Important rules and behaviours for driving in Thailand

[cowslip]

8 hours ago, LoongFred said:

I have no idea of what you are talking about. You say it is or it isn"t.

QED - that's precisely why I don't like the expression.

 

there are 2 definitions to choose from, but as you say few really understand the concept.

Edited October 20, 2021 by Khunwilko

[cowslip]

7 hours ago, LoongFred said:

Maybe in Pattaya and/Samui. No need to get a license to drive the wheel chair ton the next bar.  

 

7 hours ago, LoongFred said:

Maybe in Pattaya and/Samui. No need to get a license to drive the wheel chair ton the next bar.  

Interesting point that highlights the vagueness of both Thai law and enforcement.

it is quite possible that electric mobility aids (especially 4-wheeled one and over a certain power) over a certain power require a licence - but the chances of the police enforcing this is minimal.

Also the figures aren't available but I suspect that Pattaya has the highest concentration of car and motorcycle ownership by foreigners in the country....and some of the worst foreign drivers.

Edited October 20, 2021 by Khunwilko

[LoongFred]

38 minutes ago, Khunwilko said:

Interesting point that highlights the vagueness of both Thai law and enforcement.

it is quite possible that electric mobility aids (especially 4-wheeled one and over a certain power) over a certain power require a licence - but the chances of the police enforcing this is minimal.

Also the figures aren't available but I suspect that Pattaya has the highest concentration of car and motorcycle ownership by foreigners in the country....and some of the worst foreign drivers.

OK if you say so. I haven't been there in many years and don't plan to go in many more. Although there are undoubtedly some good folks there are also a lot that I don't want to associate with(both Thai and falang).Bad driving is perhaps another reason.  To each his/her own.

[cowslip]

2 hours ago, LoongFred said:

some good folks there

I don't see how the is relevant to the topic - ae you suggesting pele you don't like are bad drivers or have/don't have D/Ls?

Edited October 20, 2021 by Khunwilko

[LoongFred]

50 minutes ago, Khunwilko said:

I don't see how the is relevant to the topic - ae you suggesting pele you don't like are bad drivers or have/don't have D/Ls?

I don't know anyone here that drives without a license. There are bad drivers everywhere and it's not an exclusive Thai problem.

[cowslip]

Unfortunately there are a lot of drivers here who think that their IDP is Ok - and they use it for years,

another reason is many are elderly and wouldn't pass the physical in there home country or failed one in Thailand - they just walk away and don't bother. This means if they do have a crash they have no insurance either.

They also allow their home licence to expire and don't bother getting a Thai D/L - many live here full time others go back and forth. Their philodsophy is that they can pay their way out of any trouble...or get their wives to say they were driving.

They are also often the ones who complain loudest about Thai drivers.

[ExpatPattaya]

Best answer is to make driving a privileged and not a right.  People who are retired should be strongly discouraged or penalized highly for driving IMO.  Everything can be delivered nowadays.  Bolt and Grab drivers if you need to go to hospital or get a check up.  Time to make ride sharing and public transpo mandatory, like the vaccines !  55 

[Fester]

11 minutes ago, ExpatPattaya said:

Best answer is to make driving a privileged and not a right.  People who are retired should be strongly discouraged or penalized highly for driving IMO.  Everything can be delivered nowadays.  Bolt and Grab drivers if you need to go to hospital or get a check up.  Time to make ride sharing and public transpo mandatory, like the vaccines !  55 

public transpo  555

[Philly]

Undertaking on the left of your vehicle is a danger. And then you have another motorcycle on your right hand side. Educate drivers is the answer. Motorways are crazy, lorries going at about 60kmph in the fast lane, I give up

[LoongFred]

On 10/20/2021 at 2:53 PM, Khunwilko said:

Interesting point that highlights the vagueness of both Thai law and enforcement.

it is quite possible that electric mobility aids (especially 4-wheeled one and over a certain power) over a certain power require a licence - but the chances of the police enforcing this is minimal.

Also the figures aren't available but I suspect that Pattaya has the highest concentration of car and motorcycle ownership by foreigners in the country....and some of the worst foreign drivers.

Mostly drunk foreigners I suspect.  How else could you tolerate Pattaya the paradise by the sea, ha ha. 

