Polite Thai people?

[mikeheart]

Wouldn’t the world be a better place if the politeness and courtesy shown by khun Thai was practised. Those of us that have visited the country are almost universally impressed by their genuine courteousness. The please and thank you. The glass of water that appears when you have a meeting. The way your plate is constantly replenished during dinner. In fact in almost every part of their way of life.


BUT

It all changes about 10 seconds before they start to drive a car. Have you tried to walk across the road even on the striped areas of the road. Honk goes the horn and you run because you know the driver won’t slow.

You are trying to join a main road and instead of slowing just a little to allow you to join they speed up and guess what the horn honks again. Why are there no right turns? Because the impact of cars at right angles is horrendous. No one gives way.

The ‘u’ turn is no better.

Just before new year I drove to Maha Sarakaam. The roads were busy a driving what I think is safely. Leaving enough of a gap to safely stop in case of an accident. But thai drivers seem to think that the space is just made for them to undertake and fill and then brake heavily to stop driving into the car in frotnt

As I was driving past Saraburi there were numerous hold up because of vehicle shunts. Over a distance of about 8km I noticed numerous places on the road with white paint marks. I asked what they were. I was told. That’s where the police had painted the positions of crashed cars.

So beware mai pen rai and Thai time end when you are on road. So many people drive as if there name Shumacher

Don’t be put off driving but make sure you have all your eyes open including the back of the head

[Betti]

Mike, go to someplace like Italy or anywhere in Eastern Europe, and you will praise the Thai drivers for their lack of aggression when you come back.

[Tim]

Mike, go to someplace like Italy or anywhere in Eastern Europe, and you will praise the Thai drivers for their lack of aggression when you come back.

I once went round trip from Thailand to Turkey for two weeks, and I certainly noticed how much calmer the Thai drivers are. It's not really a problem of lack of politeness or being overly aggressive in Thailand, but mostly inattentiveness and failing to think things through to see the big picture.

It's true that driving in Thailand is dangerous, certainly the statistics show that, but there are ways to drive which increase your chances of staying safe. It's important to be extra alert and remember that anything that another driver might do is an actual possibility.

[noppelchen]

Mike, go to someplace like Italy or anywhere in Eastern Europe, and you will praise the Thai drivers for their lack of aggression when you come back.

at least those guys don't replace the safety belts with flowers in the rearview mirror


thai speedlimit on the highway is 80 km/h and inside the bigger cities roads are quite often jammed so you can walk faster than they can drive


but i agree. crossing roads is quite a problem... i experienced it that way: a group of people gathers at the side of the road and after reaching a certain number or critical mass maybe they don't care anymore and just start crossing the street no matter what may come...

maybe thats a hidden calculation that the impact with 10 people would damage the car enough for the thai driver to stop before

or maybe it's some sort of swarm tactics... like a hering... the bigger the group the lower is the individual risk

[mikeheart]

I agree. There are many other places where aggressive driving is worse. The thing that interests and amuses me is the total change of character behind the wheel.

Of course this is made even worse by the high incidence of drunk driving.

[tomboR]

I have lived in Ireland for some time and can see similarities in what you are saying. The Irish, like the Thais, are very warm and welcoming people for the most part. Behind the wheel of a car it is a very different story.

There seems to be a racing mentality in both countries. The roads in Ireland are now being upgraded but before most of them were single lanes. I have witnessed cars overtaking cars that were already overtaking. So if you can imagine 3 cars heading towards you and only one of them in the proper lane. Very frightening. Ireland in the past, also like Thailand, had very relaxed laws or at least a relaxed attitude towards road laws which has resulted in many deaths on the roads. Drunk driving is also a huge problem there.

It is now changing as the Gardai are taking a firmer stance against dangerous and drunk driving.

I hope this happens in Thailand soon too.

[InterestedGuy08]

I think this just goes to show that there is some universality when it comes to driving and human psychology. There's just something about being in a vehicle that brings out the worst in all of us. It's like your vehicle and the space around you is sacred. Myself included. Long time ago I used to be pretty calm, brushing off people cutting me off, things of that nature. Nowadays those things set me off, I don't do anything but it still upsets me. Though in the U.S. cutting someone off or other actions could get you shot.

[Norb]

Mike, go to someplace like Italy or anywhere in Eastern Europe, and you will praise the Thai drivers for their lack of aggression when you come back.

Not just there, Germany is just as bad. Coming back home for visits I often hated my own people for their rudeness on the road. It always seemed that Germans behind the wheel become all-powerful, no longer polite and considerate. I never forget that one time when. my X was trying to cross the street with a baby buggy. She had the front wheels in the road already but nobody stopped. We had to wait for no cars coming.

[Betti]

believe me, Germans are polite. even sheepishly so

[paul_au]

When people here the sound of my V8 with me swerving all over the road with my horn on, they soon get out of my way.