Stopping for pedestrians at zebra crossings - Can Thai Rath change Thai driving habits?

[dexjnr555]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

IMO it is a sign or an indication of how uncivilized Thailand can be sometimes. 

 

I've often heard that the true measure of a country is in its driving standards and consideration for others on the roads. 

 

The 'me first' attitudes here and what I call the '<deleted> switch' which people turn on when they enter a vehicle is in stark contrast with the advertised relaxed 'jai-yen' way of life people like to portray of Thai's. 

 

What I see... this Jai-Yen and Kraeng-Jai is especially strong within the circle of those known, but once people step outside of this 'circle of those known' people stop caring, they stop respecting, they stop having any concern for consequence, they start thinking me, me me... 

 

I see this as a fundamental flaw in the culture here, an underlying current of moral questionability which is ultimately devastating when combined with isolation when traveling in vehicles - People ultimately die because of this self centered attitude where people and society forget their humanity as the lowest common denominator 'selfishness' takes over. 

 

 

You make good points but every culture has their 'flaws'.

[yooyoo]

Getting Thai people to behave properly and safe with consideration for other road users will require educations of generations to follow... including the traffic police responsible for setting poor examples... similar to here in Africa, it illustrates the rotten moral fabric of a nation...  is endemic in Thai society its Thainess... 

[dexjnr555]

1 minute ago, yooyoo said:

Getting Thai people to behave properly and safe with consideration for other road users will require educations of generations to follow... including the traffic police responsible for setting poor examples... similar to here in Africa, it illustrates the rotten moral fabric of a nation...  is endemic in Thai society its Thainess... 

Being an invading white South African (no doubt) does not give you the right to make opinions on countries in which you are not a native to.

[dexjnr555]

1 hour ago, spermwhale said:

This complete disregard for pedestrians will only be changed when police start ticketing people for the infraction and when they substantially increase fines. Thailand is too backward to updated their moving violation fines and police are too lazy to actually do their job. I've been here 14 years and the Thai mentality has not changed an iota. 

If Thailand is "too backward", then why are you still here or do you enjoy living in such a so-called environment?

[bbbbooboo]

hmmm........from my experience thai drivers have absolutely no idea what a zebra crossing is for and probably care even less.....use them at your peril

[Jimbo2014]

Everyone knows what they should be doing - they just choose not to do it.  Only one way to stop it - police do their job and impose massive fines.  

[gandalf12]

I have had many Thai drivers stop to allow me to cross the road both on a zebra crossing and without.

[YetAnother]

the roots of the current awful state of thai drivers is social; complete disregard for anyone but themselves

[richard_smith237]

2 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

the roots of the current awful state of thai drivers is social; complete disregard for anyone but themselves

 

Agreed - this is the root cause of many if not most of the issues I see on the road these days... 

 

 

[tomacht8]

It is in their mentality.

It is always: I first.

They do not care about others.

 

[Regyai]

3 hours ago, Wiggy said:

I think they have now abandoned the light system on Beach Road as more people got hit. I may be wrong though as I haven't been there for a while. Sad if true.

I think it was more a case of everyone had their cut out of that bit of municipal spending way back then....so no ones interested now

[Tropez]

I love walking and i have relised number of obstacles to do that in thailand. 

- dark car glass window's. Thai like to hide behind them pretend they dont see you 

- people home and shops inveding public walking spaces with plant vase metal ramps for there garage scooters plastic shades basically no respect for walking pedestrian or any city planing

- thai people are nice if a real campaign will take place by the goverment from kindergarten to schools work pkaces and temples market places we can establish friendly road etiquette. 

 

Edited June 15, 2017 by Tropez

[portroyal]

In Asia, when you drive a car, you are more powerful, means more important, means richer.

So it's quite normal rich car owners don't allow a poor pedestrian to cross

[hobz]

4 hours ago, Wiggy said:

The last time I stopped I got rear-ended and my car severely damaged. That's why I don't stop, unfortunately. Would welcome a successful campaign to make it happen though.

Happened to me as well. Once two motorbikes collided with eachother behind me when i stopped. Another time a motorbike behind me lost control and hit me from the side.

 

Both times pedestrians didnt cross because traffic in other lane kept going despite accident + pedestrians waiting to cross etc.

 

If they wont stop when somebody already stopped and there is an accident.. Why on earth would they ever stop.

 

 

[jaiyen]

4 hours ago, Just1Voice said:

Can't speak for the rest of Thailand, but I've noticed that in Chiang Mai, in many cases, drivers actually do stop for people to cross the road at the designated areas.  Many of the crossings have the temporary red light to stop traffic, and in most cases it is observed.  

 

Maybe the Lanna Thai of the north are more considerate than the Siam Thai of the south. lol

 

The crossing At Tapae Gate next to the Muay Thai stadium is very good and is often policed especially when the market is on. Cars will find it hard to go through the crossing then because of the hundreds of Chinese crossing the road in a group.

