Important rules and behaviours for driving in Thailand

[Marble-eye]

1 minute ago, ctxa said:

I don’t need to know you in order to know that you aren’t Lewis Hamilton, and even if you were, Thailand has Alex Albon, right? 
 

See my point? You can’t generalize and say “all Thai drivers are X”, because it simply wouldn’t be true. There’s many kinds of drivers in Thailand and everywhere in the world indeed.
 

Just like with the story you said about your friend who couldn’t even back the car after passing the test, I’m sure it’s true, but I’m also sure it’s the exception and no the norm. Otherwise it would be impossible to drive in Thailand. And as someone who has put over 40k km in Thai roads within the last year alone I can tell you that’s not the case.

I have just twigged who you are, wilko over and out.

[cowslip]

people are making loads of statements totally unsupported by any evidence

 

 

Of course you will see pickup crashes in Thailand 2020, there are over 800,000 private trucks in Thailand. That’s a large portion of private 4-wheele vehicles. A few years back they were the numbering sellers.

That’s because they are made in Thailand and subsidised to help the industry.

The market and the industry is changing now towards cars.

The UK is a MUCH smaller market and some companies have stopped selling altogether – Nissan has packed up taking Merc/Renault with them

 

Edited January 12, 2022 by Khunwilko

[LoongFred]

4 hours ago, Transam said:

Correct, KW has all the excuses, but did he forget to mention no police presence on most of Thai roads, so folk will behave themselves. To me it is the most important thing to curb road stupidity, in my opinion, plus the fines are too low to deter anyone...

In LOS, 3/4/5 kids on a bike, no problem, nobody cares, only when they get killed...

For once I have to agree with TA. Lack of police patrolling roads and enforcing regulations is a major reason why rules aren't followed. Traffic radar cameras only do so much. In the US you must be on the constant alert for patrols cars. It's easy to spot the cars zig zagging, or drunks weaving. I know it moderates my driving.

[Mynemesis]

1 hour ago, Marble-eye said:

I have just twigged who you are, wilko over and out.

I doubt it very much, but a good idea of yours to stop digging 

[Mynemesis]

24 minutes ago, LoongFred said:

For once I have to agree with TA. Lack of police patrolling roads and enforcing regulations is a major reason why rules aren't followed. Traffic radar cameras only do so much. In the US you must be on the constant alert for patrols cars. It's easy to spot the cars zig zagging, or drunks weaving. I know it moderates my driving.

And even when the police are driving along they often don’t seem to bother if you overtake them doing well over the speed limit

[Marble-eye]

2 minutes ago, Mynemesis said:

I doubt it very much, but a good idea of yours to stop digging 

It would appear that you are another that knows me better than I know myself.

[Bluesofa]

3 minutes ago, Marble-eye said:

It would appear that you are another that knows me better than I know myself.

Looks like you got a free second opinion.

[Lyp14 [ctxa]]

1 hour ago, Marble-eye said:

It would appear that you are another that knows me better than I know myself.

It wouldn't be at all hard to say who you are with just 5 or so adjectives. 

However, for the sake of not making a moderator waste time banning my account, I guess I won't write them in here.

[Marble-eye]

4 minutes ago, ctxa said:

It wouldn't be at all hard to say who you are with just 5 or so adjectives. 

However, for the sake of not making a moderator waste time banning my account, I guess I won't write them in here.

I have had Khunwilko on ignore now for quite a while and just for my own piece of mind you have joined him, hopefully I have killed one bird with two stones.

[Poolie]

It'd be awfully nice to get to the end of a thread without some childish argument breaking out.

[Fester]

13 hours ago, Khunwilko said:

for those of you who don't know about "Safe System" and target zero, here are the 5 Es

The 5 “E”s

The main pillars of the  Safe System can be defines as follows: - The 5 “E”s of road safety.

For over 3 decades Thailand has had various “Road Safety Action Plans” and has espoused the virtues of the 5 “E”s (it has to be said with little effect) ... but without them, Road Safety in Thailand is doomed.

1. Education

2. Enforcement

3. Engineering

4. Emergency

5. Evaluation

No it hasn't.

[Marble-eye]

One of the biggest problems here in Thailand is that Thais are not trained to drive but merely to pass a test. Steering a vehicle around a piece of ground not much bigger than a football pitch is not driving, the test is basically parking and turning at very low speeds and not about controlling a vehicle at speeds over 5 mph. Again not the Thais fault but the system is to blame.

