Thread: When will they learn?

Originally Posted by jamiejambos

The monks were consulted about which day\date the motorcycle should be bought.
The monks then blessed the motor cycle after it was purchased.
The monks then blessed the motorcyclist and gave him a special piece of white string to wear around their wrist to protect them from all accidents whether it's
their fault or not. This allows said motorcyclist to feel invincible and gives him free license to cause any amount of havoc and chaos on the roads as all responsibility
has been taken from him and is now all in Buddha's hands.....sum num na.

Hmm ,I'm shaking my head and laughing to myself , but I agree with everything you write .

Originally Posted by jamiejambos

The monks were consulted about which day\date the motorcycle should be bought.
The monks then blessed the motor cycle after it was purchased.
The monks then blessed the motorcyclist and gave him a special piece of white string to wear around their wrist to protect them from all accidents whether it's
their fault or not. This allows said motorcyclist to feel invincible and gives him free license to cause any amount of havoc and chaos on the roads as all responsibility
has been taken from him and is now all in Buddha's hands.....sum num na.

CMN, the above sounds pretty cultural to me.

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon

shit moronic attitude the children aren't killing themselves

Aren't they? Who's doing it then if they drive below the age limit without a helmet and no understanding of what's right or wrong?

I have truly lost count of seeing 4 little kids no older than ten year's old on one bike ripping down a busy road on the wrong side of the road at night with neither front or back lights working .

I only wrote it as I've been witness to it many times and come away
laughing at the crass stupidity of it all. I'll never change anything, gave up trying years ago

Originally Posted by jamiejambos

I only wrote it as I've been witness to it many times and come away
laughing at the crass stupidity of it all. I'll never change anything, gave up trying years ago

Jaime, As Stated in my post #26 I was laughing inwardly at your post whilst agreeing with every word ,seriously though its no laughing matter to read of the endless carnage of Thailand's roads ,but any advice (and boy how I've tried ) offered especially by a farang is totally ignored and laughed at, so fuck them let them keep slaughtering each other , its a bit of a sick attitude to take but any one who has lived here for a spell with a modicum of sense should know the point I'm trying to make , offer well meant advice ? you might as well do this

I'm not an un-caring person but I've found the Thai mentality to be unpenetrable
and so I have come to the conclusion that who am I to interfere in their
Lemming-like behavior especially if they believe in their destiny or karma
what will be, will be.....Mai bpen rai.

About 7 years ago on another forum some one who's name I forgot started a thread aptly named "death by stupidity" the theme of the thread started were a single mother sent her only son who was 9 years old at the time to go to the local shop not 200 metre's away on her Motorcycle ,he came out of a side road without looking to his right and was duly "wiped out" by a pickup which dragged him screaming for quite a distance before he succumbed from his horrendous injury's , the poster said the mother was inconsolable and lied there screaming and shouting at the loss of her only Son ,whether this is correct or not I have no way of knowing but the Policeman who attended the scene told the mother in no uncertain terms that she had no one to blame but herself for her sad loss,I suppose its quite safe to write that a scene like that is played out here in Thailand on quite a regular basis , and the excellent title of this thread in particular bears my thought's out in graphic detail.

Originally Posted by jamiejambos

I'm not an un-caring person but I've found the Thai mentality to be unpenetrable
and so I have come to the conclusion that who am I to interfere in their
Lemming-like behavior especially if they believe in their destiny or karma
what will be, will be.....Mai bpen rai.

On the contrary Jaime I think you are a very caring person , why would you not offer your well meant opinion (which most people agree with) if you did not care , but there is a limit to it as you and others are very well aware of , advice is but a cry in the wilderness for all these people care .

It was the chalk outlines that always got me.

The adult then a baby outlined as well.

As much as I am struggling dealing with the missus these days, there is no chance she is going to go to Thailand with our daughter to live for any length of time. All the promises of not using motorbike taxis in the world just won't cut it.

A friend of mine, a good athlete with good sense and good reflexes, all buckled in, driving alone in a car, was wiped out in a split second by a texting teenager in his father's SUV coming toward him, both at speed on a major highway. He never saw it until he knew he was looking at certain death.

When I think of the times, in the old days, growing up and learning to drive when the speed limits were higher and the roads single lane each way, with no restrictions like seatbelts, and drag races were held at night, and older guys would teach you how to hold your beer between your legs until it was safe to drink without being too obvious, I shake my head that so few of us were killed. It could have been me, a dozen times.

But it could never happen to me. That's a lot of faith, brother.

I met a guy in Illinois who said that two angels rode on the top of his fenders, at the front of the car, one on the left and one on the right, just above the headlights. Said they protected him. Guardian angels, if you will.

Christians sometimes carry St. Christopher medals or have them in cars because he was regarded as the patron of travellers. And Thailand has its versions, too, as we well know.