[Marble-eye]

The only way to drive whilst living in Thailand is drive like a Thai, if you don't adapt you won't get anywhere and always remember the Thais will not change how they drive, you are the ones that has to change.

[cowslip]

People are very reluctant to change how they drive - that is what thee is only one answer - the is "Safe System". 

There is no alternative except a continuation of high deaths and injuries.

[cowslip]

On 10/20/2021 at 9:38 AM, LoongFred said:

OK if you say so. I haven't been there in many years and don't plan to go in many more. Although there are undoubtedly some good folks there are also a lot that I don't want to associate with(both Thai and falang).Bad driving is perhaps another reason.  To each his/her own.

it's not a matter of each/own...thre is a solution and it won't happen until the Tha authorities recognise that.

[Faraday]

6 hours ago, Marble-eye said:

The only way to drive whilst living in Thailand is drive like a Thai, if you don't adapt you won't get anywhere and always remember the Thais will not change how they drive, you are the ones that has to change.

Yup, I always drive better after 6 pints of Carlsberg Special Brew.

 

[Marble-eye]

16 minutes ago, Faraday said:

Yup, I always drive better after 6 pints of Carlsberg Special Brew.

Yes I love driving in Thailand (when my wife allows me) and I'm getting better at driving badly than the Thais and that's saying something, thinking seriously whether to get the mandatory 36" machete just so I can pass out as a honorary Thai driver.

Edited October 22, 2021 by Marble-eye

[cowslip]

in any debate on motoring in Thailand people cite personal anecdote and single items as solutions

"Driving test"

Police enforcement"

Drunk driving etc.

the truth is NONE of this works unless it is part of a holistic policy that is "safe System".

Countries that have embraced this have death tolls under one tenth of that it Thailand and are heading towards ZERO

[KaptainRob]

23 minutes ago, Khunwilko said:

NONE of this works unless it is part of a holistic policy that is "safe System".

Can you describe this 'safe system' and how it might be applied in Asian countries please?

 

23 minutes ago, Khunwilko said:

Countries that have embraced this have death tolls under one tenth of that it Thailand and are heading towards ZERO

Please supply verified and comparable data plus links to the source(s). 

The problem with Asian. esp. Thai stats, is the high proportion (75&) of motorbike accidents and deaths which skew country comparisons.

[cowslip]

1 hour ago, KaptainRob said:

Please supply verified and comparable data plus links to the source(s). 

I'm sorry but if you don't know how to find the info how can you comment?

 

[JamesR]

2 hours ago, Khunwilko said:

in any debate on motoring in Thailand people cite personal anecdote and single items as solutions

"Driving test"

Police enforcement"

Drunk driving etc.

the truth is NONE of this works unless it is part of a holistic policy that is "safe System".

Countries that have embraced this have death tolls under one tenth of that it Thailand and are heading towards ZERO

We know as we have carried out the list of actions you listed above in the UK and Europe for many decades now and that is why our death rate is a fraction of what it is in Thailand.

Thailand does not seem to be able to introduce this simple system and make it work.

"Driving test"

The driving test in Thailand is a joke, a ten year old kid could pass the test.

"police enforcement"

During the many months I stay in Phuket at any one time I see over 50% of people do not bother to wear a crash helmet, the police do not seem to care.

I have even seen the police themselves drive down the wrong way down a street on their motorbikes.

"Drunk driving"

If you get caught you can just pay and then carry on driving home.

"the truth is NONE of this works unless it is part of a holistic policy that is "safe System".

You make it sound like you have just discovered this, we have been following this method in the West for many decades.

[cowslip]

2 hours ago, JamesR said:

We know as we have carried out the list of actions you listed above in the UK and Europe for many decades now and that is why our death rate is a fraction of what it is in Thailand.

Thailand does not seem to be able to introduce this simple system and make it work.

"Driving test"

The driving test in Thailand is a joke, a ten year old kid could pass the test.

"police enforcement"

During the many months I stay in Phuket at any one time I see over 50% of people do not bother to wear a crash helmet, the police do not seem to care.

I have even seen the police themselves drive down the wrong way down a street on their motorbikes.

"Drunk driving"

If you get caught you can just pay and then carry on driving home.

"the truth is NONE of this works unless it is part of a holistic policy that is "safe System".