The last time I went for my M/Bike test there was a motorcycle taxi rider taking his, he had no tread on his tyres, but hey he passed. I've walked past these motor bike taxis and they've been drinking Red Bull and some sort of spirit ready for their next assignment of transporting passengers 'safely' to their destination.

Thais buy vehicles and cannot afford to maintain them in a road worthy condition, vehicles have to be serviced and maintained to be on the road, heard of the excuse "my brakes just went" brakes don't just go. How long does it take to do an MOT test over here, not long.

I have passed coaches fully laden with passengers and noticed their wheel nuts missing and that is the general maintenance covered, I will leave the bad driving like going the wrong way up a dual carriageway and coaches just flying through red lights without any consideration for traffic crossing their path untill a later date.

Have the people that make excuses for this mayhem ever driven over here, if the answer is yes perhaps try opening your eyes next time. Reality will trump number crunching any time.

[cowslip]

5 hours ago, LoongFred said:

For once I have to agree with TA. Lack of police patrolling roads and enforcing regulations is a major reason why rules aren't followed. Traffic radar cameras only do so much. In the US you must be on the constant alert for patrols cars. It's easy to spot the cars zig zagging, or drunks weaving. I know it moderates my driving.

Police is PART of E for enforcement.

BUT - before you can achieve anything you have to establish a working enforcement system - firstly that entails a trained police traffic department that know the law, understand the technology etc. Then you need a dept to calibrate such thangs as breathalysers, speed checkers etc.

Once you have successfully detected an offender you need a court system that can issue fines and notices and then follow them up or whenever necessary have quick court appearances.

For this to work you have to sweep away all the corrupt officials and redefine their roles in terms of the constitution.

If you are going to enforce driving standards you also need to define laws such as "due care and attention" which would be virtually impossible in a Thai court at present. They can't even prosecute a guy for running over a policeman.

You also have to revamp the system of road signs and road demarkation - you can't define the offence if you can't define the road.

Iy all HAS to be done but I think people underestimate the magnitude of the task

[cowslip]

2 hours ago, Marble-eye said:

One of the biggest problems here in Thailand is that Thais are not trained to drive but merely to pass a test. Steering a vehicle around a piece of ground not much bigger than a football pitch is not driving, the test is basically parking and turning at very low speeds and not about controlling a vehicle at speeds over 5 mph. Again not the Thais fault but the system is to blame.

The last time I went for my M/Bike test there was a motorcycle taxi rider taking his, he had no tread on his tyres, but hey he passed. I've walked past these motor bike taxis and they've been drinking Red Bull and some sort of spirit ready for their next assignment of transporting passengers 'safely' to their destination.

Thais buy vehicles and cannot afford to maintain them in a road worthy condition, vehicles have to be serviced and maintained to be on the road, heard of the excuse "my brakes just went" brakes don't just go. How long does it take to do an MOT test over here, not long.

I have passed coaches fully laden with passengers and noticed their wheel nuts missing and that is the general maintenance covered, I will leave the bad driving like going the wrong way up a dual carriageway and coaches just flying through red lights without any consideration for traffic crossing their path untill a later date.

Have the people that make excuses for this mayhem ever driven over here, if the answer is yes perhaps try opening your eyes next time. Reality will trump number crunching any time.

don't forget there is now  50 question theory test. ..and the medical tests. Licences in Thailand now only last for 5 years too.

People overestimate the value of the test on it's own - anyone who took a test before the 1980s in any country, their test was a joke.

What European governments do is have a life-long learning campaign - people were bombarded in the 1970s and you still see programs to make drivers more aware in various parts of the media.

"Bad driving" is cites by many but it has been shown it is NOT the root cause- the root cause is "human error" as explained above. Think a bit - how many times have you seen bad driving which has there and then resulted in crash.

 

Mechanical faults are covered under E for engineering

however unless ALL of the issues in the 5 Es are covered there will be no improvement and until the authorities actually understand what road safety is, they can't even start.

 

 

[cowslip]

 

4 hours ago, Fester said:

No it hasn't.

What hasn't? Can you elucidate?

[Lyp14 [ctxa]]

1 hour ago, Khunwilko said:

don't forget there is now  50 question theory test. ..and the medical tests. Licences in Thailand now only last for 5 years too.

