News Forum - Phuket focuses on foreigners causing motorbike accidents

[ExpatPattaya]

On 1/3/2023 at 6:41 PM, Ramanathan.P said:

If really wanted to solve this issue permanently it is very simple. J

Send all the Japanese ICE air and noise polluting motorcycles back to Honda and Yamaha.  Thailand has 2 E-bike, E-scooter manufacturers.  Switch everyone over and keep the money invested in Thailand and its products.  Really sad that countries refuse to evolve and quit relying on foreign oil and foreign ICE products that damage the environment for everyone.  It is the 21st century for pete's sake! Time for a change

ICE (Internal Combustion Engines....the ones that use gas or diesel)

[HolyCowCm]

23 minutes ago, JamesR said:

I don't blame you.

I worked in Arlington Texas for three months as I was sent over by a German company to test and deliver our post office software system, it was like another world to me.

Guys had shotguns in their pickup trucks.

I decided to walk to work once and I was stopped by a police car and asked why I was walking, is walking a suspicious pursuit over there?

I was at a restaurant in Dallas and asked the waiter if I could park my car there and have a wander around the area and asked about the best direction to go in, he told me not to walk, I need to drive to my destination as it was not safe, I realised what he meant after seeing various gangs of guys hanging around on street corners looking not too friendly. 

On another contract I worked in New Jersey for a year as I thought it would be different. On one occasion we  came out of a restaurant onto a small street in a very small town called Morris Town and had turned the wrong way down a  very short one way street. A police car was passing and blocked the road, another policeman on a pushbike arrived and was at side of the car, there were three policeman in total. A policeman approached from the back and told us to show him our hands, the guy driving reached for his wallet to get his driving licence and was screamed at to freeze, I though I was in a Hollywood movie.

I was asked if I wanted to extend my contract for another two years, I thought no way and I was on the next plane back to the UK.

Why would I want to live in such a society where individuals have to protect themselves with guns etc.

On one contract I was working in Amsterdam with a group of Americans, they could not believe how we could wander around at any time of the day or night in a capital city without any worries, they said they could not do that back home.

Every country has its good and bad points including Thailand but here it is a bit like the UK where for most parts you can wander around at anytime of the day without fear.

But on the other hand I know many Thais who have been living and working in the UK for decades, they have permanent residency there and who also only go back to their homeland for two or three weeks at a time as they say it is uncomfortable here with the heat and prefer to work and live in the UK as there are more opportunities for them so really it is all about what suits us as individuals. 

It suits me here as I am retired and so can do as I please, but I would not have liked to have worked here due to the heat etc.

So I keep my assets and money in the UK where they are relatively safe and under my control and spend what I need here.

Well in the USA not like Phuket, so if you do not have a DL for motorbike and get in an accident then you are going to jail, going to get a big stiff fine and going to be sued by someone if you happened to include them in someway. Not to mention hospital bills can wipe out your life savings or life if you do not have insurance. 

BTW. Just like anywhere, one needs to know your surroundings before one goes walking. This means good street sense, although the US is out of control with thieves - homeless and gangs in too many areas now. I rememebr you once posted about some of your times in the US before. I think it was your stories.

For motorbikes here, i have a license and am on the legal part of the law here.

[JamesR]

2 hours ago, HolyCowCm said:

Well in the USA not like Phuket, so if you do not have a DL for motorbike and get in an accident then you are going to jail, going to get a big stiff fine and going to be sued by someone if you happened to include them in someway. Not to mention hospital bills can wipe out your life savings or life if you do not have insurance. 

BTW. Just like anywhere, one needs to know your surroundings before one goes walking. This means good street sense, although the US is out of control with thieves - homeless and gangs in too many areas now. I rememebr you once posted about some of your times in the US before. I think it was your stories.

For motorbikes here, i have a license and am on the legal part of the law here.

"Well in the USA not like Phuket, so if you do not have a DL for motorbike and get in an accident then you are going to jail, going to get a big stiff fine and going to be sued by someone if you happened to include them in someway. Not to mention hospital bills can wipe out your life savings or life if you do not have insurance. "

I understand what you mean as your comment reminds me of another US story, I was in NJ in a small town either East or West Orange.

A large Jeep was slightly side swiped by a small Toyota car, it literally just made the Jeep rock a few inches to the left and back.

Both cars stopped, the woman in the Jeep froze and did not move, five minutes later a fire engine and an ambulance arrived, they carefully put a collar on the woman and put her on a stretcher, it was not possible she had been injured from such a small event as I could have pushed the Jeep from side to side with a much greater force than had been the case from the side swipe. 

I then realised there was probably an insurance claim involved, what a scam I thought.

I needed a bank, so I asked a local, they said there is a drive though bank five minutes drive away, I said I wanted to walk and they told me it is too far away to walk to.

I decided to walk anyway and it took me five minutes to walk there, no one was walking anywhere.

On another occasion I went to a shopping mall with some guys from work, we parked and bought what we needed and then decided to go to Subway for a sandwich, I said lets walk and they said it was a bit of a walk so we drove, it was two hundred yards away I found out thirty seconds later.

[Marc26]

9 hours ago, JamesR said:

I don't blame you.

I worked in Arlington Texas for three months as I was sent over by a German company to test and deliver our post office software system, it was like another world to me.

