Another Senseless Death!

[ozuncle]

How come they don't understand that it is an easy way to make money?

Buy a few speed cameras and they will pay for themselves in about 6 months.

They seem to have the parking fine system set up ok, but traffic offences may be a bit too hard to enforce. (except for falang)

The death toll is amazing. It is about time someone in Thailand pulled their finger out and did something about it.

[Big Boy]

sandman,

If you are lending the bike, and feel so strongly about the non-wearing of helmets, why don't you make the wearing of a helmet a condition of the lease?

Seems logical to me.

[sandman67]

I do now....but they inevitably drive back sans lid....



theres just no telling them.

So then I say well next time you walk.

In the end I've given up and look on it as some form of Darwinism.

The best result is Ive managed to educate Mrs S into always wearing a lid.

[margaretcarnes]

Another senseless death. Yes, agreed. And yet another string of posts deviating from the issue. But Khun Richard has I think hit the nail on the head this time with the Motor Bike blessing ceremonies. Like it or not (many don't judging from recent comments on the length of funeral rites, dragging Thailand into the 21st century, building a boardwalk etc) Thailand is a Buddhist country.
Get your bike blessed and you will be OK.
To us farangs it can look as though life is cheap. To a Thai an accident was 'meant to be'
And I'm sorry but anyone crossing that stretch of road on foot must have a death wish.

[huahinsimon]

I'm sorry, but is it just me that sees no connection between dangerous driving & paedophilia? And finds the two being compared rather distasteful?

Iom wrote: From bad driving to capital punishment for the crime below is a pretty big step, so I just don't see the connection.

Let me offer the connection. The thread is "another senseless death" due to Thai driving habits and failure to enforce the law. Our posters are offering opinions and experiences on how stupid many Thai drivers are AND WHY DON'T THEY CHANGE AND DRIVE SENSIBLY LIKE US FARANGS!! WHY DONT THE POLICE ENFORCE THE LAW?

i suggested it is cultural. That's the way people drive in Thailand, ie, against traffic, fast, without helmets, etc. Thais seem to be willing to accept the consequences, 66K killed and 5 million injured over last 5 years. Others supported my theory by noting that they get their motorbikes and cars blessed by the monks so any "accident" is NOT an accident but fate, so it CANNOT be prevented, so they can drive with impunity.

I tried to juxtapose a situation in the West where because of our cultural beliefs (human life is so sacred, we wont use capital punishment even though history/statistics show child molesters are repeat offenders and many go on to eventually kill their victims), we are willing to accect the dire consequences of bad behavior, senseless death, and a life time of physical and mental suffering, when we could prevent some of it with capital punishment laws, as Thailand can prevent traffic deaths and injury with strict enforcement of traffic laws. Is the connection any clearer?
Preventing senseless death and injury by law enforcement.

One poster, Chas, through egregious misreading opined that I was blaming the West for the way Thailand is. "but couldn't let pass the attempt to blame the West for the way Thailand is today."

Say what? blaming the West for Thailand's bad drivers?

This is where the thread veered into the distasteful, according to Dawn, who by the way was the first to use the highly charged word pedophilia, thereby adding to the distaste. Khun Chas got into the selling of children etc. Nothing to do with my post.

I maintain it is an apt comparison: accepted cultural biases, ours and theirs, that lead to senseless death.

HHS

[machersjohn]

The bad news is that it is not only Thaiwho drive down the road the wrong way. On Monday as we were heading home from Tanarat a pickup came out of Makro and drove towards Pranburi,on the north bound carageway. Yes it was a farng driving.

Last week heading to Tanarat at about 5 50am i was confronted by a pickup on the flyover heading into Hua Hin real scary in the dark, can,t say who was driving but me knees were knocking all the way to golf course . Had a bad score so blamed the incident !!

[Procyon]

I say serves them right, if they're too lazy and stupid to drive sensibly and want to dice with death to arrive 15 seconds earlier then they deserve to be pasted over the tarmac, why should we lose any sleep over it.

Machersjohn, you have a good point, falangs have actually been tought how to drive at some kind of school so we should know better. Those that mimic driving styles here also deserve whats coming to them.

[Randy Cornhole]

Myself and Mrs Cornhole were driving up the Klong road the other evening, and were behind a policeman in full uniform. I was just wondering why he had fitted a noisy expansion pipe to his new bike, when two small girls (I would say about 12 years old) passed us at at least 60 - 70 kms on the wrong side of the road with no helmets on. Did the officer leap into action like a coiled spring and pursue? Did he buggery. He just carried on making a bloody racket!!!