People overestimate the value of the test on it's own - anyone who took a test before the 1980s in any country, their test was a joke.

What European governments do is have a life-long learning campaign - people were bombarded in the 1970s and you still see programs to make drivers more aware in various parts of the media.

"Bad driving" is cites by many but it has been shown it is NOT the root cause- the root cause is "human error" as explained above. Think a bit - how many times have you seen bad driving which has there and then resulted in crash.

Mechanical faults are covered under E for engineering

however unless ALL of the issues in the 5 Es are covered there will be no improvement and until the authorities actually understand what road safety is, they can't even start.

If I may advice don't waste your time arguing with @Marble-eye, it's pointless. 

I have my doubts this fella has ever driven a car in Thailand, most likely he has read the daily posts from Barrow and similar other websites and made a biased opinion about driving in Thailand. 

Let's be crystal clear here, number one cause for road deaths in Thailand is riders not wearing a helmet, number two is probably alcohol, then comes people sitting at the back of pick up trucks, etc etc... Neither of those three are affected by a driving test. 

Sure enough, if Thailand were to implement stricter tests, it would help. But I don't see how it would eliminate the three main causes I stated above. They should fix more important issues which would have a bigger impact before getting on with driving tests. 

 

[cowslip]

1 hour ago, ctxa said:

Let's be crystal clear here, number one cause for road deaths in Thailand is riders not wearing a helmet, number two is probably alcohol, then comes people sitting at the back of pick up trucks, etc etc... Neither of those three are affected by a driving test. 

the statistics do not support this

Of motocylists 40% are deaths from head injuries and 64% of them were not wearing a helmet.

Thailand has on average bout 33% of accidents with alcohol involved. USA is 25 to 30%

UK is much lower now.

Most countries even with considerably lower death rates has 25 to 30% alcohol.

The pickup tucks loaded in the back make good headlines but they simply not that common - when you consider the number of pickups in relation to sedans in Thailand (they had the highest ownership of pickups in the world at one point) the number with people in the back actually having fatal accidents is not statistically significant. It is a problem and technically illegal - however at Song Khran a couple of years ago the police said they would stop people doing this - there was a national out cry - as Song Khran is the time when you see most of this going on. However Song Khran and New Year, the death rates are actually a little LOWER than the yearly daily rate.

It is noticeable as you say tat some contributors to tis thread ae so overwhelmed by their own cognitive dissonance and confirmation bias that they re unable to put compose a coherent argument and descend into ad hominem.

 

If you want to understand daily driving behaviour in Thailand - and it helps immensely to drive - then just imagine you are a boat on a river, then all these "strange" driving patterns suddenly make sense.

 

 

[Lyp14 [ctxa]]

1 hour ago, Khunwilko said:

the statistics do not support this

Of motocylists 40% are deaths from head injuries and 64% of them were not wearing a helmet.

Thailand has on average bout 33% of accidents with alcohol involved. USA is 25 to 30%

UK is much lower now.

Most countries even with considerably lower death rates has 25 to 30% alcohol.

The pickup tucks loaded in the back make good headlines but they simply not that common - when you consider the number of pickups in relation to sedans in Thailand (they had the highest ownership of pickups in the world at one point) the number with people in the back actually having fatal accidents is not statistically significant. It is a problem and technically illegal - however at Song Khran a couple of years ago the police said they would stop people doing this - there was a national out cry - as Song Khran is the time when you see most of this going on. However Song Khran and New Year, the death rates are actually a little LOWER than the yearly daily rate.

It is noticeable as you say tat some contributors to tis thread ae so overwhelmed by their own cognitive dissonance and confirmation bias that they re unable to put compose a coherent argument and descend into ad hominem.

If you want to understand daily driving behaviour in Thailand - and it helps immensely to drive - then just imagine you are a boat on a river, then all these "strange" driving patterns suddenly make sense.

Well, if you are saying that 40% of motorcyclists deaths happen because of head injuries and 64% of them were not wearing a helmet. Clearly you're agreeing with me that there are a lot of deaths that wouldn't happen if every rider wore a helmet. 

The alcohol thing could be up to debate, but there's a factor you haven't take into account. Even if Thailand without policing is as close to the US with strict policing in alcohol death rates (says a lot about Thais, really)... a drunk driver in Thailand is potentially more lethal than a drunk driver in the US. In Thailand he is more likely to plow into a motorbike rider than he is in the US. There's a big difference between a drunk driver crashing into a car and crashing into a moto. 

