Please help me understand this!

[scoooooby]

OK, so this morning I am, us usual, sat at a red light on my way to work and waiting for the usual frustration I get every time....... 'Red to Green' and everyone seems to have all the time in the world pulling away at a snails pace HOWEVER 50 meters down the road and they now flip style to high speed lane swapping, cutting up, forcing lane entry and generally adopt the normal process when traffic is flowing....THEN... another Red light and for those who do not jump the light, or just ignore it entirely, we all back up again in our rows infiltrated by the motorcycles who squeeze through with great accuracy and again I wait for the slow response when we 'go-green'..... I know it should not frustrate me as I see it every day but sometimes you have just got to vent   lol....   1,2,3,......10   arrggghhhhhh feel better now

 

Sorry for the light hearted note, but hope maybe you can relate to this yourselves....well for those poor sods like me that do not have there own driver!........ Oh to be a Japanese employee in Thailand !!!!!

 

Cheers all.......

[robblok]

To squeeze through is the advantage of a motorcycle driver (i do the same when I drive on my motorbike). Its just one of the perks of driving a motorbike. The slow start from green also has a reason, if you don't wait a bit you get taken out by red light jumpers (the ones you also describe). So even if you were in the front you would have to start slow too or risk a collision. Motorbikes in general are off far faster than cars and usually (not all but 95%) accelerate faster then cars. I have been in my car too behind motorcycle drivers and I never find them a nuisance. Who I do find a nuisance and a real danger are the red light jumpers. 

[Kwasaki]

Just pretend you have a mounted 50 cal machine gun on the bonnet and blow them away.  

[richard_smith237]

Slow off the mark at the traffic lights is the adapted 'common sense' approach here... 

 

If you are first away from the lights the instant they turn green you are the guy who gets cleaned up by the Truck which jumped the red. 

 

Edited June 20, 2017 by richard_smith237

[topt]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

Slow off the mark at the traffic lights is the adapted 'common sense' approach here... 

 

If you are first away from the lights the instant they turn green you are the guy who gets cleaned up by the Truck which jumped the red. 

 

Agreed if you are in the front. As the OP stated though what  I do not get is once some vehicles have started to move off there are often 1 or more who seems to leave far too big a gap or drive so slowly through the junction potentially impacting your chances to get through whilst still green.

[geronimo]

Just go with the flow and let it go .....................

[BEVUP]

Yep be careful of the red light jumpers also i like to burn them of so i am not stuffed around when needing to change lanes (thats bikes & all)

The other reason they are slow is apparently from what i heard is that they like to start off in 3 rd gear on the presumption that it saves fuel (hate to see what it does to engine)

[JohnJay]

Don't try to apply logic when it comes to driving in Thailand, just try to get home alive! I have to resist the temptation to honk at cars that aren't moving when the light turns green, a lot of Thais are packing heat in the glove box or center console, you're best just going with the flow.

[Boycie]

21 hours ago, topt said:

Agreed if you are in the front. As the OP stated though what  I do not get is once some vehicles have started to move off there are often 1 or more who seems to leave far too big a gap or drive so slowly through the junction potentially impacting your chances to get through whilst still green.

Thats because many drivers get their phones out when in a queue of traffic or at red lights and not concentrating 100% on the road conditions around them.

 

I thought thats why they have them countdown timers at many junctions with trafffic lights in operation, so you know how long you have to make a Facebook post 

[AhFarangJa]

These may take the stress out of the day..........

 

[AhFarangJa]

Or this one......

[gandalf12]

Can you do anything about it? No you cant so why worry about it?

[Panda13]

Take comfort in the fact that at least your 1 car ahead of the guy behind you.

[dotpoom]

When I first experienced this I couldn't figure it out either.......so I asked the Mrs. sitting beside me...."Do Thai drivers think the lights are Christmas trees....are they hypnotised by them"....she burst out laughing so I still say it every time now.

   Actually, you can use it to your advantage....like pulling up to the lights on the hard shoulder (not recommended), you know you're going to have no problem getting into lane.

   I remember on guy on here a few years back asking why Thai drivers pulled away so quickly when the lights changed?????

[ben2talk]

On 6/20/2017 at 11:01 AM, robblok said:

To squeeze through is the advantage of a motorcycle driver (i do the same when I drive on my motorbike). Its just one of the perks of driving a motorbike. The slow start from green also has a reason, if you don't wait a bit you get taken out by red light jumpers (the ones you also describe). So even if you were in the front you would have to start slow too or risk a collision. Motorbikes in general are off far faster than cars and usually (not all but 95%) accelerate faster then cars. I have been in my car too behind motorcycle drivers and I never find them a nuisance. Who I do find a nuisance and a real danger are the red light jumpers. 

I like to sit back when there's a countdown - depending on how many bikes and how much visibility I have - maybe about 2 car lengths, so when the light turns green I have 30km/h already and just need to push it up to 60 to be maybe 1/2km ahead up the road.

 

In the car, I get bored with bikes not being in the left lane when they're clearly moving slower than traffic (e.g. doing 50 when the road ahead is clear and I'm doing 80).

 

I also never leave less than a full car length in front of my car in the soi's, so that when traffic stops the bikes can skip past a few cars in the queue and not be stranded overtaking with nowhere to pull in. Yes, I know - a real hero 

[GreasyFingers]

On 20/06/2017 at 10:36 AM, scoooooby said:

'Red to Green' and everyone seems to have all the time in the world pulling away at a snails pace

Did'nt you know there is a secret contest to see who can take off the slowest. Not sure what the prize is though, maybe just the fact that they upset farangs.

