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  1. #1
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    Barty's Avatar
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    What would you tell your kid?

    My daughter will soon be driving. Any suggestions on what advise I should give her on how to be a decent driver on Thai roads?

    The things that I am thinking of are;

    No drinking and driving. No drugs
    No telephone conversations or texting while the vehicle is moving.
    Keep in your own lane. Don't drive half in one lane and half in another.
    Learn to merge. Don't try to cross three lanes of traffic all at once.

    Any ohter suggestions?

  2. #2
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    Always read the flow of traffic a few vehicles ahead. Amazing how many only look at whats happening directly in front, and get caught out suddenly.

  3. #3
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    Patience.
    Give way, dont take it.
    Motocy riders are all cnuts.

  4. #4
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    never assume, always take caution, then give her as many examples of dangerous situations as possible then send her thru an intensive driving course

  5. #5
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    Expect the unexpected, Motorbikes weaving in an out of traffic, Vehicles driving the wrong way up hard shoulders

    Don't make sudden movements. look in every mirror regularly.

    Drive positively in built up areas, ie nudging your nose out in traffic.

    Dont bib the horn or flash your lights, ever.

    Buy some lucky charms for your dashboard.

    And always remember the biggest vehicle has priority in Thailand

  6. #6
    RIP pseudolus's Avatar
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    My advice to my Folks when they visited and hired a car was to assume that every other driver, all the time, would do something incredibly stupid that would endanger your life. Drive as if this is the case and you will have no problems at all. They did, and had no problems.

  7. #7
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    The horn is useful for waking people up in traffic jams.

    Never exceed the speed limit, especially on Sukhumvit.

    ...but seriously,

    If you see other drivers driving fast and bunching up in front of you on the motorway hold back and maintain a considerable distance between them and you. It only takes one motorist to do something daft and everyone winds up in a heap.
    Last edited by Thormaturge; 05-03-2013 at 12:42 PM.
    I see fish. They are everywhere. They don't know they are fish.

  8. #8
    Thailand Expat VocalNeal's Avatar
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    #1 Do not drive concentrating just ahead of the car.

    She must learn to look ahead as far as she can ( 50 to 100 to 200m) to see what the traffic on the road ahead is doing and learn to use her peripheral vision to gauge what is happening directly in front of her.

    This is a skill that takes time but will become second nature. This means of course looking past or through cars wherever possible and moving the car within the lane to see further ahead.

    There are many other detailed things but if she can master this one, she will be just fine.

    When driving alone with you she should be forced to enunciate what she is seeing and what she intends to do. This is what is or was done during the Advanced Motorists training and test.

    #2 When talking to passengers she must not turn to look at them. Talk into the windscreen/windshield, it is not rude but sensible.

    #3 Mirror, signal, maneuver. Signalling is an intent, not asking for permission.

    There are many more and books written about the subject.

    Plus all the phone and stuff you mentioned. When learning she should either leave phone behind or turn it off.

    As for Thai roads her mind is clear of assumptions and perceived norms. Unlike most posters on here who seem to be stuck with perceptions and experience from where they learned to drive or did most of their previous driving.
    Better to think inside the pub, than outside the box?
    I apologize if any offence was caused. unless it was intended.
    You people, you think I know feck nothing; I tell you: I know feck all
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  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by VocalNeal
    When talking to passengers she must not turn to look at them. Talk into the windscreen/windshield, it is not rude but sensible.
    My Dad used to do that. I would be the one sat in the passenger seat, listening and looking at the fast upcoming tail lights shitting myself.
    He died peacefully in his sleep last year, unlike the poor screaming passengers on his bus

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Barty
    My daughter will soon be driving. Any suggestions on what advise I should give her on how to be a decent driver on Thai roads?
    Take a taxi

  11. #11
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    <<Always read the flow of traffic a few vehicles ahead.>>

    Good advice, always be prepared for unexpected, kids run out of no where, go slower than you think, leave more space than you need, look in all the mirror's regularly.

