't worth the bother for those annoying pedestrians.
I for one try and plan my walking route to try and negate the need to cross any busy roads.
Are there any Thai members who could offer an honest view? 

My wife is Thai and drives in the USA. Now we are here and she has tried to obey laws and stop for people. She does because that's what she is used to in the USA after a couple of years of practice.

Part of the reason she does not stop is because she is looking out for other cars and motorcycles. Also she has people coming up behind her so she doesn't stop.

When my wife has a chance she will stop for pedestrians. When it is safe.

There is just too much inertia in behavior to change here but it can over time.

She is now just as frustrated as any other farang with the way people drive here. See my post on cultural acclimation.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[deepinlaos]

the crosswalks in thailand confuse things.......better to cross where there isn't one......the rules are clear then

[DSJPC]

simple solution:  NEVER go to the city!!!

[smileydude]

Thailand is notorious for poor driving manners and lack of driving etiquette but when you say the "the last straw" I understand you've had many other negative experiences living here.   As a Thai person who has lived in both the US and UK for over a decade I think I can say with some substance that the average Thai in general view foreigners better then they view each other.  They automatically assume you are more educated, more wealthy and more civilized.  Those who view foreigners as white trash might be those who have a negative stereotype against those with tattoos and backpackers or elderly men roaming around bars in Pattaya (that's gonna hit a nerve!).   Stereotypes are a common element in every society and that the more ignorant you are the more you have.   Every country has people with prejudices against certain races.   People of darker skin and south Asian descent probably have it way worse then caucasians here.

I still think the average Thai is more genuinely friendly and less cynical then those living in big cities.  This probably applies all over the world so I am a bit surprised about your negative experiences in CM but when in comes to driving etiquette I have no excuses for my thai brethren because we have terrible driving manners (though I have witnessed more honking and hand gesturing in NY in 1 hr then I have seen in a year of driving in Thailand).  Thai's take everything personally, so confrontation leads to loss of face and other bad things.  We retain our sanity by just letting go and not taking it personally otherwise we'd be a bundle of road rage joy.

If someone sticks a middle finger at you in the US you just stick one back and both go their own ways.  You do it in Thailand and the guy with the gun wins.  I have no excuses, its just every culture is different.

Its about empathy and flexibility.

If its too much for you then its better to move on but if you can adjust you can enjoy the food, low cost of living, massages and  laid back culture (mai pen rai sabai sabai).

I understand a lot of foreigners come here to retire or relax from the dog eat dog rat race where you will instead face the gold diggers and scammers but also enjoy the positives.  I have had negative experiences everywhere I've lived be it LA, Miami, London, Birmingham etc but I try to avoid the negative generalizations because they would mentally block me from enjoying life in general.  

I hope you will still continue to enjoy what Thailand has to offer if you could look at it in a more forgiving way.

Edited April 6, 2017 by smileydude

[amjamj]

Good bye !

 

 

[rogeroc]

A nice Post smileydude. Although i have been critical about CM a lot of that is surely the result of tha actions of Thai authorities and the other negatives i have seen are at least as likely to be as a result of the actions of Expats / Tourists. Where i would disagree is that apart from Massages, Thailand is not really cheap anymore. The baht is very strong.

[Thaidream]

The best post on this subject or living in Thailand has been posted by Smileydude. I completely agree with his sentiments and second his perspective. You cannot live and exist in Thailand by expecting everything to be like it is in your home country. In addition, you cannot view everything from a Western perspective.

Thailand has been around for thousands of years and is still a developing country. To live in Thailand, one must adapt and accept that Thai people view things differently and act differently.

The majority of Thai people have no quarrel with anyone especially foreigners. They drive the way they do because they have been taught that way and emulate other drivers. We can all become frustrated, but sounding off to Thais and flipping the middle finger are considered incredibly rude and out of place in Thailand.  Confrontation is to be avoided in all aspects of life.  I, for one, cannot understand why foreigners cannot grasp this point. 

If, s a foreigner living in Thailand, you are more irritated than not- you may want to consider a change of scenery. Thailand will not change for you- it will develop in the way Thais want it to develop in the same manner that your own country develops. Frankly, I find that Thai people are much friendlier than foreigners in most aspects of daily life.