Thread: Helmets for motorcycle riders

One thing that really pisses me off is a regular thing here in Phuket

The BIB have regular - almost daily- checks at 3 places between Chalong and Phuket town.

All Farangs without helmets are stopped and receive the standard 500 baht fine.
Fair enough - that is the law.
Thais are rarely stopped.
Fair enough - this is Thailand.

What really pisses me off though is that senior BIB types- the ones with the peaked flat hats - are often called to the checkpoints to explain to the Farangs what it is all about and the buggers turn up on motorbikes wearing their flat hats!!!

There is a checkpoint outside the bar I use and tonight there were 3 times they came !!!

WTF!!!

I wear a helmet !

yeah yeah TIT

bigger things to get worried about, really.

but i hear ya.

I would never stop shake my head and ride on they will not chase you.

Originally Posted by longtom

I would never stop shake my head and ride on they will not chase you.

No they'll just shoot you.

just ride and wear your helmet and ignore the rest.

i have been waived through many a checkpoint (or briefly stopped and allowerd to continue) while my fellow helmetless thais motorcyclists were stopped and fined. though do i keep a helmet on my passenger seat but rarly wear it.

Follow the rules and you have nothing to worry about ... usually. If you don't want to follow the rules, don't whine when you get caught. If you get hammered despite following the rules, scream from the closest mountaintop.

and those little yakult delivery girls seem to get away without wearing helmets too.

Originally Posted by Texpat

Follow the rules and you have nothing to worry about

I agree, usually. It's just when the rules change without warning, or the enforcement of them changes overnight, I think a whine is in order.

Originally Posted by benbaaa

Guys who've been riding around for years with no registration plates on their bikes are suddenly being stopped - and the fines are bigger. One guy went to the cop shop and had to cough up 3,000B and another paid 1,000B on the spot. Is this happening all over this wonderful green and smiley land?

Is this happenening to the guys with big bikes? Not heard of this happening in Isaan yet thank god. I would love to get a book and plates for my bike but the process seems to be fraught with corruption and rip off merchants / bullshitters.

i just dont like them, thats all.

^ Agree Bob, a friend of mine is in his 3r week of being in a coma after falling of his bicycle.
Although anyone that has two Motocycle accidents in a year should look at walking as the main means of transport.

Walking in Thailand argubly requires the wearing of a helmet.

Agree with all points made and always wear a helmet myself.

What I was ranting about is the fact that BIB senior people NEVER seem to wear them when they ride and they will turn up at a helmet checkpoint to enforce the law !!!

^ And isnt that the very reason why you gotta love this place?

Originally Posted by Happyman

Agree with all points made and always wear a helmet myself.

What I was ranting about is the fact that BIB senior people NEVER seem to wear them when they ride and they will turn up at a helmet checkpoint to enforce the law !!!

When it annoys me I just think about Thailand's motorbike fatality statistics and realise that there is a just god

I keep telling people that I don't wear the helmet for the police - I wear it for me! I don't care whether others wear one or not, especially the police, but I ALWAYS wear mine.

I see quite a few of these in Bangkok

Originally Posted by thehighlander959

Just bought a new Honda Air Blade in Buriram, I was given a new Shoei full face helmet for cash payment. Even the dealers are getting involved in the helmet issue could be a good thing.
Although I am not sure if the Police bosses with the soft hats will adhere to the regulations. I wonder how many of them are involved in accidents concerning motor bikes?

I got a crappy rice cooker as a freebie when I bought my Air Blade.

It fitted ok and I could put the lid in the underseat compartment but I felt a right prat
zooming along with the electric cord flying in the wind behind me. Went back to my normal helmet after a couple of days !!!

Originally Posted by dogblower

I keep telling people that I don't wear the helmet for the police - I wear it for me! I don't care whether others wear one or not, especially the police, but I ALWAYS wear mine.

Doesn't that make it hard to sleep, doesn't your GF find it a little strange?

Don't do as i do, do as i say!
or it'll cost you

I would have bought a safety helmet anyway, but it was good of the Honda dealer to give me one. I am not concerned about how I ride a bike my concern is with other road users ie.riding a bike and driving a car safely.