Driving in Thailand

[firecat69]

What are your experiences driving in Thailand?

 

Motorbikes or Cars involved in accidents .

 

How are you treated?

 

Does the writer of this letter have a point?

 

Follow link:

 

http://www.pattayamail.com/mailbag/who-s-at-fault-30364

[vinapu]

I all countries I don't speak at least a little bit of local language I'm leaving driving to locals unless in company of local residents.  

 

Things are happening and it something happens you are helpless, been there , done that. No Thailand experience though

[Rogie]

Perhaps as an occasional visitor I am typical, perhaps not. I've never fancied driving a car, let alone riding a small motorcy in Bangkok. So there I use public transport.

 

The first time I hired a car was in Pattaya, not so much to get around there as I generally use the baht buses for that, but to drive to Isarn to meet up with my then bf, about a 7 hour drive. After doing that a few times without mishap, and travelling (together with my bf as passenger)around eastern and south-eastern Thailand, and later up to Chiang Mai and all places in between, my experience is that driving a car in Thailand (Bangkok excepted!) is great. I say that, fingerd crossed, as no accidents to date. . . I'd add however, I do feel happier, as our colleague Vinapu mentions in his post, driving with a Thai companion. I don't speak any Thai, so the thought of an accident whilst driving on my own . . .well, I just DON'T ever try to think about it! But surely ANY accident you are involved in is MEGA-trouble? Maybe so, but my bf was good to have around for several reasons and one of those is loyalty. I always knew he'd 'protect me' in dealings with other Thais, police etc, as best he could. Luckily he was never put to that particular test.

[Guest anonone]

I have limited experience driving in Thailand.  Brief motorbike rental in Pattaya and one-time car rental to drive from Udon Thani to BF's village, around a bit, then back to Udon Thani. 

 

Minor mishap as detailed in my trip report of 2013 new years Isan:

 

http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/topic/8529-trip-report-isan-for-new-years-plus-wat-kham-pramong/

 

(minor clip of a side mirror.  thankfully no drama...very glad BF was in the car)

 

Note to self: pay attention and be cautious when driving in the city....

[billyhouston]

Driving in Bangkok is not for the faint of heart but, if you know where you are going, it's doable. It's less stressful in Chiang Mai where my biggest concern is the motorcycles. Because they seem to lack any instinct for self-preservation, it's very difficult to predict how and where they are going to move. By contrast, in Europe people are quite anxious to live to fight another day but perhaps Buddhism plays a part in SE Asia.

 

Outside of the big cities driving is straightforward, due to lack of traffic, but it can be quite tedious where distances are large and the scenery doesn't change very much. Used with caution, satellite navigation on a smart phone can make life easier. Sygic provide a fairly decent Thai map (TomTom based, I believe) for a very reasonable price.

[Guest buckbee]

Love driving in Thailand, its peaceful and no road rage. Much better than driving in Australia where they will not let you in and there is so much road rage.

[Gaybutton]

Love driving in Thailand, its peaceful and no road rage

 

WHAT?!?!?!?  I hope you're joking.

 

Just in case you actually believe that, read this: http://www.pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/106225/50-year-thai-man-injured-east-pattaya-road-rage-attack/

 

That's just one example, in one city, out of hundreds and hundreds that take place just as often in Thailand as anywhere else.

[Guest buckbee]

Sad to read that happening. I've never had any problems driving in Thailand, just my opinion. I would rather drive in TH than AUS

[vinapu]

I always like to leave driving to locals almost everywhere I have been. One can't drink and drive, right?

[Guest buckbee]

Road Rage in Australia

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6aYuvoInqw

[Guest buckbee]

More unbelievable road rage in Australia 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYm9vCPLoG4

[Rogie]

One can't drink and drive, right?

 

Sensibly, no! You can't.

 

Unfortunately I'm not a 100% sensible person.

 

I've been naughty once or twice and driven back to the place I've been staying in Thailand after a meal in a restaurant, where I've drunk a bottle of Singha. The person I am with also drives and usually doesn't have any alcohol, but every so often does. Hence it's a toss of a coin who drives back in that situation. 

 

It's very inadvisable to drink and drive.

[Rogie]

Love driving in Thailand, its peaceful and no road rage. Much better than driving in Australia where they will not let you in and there is so much road rage.

 

I've driven in Thailand and Australia / New Zealand without encountering anything other than the odd 'finger' or blast on the horn. I reckon every country has its fair share of lunatics and like many disagreeable events in life it's a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

 

Driving carefully with regard to local road rules should keep you out of trouble, whereas carving other motorists up or any other inconsiderate manoevres, will increase the chance of escalating the situation into a road rage stand off.

 

As Vinapu aptly implied, many road rage incidents are fueled by drink and drugs. There may be the odd idiot who behaves like that when stone cold sober, in which case I agree you'd better watch out, whether in Thailand or anywhere else!

