Thread: Thailand looking at World Number One for traffic deaths

There is not a day I do not drive here and every day I have to avoid hitting a Thai doing something stupid.

Expect the unexpected......trust the Thais to overtake on the inside, cut across intersections, do not use indicators and other very dangerous manoeuvres.

Having claimed that a lot of farang drivers on motor bikes are just as ignorant when driving here especially in Pattaya.

^Too true. At least the Thais are predictable in their driving habits.

This should be good.

BANGKOK, 14 November 2017 (NNT) - Thailand's Ministry of Transport has sought road safety advice from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) of Japan to help prevent road accidents during the New Year holidays.

Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith met with MLIT representatives to discuss road safety measures under a memorandum of understanding on road safety between the two countries.

Roads and highways are expected to be crowded across the country during the holiday period. Safety measures, such as erecting speed limit signs and painting the road in red to remind drivers to slow down, will be implemented in 4 provinces including Suphanburi, Khon Kaen, Uttaradit and Phetchabun.

The Ministry of Transport and the MLIT will jointly conduct a study on road safety and use existing technology to reduce road fatalities in Thailand.

What works in Japan should work in Thailand, like decent roads, effective lighting, stiff and enforced speeding and DUI penalties, driver education, traffic lights, pedestrian crossings and respect for other road users.

Three students killed, 48 people injured in school bus crash

Three students were killed and 48 students, teachers and parents were injured when a school bus crashed in Nakhon Ratchasima's Dan Khun Thod district Wednesday evening.

Police said the accident happened at 4 pm on the Sikhiew-Chaiyaphum road at the Ban Kud Muang intersection in Tambon Takhien of Dan Khun Thod district.

The bus took 51 students, teachers and parents from Ban Nong Waeng School in Chaiyaphum's Phu Kiew district on a field trip to Dan Khun Thod. The accident happened while the bus was returning to Chaiyaphum.

The three students, who died at the scene, were in the junior secondary school level.

The injured, who are mostly primary and junior secondary school students, were rushed to the district hospital.

The survivors told police that a pickup truck cut into the front of the bus, causing the bus to crash into the pickup. The bus then overturned and fell into the roadside.

Originally Posted by jabir

What works in Japan should work in Thailand, like decent roads, effective lighting, stiff and enforced speeding and DUI penalties, driver education, traffic lights, pedestrian crossings and respect for other road users.

Reincarnation and machinery somehow seems to work in Japan, don't it?

^^That explanation isn't what I saw in the video of the crash, which hopefully someone computer-savvy will post here. It looked very much like the bus driver (aka Executioner) has fallen asleep and veered across to the opposite side of the highway then into a ditch. No sign of brakes being lockup up or other avoidance maneuvers.

Next problem in the video is them loading kids that survived into the back of a pick-up, I assume this is to put them in more danger while speeding off on their way to hospital.

They really are totally fucking hopeless. I can't begin to imagine the worry those of you with kids must go through every time their lives are in the hands of a local driver/rider

Originally Posted by Headworx

^^That explanation isn't what I saw in the video of the crash, which hopefully someone computer-savvy will post here. It looked very much like the bus driver (aka Executioner) has fallen asleep and veered across to the opposite side of the highway then into a ditch. No sign of brakes being lockup up or other avoidance maneuvers.

Now stop that, it is known by everyone that all car, bus and truck accidents in Thailand are caused by brake failure.

Even if the driver has had three litres of lao khao and been driving for 28 hours non stop it is, nonetheless, brake failure.

You cannot contradict this with silly little things like facts.

Originally Posted by Headworx

They really are totally fucking hopeless. I can't begin to imagine the worry those of you with kids must go through every time their lives are in the hands of a local driver/rider

It's a country of more than 65 million....they're not all hopeless drivers. There are just a larger percentage than we are used to dealing with.

I used to take cabs all the time in BKK and got mostly safe and conservative drivers. My wife used to be a teacher there, and her school used to use the same trusted, conservative, sensible drivers regularly. I went on a couple of trips with them and saw that they really were.

Originally Posted by Headworx

That explanation isn't what I saw in the video of the crash, which hopefully someone computer-savvy will post here. It looked very much like the bus driver (aka Executioner) has fallen asleep and veered across to the opposite side of the highway then into a ditch. No sign of brakes being lockup up or other avoidance maneuvers.