Maybe it has a lot to do with money, or lack of it. I wonder if the rich buckle up and wear helmets as often as they should, in Thailand. I remember when seatbelt laws first appeared, there were a fair number who opposed them, or maybe opposed the fact that they didn't like being told what to do. Some said you might get trapped in your car.

Being a bit of a gambler, I chose to wear mine always because the odds were in my favour. And it helped to avoid contact with the cops. Like keeping your beer down.

Guess it's good to believe in something when you don't have a lot of money and you barely have a motorcycle without a helmet. I often wonder how much despair there is under the faces within the faces in the smiling faces of Thailand. They might be more inclined to take their chances on the road when they have bigger problems, basic things, like eating.

Education would fit somewhere in there. But a lot of farangs have had trouble conveying their thoughts to the people around them. But again, these are entirely different worlds. The poster who wrote about the woman who told him he was inviting an accident by preparing for it was probably not far wrong in a bizarre way.

Fall Protection is a course that is needed on many construction sites. Do you know what the best advice is?

Don't fall.

Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

It's a social [extension] issues.
Legalities have really nothing to do with anything.

bollux jeff

you have studies to presume this i suppose

It's a matter of practicalities. 3, 4 up on a scooter? How else are they going to travel?
They can't afford cars. What should they do, make them walk?
Helmets? How many helmets would you have to buy as the kids grow? How do you afford that on 300 baht per day?

Same thing in Aust, they passed a law banning people riding in the tray of trucks and utes....except for Abo's as they had no other practical transport.

For as long as Thais consider their lives to be futile, with no ambition or purpose, and little more than slavery, they will not see any point in spending time and money on life-saving clothing or procedures.

If your life was shit would you want to extend it?

The first time I came across this was in the village, the neighbours slaughtered a pig and the Monks where there chanting to the Josh house,that Altar they have in the garden.
The Family where having bad luck and the Monks where sorting out the spirits.
The bad luck was their teenage son had had a motorcycle accident,nothing too serious .
" Not bad luck, bad driving "
Well they thought I was the dumb one. It took Me a while to realise that they where never going to change and it was best to remain silent.
Their teenage son drove like a maniac.

Originally Posted by Thormaturge

For as long as Thais consider their lives to be futile, with no ambition or purpose, and little more than slavery, they will not see any point in spending time and money on life-saving clothing or procedures.

If your life was shit would you want to extend it?

And quite clearly they've taken the same attitude toward the children they have bought into this difficult world!

Originally Posted by Koojo

Are you saying you believe it to be so?
Or that's the way they think?

Both. I believe in intention manifestation, universe vibrations and all that to a degree. Not to the extent that I'd let my kids go on a motorbike unprotected or ride in the car without a seat belt, but I see where they're coming from.

This credible guy on youtube said so so it must be true.

Originally Posted by Jesus Jones

And quite clearly they've taken the same attitude toward the children they have bought into this difficult world!

Clearly, this is the real tragedy. And it begs for a remedy.

Originally Posted by wasabi

Their teenage son drove like a maniac.

How Thais see themselves driving is totally different to how we see them when they drive. They drive normal/acceptable in their opinion. It's us farang that drive dangerously according to some I've given a lift to.
My wife admits it wasn't until we married that she realised the difference in how Thais drive. Before, she found Thai driving to be acceptable.

Originally Posted by Necron99

Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

It's a social [extension] issues.
Legalities have really nothing to do with anything.

bollux jeff

you have studies to presume this i suppose

It's a matter of practicalities. 3, 4 up on a scooter? How else are they going to travel?
They can't afford cars. What should they do, make them walk?
Helmets? How many helmets would you have to buy as the kids grow? How do you afford that on 300 baht per day?

Same thing in Aust, they passed a law banning people riding in the tray of trucks and utes....except for Abo's as they had no other practical transport.

Up to me being 68 me and My Geordie mate Chris did almost 250 kms a week on our Mountain bikes 5 x 25s and 2x 54s on my 67th birthday I did 67 kms, they could always think the unthinkable and get some exersize

Originally Posted by Necron99

Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

It's a social [extension] issues.
Legalities have really nothing to do with anything.

bollux jeff

you have studies to presume this i suppose

It's a matter of practicalities. 3, 4 up on a scooter? How else are they going to travel?
They can't afford cars. What should they do, make them walk?
Helmets? How many helmets would you have to buy as the kids grow? How do you afford that on 300 baht per day?

Same thing in Aust, they passed a law banning people riding in the tray of trucks and utes....except for Abo's as they had no other practical transport.

If you read my post #33 you will see the kid was only going 200 yards or so to the shop when he got wiped out , he could have always walked could,nt he?

He could have took a bicycle. A cheaper and better alternative to a motorcycle.

As long as I am still alive I don't care !

Originally Posted by stickmansucks

As long as I am still alive I don't care !

That seems to be the Thai approach.