    I teach my kids to drive from a very early age being on a farm it's easier to do so, but driving with a lot of traffic is totally different.

    Sometimes you have to be firm in your intentions, so the other drivers know what your about to do, give clear indications

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by VocalNeal View Post
    When driving alone with you she should be forced to enunciate what she is seeing and what she intends to do. This is what is or was done during the Advanced Motorists training and test.
    You're showing your age here VN. I know this was part of the IAM test but by the time I passed mine, in 1977, it had been dropped. Were you a member .. did you belong to a local group?

    Reading the road and especially knowing what is coming up from behind you is very important.

    Many years ago during a routine medical examination I asked a nurse who must have been in her fifties what, from her experience, had made the greatest difference in her work. I was expecting her to mention some drug, or maybe a procedure, and was surprised when she said it was the law obliging compulsory wearing of seatbelts. This had, very quickly, meant hospitals were receiving people with treatable injuries as opposed to dead bodies.

    The moral .. buckle up.
    Last edited by Thormaturge; 05-03-2013 at 03:28 PM. Reason: typo - missing 'n' from 'mention'

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dillinger View Post

    Don't make sudden movements.
    This is a biggie in Thailand. There is a lot to be said for being slightly slow and predictable to others. I have noticed quite a few drivers doing this. And a couple come unstuck because they did something suddenly. It's all just a slow dance in outer suburban Bangkok traffic.
    Oh....and never drive when you're angry at someone.
    Having one of those dashboard cameras would be great, too.

  14. #14
    Knows fok all
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    Let a man drive you.

  15. #15
    Thailand Expat VocalNeal's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Thormaturge View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by VocalNeal View Post
    When driving alone with you she should be forced to enunciate what she is seeing and what she intends to do. This is what is or was done during the Advanced Motorists training and test.
    You're showing your age here VN. I know this was part of the IAM test but by the time I passed mine, in 1977, it had been dropped. Were you a member .. did you belong to a local group?
    Ah well you caught me there. Mt father told me!

  16. #16
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    Some people out there don't mind killing you if it saves them a few seconds.

    Add to potentially lethal distractions: fiddling with CD/DVD/radio/satnav, and anything else that'll have a hand off the wheel or eyes off the road.

    Make sure she is familiar with distances, and also that just a 1 second distraction at 50 kph will have her driving blind for 14 metres.

  17. #17
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    Barty what sort of driver are you, as she has been watching you for many year.
    My TGF watch me for many years before she started to drive.
    Here first lesson the instructor told here she drive better that him self.
    So they do watch how you drive & I don't like using the brake peddle.

    Good luck

  18. #18
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    Look out for motorbikes and keep a safe distance from the car in front.

  19. #19
    Excommunicated baldrick's Avatar
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    the only laws that really count are the laws of physics

    if it is bigger than you and does not look like it is going to give way , get out of the way

    being in the right according to traffic law does not help when you are dead or maimed
    If you torture data for enough time , you can get it to say what you want.

  20. #20
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    There have been a few well publicized road accidents in Thailand in the last couple of years- seem to recall a couple with young girl drivers in the middle of the mayhem - maybe search, pick up a few, get her to read the reports of the aftermath......and use them as an object lesson on what happens if your attention is diverted.....

  21. #21
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    Make sure she gets a good professional driving course. Don't you try to teach her because she will learn some of your faults, too.

  22. #22
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    Always imagine you're invisible and no-one else can see you.

  23. #23
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    Always carry (at least) 200 baht in the glove compartment. Maybe for the police, maybe for the tolls or maybe for a little bit of petrol if she forgets her purse.

  24. #24
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    Thanks for the suggestions guys. Alot of good advise here.

  25. #25
    Thailand Expat VocalNeal's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by leemo View Post

    Make sure she is familiar with distances, and also that just a 1 second distraction at 50 kph will have her driving blind for 14 metres.
    showing my age again?

    Always follow the 2 second rule.

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