The pick-up trucks thing you claim is not that common, but if that's the case I can't explain why the percentage of deaths on pick-up trucks is way higher than that of "normal passenger cars". Any ideas? 

 

https://www.thaiwebsites.com/caraccidents.asp

 

I can't stress enough, that I've put a lot of kms on Thai roads within the last year (around 40k) and I haven't seen passenger cars (or pick-up trucks) doing that many crazy things (yes some drive bad - but it's not that crazy), but I've seen countless motorbike rides doing things that I was like "Oh boy, you don't value your life". 

If there were only passenger cars in Thailand, I'm willing to bet road deaths wouldn't even be that high compared to western countries.

Edited January 12, 2022 by ctxa

[cowslip]

53 minutes ago, ctxa said:

Clearly you're agreeing with me that there are a lot of deaths that wouldn't happen if every rider wore a helmet. 

yes - but that's not what you said. You claimed it was the number one cause of death - you need to back that up with some stats.

motorcyclists are the main deaths on Thai roads and a lot would be reduced by helmet wearing.Of course you then have to have a minimum helmet specification and the both a trading standards office to ensure compliance and a properly trained police force to enforce it accompanied by a legal system to administer and collect fines.

I've said else where that Thailand is in the stone age when it comes to compiling road statistics and trying to single out single factors like this is very difficult and usually involves calculations based on other stats as no-one has bothered to do this as yet.

 

As for your comment on pick ups it is the percentage of vehicles not the number of people. 

I don't like to cite personal anecdote because without careful analysis is isn't a reliable way to gat a good impression of the REAL ROAD SAFETY situation - in fact most people I ask to confuse "driving" with "road safety". So how can one form an opinion when one doesn't even understand what the subject is. road safety is a pubic health issue that is costing Thailand lives and money (3% of GDP, apparently)

 

It is certainly correct that pickups perform less well in accidents than modern sedans - they are more dangerous to occupants and more dangerous to all sectors of vulnerable users. The pint earlier was I I understood that pick ups were number 3 in causes of death - and I think it would be a huge jump of logic to draw that conclusion.

As I said this claim would seem to be the result of conformation bias.

Edited January 12, 2022 by Khunwilko

[Lyp14 [ctxa]]

1 hour ago, Khunwilko said:

yes - but that's not what you said. You claimed it was the number one cause of death - you need to back that up with some stats.

It's not me saying it, it's "Thai officials" which are supposed to have access to much more detailed stats: 

 

Quote

Speeding, drunken driving and failing to wear proper helmets are the primary causes of traffic deaths in the country, Thai officials said.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/19/world/asia/thailand-inequality-road-fatalities.html

 

I am well aware of the difference between "road safety" and "driving". But many here claim that what causes the "road safety issue" is that Thais are bad drivers. I don't agree with that , and I don't even think they are that bad drivers. 

Edited January 12, 2022 by ctxa

[cowslip]

 

If it comes to personal experience - I can happily say I've driven more than just about anyone on this thread and experienced all of Thailand, also Laos and Malaysia. Reasonably over half a million km in total. (adding the two odometers of my trucks)

I first drove in Thailand in 1994 originally in hire vehicles and later in my own 2 4x4 pickups, which were modified for long distance touring, a car and 20 motorcycles. To that I would have to add the various vehicles I've hired over the years.

There is hardly a province in Thailand I haven't driven in and I even used commute in BKK by car on a daily basis. I've covered roads from the Chinese border in Laos to Penang in Malaysia. From the most inaccessible parts of the Western forest complex to the Mukdahan border - I've crossed into Laos at 7 different crossings - into Malaysia at 3. Hence my purple books.

Before Thailand I lived in Australia and have driven inland and along the coast between South Australia  and Northern Queensland. I lived in Sydney, Brisbane and Cairns.

 I've driven from Canada over the Rockies and down to California. Including San Fransisco, Seattle  Portland, Banff, Edmonton and Calgary.

I've driven through Morocco to the Sahara dessert

Since the 1970s I've driven all over Western Europe on motorcycles and in cars and trucks for over 20 years - I made very good use of the EU regulations of borders in successful business. up until the mind of the 1990s. (In the UK in one year a managed to clock up 90,000miles in a Transit van!)

