Why do YOU think the Thais are such bad drivers?

[fft100]

re, motorbikes,

how many actually stop at red lights ? the worst case being outside the Bangkok hospital. cars and pickups now generally stop, but I have seen more than one occasion when tuk-tuks and motorbikes barrel through and they cant possibly see if anyone is on the crossing. on one occasion the person had to literally dive out of the way. Farangs nearly as guilty as Thais. On one occasion I was so annoyed, I very nearly gave chase to ask him whether he would have done that in his own country, and could I have a copy of his driving license to send back for endorsement. I didn't. He would have probably said he was just following local customs. A camera at that traffic light could gain the BIB a lot of cash.

I remember the days when there was f*ck all between the grand hotel and the flyover. Most of Takiab was still a track with no concrete. it was better then...

[fft100]

Thai drivers must be really bad to come 3rd. The only worse countries were Eritrea and Libya. The first one has been living through a civil war for the last 10 years !

And, being Thailand, just how many accidents were actually reported ? 1 in 3 ?

[Nereus]

For all of you who have nothing better to do than blame the stupid, ignorant, lazy, contemptible Thais maybe you should think about going back to wherever you came from. It must have been better than Thailand, yeah?

Was wondering how long it would take before this old chestnut was trotted out! I politely suggest that you read the post heading!

[HHTel]

For all of you who have nothing better to do than blame the stupid, ignorant, lazy, contemptible Thais maybe you should think about going back to wherever you came from. It must have been better than Thailand, yeah?

T.I.G.R. Do you really have two brain cells to rub together.

[bsdk1960]

Thanks for the reference Big Boy. I had to chuckle when I got to Rule 67 though. I guess when they took down all of the speed signs they forgot about it.

For all of you who have nothing better to do than blame the stupid, ignorant, lazy, contemptible Thais maybe you should think about going back to wherever you came from. It must have been better than Thailand, yeah?

[fft100]

Of course, I forgot, its the foreigners fault that Thailand has the 3rd worst accident record in the world. Must be due to having been colonised. Oh... But we cant blame that can we....

[Lung Per]

[Pleng]

re, motorbikes,
how many actually stop at red lights ? the worst case being outside the Bangkok hospital. cars and pickups now generally stop, but I have seen more than one occasion when tuk-tuks and motorbikes barrel through and they cant possibly see if anyone is on the crossing. on one occasion the person had to literally dive out of the way. Farangs nearly as guilty as Thais. On one occasion I was so annoyed, I very nearly gave chase to ask him whether he would have done that in his own country, and could I have a copy of his driving license to send back for endorsement. I didn't. He would have probably said he was just following local customs. A camera at that traffic light could gain the BIB a lot of cash.

The problem you have as a farrang riding a motorcycle is you need to be frightfully aware of the fact that just because you stop, the cars behind you may not. I dread that particular crossing for that very reason, as well as approaching any green light on the verge of turning red; There's no way you're going to make it to the light by the time it flicks over, but there's also no way the car behind you at breakneck speeds is going to stop - after all red is fine for the first couple of seconds so long as you were NEARLY there when it turned, right? :s

Back to the crossing in question, there have been times I have made a calculated risk to go through the red rather than stop and face another bike, car, or tuk tuk careering into me.


Unrelated, my favourite trick from Thai drivers is the little "shunt to the left"... you know the one... The driver has a little moment and decides that he can probably make it down the motorbike lane then three seconds later realises that actually, no, his car is still the size of a car, and has achieved nothing other than to place his car at a bizarre angle and block the road for any genuinely small vehicles.

[Hezze]

Why learn to drive properly when Buddha decides who has accidents?
Better block the forward view with flags and statues and go.

[Hilux]

Sorry... maybe a little out of topic. But if you take a look at this I think you will feel lucky to be driving in Thailand - even though many of the situations here could as well have happened here.



Hilux

[Lung Per]

re, motorbikes,

how many actually stop at red lights ? the worst case being outside the Bangkok hospital. cars and pickups now generally stop, but I have seen more than one occasion when tuk-tuks and motorbikes barrel through and they cant possibly see if anyone is on the crossing. on one occasion the person had to literally dive out of the way. Farangs nearly as guilty as Thais. On one occasion I was so annoyed, I very nearly gave chase to ask him whether he would have done that in his own country, and could I have a copy of his driving license to send back for endorsement. I didn't. He would have probably said he was just following local customs. A camera at that traffic light could gain the BIB a lot of cash.

I remember the days when there was f*ck all between the grand hotel and the flyover. Most of Takiab was still a track with no concrete. it was better then...

Yep. Everything was better in the good old days

[Lung Per]

Why learn to drive properly when Buddha decides who has accidents?
Better block the forward view with flags and statues and go.

Yep. As I suggested previously in this thread, we should get Bhudda on our side.

[Takiap]

Jumping red lights and driving on the wrong side of the road = no respect for the law.

Pushing to get to the front of the queue = me first attitude.

Not keeing a safe distance = lack of training.

Flying out of a side soi onto a busy main road without looking for oncoming traffic = natural selection.


Enjoy it while you can - it's just one of the things which make living here so much fun. As others have pointed out, we are in Thailand. They have their way, we have ours. If they visit our countries they have drive our way, so it's only right that we should do the same.

[Big Boy]

[Nereus]

Talking crossings to aid pedestrians:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews ... edestrians

What is the message going to be?:"Please cross here to ensure a quick death"

or maybe" Please cross here as it makes it much easier to clean up the remains"