Nothing In Los On The Roads Surprises Me...

[helicoptor]

I would be interested to read what T.V. posters have seen whilst out and about on LOS roads.. we have all seen 4 on a moped, overloaded pickups, etc etc but what have you seen that has made you go

[elkangorito]

I would be interested to read what T.V. posters have seen whilst out and about on LOS roads.. we have all seen 4 on a moped, overloaded pickups, etc etc but what have you seen that has made you go

A woman on a 'motorsai' with 2 children on the seat behind her, one on the seat in front of her, breast feeding a baby & talking on a phone at the same time. The one & only helmet was in the front basket, which of course, if removed, would provide space for yet another passenger.

[singa-traz]

I saw a lot of "food outlet" selling "Nou Na Yang" between Nakhon Sawan and Bangkok. My wife tell me it's not my favorite Kai Yang, but maybe the taste is similar ...

[Cuban]

Upcountry pulling into a noname petrol station in my 4x4, there are no other cars or motorcycles on the forcourt, the attendant has just started talking to a Thai farmer type standing next to the sole pump. The attendant pulls out the nossle from the pump and places the end into a clear plastic carrier bag held by the farmer and proceeds to half fill the plastic bag with fuel, I was not close enough to see if it was diesel or not, I guess it was about 2-3 litres, this was when diesel was about 15 Baht a litre 5 years ago? To paraphrase Benny Hill, "What steps did you take?", Bloody Big Ones!

Last year driving around BKK on Highway 9 at about 3am I was puzzled by a strange light in the distance in front of me, it was a soft yellow-white ghostly glow moving gently as if a low level Kome Loy (Fire Balloon), I watched it play around the road in front for five minutes until it came close enough for me to see it was an old oil lamp on a length of string tied to the back of a load of timber, there was no other lights on the rear of the truck, just this one soft glowing lamp blowing in the wind.

A few years ago driving somewhere around North West of Ubon on the unmade bed of red earth that will be a 4-6 lane highway through one of the outlying towns (what will be two Frontage Roads and a few lanes of main road either way when the concrete is layed), with a roughly flat but dusty red surface and no barriers or any other form of traffic seperation it was a total free for all. Bikes, cars and trucks moved slowly in ALL directions with selection of 4x4s over and under-taking at random being better suited to the rough spots on the road. If you fancy a bit of wild west on the road pop over to Sukhothai, they have a road like this at the moment.

...finally, for the moment, my personal scary moment. I was a rear seat passenger in a nice Merc being driven along a BKK elevated highway by a young Thai friend, it was her dad's car, we were on our way to a restaurant one afternoon but she was unsure of the route. After a quick telephone conversation her friend in the front said that she knew where it was and that she should drive. There and then Lek stopped the car on a bend on the elevated highway and changed drivers. "But, but... the traffic behind... " I stammered, eyes half closed not wanting to look. "No worry...", said Lek, "...not night time yet.", as if that made it OK.

(Probably best to forget about the fireworks.)

[elkangorito]

On my very first night in Thailand, I was greeted at the airport by my Thai friend, his MIa Noi & another Thai person. We all proceeded to pile into the 4 door Honda 'something' & then drive to Pattaya.

After going through the built up area of BKK, the Mia Noi decided she was going to drive. As soon as we hit 160 Kph, I asked my Thai mate how long she had been driving. "2nd time" was the reply. Just at that moment, she was reaching around in bags etc for something. Mysteriously, a pair of optical glasses appeared & then being used.

By now & after puting indelible skid-marks on my undies, I realised why she could not see clearly...the front windscreen was tinted in a dark shade. This explained why she drove at a distance of about 5 metres from the car in front...so she could see where she was going.

This was my first driving experience in Thailand but sadly not my last.

Only the good &/or stupid die young, I guess.

[gpt]

Seen in Lat Phrao Road yesterday and I have no desire to see it again! A large 1960's Mercedes-Benz - pink bodywork with white painted roof, all interior done in white fake fur - seats, door panels & posts and roof lining.

Strange things carried on motorcycle - 19 inch TV under one arm, large pane of glass in bare hands and about four step ladders on one bike.

Funniest incident - 3 adults on a motorcycle with a hand propelled food cart in tow - The cart was 'fixed' to the bike by putting the handle on the seat and the rearmost passenger sitting on the handle - bike went over a bump, rear passenger's bottom lifted off the seat and the inevitable happened! Bike went one way, cart and contents the other way.

[pampal]

I would be interested to read what T.V. posters have seen whilst out and about on LOS roads.. we have all seen 4 on a moped, overloaded pickups, etc etc but what have you seen that has made you go

A woman on a 'motorsai' with 2 children on the seat behind her, one on the seat in front of her, breast feeding a baby & talking on a phone at the same time. The one & only helmet was in the front basket, which of course, if removed, would provide space for yet another passenger.

Sounds like a good candidate for the next china circus that comes to town.

[helicoptor]

Only yesterday on Siam Country Road I saw a guy on a moped, 1 yr old approx baby asleep in front and 6 yr old girl on back also asleep, I dont know how the baby was being carried but the guy had one hand on the bike, the other reaching round and holding onto the girl behind

[chuckd]

One of my ex-wives decided she wanted to have a house warming party and invited her family for the event.

She had to run an errand and asked me to stay at the house and greet them when they arrived. Half an hour later, a baht bus pulled up in front of the house and twenty three (23) people climbed out of, off of and underneath the vehicle.

I went back inside and locked the bedroom door.

[PhilHarries]

A man and his wife on a mo'cye, she carrying a banana tree crosswise on her knees. Estimated height of said tree 6 foot (1.83 metres) minimum.

I've seen the trick with towing the food cart but always done with the rearmost passenger facing backwards and holding the cart handles.

But it aint just Thailand, consider this:-

Woman driving a motorbike to market laden with three live pigs, pigs not piglets, trussed up and strapped one either side and one crossways over the pillion seat.

Fairly common sight in rural Viet Nam in various guises (I believe there's even a postcard of such a scene).

Even here in control freaksville (KL) you see some astounding sights on the roads.

[COBBER]

Once saw a motorcycle towing a pickup.

Recently on the highway i saw a small pickup with the usual cage on the back that had a ring of corogated roofing stacked end to end on the inside of the cage to a height of about 20 feet, and was fully loaded

I was a bit puzzled as to what it was all about untill one of the thai passengers i had in the car informed me that it was ok as they were just moving house.

[pete_r]

A few months ago, saw a (very) barebone bus being driven near Ayuttaya, there was only the base with the motor at the rear end and the steering wheel at the front end. The driver was sitting on a plastic chair and wearing a helmet. Very cool!