News Forum - Thailand is home to the most motorcyclists in the world

[Thaiger]

The Pew Research Centre reported that Thailand has the most motorcyclists in the world. Similarly, most victims of road accidents in the country are riding motorcycles. If you’ve ever visited Vietnam, you might have noticed the abundance of motorbikes on the road, especially in Ho Chi Minh City. It may lead you to believe that …

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[kalyan]

in my view , possible in accurate or old data.

[palooka]

These international survey groups are probably well meaning BUT they leave out a lot of reality.

No mention of the hundreds and thousands of unregistered vehicles that are involved daily in accidents.

Most rural areas would have hundreds (maybe thousands) of bikes that are illegal. 

Wander down to a large rural local school and see how "illegal" bikes are transporting kids home.

Counted them in the previous village I lived of a population about 120 people had some 40 bikes unregistered, no plates or tax etc. 

Yep, owned one myself, never did over 25km per hour ever and never left the village but had one accident.

Dog outside the temple got me, all it takes. 

 

[FarangandEarnest]

I know of 2 motorcycle deaths in the last month in just the local district I'm staying in in North Thailand, including a young guy dying yesterday because he decided that riding home from the Inter Village sports day after a skinful of Thai Whisky was a good idea. 

With the attitudes towards drink driving, vehicle maintenance (I'm sick of seeing motorbikes at night with no working back light),  safety equipment and road traffic rules. I am in no way surprised that Thailand has the highest number of deaths.

Despite the constant talks of government crackdowns on x and y with regards to road safety a lot of it seems to be just lip service. 

Maybe the politicians and police chiefs should go for a walk along Rangsit frontage road to get an idea of how bad things are.

 

 

[Ramanathan.P]

Talking about registered and unregistered motorcycle in Thailand, there is no mandator requirement that all motorcycle has to be registered. Recently my friend bought a motorcycle for her personal use. However I found that it carries no registration number. Upon checking with her, I understand that it is not mandatory. However I forced her to register it properly so that the motorcycle is secured properly. So with no such mandatory law, there are many grey areas in the system

[Sigma6]

6 minutes ago, Ramanathan.P said:

Talking about registered and unregistered motorcycle in Thailand, there is no mandator requirement that all motorcycle has to be registered. Recently my friend bought a motorcycle for her personal use. However I found that it carries no registration number. Upon checking with her, I understand that it is not mandatory. However I forced her to register it properly so that the motorcycle is secured properly. So with no such mandatory law, there are many grey areas in the system

If she intends to use it on public roads, I dont believe this is true.

[Grumpish]

Big difference between Vietnam and Thailand is that in Vietnam  they mostly plod along at a fairly sedate pace, crossing the road is more often a matter of walking slowly and steadily and let them ride round you. Whereas the Thai driving style is generally one of either suicidal or homicidal.

[HolyCowCm]

Well we have 6. One is unregistered but still works. 

[Skip]

It's not the motorcycles' fault... stupidity runs rampart

[BainaiThai]

1 hour ago, Skip said:

It's not the motorcycles' fault... stupidity runs rampart

 

Natures way of eliminating stupid from the gene pool

[KaptainRob]

12 hours ago, FarangandEarnest said:

With the attitudes towards drink driving, vehicle maintenance (I'm sick of seeing motorbikes at night with no working back light),  safety equipment and road traffic rules. I am in no way surprised that Thailand has the highest number of deaths.

Contributing factors also include cars with all-round black tint which turn poorly lit motorbikes, (pedestrians and parked trucks) almost invisible.  I've seen such accidents locally yet no-one takes any notice of the car tinting ... 'it was the dead bikers fault'.

[AdvocatusDiaboli]

2 minutes ago, KaptainRob said:

'it was the dead bikers fault'.

Unless it was a Farang driving and some money can be garnered from it.
 

You really got to feel that the Government has put this in the Too Hard Basket, and Police in the Don’t Care Basket when it comes to motorcycle accidents and motorcycle rider safety.

[gazmo16]

why would the Police fix the cash cow when they can keep milking it. Just look at any tourist town, bikes are good for local businesses and local law enforcement.

[Ramanathan.P]

13 hours ago, Sigma6 said:

If she intends to use it on public roads, I dont believe this is true.

Well...she is using in public roads. What I understand is that the shop from where she buys never insists on the registration. They told her that it will take about a month to register and can be used without registration also and nothing wrong as she is not riding out of the local town. However what I feel is that without a proper registration number, there is always the possibility of motorcycle being stolen as there is nothing that can be proven as the motorcycle has no owner. So I insisted her to register under her name and finally got it done properly. 

[gazmo16]

 Is it a surprise few bother to tax their bikes outside the cities, most people only ride local and the chances of being stopped (here in Isaan) are extremely low. 

( I do tax mine but then I am a Farang and we always attract the attention of Law enforcement officers )

[GKThai]

17 hours ago, Ramanathan.P said:

"Talking about registered and unregistered motorcycle in Thailand, there is no mandator requirement that all motorcycle has to be registered. Recently my friend bought a motorcycle for her personal use. However I found that it carries no registration number. Upon checking with her, I understand that it is not mandatory. However I forced her to register it properly so that the motorcycle is secured properly. So with no such mandatory law, there are many grey areas in the system"

"the shop from where she buys never insists on the registration. They told her that it will take about a month to register and can be used without registration also and nothing wrong as she is not riding out of the local town."

I do not think that is correct. Without registration, the bike (and rider) cannot be insured, and the rider will be stopped by Police at checkpoints and have to constantly pay "fines", not to mention possible impounding of the bike.
It's good that you persuaded your friend to register the bike.

As for the later comment - bear in mind that the shop gets nothing out of registering the bike, so they don't care - in fact it probably just adds paperwork that they are too lazy to do - so asking a vendor about that is like going to a restaurant and asking the waitress for a recommendation - they always recommend the most expensive dish...

 

Edited February 28, 2023 by GKThai

[FarangandEarnest]

22 hours ago, Grumpish said:

Big difference between Vietnam and Thailand is that in Vietnam  they mostly plod along at a fairly sedate pace, crossing the road is more often a matter of walking slowly and steadily and let them ride round you. Whereas the Thai driving style is generally one of either suicidal or homicidal.

Was in HCM last week and was amazed how easy it is to cross a road considering the amount of motorcycles. Can't imagine attempting that in BKK.

[HolyCowCm]

39 minutes ago, FarangandEarnest said:

Was in HCM last week and was amazed how easy it is to cross a road considering the amount of motorcycles. Can't imagine attempting that in BKK.

Yep!