You make it sound like you have just discovered this, we have been following this method in the West for many decades.

agin you are just rattling in a barrel - citing these examples does not indicate you understand whites going on.

It is a health and safety problem and the government needs to adopt it - It's the Safe System and it needs to be take on completely not just piece meal.

 

everyone can give examples of "driving" in Thailand but unless the root problems are tackled nothing will happen

It makes me very sad to see that the vast majority of foreigners have absolutely no concept of what the problem is preferring to make racist comments about Thai drivers and implying that they themselves are so superior.

Edited October 22, 2021 by Khunwilko

[JamesR]

14 minutes ago, Khunwilko said:

agin you are just rattling in a barrel - citing these examples does not indicate you understand whites going on.

It is a health and safety problem and the government needs to adopt it - It's the Safe System and it needs to be take on completely not just piece meal.

everyone can give examples of "driving" in Thailand but unless the root problems are tackled nothing will happen

It makes me very sad to see that the vast majority of foreigners have absolutely no concept of what the problem is preferring to make racist comments about Thai drivers and implying that they themselves are so superior.

My list of what needs to be done is clear, just adopt them.

There is nothing in my comment which was racist, you seem to be racist by expecting everything we farangs write as being racist.

I gave no examples of driving just a list of rules that needed to be followed and then perhaps the number of deaths in Thailand will not stay as they are now much higher than in the West, or am I being racist again as I am a farang?

 

[KaptainRob]

6 hours ago, JamesR said:

My list of what needs to be done is clear, just adopt them.

There is nothing in my comment which was racist, you seem to be racist by expecting everything we farangs write as being racist.

I gave no examples of driving just a list of rules that needed to be followed and then perhaps the number of deaths in Thailand will not stay as they are now much higher than in the West, or am I being racist again as I am a farang?

Put KW on IGNORE, he's obviously out of his depth and prefers to insult and abuse rather than answer questions with valid ideas and data to back wild claims.

[Marble-eye]

10 hours ago, Khunwilko said:

I'm sorry but if you don't know how to find the info how can you comment?

Your arrogance knows no bounds does it, you are the one giving out mendacious information, up to you to prove it, but there again how can you prove a lie. A mod has asked you to show links to your statement and your reply.... You find it. 

Look up the Dunning Kruger effect. 

"In 2011, Dunning wrote about his observations that people with substantial, measurable deficits in their knowledge or expertise lack the ability to recognize those deficits and, therefore, despite potentially making error after error, tend to think they are performing competently when they are not: "In short, those who are incompetent, for lack of a better term, should have little insight into their incompetence—an assertion that has come to be known as the Dunning–Kruger effect".[14] In 2014, Dunning and Helzer described how the Dunning–Kruger effect "suggests that poor performers are not in a position to recognize the shortcomings in their performance".

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning–Kruger_effect

[JamesR]

13 hours ago, Marble-eye said:

Your arrogance knows no bounds does it, you are the one giving out mendacious information, up to you to prove it, but there again how can you prove a lie. A mod has asked you to show links to your statement and your reply.... You find it. 

Look up the Dunning Kruger effect. 

"In 2011, Dunning wrote about his observations that people with substantial, measurable deficits in their knowledge or expertise lack the ability to recognize those deficits and, therefore, despite potentially making error after error, tend to think they are performing competently when they are not: "In short, those who are incompetent, for lack of a better term, should have little insight into their incompetence—an assertion that has come to be known as the Dunning–Kruger effect".[14] In 2014, Dunning and Helzer described how the Dunning–Kruger effect "suggests that poor performers are not in a position to recognize the shortcomings in their performance".

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning–Kruger_effect

Yes, I was told about this a few years ago.

It also states somewhere the opposite happens where people who are in fact very capable, see themselves as not as capable as others but this does not apply to the person you aimed this comment at, we are not allowed to mention names directly as you know.

[JamesR]

14 hours ago, KaptainRob said:

Put KW on IGNORE, he's obviously out of his depth and prefers to insult and abuse rather than answer questions with valid ideas and data to back wild claims.

He makes me laugh, this forum is quite good as it is a bit like the singing contests you get each year on the TV in the UK, you like to listen to the people who can sing, but you really want to hear the ones who can't sing and laugh at them.