[bamukloy]

you must know by now, Thai attention span is about as good as a mobile phone..

 

Yes, after a few minutes unactivity the lights go off, and take some pressing buttons to get going again  

So therefor, down the road they will be desperate to do anything that avoid an idle stop again and have to kickstarting a very poor underused engine!

[toofarnorth]

A very good friend of mine said in England you have to drive to the road conditions , could be rain ,snow fog or high wind.  Over here you have to drive to the conditions , those that drive pick ups , mini buses , scooters , those have no licence to drive , those that have no idea how to drive , red light jumpers , wrong side of the road drivers................ all are part and parcel of driving conditions .  Never mind the weather !

[TC206]

Yes, frustrating to say the least. Any birdbrain can scan the intersection in a millisecond and drive on. The argument that its a safety issue doesn't gel with me because as you say many of these snail pace starters drive like lunatics once they are through the intersection. Just part of living in Thailand and must stay alert at all times on the roads here.

 

[Khon Kaen Dave]

21 hours ago, BEVUP said:

Yep be careful of the red light jumpers also i like to burn them of so i am not stuffed around when needing to change lanes (thats bikes & all)

The other reason they are slow is apparently from what i heard is that they like to start off in 3 rd gear on the presumption that it saves fuel (hate to see what it does to engine)

Yeah, the third gear jumpers are of the same educational level that has convinced motor cycle riders , that driving with your lights off, saves on battery power.

[wwest5829]

20 hours ago, JohnJay said:

Don't try to apply logic when it comes to driving in Thailand, just try to get home alive! I have to resist the temptation to honk at cars that aren't moving when the light turns green, a lot of Thais are packing heat in the glove box or center console, you're best just going with the flow.

 

 

If too long, I give two short beep, beep and wai... I have not been shot at to date. 555

[jesimps]

On 20/06/2017 at 2:19 PM, topt said:

Agreed if you are in the front. As the OP stated though what  I do not get is once some vehicles have started to move off there are often 1 or more who seems to leave far too big a gap or drive so slowly through the junction potentially impacting your chances to get through whilst still green.

Yes, this makes me pear shaped too. The car in front of you lets the vehicles ahead get away while they dodder through leaving you stuck on red.

[bazza73]

The ones that really piss me off I can understand as well. They are the selfish turds who can't wait for other traffic, so they pull into the scooter lane, then force their way back into the line of traffic when the lights change. Usually SUV's and large pickups.

I am talking to my mechanic about equipping my vehicles with retractable blades on the axles, similar to those used in the chariot race of Ben Hur. You have been warned.

 

[Tofer]

Just be thankful you don't drive around the jungle areas of Th or the backward islands like ours.

 

My wife told me the story of a jungle resident who drove to town, stopped by police and asked for his bi kab kee (licence), he replied what's that. They asked him why he didn't stop at the traffic lights - what's those he replied, police pointing at the lights the driver responded - oh I thought they were for the aeroplanes!!!

 

As for the islands, I've literally just sat and watched a neighbor pull up in their new Honda Civic, woman gets out of the passenger seat, then their (approx) 13/14 year old Son gets out of the drivers seat. I'm guessing they'd just been to the mosque and it was a case of 'in sha allah'..... My wife had to restrain me from screaming abuse at them.

 

I'm just waiting for the day one of these infants on motorbikes and now in cars involves us in an accident, and more to the point what the police will do about it.

 

My advice - leave 15 mins earlier for a 1 hour journey, relax and enjoy the scenery, drive defensively and stay alive!

 

Have a sing song while you wait - "tiiiime is on my side, yes it is"...........

[Tofer]

11 minutes ago, jesimps said:

Yes, this makes me pear shaped too. The car in front of you lets the vehicles ahead get away while they dodder through leaving you stuck on red.

It's called farang baiting.....

[bangkokairportlink]

On 6/20/2017 at 0:48 PM, richard_smith237 said:

Slow off the mark at the traffic lights is the adapted 'common sense' approach here... 

 

If you are first away from the lights the instant they turn green you are the guy who gets cleaned up by the Truck which jumped the red. 

 

 

This is why I enjoy having bikes in front of me at traffic lights. Just wondering why they have suicidal tendencies ?

 

 

[JohnJay]

35 minutes ago, wwest5829 said:

 

 

If too long, I give two short beep, beep and wai... I have not been shot at to date. 555

Ha. I've noticed that Thais don't tend to get angry behind the wheel. I've seen some stupid stuff, people doing a 10-point-turn and blocking traffic but no-one honks at them. I think there's a reason. Back hope I'd be going mad.

[NoshowJones]

Yes I see this all the time, I just blast the horn at them.

[NoshowJones]

On 6/20/2017 at 0:48 PM, richard_smith237 said:

Slow off the mark at the traffic lights is the adapted 'common sense' approach here... 

 

If you are first away from the lights the instant they turn green you are the guy who gets cleaned up by the Truck which jumped the red. 

 

"Slow off the mark at the traffic lights is the adapted 'common sense' approach here"

That is very true, I was on my motorbike this morning, the lights did their usual, but the car in front of me was still sitting there till I had to pump my horn at him to get him moving.

[NoshowJones]

21 hours ago, JohnJay said:

Don't try to apply logic when it comes to driving in Thailand, just try to get home alive! I have to resist the temptation to honk at cars that aren't moving when the light turns green, a lot of Thais are packing heat in the glove box or center console, you're best just going with the flow.

Why do you have to resist the temptation to honk at them?

 

Give them a good blast and waken them up.