[robsamui]

It's a simple matter of crime and punishment - and this applies to a great many things in Thailand. 

 

If the current junta were to put as much time and energy into an ongoing blitz on dangerous driving as they are doing into clearing sidewalks it might be a different story. 

 

But - as so any people here have commented - if the road laws are not being enforced, then everybody will drive how the hell they want with no fear of recrimination.

[biggles45]

"Why don't people stop?"

 

Isn't it all about perceived status, and pedestrians are at the bottom ?  Cars, bikes etc see themselves as much more important and their time is too valuable to stop

 

[chivo]

I have to say, things aren't that much better in the US where I am now. Despite a law against it, I see many people texting and driving every day, and no one uses their blinker (turn signal). They do stop at cross walks, but only for fear of getting a ticket. 

[scorecard]

50 minutes ago, robsamui said:

It's a simple matter of crime and punishment - and this applies to a great many things in Thailand. 

 

If the current junta were to put as much time and energy into an ongoing blitz on dangerous driving as they are doing into clearing sidewalks it might be a different story. 

 

But - as so any people here have commented - if the road laws are not being enforced, then everybody will drive how the hell they want with no fear of recrimination.

 

True but on the other hand if they did put time and resources into this there would be the usual brigade on TV who would criticize to hell, in fact they get up every morning with the thought 'how many things can I criticize  / turn into a negative today'! 

Edited June 15, 2017 by scorecard

[Searat7]

I live in Silom and find there is safety in numbers when crossing Silom Road at zebra stripes. If motorists see a group of people crossing the road they are more likely to stop. One of the crossings even has traffic lights. 

[WhyYouTalkMeBad]

Especially a motor bike taxi will NEVER stop but continue to bear down on you at 80 kmph swerving to one side in the last 10 meters.
Those zebra crossings need to be removed for the safety of western tourists.

[Bastos60]

You can only enforce this in areas where you have a maximum speed of 50 km/h. 
If the maximum speed is any higher, a driver wouldn't have enough road to quickly come to a halt if a pedestrian decides 
to just cross the zebrapath. 

 

As to the article, if you have multiple zebrapaths on that road, you will lose far more time if you had to stop at each one and you are sure you will get 
traffic congestion purely because of this. In my country, in 50km/h areas, pedestrians have always right of way when they are crossing a zebrapath and
at 2 places it can become a real pain when you have continuesly people crossing. 

 

[joecoolfrog]

6 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

A couple of times, when I have stopped to allow pedestrians to cross, motorcycles and cars have passed me on either side and nearly wiped out the pedestrians as they stepped onto the crossing.

 

This even happened once at a light controlled crossing on Pattaya beach road.

 

 

 

 

 

Myself and 2 friends nearly got wiped out on Sukhumvit this way , lucky to escape with a glancing blow. 2 cars had stopped but a pick up just rushed up on the outside lane , ignorant , thoughtless , selfish scum !

[Bastos60]

6 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

This even happened once at a light controlled crossing on Pattaya beach road.

 

There is a light controlled crosswalk at Pattaya beach road? Oh yeah,  now I remember, the lights where nobody bothers to stop.

[Classic Ray]

This problem just reflects the relative status of pedestrians and motorists, whatever the law says.

 

Pedestrians are perceived as the low status poor, therefore not to be considered, the exact opposite of the West (especially U.K.) where laws are skewed entirely in favour of pedestrians.

 

Failing to stop for a pedestrian at a crossing will attract a heavy fine and points towards disqualification. Crossings are marked with orange flashing beacons and zig zag markings where it is forbidden to park or overtake.

 

Here bigger is better and pedestrians are ignored, no sanctions against drivers, so a mindset difficult to change.

[NoshowJones]

6 hours ago, observer90210 said:

The easiest thing would be to put road bumps a bit before that would force cars to slow...and further, just before the crossing to put a trafic light....if not, worthless... many a city in Europe having similar rash  and irresponsable drivers as in Thailand, tackled the problem in this manner...

Road bumps???? No way, they could also cause deaths if the emergency services are slowed down also. 

[NoshowJones]

5 hours ago, stubuzz said:

I have experienced the same. 

 

They could put zig zag lines leading up to the crossing like in the UK, where vehicles are not allowed to overtake.

But this being Thailand, I don't suppose it would make a blind bit of difference.

[chickenslegs]

2 hours ago, biggles45 said:

"Why don't people stop?"

 

Isn't it all about perceived status, and pedestrians are at the bottom ?  Cars, bikes etc see themselves as much more important and their time is too valuable to stop

 

 

Not sure whether it's status, ignorance, or self-absorption. Most don't even move to the side to let an ambulance pass.

[Get Real]

This will be totally possible when all people not need to drink water anymore.

[wakeupplease]

Zebra crossings

 

What is a Zebra crossings (Local Question)

 

They work in most other country but here not a chance, but here is an idea remove the rant by the Pm on Friday and put road safety program on instead, it may get the message across, it would certainly help the locals switch on the television again during this big turn off time