I’ve worked for a well-know racing car company, and a motorcycle company that raced 24 hour endurance machines.

BUT

None of that is as relevant as my post graduate job when I worked in a traffic engineering department for a major city in the UK - here I learned about "road safety" - and how the general public have absolutely no idea of how their driving and road use is monitored and cosseted by the various road safety bodies in Europe and the UK - unfortunately Thailand hasn't even begun - they should have 30 years ago but successive governments have repeatedly ignored advice. The longer they leave it the more expensive it becomes

 

 

 

[cowslip]

13 minutes ago, ctxa said:

But many here claim that what causes the "road safety issue" is that Thais are bad drivers. I don't agree with that , and I don't even think they are that bad drivers. 

that we are totally in agreement on.

[cowslip]

Just now, Khunwilko said:

that we are totally in agreement on.

if they address the 5 Es than they are going to deal with road safety - but it'll take time and money - lots of money - but they have to identify the problem first - and if you look at a lot of th posts here - you'll see that many foreigners are as out of touch as the Thai government are.

 

[cowslip]

very few foreign papers publish articles that address the road safety issues of Thailand very well - they do however tend to pull out one of the main issues raised by the WHO - they publish a detailed report on world road safety even year - and they highlight overland over again that it is the POOR who suffer most in a dysfunctional road safety environment. - NB - the one statistic that is used by every post of road safety in Thailand is the "deaths per 100k" which originates from a whole raft of useful statistics published by WHO - for some unknown reason no-one ever looks further than this single figure.

If you look at the categories of vehicles and cross reference then with "causes"  the types of offences are around the same and in similar proportions all over the world; it’s just the results can be more severe. ….

 

WHO world statistics

Approximately 1.3 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes.

The United Nations General Assembly has set an ambitious target of halving the global number of deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes by 2030 (A/RES/74/299)

Road traffic crashes cost most countries 3% of their gross domestic product.

More than half of all road traffic deaths are among vulnerable road users: pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists.

93% of the world's fatalities on the roads occur in low- and middle-income countries, even though these countries have approximately 60% of the world's vehicles.

Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5-29 years.

 

heres a look at road accidents - you'll see they ae just about the same all over the world it's how they are dealt with that differs.

 

Even the types of offences are around the same and in similar proportions it’s just the results can be more severe. …. there is one elephant in the room and that is the Thai emergency services - how many people die as a result other shortcomings is to be only guessed......

 

Speeding

An increase in average speed is directly related both to the likelihood of a crash occurring and to the severity of the consequences of the crash. For example, every 1% increase in mean speed produces a 4% increase in the fatal crash risk and a 3% increase in the serious crash risk.

Death risk for pedestrians hit by cars rises (4.5 times from 50 km/h to 65 km/h).

In car-to-car side impacts the fatality risk for car occupants is 85% at 65 km/h

 

Incidentally – the THAI NATIONAL SPEED LIMIT is 90km per hour. On “motorways” and some highways it is 120kmh – Recently 4 lane highways with median and barriers have been upgraded to 120kph – a controversial move that will quite probably lead to an increase in deaths and injuries. Express ways around BKK and Pattaya still have an 80kmh limit. Urban limit is 50kph but it is seldom signed – you are meant to tell by the street lights.

 

Driving under the influence of alcohol and other psychoactive substances. Most countries are between 20 and 30% - Thailand is allegedly at the top end. Of course, alcohol also increases the likelihood of other types of offences e.g. Speeding etc…

·      Driving under the influence of alcohol and any psychoactive substance or drug increases the risk of a crash that results in death or serious injuries.

·      With drink-driving, the risk of a road traffic crash starts at low levels of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and increases significantly when the driver's BAC is ≥ 0.04 g/dl. 

·      Thailand’s legal blood alcohol limit (BAC) per litre of blood is 0.5 grams. Any driver who’s held a licence less than five years can’t exceed 0.2 grams. 

·      In the case of drug-driving, the risk of incurring a road traffic crash is increased to differing degrees depending on the psychoactive drug used. For example, the risk of a fatal crash occurring among those who have used amphetamines is about 5 times the risk of someone who hasn't.

 

Non-use of motorcycle helmets, seat-belts, and child restraints. Still the main conveyance of the poor, Thailand is particularly slack on enforcing existing motorcycle laws – in particular, the wearing of crash helmets – no wonder that 73% of deaths are on motorcycle users. (fig.2)

Correct helmet use can lead to a 42% reduction in the risk of fatal injuries and a 69% reduction in the risk of head injuries.