[lomuamart]

I'm not trying to provocative, huahinsimon, but I still fail to see the connection in this thread.
If you're trying to say that all laws should be enforced, then good luck to you and I'd agree.
However, it'll never happen here or anywhere else for that matter.
Societies have rules and regulations and that's what is supposed to keep the members of it together without tearing themselves apart.
So, there's traffic laws and laws to protect children/minors. How any society views the seriousness of the crime is what that society is based on.
Personally, I think there's a huge difference between careless/reckless/selfish driving and acts of atrocity against children.
Sure, it's how I feel about it and I maybe bring my "western values" to the discussion. However, I came back on the bus from Ranong last night and I'm sure that the driver couldn't have cared less about any idiot riding against the traffic without lights on. Som nom na.
That driver just may have a different view about people messing around with his son or daughter.
There's just no comparison in my book and to try and lump the two things into the same equation just dosn't make sense to me - other than the utopian concept that all laws should be obeyed. If that were the case, there'd be no need for laws or the police or the judiciary.
That's all really. If you'd to like to start a thread about jurisprudence, sociology and the rest in Thailand, go for it and I'm sure we will all have a good discussion.
All I was getting at previously was that the thread shouldn't degenerate into a discussion about other serious matters - other than those donkeys who drive the wrong way, without lights and are just "asking for it".

[The understudy]

Hi there y'all!

Here's my 2 Euro cents worth on this Topic.
For people who are driving on the wrong way of the road plus some with no lights are one Phenomenon gripped by most Thais that is carelesness of any oncomming traffic by thinking "Ahhhh No that would never happen to me!" Attitude or Thais on motorbikes to lazy to make a "U -ey" @ the U turn and "just asking for it" like Mr. Wanderlust put it. All the Prayers when people are getting a new Motorbike/Car amount to nothing when the Rider/Driver are just to careless of thinking of the consequenses they encounter. People overhere are just to Light headed when cutting some turns and driving on tthe wrong side of the Road. Basically They don't care as long as they can cut some travelling Time. (Another healthy dose of critisizm to my fellow Thais as I have to witness more and more Thais dying some sensleess deaths by their own carelesness)

Your's The understudy!!!

[Wanderlust]

understudy,
I think it was Mr lomuamart that said something about asking for it, but never mind!
I don't think the careless driving is all pervasive in Thai society, but it is certainly a larger percentage than you will find in the UK I would estimate, and purely because of law enforcement. Certainly when I am driving my wife anywhere, in between her looking at every food or fruit stall and saying 'I'm hungry' and warning me about this motorbike or that truck or another dog, she berates almost every other driver for their bad driving, and tuts beneath her breath at even the slightest misdemeanour. She is a driver herself and pretty safe so knows what she is talking about most of the time, but the funny part is, she got her Thai licence by someone taking the test for her!

[Terry]

THE most stupid thing is when motorcycles are driven at night on the oppositte carriagewy with no lights on!

I asked Mrs. T why no lights and she assured me it's because some folk believe it saves petrol and therefore money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yehright.

[HHTel]

Just a point about the copycat farangs. I've seen many of them also driving the wrong way, helmet in the basket etc. They have to be the dumbest of dumbers. I would rate them far worse than the local drivers as they really should know better.

Another point I really can't get my head round and I'll make it by example. A couple of days ago I was driving quite slowly past the night market on the nearside of two bumper to bumper lanes of traffic. An idiot decided to pull out from the kerb. I put my hand on the horn, my foot on the brake and had to move out slightly almost hitting a car in the outside lane. Had I been less astute, then I would have surely hit the guy on his front offside wing. If I had been the offending driver, I would be very embarassed, give profound apologies and would be much more careful in the future. Not here. The offending driver will utter a tirade of abuse at you and chase you down the road giving as much hassle as possible.

This seems to be the norm. I've mentioned some time ago that I once avoided a motorbike driver who cut in front of me, probably saved his life by avoiding action only to be chased to my home by the guy. I got out the car and he pulled a gun on me firing a couple of shots into the house before speeding off the wrong way. Advice from the police: "Next time just run him over and kill him!"

Take care out there.

[Randy Cornhole]

Just a point of note, I see many bikes with their lights off at night. These are not always old bikes but new ones. I have a newish Honda and you cannot turn off the lights? so these buffalo brained buffons (bbb's) must be hacking into the wiring loom and putting in a switch! It beggars belief...

[HHTel]

When I read Terry's post, I couldn't believe it. However, I've just checked it out with some Thai people. It's true, many Thais believe that if your lights are off then you will save petrol (100% sure). Even heard advice given that when you get a new bike (where the lights can't be switched off) then take out the bulbs.
Maybe that is the real reason why you see so many vehicles without lights.

Unbelievable!