bust Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 While I've always known the Thais to be crazy on the roads it was a shock to hear so many died on the roads during Songkran. 486 I think it was in just 3 days. About the same as a whole year here in Oz. I was talking to a Thai friend of mine who just simply said that most Thais are not educated about the dangers of driving a car or riding a bike even though they see so many others die. It never occurs to them that their recklessness plays a very big part in the amount of deaths on the roads. So to confirm what he said I saw the following. While driving from Nakhon Sawan to Tak at night last week I passed a guy driving with no passengers with a portable DVD player propped up on the dash watching a movie at 120 kmh.............. Amazing Thailand !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushpilot Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 Hahaha definitely a darwin award candidate. To bad he's also a danger to others as well. I see astonishingly bad driving here in Phuket everyday by thai and tourists alike. I find it surprising more people don't die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simie Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 My brother in law has a little screen mounted on the top of his dashboard (passenger side) but i must say it does unerve me somewhat him having it on playing music picture cds when i've been in the car! Simie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkoktraveler Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 Quote: [color:"red"]"While driving from Nakhon Sawan to Tak at night last week I passed a guy driving with no passengers with a portable DVD player propped up on the dash watching a movie at 120 kmh.............. Amazing Thailand !!!!" [color:"black"] It is hard to believe you can get used to doing things and not realize how dangerous it can be. Back in the States I onced used to drive to work while reading the newspaper. Stupid but never realized how dumb it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffHello Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 saw a pillion passenger facing the wrong way(facing rearwards) on the bike and having a chat on the phone ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 So..............whilst driving in LOS make sure you always look into the right hand mirror before making a right turn as Motobike are famous for passing on you right.....Certainly there are other things to watch for but that isw a big one as to wester standards... BTW, don't think that if you live in LOS you can keep driving upon you home cuntry issue INt'l permit....Once you are in the county for 90 days you must get a thai DL. Real easy to do and far better as it also works as of sort of an ID card. I use mine to board domestic flights, paid only 100 baht for an open Bier Chang in Phuket City, getting discounts while shopping at MBK and many other uses........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jxxxl Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 bust1 said:While I've always known the Thais to be crazy on the roads it was a shock to hear so many died on the roads during Songkran. 486 I think it was in just 3 days. About the same as a whole year here in Oz. I was talking to a Thai friend of mine who just simply said that most Thais are not educated about the dangers of driving a car or riding a bike even though they see so many others die. It never occurs to them that their recklessness plays a very big part in the amount of deaths on the roads. So to confirm what he said I saw the following. While driving from Nakhon Sawan to Tak at night last week I passed a guy driving with no passengers with a portable DVD player propped up on the dash watching a movie at 120 kmh.............. Amazing Thailand !!!! Anyone have the percentage of traffic fatalities where the victim is riding a motorbike - and specifically during Sonkran? I reckon the percentage is VERY high and distorts somewhat the very high traffic fatality rate in Thailand. I fully appreciate that there are lunatic auto drivers here, but the small motorbike riders die like flies. This is especially true when they are getting buckets of water thrown at them and having to contend with drunk cage drivers. I remember reading somewhere that Thailand had the second highest road fatality rate in the world. Scary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whosyourdaddy Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 But in reality the songkran death total is not that much higher than the regular day death total. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquidflux Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 whosyourdaddy said:But in reality the songkran death total is not that much higher than the regular day death total. Agree completely. Songkran makes a good excuse for all the carnage. They have nothing to blame for the other 362 days of the year. I've watched probably at least 10 collisions at the Sukhumvit/Asoke intersection alone. Almost all of them were car v. moto. I doubt I've seen that many accidents in progress at home over my entire life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limbo Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 Bust, The toll is measured over the whole holiday period, rather 10 days (or however the Songkran period is measured) than 3 days. During a 'normal' day period, if my memory serves me well, the death toll is around 350, so the difference isn't really that much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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