Wearing a seat-belt reduces the risk of death among drivers and front seat occupants by 45 - 50%, and the risk of death and serious injuries among rear seat occupants by 25%.

The use of child restraints can lead to a 60% reduction in deaths.

 

Distracted driving – this is in fact causing rising death rates in countries in Europe that until recently had low and declining death rates – the mobile phone has a lot to answer for. Thailand is no exception.

There are many types of distractions that can lead to impaired driving. The distraction caused by mobile phones is a growing concern for road safety.

Drivers using mobile phones are approximately 4 times more likely to be involved in a crash than drivers not using a mobile phone. Using a phone while driving slows reaction times (notably braking reaction time, but also reaction to traffic signals), and interferes with keeping the correct lane, and keeping safe following distances.

Hands-free phones are not much safer than hand-held phone sets, and texting considerably increases the risk of a crash.

 

Unsafe road infrastructure – This is a major problem in Thailand where there seems to be an absence of road and traffic engineers – many to the new Highways and Motorways being built are no up to standard and just encourage more traffic and more speeding.

The design of roads can have a considerable impact on their safety. Ideally, roads should be designed keeping in mind the safety of all road users. This would mean making sure that there are adequate facilities for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists. Measures such as footpaths, cycling lanes, safe crossing points, and other traffic calming measures can be critical to reducing the risk of injury among these road users.  

 

Unsafe vehicles – Again safety checks on vehicles in Thailand are at best cursory and often open to bribery. Another problem with Thai vehicles is that many older vehicles are of very primitive safety design, and this even applies to new vehicles in particular pickups that are intrinsically less safe the standard family sedans and variants, many people think they are “safer” in big, heavy vehicles when in fact these often are capable of much more damage both to other road users and even those inside a poorly designed cab.

  Variation in size is a big factor on Thai roads. Family cars pickups sidecars three wheelers motorcycles all have different heights weights and sizes and speeds on roads

Safe vehicles play a critical role in averting crashes and reducing the likelihood of serious injury. There are UN regulations on vehicle safety that, if applied to countries’ manufacturing and production standards, would potentially save many lives. These include requiring vehicle manufacturers to meet front and side impact regulations, to include electronic stability control (to prevent over-steering) and to ensure airbags and seat-belts are fitted in all vehicles. Without these basic standards the risk of traffic injuries – both to those in the vehicle and those out of it – is considerably increased.

 

Inadequate post-crash care

Figure 1 - https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Golden-hour-in-a-car-accident_fig2_224185142

Emergency doctors and trauma surgeons are taught that trauma patients presenting within the “golden hour”, the first hour after an injury, are associated with better outcomes.

 Delays in detecting and providing care for those involved in a road traffic crash increase the severity of injuries. Care of injuries after a crash has occurred is extremely time-sensitive: 

delays of minutes can make the difference between life and death. Improving post-crash care requires ensuring access to timely prehospital care, and improving the quality of both prehospital and hospital care, such as through specialist training programmes.  

 

Inadequate law enforcement of traffic laws

If traffic laws on drink-driving, seat-belt wearing, speed limits, helmets, and child restraints are not enforced, they cannot bring about the expected reduction in road traffic fatalities and injuries related to specific behaviours. Thus, if traffic laws are not enforced or are perceived as not being enforced it is likely they will not be complied with and therefore will have very little chance of influencing behaviour.

Effective enforcement includes establishing, regularly updating, and enforcing laws at the national, municipal, and local levels that address the above-mentioned risk factors. It includes also the definition of appropriate penalties.

Edited January 12, 2022 by Khunwilko

[Lyp14 [ctxa]]

1 hour ago, Khunwilko said:

if they address the 5 Es than they are going to deal with road safety - but it'll take time and money - lots of money - but they have to identify the problem first - and if you look at a lot of th posts here - you'll see that many foreigners are as out of touch as the Thai government are.

Honestly I think a first important step would be banning petrol motorbikes from the big cities. China did it a few years ago, and now those who used to ride motorcycles, have to ride electrical motorcycles which aren't even as fast as their petrol counterparts. Road deaths went down by a lot in those cities. 

Then as you say, they need to invest in the 5 Es, and put money into campaigns that range from education, to inspections, to policing, etc etc...