How can Thailand curb its appalling road fatality rate?

Driving and riding in Hua Hin and Thailand, all topics on cars, pickups, bikes, boats, licenses, roads, and motoring in general.
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Big Boy
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Re: How can Thailand curb its appalling road fatality rate?

Post by Big Boy »

Speed limits are a very difficult one to understand in Thailand, and I doubt many BIB can accurately tell you what the speed limit is in any area unless he's stood beside a sign. They put up signs advising where a limit reduces, but rarely is there any indication when the restriction ends. If on a journey, I rely on my satnav (updated before every journey) to tell me what the speed restrictions are, but even then, if ridiculously slow with no apparent reason, I will override that inside my head.

It makes little difference, if a BIB outside of Hua Hin decides you've been speeding (regardless of whether you have), you have been speeding and are required to pay the tea money.

This is why I repeatedly say we need a police force. They can erect as many signs as they want - until somebody can enforce them properly with proper penalties, people will not obey.

This mindset is Farang as well as Thai. How many Farang don't know the helmet law? How many disobey it? How many would obey if proper penalties were enforced? That answer is simple - just look at their home countries.
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Re: How can Thailand curb its appalling road fatality rate?

Post by HHTel »

Yeh, these speed warnings are appearing all over Thailand. I would doubt their accuracy as going past one on the way to Tha Yang, it had my speed more than 10kms over my actual speed!
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Re: How can Thailand curb its appalling road fatality rate?

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HHTel wrote: Thu Jan 11, 2018 3:49 pm Yeh, these speed warnings are appearing all over Thailand. I would doubt their accuracy as going past one on the way to Tha Yang, it had my speed more than 10kms over my actual speed!
I believe that this one is the same one that I posted about some time ago. How do you know what your true speed is?
My speedo indicates exactly the same as my GPS, which is the most accurate, and I found that one to be spot on.

edit: viewtopic.php?f=44&t=34615&p=439798#p439798
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Re: How can Thailand curb its appalling road fatality rate?

Post by HHTel »

My speedo and gps are also in agreement. Just that I noticed when driving by that the sign said the limit was 90 and I was doing 110. My gps said 95! (okay I was still over by a smidgin)
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Re: How can Thailand curb its appalling road fatality rate?

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PM tightens bus inspections after crash horror

The double-decker bus that plunged off a winding road in Nakhon Ratchasima, killing 18 passengers including three children on Wednesday night, has led Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to once again demand stricter checks on the condition of buses and drivers.

Buses and their drivers must be fixed, retrained or replaced if they are not fit for travel, Gen Prayut said during his visit to Nong Bua Lam Phu Thursday.

Kritsana Chuthachuen, 45, the driver of the bus involved in the latest tragedy, was tested and found to have used methamphetamine.

The deaths, which alerted authorities again to the country's notorious road accident toll, dominated parts of the speech the prime minister gave to villagers who had received farmland assistance.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/genera ... ash-horror
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Re: How can Thailand curb its appalling road fatality rate?

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"Retrained or replaced if they are not fit for travel"

How will this be defined in terms of a human being. Assuming he has the correct licences, meaning he's already been trained, and has passed whatever medicals necessary on the way.

Big words, little meaning.

Even re-training everybody and re-assessing their fitness has huge implications. The country will come to a standstill. Or will they all be considered OK until they have an accident. This is the kind of military speak I encountered throughout my working life. We're going to do this - go away little man and work out how.
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Re: How can Thailand curb its appalling road fatality rate?

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12 strikes you're out - cops push for licence points system

Police are pushing for a drivers' licence points system in their latest effort to improve the standards of driving and promote road safety.

The proposed amendment to the road traffic law was unveiled Friday following a meeting of the national committee on the prevention of road accidents chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon.

Pol Maj Gen Ekkarak Limsangkat, commander of Special Branch Police 3, said the amendment draft has been examined by the Council for State and is to be forwarded to the cabinet for consideration.

Under the points system, motorists committing traffic offences will have points deducted and be suspended from driving for a certain period when the points are used up.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/genera ... nts-system
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Re: How can Thailand curb its appalling road fatality rate?

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Another Ministry of Silly Ideas classic :? . Don't they realise that a huge problem is the number of people riding/driving illegally (no licence, no insurance etc)?

My son was involved in a serious accident, which was deemed to be his fault. The other party was not wearing a helmet, and the vehicle was not registered for road use. These were all deemed to be minor offences, and not reckonable. Likewise driving without a licence would fall into that category.

They need to take a step backwards and look at the entire system, then devise/implement a plan to police it properly. Removing a person's licence will not matter one bit, whilst 50% of the population are not licenced anyway. What is the penalty for no licence? 200 Baht - what a farce.
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Re: How can Thailand curb its appalling road fatality rate?

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Same with all the new speed cameras on highway 4.

The nutters in the SUVs and Benzes don't give a rats arse about a 400 baht speeding ticket.
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Re: How can Thailand curb its appalling road fatality rate?

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Exactly - proper policing and meaningful deterrents is the only solution.
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Re: How can Thailand curb its appalling road fatality rate?

Post by lomuamart »

Read that article earlier and have been thinking about it.
By the sounds of things, I could speed a few times, run a red light, be driving off my head on booze and/or drugs and run you over and flee. And I'd still keep my licence.
Oh, I forgot, naturally as I'm off my head I just innocently drove the wrong side of the road.
And if I reach the magical 12 points in a mind boggling display of good driving over a 100 metre stretch of road (all at the same time), well I'll get those horrible points off my licence in a year.
Excellent deterrent.
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Re: How can Thailand curb its appalling road fatality rate?

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buksida wrote: Sat Mar 24, 2018 9:40 am Same with all the new speed cameras on highway 4.

The nutters in the SUVs and Benzes don't give a rats arse about a 400 baht speeding ticket.
What speed cameras? Signs - yes, Electronic speed boards - yes (although many not working any more), cameras - no!. The only cameras I'm aware of between here and BKK are at Samut Songkram (1) and Samut Sakhon (1).

This points system has been tried in various forms over the last 20 years and all have failed. The first was an accumulation of points up to 100.

Once again, all talk and nothing practical.
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Re: How can Thailand curb its appalling road fatality rate?

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I'm talking about going south.

There are at least two cameras between Pranburi and Thapsakae. Go through them at over 120 kph and you will get a ticket mailed to your house (or whoever owns the vehicle).
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Re: How can Thailand curb its appalling road fatality rate?

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Going south in a couple of weeks. Thanks for the warning.
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Re: How can Thailand curb its appalling road fatality rate?

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buksida wrote: Sat Mar 24, 2018 9:40 am Same with all the new speed cameras on highway 4.
The nutters in the SUVs and Benzes don't give a rats arse about a 400 baht speeding ticket.
I have a standard rule, which I had to break today, to keep off ALL roads on any weekend.

I thought that I had seen it all, but never the following:

Heavy traffic most of the way out of Bangkok this morning. Stop, start, change lanes, change back again, pull out in front when it suits them--the usual BS.

UNTIL, Somchai in his new looking Benz in the fast lane just ahead of me in the center lane, when the boot / trunk lid of his car suddenly swung open. BUT it wasn't faulty! He stopped, hopped out and walked around to the rear and started scratching around inside looking for something! I could'nt bloody believe it! He is damned lucky that he wasn't in front of my bull bar! The traffic was slow, but it wasn't stopped. And all the other eejits behind him just sat there waiting until he found what was so important.
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