Pattaya Dangerous

[dirtydog]

I think this should win an award for one of the most dangerous things I have seen in Pattaya, now all it was was a police checkpoint, ie stopping motor cyclists for no crash helmets and stuff like that, it was on South Pattaya road which is a really busy road, whats dangerous about that I hear you ask.

Well it was on the Sukhumvit end of South Pattaya, there was around 15 uniformed police and police volunteers, so they stood out like sore thumbs, the fines now are from 500baht to 1,000baht, ie 2 to 4 days salary, literally hundreds of motor cyclists were doing dangerous U turns to get away from them, the ones that left it to late tail gated cars in front then went onto the oncoming traffic side of the road to keep away from the police, I sat there for ages waiting to get a picture of some dead or injured motorcyclists, maybe next time.

[SEA Traveler]

as is so often the case, it is the bib who are causing the unsafe road practices. what gets me is with all the other safety related violations why just concentrate on the helmet and more than 2 riders on a bike rule? what about having functional lights on the motorcycle? and a license plate? what about a valid drivers license? insurance? aand all the normal unsafe driving habits of the locals? oh well, Mapenri!!!!

[smeden]

when you are in pattaya just take taxi dont drive when i am in pattaya i do not drive motorbike i will take taxi ewry time

[BobR]

I really do not understand that roadblock thing at all. I've never seen anyone pulled over by a police vehicle western style, all the enforcement is through these check points, and no effort is made to chase down those who obviously avoid it or refuse to stop.
The most dangerous one has to be on the Chonburi-Bangkok Highway. I've seen officers there run into the highway to waive down cars doing well in excess of the 120 kph speed limit.

[superman]

what gets me is with all the other safety related violations why just concentrate on the helmet and more than 2 riders on a bike rule?

They only do what they've been instructed to do. Can you imagine how long a road block would be in situ if they were to work to the book ?

[BobR]

Thais simply refuse to wear helmets. I work (teach) on a large Thai Government facility which I'm deliberately not naming. Last year, the commander of this facility ordered that anyone who rides a motorcycle into, out of, or on the premises must wear a helmet.

The result? Every morning there were Thais stopped just outside the guard checkpoint putting on their helmets. They had to wear them inside, but they still would not wear them on the street.

[kmart]

as is so often the case, it is the bib who are causing the unsafe road practices. what gets me is with all the other safety related violations why just concentrate on the helmet and more than 2 riders on a bike rule? what about having functional lights on the motorcycle? and a license plate? what about a valid drivers license? insurance? aand all the normal unsafe driving habits of the locals? oh well, Mapenri!!!!

You might appear to be hampered by logic..?

The Thai cops only care about the money, and the easiest way to extract it from people.

[ohio]

Always Taxi it in Patts NEVER had a fine.

Brown Shirts = $$$$

[Ripley]

Thais simply refuse to wear helmets. I work (teach) on a large Thai Government facility which I'm deliberately not naming. Last year, the commander of this facility ordered that anyone who rides a motorcycle into, out of, or on the premises must wear a helmet.

The result? Every morning there were Thais stopped just outside the guard checkpoint putting on their helmets. They had to wear them inside, but they still would not wear them on the street.

Maybe they feel it hampers their hearing and viision ?

What if forcing them to wear helmets makes them even worse drivers ( if that's possible?)

I"d much rather see education and enforcement of traffic laws over helmet laws that are only sporadically enforced- endangering others in the process as pointed out by DD

[ohio]

Bit hard to educate drivers without setting an example & from what I have observed over the last 2 + decades in Pattaya & BKK the tight shirted ones lead by BAD example.

[keda]

Thais have much to learn from the Bodians. Best I saw was in PP when a cop tried to pull over a mosai driven by a weedy guy with big mama on pillion, he walked over to intercept and grabbed hold of a handlebar at some lights, she kneed him in the goolies and started bashing the weed about the head as she yelled to get a move on and never mind the red.

Cop recovered and was mighty pissed off as he watched them drive off, then like nothing happened as the lights changed he pulled over another bike.

Nice being a cop, doesn't matter if one gets away because there's always another behind.