Driving in Thailand

[Grant]

Crazy speeding drivers and lane changers are the main cause of Accidents in Thailand.

we encountered dozens of near death experiences travelling to Phuket from Hua Hin!

Trucks racing each other?

Many cars passing at dangerous bends and with oncoming traffic!

Drivers on wrong side of road at least a dozen a day??

Drivers slowing on verge and nearly causing accidents from overtakes?

Drivers pulling out with no indication or care about fast on coming drivers?

Endless amount of no regards to others ?

Very selfish drivers not caring where they stop on the road?

Its just a nightmare of disrespectful drivers and disregard of laws!!

Red light runners at least 6 a day?

No regard for life or it’s value!

Natty was completely right !

Adult road safety education  is the only thing to save lives here!

[KaptainRob]

Your 1st time driving in Thailand, Grant?   You get used to it.

[Lyp14 [ctxa]]

7 minutes ago, Grant said:

Crazy speeding drivers and lane changers are the main cause of Accidents in Thailand.

Wrong. 

Speeding is safe if you do it at whatever speed the road, weather, and traffic conditions allow for. 

Changing lanes in itself is also pretty innocent. 

 

What kills is is speeding way beyond what the conditions and driver's ability allow for, and changing lanes without even looking at the mirrors. Luckily it's only a small percentage of drivers doing this.

[gazmo16]

 There will always be some madness on the roads so just look out for it and try to avoid getting involved. Remember life is cheap in Thailand apparently. 

[Faraday]

Have you been for the driving test yet?

You'll enjoy the video that you have to watch...

[GMoney2312]

33 minutes ago, Faraday said:

Have you been for the driving test yet?

I had no driving test at all. No video- whole thing took 11 minutes!

[WilliamG]

46 minutes ago, Faraday said:

Have you been for the driving test yet?

You'll enjoy the video that you have to watch...

Unless you are Thai.

[Rookiescot]

6 minutes ago, GMoney2312 said:

I had no driving test at all. No video- whole thing took 11 minutes!

I was the same. The longest thing was getting my picture taken and them printing the card.

Otherwise it was a case of handing over my UK license and some paperwork to which the guy behind the counter said "Oh. UK. OK no problem". Then he asked the most mental question I have heard for a long time. "What UK people call orange light"?

I said "Amber".

He basically burst into applause and said "Oh. You very good driver!".

As we left I asked my then wife what was all that about and she said if I had failed test I need to pay money to get a license. 

[GMoney2312]

6 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

"Oh. You very good driver!".

I think they had no English video or an English test to give me, so they just wanted me out of the way.

[Marble-eye]

11 minutes ago, GMoney2312 said:

I think they had no English video or an English test to give me, so they just wanted me out of the way.

Perfectly understandable Greg.

[Marble-eye]

When I went for the driving test the lady in charge was a cross between Bella Emberg and Ann Widdicombe.

We were on the test circuit and she segregated the Thais and the foreigners, about 15 Thais and about 2 or 3 foreigners.

She spent about 10 minutes explaining to the Thais the complications that they may encounter on the circuit and after her detailed explanation she turned to us foreigners and said "farang fail, go home," that magical moment will remain with me for a very long time.

 

[ovratnadz]

Its not that bad. In USA if you take part in some road rage you might have a gun pulled on you. If the police pull you over for a tail light out, you might have a gun pulled on you. The smallest cars have 300hp and the big ones have 600hp. Everyone races. You learn to like it.

Thailand is easy. That list of complaints and problems are half of the fun. You learn to like it.

You see motorcycles with side cars carrying thousands of eggs and not a single one breaks. It's really not that bad

[KaptainRob]

In Australia and NZ one may take Defensive Driving courses; have fun at Go Karting circuits; do Hot Laps on a race circuit with a real race driver ... all cost money.

>

In Thailand it's all FREE, available nationwide, daily