^Thanks Dill. Even in that truncated clip you can see the bus maintained speed and their was no pick-up involved, it's safe to say the driver was asleep. They must hate CCTV and dash-cam footage that catches them out as being liars so often . Anyway, RIP to the kids that lost their lives and good luck to those in hospital still fighting for theirs.

The average Thai driver habitually and systemically drives without any meaningful lane discipline on major highways, is addicted to tailgating at any speed, refuses to signal intentions by the use of indicators and invariably drives too fast for prevailing road conditions. He also suffers from the unique Thai default mental condition whereby they are congenitally incapable of quantifying danger or risk until the consequences have already been made apparent. In most other societies this is known as stupidity - here it is called Thainess.

Originally Posted by Latindancer

It's a country of more than 65 million....they're not all hopeless drivers. There are just a larger percentage than we are used to dealing with.

I used to take cabs all the time in BKK and got mostly safe and conservative drivers. My wife used to be a teacher there, and her school used to use the same trusted, conservative, sensible drivers regularly. I went on a couple of trips with them and saw that they really were.

I was crossing Asok a few weeks back and as I reached the Cowboy side the lights turned green. Only for one of those Metropolitan buses to come hammering through the red light on Suk at breakneck speed.

They are fucking idiots, nothing less.

Strange that in front of the camera the utility cables are hanging down and seemed to be ongoing up towards where the bus started to cross the road. Just may be the utility men parked their trucks badly, or were carrying out repair work, up the road and that was the reason why the bus lost control? Another case solved.

Originally Posted by Headworx

Doesn't matter how safely you drive here, there's always some total fuckwitt capable of killing you who puts luck and amulets before road safety lurking...

Yep.Amulets and often a perception of maintaining face; Can't have an older car being in front of my newer car, or conversely, my car may be older but I can drive faster....

I sent the road death figures to my mate.

60 deaths per day, 22000 dead in 2016.

He did not believe me.

Quite an awesome achievement even by the retarded Thai standard.

Funny thing is 1 in 3 Thai accept it as simply being their fate, Meant to be .

This is the mind set of these fooking idiots.

^^ I heard the same thing and a slightly different version where people dying from a road accident at the hospital within the first 24 hours where accounted as road death... If the injured dies later than that it is not a road death.

Not mentioning the tens of thousands left with life changing disabilities. ...

Up in Sakon Nakhon, where I've been observing the local driving habits for almost 20 years, I would say the driving has improved considerably. That is, amongst the locals, and it's farangs and people coming up from Bangkok that cause a lot of the problems. The major problem is speed difference; life is slow up here and the locals take it easy as they stroll along about their business. Yes there is the occasional drunk who wipes out an entire family, or a tray full of school kids but it isn't anywhere near as bad as when I first drove here.

I have adapted my driving to cater for many of the Thai idiosyncrasies. The old German rule (still applies in most 30 limits) of giving way to the right is a good one to adopt and I expect to have to give way to the left, looking out for those that believe that if they don't look they won't see any danger. I rarely go over the speed limit nowadays and adjust my departure/arrival planning to average 60kph.

When I first came here I would see at least one accident every time I drove a 200km round trip. I would be involved in a scary moment at least twice per trip. Nowadays I see a couple of accidents a month and can't remember a white-knuckle moment this year. The days of cars going the wrong way down the road haven't gone but they are getting less and less.

Having said this, you won't see riding a bike on a road in Thailand. A dirt track is okay but I stay well away from any highways.

Originally Posted by Troy

The old German rule (still applies in most 30 limits) of giving way to the right is a good one to adopt and I expect to have to give way to the left, looking out for those that believe that if they don't look they won't see any danger. I rarely go over the speed limit nowadays and adjust my departure/arrival planning to average 60kph.

What about the pissed up somchai doing 120kph from behind, so out of his tree that he can't see past the end of the bonnet?

Here in the sandpit, you spend more time looking in your mirror than anything else. Mind you they drive like c u n t s.

I agree with Troy, it's getting better than years ago...e.g I noticed they use turn lights more often here in CM. But the few improvements may be counterbalanced by the growing number of vehicles on the road.

Talking of bad habits, the one I hate the most is overtaking someone and then hit the break for turning left... Staying behind is apparently a no no, because me myself and I are most important.

On the bright side, I think they are more forgiving than where I come from if we put aside the gun/knife waving road ragers....

Check this carnage out or not.

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