Guys had shotguns in their pickup trucks.

I decided to walk to work once and I was stopped by a police car and asked why I was walking, is walking a suspicious pursuit over there?

I was at a restaurant in Dallas and asked the waiter if I could park my car there and have a wander around the area and asked about the best direction to go in, he told me not to walk, I need to drive to my destination as it was not safe, I realised what he meant after seeing various gangs of guys hanging around on street corners looking not too friendly. 

On another contract I worked in New Jersey for a year as I thought it would be different. On one occasion we  came out of a restaurant onto a small street in a very small town called Morris Town and had turned the wrong way down a  very short one way street. A police car was passing and blocked the road, another policeman on a pushbike arrived and was at side of the car, there were three policeman in total. A policeman approached from the back and told us to show him our hands, the guy driving reached for his wallet to get his driving licence and was screamed at to freeze, I though I was in a Hollywood movie.

I was asked if I wanted to extend my contract for another two years, I thought no way and I was on the next plane back to the UK.

Why would I want to live in such a society where individuals have to protect themselves with guns etc.

On one contract I was working in Amsterdam with a group of Americans, they could not believe how we could wander around at any time of the day or night in a capital city without any worries, they said they could not do that back home.

Every country has its good and bad points including Thailand but here it is a bit like the UK where for most parts you can wander around at anytime of the day without fear.

But on the other hand I know many Thais who have been living and working in the UK for decades, they have permanent residency there and who also only go back to their homeland for two or three weeks at a time as they say it is uncomfortable here with the heat and prefer to work and live in the UK as there are more opportunities for them so really it is all about what suits us as individuals. 

It suits me here as I am retired and so can do as I please, but I would not have liked to have worked here due to the heat etc.

So I keep my assets and money in the UK where they are relatively safe and under my control and spend what I need here.

I am not saying you are lying and I don't get offended by anything negative about America because I have probably more negative things to say than most

 

BUT...........Pretty much everything you said doesn't sound believable to me, knowing all those areas extremely well

 

People don't drive around Arlington TX with shotguns regularly, it's just not a city that has that sort of culture. You may have seen a truck with shotguns going hunting, and there are plenty of towns in Texas you'd see that as a norm, but not Arlington

 

I have major clients in Dallas and I can say without a doubt, I have never seen "gangs of guys hanging around" in the 100x going there

 

And about the Americans commenting they can't walk around back home

I simply don't find that believable 

 

I travel all over the US, it isn't perfect but there isn't many cities where you'd feel unsafe walking around downtown.

And quite honestly, I have been to Amsterdam plenty of times, and I would find Amsterdam more sketchy than most US cities

 

I can think of one, St Louis.........what a hellhole.

Now if you add feeling unsafe because of homeless and druggies(which some rightfully might) I'd add LA, Seattle, Portland and NYC in some places

 

And I would add NYC for Asians, which is horrendous you have to worry about that in a major city and something that effects me personally, we no longer bring my wife to NYC

 

 

PS....I could see the Morrisstown incident with police happening, cops in US are over the top

 

[Marc26]

6 hours ago, JamesR said:

"Well in the USA not like Phuket, so if you do not have a DL for motorbike and get in an accident then you are going to jail, going to get a big stiff fine and going to be sued by someone if you happened to include them in someway. Not to mention hospital bills can wipe out your life savings or life if you do not have insurance. "

I understand what you mean as your comment reminds me of another US story, I was in NJ in a small town either East or West Orange.

A large Jeep was slightly side swiped by a small Toyota car, it literally just made the Jeep rock a few inches to the left and back.

Both cars stopped, the woman in the Jeep froze and did not move, five minutes later a fire engine and an ambulance arrived, they carefully put a collar on the woman and put her on a stretcher, it was not possible she had been injured from such a small event as I could have pushed the Jeep from side to side with a much greater force than had been the case from the side swipe. 

I then realised there was probably an insurance claim involved, what a scam I thought.

I needed a bank, so I asked a local, they said there is a drive though bank five minutes drive away, I said I wanted to walk and they told me it is too far away to walk to.

I decided to walk anyway and it took me five minutes to walk there, no one was walking anywhere.

On another occasion I went to a shopping mall with some guys from work, we parked and bought what we needed and then decided to go to Subway for a sandwich, I said lets walk and they said it was a bit of a walk so we drove, it was two hundred yards away I found out thirty seconds later.

That is exactly how my sister and her kids and people in my neighborhood where I grew up are

They don't walk anywhere

It's not a downtown area but you can walk to stores, restaurants, barbers, bars, bank in 10mins all over the city

 

And they act like I am crazy when I say I will walk

 

If I can walk somewhere instead of drive, I do

[HolyCowCm]

14 hours ago, Marc26 said:

I can think of one, St Louis.........what a hellhole.

Yep!

[Marc26]

7 hours ago, HolyCowCm said:

Yep!

I've never seen anything like it, couldn't believe it

 

And I guess that's my point, St Louis is like James was talking about, not those other cities and certainly not even a small % of cities in the US are like that

[HolyCowCm]

2 hours ago, Marc26 said:

I've never seen anything like it, couldn't believe it

And I guess that's my point, St Louis is like James was talking about, not those other cities and certainly not even a small % of cities in the US are like that

The word armpit comes to mind.