Why do YOU think the Thais are such bad drivers?

[blue05]

as i said in another post Thai drivers are so bad because they have almost zero training

my mates missus passed her test after 4 hours tuition, now that is totally crazy. No main road training all done up in the hills , she has never gone over 30kmh yet.

I asked her what the road safety test was like and she just laughed

I can never see it getting any better here, it is what it is

[TingTongJohn]

I saw a comment somewhere maybe even here and was that the Thai drive on roads and treat it like they are still traveling by Canal. And it makes sense if you think about it. The slower boats get passed by the faster and you make your own lane.

[oakdale160]

Story from China. Traffic in this south China city was a mess, totally undisciplined. The mayor constantly asked the police to bring it to order--- nothing happened. Mayor went to a meeting in HK, returned and called a meeting of all the senior police. Announced a great move-- he had arranged for a group of police from HK to come and reach them how to control traffic. That day the police went crazy, ticketing and beating up offenders. 48 h traffic was near perfect.
The ONLY way to get things done in Asia, threaten loss of face.

[Takiap]

Having just spent the last three days cycling all around Hua-Hin with my two eldest daughters, it once again struck me just how considerate 99% of Thai drivers are to people, and especially kids, on bicycles. I lost track of the number of times drivers stopped to let us get across the road and etc. Nearly every single car; bike and truck that passed us gave us plenty of space and at no point did I feel at all uncomfortable about my kids being out there on the roads with me - we did avoid the main road though.


We all had a great time and it reminded me that the vast majority of Thais are just as jovial now as they've always been. Smiles; smiles and more smiles. Anyway, just thought I post about our experience because really, not everything about Thais and their driving is bad. Then again, maybe I've just been here too long.

[migrant]

Having just spent the last three days cycling all around Hua-Hin with my two eldest daughters, it once again struck me just how considerate 99% of Thai drivers are to people, and especially kids, on bicycles. I lost track of the number of times drivers stopped to let us get across the road and etc. Nearly every single car; bike and truck that passed us gave us plenty of space and at no point did I feel at all uncomfortable about my kids being out there on the roads with me - we did avoid the main road though.


We all had a great time and it reminded me that the vast majority of Thais are just as jovial now as they've always been. Smiles; smiles and more smiles. Anyway, just thought I post about our experience because really, not everything about Thais and their driving is bad. Then again, maybe I've just been here too long.

I've probably not driven as much as many of you, but have done Hua Hun to Phuket Surat Thai and back plus Chiang Mai all Ound the northern loops and agree. I've found Thai drivers, as a whole, more polite Tb
Han southern Californias

[Big Boy]

A good example of Thai driving on the video in this link. Particularly from about 2:15.

[dtaai-maai]

This isn't bad driving, it's murderous road rage.
It's astonishing how stupid people can be.

[buksida]

I hope they got his number plate and showed that video to the cops, the driver in the siplor deserves to be dragged out and shot in the head.

[Nereus]

I hope they got his number plate and showed that video to the cops, the driver in the siplor deserves to be dragged out and shot in the head.

Nothing to damage in his head! Better to shoot him in the guts and leave him in the ditch.

I just wonder if the cops would do anything about it. Assuming you could find one to show it to.

[Spitfire]

I must admit that on many occasions I've considered getting a 'dash cam' for my pickup as would be good to have a recording of what happens in case of an accident..........but it's been on the back-burner for a while, must think about it again sometime.

[arkain99]

For me, it's because they have trouble driving in straight lines. Everytime I begin to overtake a motorbike they meander over slowly to the right. They also like to pull on last second right in front of me

Apart from that, I don't their that bad!

[Nereus]

We haven't had a whinge about Thai drivers for awhile. I have been driving here for well over 20 years and thought that I had seen most of the antics they get up to. But todays effort has to take the award for the best qualified idiot so far.

Heavy traffic, but still moving along Sukhumvit Soi 77. This Soi has to be one of the most congested around this area, as it is a major route between Sukhumvit and the eastern suburbs. Big trucks, motorbikes, songtows stopping every few hundred metres, etc., etc.

In the middle of this lot Somchai, driving a 12 wheel truck, decides to do a 3 point turn and go back where ever he just came from! I could not bloody believe it! No indicators, no thought of anything apart from himself, he just swung the truck across the road in front of oncoming traffic, and then reversed back in front of the car ahead of me. He had to back up several times, as apart from the Soi being narrow, there were cars parked along the verge.

Normally I would give such a fool a blast on the horn, but I suppose like everybody else, I could not believe what was happening, and just sat there with my mouth wide open!

[GLCQuantum]

Thailand is determined to get #1 in something. As they're already in the mix, they've decided to push for 'The World's Most Dangerous Roads'.

Yup, that's Thailand. That one in the red on the right... on its own.

[Ginjaninja]

What's the grey? I'm certain at least Egypt and Libya should be flaming red also....

[GLCQuantum]

Not sure what the grey is. Maybe countries where it's too dangerous even to conduct the survey.