[Guest trailrider]

There are many problems with driving in Thailand.  A large percentage of drivers have absolutely no idea how to drive properly.  Lane straddling, trying to force their way into a very small space between you and the car in front of you,  pulling in from a side street without stopping, trying to force their way into your lane by forcing you to move over to another lane, and road rage are just some of the problems.  These problems are not an affliction of all Thai drivers but an uncomfortable percentage of them are like this.

 

Add to these problems the dishonest Thai police and when you are in an accident, whether with a car, truck or motorcycle they will screw the farang.

[vinapu]

You are right but one can replace Thailand in your post with Mexico, Egypt  or India and rest is as accurate.

 

Many countries simply don't have road infrastructure to handle number of vehicles on the roads and corruption allows everybody and his sister to obtain a license without proper training.

 

But it looks from other posts that as soon as one leaves BKK driving becomes pleasant and easy. 

 

Farang drivers are source of few accidents because they mistake girl's  or boy's knee for gear lever.

[kokopelli]

vinapu; I  don't think it is the boy's knee that is mistaken for the gear lever.

[vinapu]

vinapu; I  don't think it is the boy's knee that is mistaken for the gear lever.

I did not want to make to lengthy post and wanted to include girls so opted for all -inclusive knee version, political correctness running amok, my  fault

[Rogie]

vinapu; I  don't think it is the boy's knee that is mistaken for the gear lever.

 

. . . so opted for all -inclusive knee version. . .

 

OUTragious pink auto + cosy trad. bench seat = not much likelihood of making a mistake

 

 

 

I bet many of you reading this learnt to drive in a car with bench seats. The first car I owned had them!

 

Sadly, they have joined 'proper' chrome bumpers and speedometers that change colour the faster you go into a bygone age:

 

RIP To The Front Bench Seat

 

 

The days of the six passenger sedan are officially over; with the death of the current generation Chevrolet Impala, the front bench seat is now gone from the North American marketplace.

 

Only 10 percent of Impala customers ordered the bench seat option, at a cost of $195. Bucket seats are now the sole choice in all automobiles, but GM’s Clay Dean revealed an interesting nugget

 

. . . bench seats carry a nostalgic factor, and he doesn’t rule out their return in smaller cars.

 

“There is certain nostalgia for bench seats, like being able to snuggle up with your date at a drive-in movie, and some customers still like them,” 

 

 

 

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/10/rip-to-the-front-bench-seat/

[vinapu]

bench seats were very convenient for those spur of the moment encounters on the sides of back roads I guess

[Rogie]

bench seats were very convenient for those spur of the moment encounters on the sides of back roads I guess

 

Good observation Vinapu!

 

Back in the heyday of bench seats in cars, seat belts were seldom, if ever, fitted. Regrettably, there was awful carnage on the roads owing to the combination of poor safety features in cars + lack of seat belts.

 

Any distraction afforded the driver may well have had dire consequences. Probably the 'back roads' were a bit safer. Fooling around on an interstate highway was inviting trouble.

[Rogie]

Sorry to hog this topic, but in addition to being saddened at bench seats demise, I was struck by the contrast in styles of the cars of yesteryear and those of today.

 

First, the current model referred to in my earlier post:

 

 

Compare that with the 1959 model. As a young boy living in Canada at the time the Chevvy Impala was my favourite car!

 

 

 

[vinapu]

You are not saying you like red car better, do you ?

[Rogie]

You are not saying you like red car better, do you ?

 

They were death traps (in an accident) and drank fuel like there's no tomorrow, but (to me at least)  they were aesthetically pleasing on the eye. The current model's (to steal a recent swipe on GBT) Ernest Borgnine to the '59's Brad Pitt.

 

Grab a bottle of chrome cleaner, fit some seat belts, drive it sweetly and listen to it purr . . .  oh dear. . .cough, splutter. . . .Detroit! we have a problem!! . . .

[Guest]

Forgive me for making the case for comfortable, modern & efficient cars.

 

Bench seats are no use for cars capable of cornering.  A modern car might be capable of maintaining a reasonable speed on a twisty road, so some lateral support is required from the seats.

[Bob]

My mom had a 1959 Chevrolet too, Rogie, and that car is about as good as any to compare to more modern cars which weigh considerably less and are infinitely more aerodynamic.  You see the horizontal fins at the rear of that car?  While they may or may not have been stylish at the time, they were a disaster aerodynamically - the airflow under them made the rear of the car somewhat lift off the ground at speeds above 60 mph which at times made that particular car occasionally fishtail rather dangerously.  And the modern car (whether stylish or not) is infinitely more safer even in the interior due to the presence of airbags, seatbelts, knobs that don't impale passengers, steering wheels that won't crush your face, etc., etc. 

 

Hmmmm.....back to the thread topic.....I have never driven a car or motorcycle in Thailand and I'm not sure if I ever will.  The traffic up here in Chiangmai is at times just awful and currently (given where I live) there seems to be no need to own my own vehicle (I can walk to where I want to go to 90% of the time and the baht busses are very easy to use and inexpensive).