Am visiting a friend, farang, living in a town in the north of Thailand. He has a son of 11 years old who is not allowed to cross a semi busy 2 lane road by himself. Somebody must escort him out of the soi to visit me, and his dad, in the restaurant opposite of said road. When I saw that I asked my friend and he explained to me his missus way of thinking. He was slightly embarassed when he told me.

 

As I am not a parent I ask, is this normal  here or anywhere else ?

After reading your Post i recall reading many years ago that a child was not competent to cross a busy road until teenage. 

 

Taking a quick look at the Internet it states 14 as the age when awareness skills are fully developed but that 12 year olds usually adjust successfully by waiting for bigger gaps in traffic.