[rusculture]

G'Day,
On a recent trip to LoS my Thai hosts arranged and kindly paid for my minibus fare from Nakhon Phatom to Khrung Thep. As soon as we got out onto the highway I knew it was a BIG mistake because the driver was an insane lunatic. He tail-gated other cars at 120 km/hr and pulled out to pass when there was oncoming traffic. It seemed he was making a lightning decision as to the social status of the oncoming vehicle and if he considered he was "suung khwaa" the other driver he would pull out in a head-on confrontation that forced the other vehicle off the road. My question is: should I have stopped him and berated him in front of the other passengers? (serious loss of face) or demanded to be dropped off in the middle of nowhere? What I actually did was nothing, but sit with my eyes tightly closed for a white knuckle ride I will never forget. What would you guys have done in that situation?

[DownloadMan]

G'Day,
On a recent trip to LoS my Thai hosts arranged and kindly paid for my minibus fare from Nakhon Phatom to Khrung Thep. As soon as we got out onto the highway I knew it was a BIG mistake because the driver was an insane lunatic. He tail-gated other cars at 120 km/hr and pulled out to pass when there was oncoming traffic. It seemed he was making a lightning decision as to the social status of the oncoming vehicle and if he considered he was "suung khwaa" the other driver he would pull out in a head-on confrontation that forced the other vehicle off the road. My question is: should I have stopped him and berated him in front of the other passengers? (serious loss of face) or demanded to be dropped off in the middle of nowhere? What I actually did was nothing, but sit with my eyes tightly closed for a white knuckle ride I will never forget. What would you guys have done in that situation?

I have read your post over 3 times and I can not see what you mean.
You have just described 95% of all Thai commercial drivers, Bus, Van or Truck which also includes private vehicles, so I guess that is 95% of all drivers in Thailand.
I have been on First class bus' that have done the very same thing but just some are worse than others, One I was on started to do those things as soon as he hit the super hyway out of Arcade terminal at Chiang mai and continued until they changed drivers in Phetsanulok and my trip finished in Lom Sak.
The best driver we have ever had was a van driver that we hired last year to go round trip from Phetchabun to Chiang Mai for a visa renewal, he was the best I have seen, and we will do it again this next month, but will have to be a different driver as the one we had was killed shortly after our trip when he was passing and was hit headon by a truck and killed.

[WertyNtont]

We take the bus from Mo Chit to Kalasin everytime we visit and I have never had a problem as far as concerns with driver safety. I guess some folks are just prone to bad luck. 555

[DownloadMan]

Maybe ISSAN drivers are better than Thai drivers,,or maybe you just are not the observant type.
When I first came here I used to go a lot of places on Bus' but some were so bad that I finally just gave it up, One from Khon Kaen to Chiang Mai was a very good driver, never did anything I would consider a danger to life or limb, If you consider stopping in the middle of the roadway to load or wait for someone to run up and get on the bus as safety, but it took him 6 hrs longer to make the trip than I could drive it.

[kylsq0Ln]

Maybe ISSAN drivers are better than Thai drivers,,or maybe you just are not the observant type.

Thanks! Now I know why I don't have a problem with Thai drivers...

But seriously, I didn't see anything nearly as bad as what you've described on the roads (up to Singburi and down to Pattaya - I can't vouch for the whole country...). A little crazy, perhaps, but nothing as suicidal as your experiences. Maybe I'm just lucky

[DownloadMan]

Thanks! Now I know why I don't have a problem with Thai drivers...

But seriously, I didn't see anything nearly as bad as what you've described on the roads (up to Singburi and down to Pattaya - I can't vouch for the whole country...). A little crazy, perhaps, but nothing as suicidal as your experiences. Maybe I'm just lucky

And VC said
[QUOTE]We take the bus from Mo Chit to Kalasin everytime we visit and I have never had a problem as far as concerns with driver safety. I guess some folks are just prone to bad luck. 555.
QUOTE]

But either one of you have never been on a long trip then as you have only been on good hyways and not far from the city.
Try a trip from Khon Kaen to Lom Sak to Chiang Mai,,Chiang Rai or Lom Sak to Loei and on to Nong Khai, where you are on narrow 2 lane hyways thru the mountains and steep grades, go around the country as a tourist and then tell me what you think,,some drive the way as was described by the first poster even on super hyways.

After a few of those trips even an atheist such I as starts to wonder about GOD.

I also have made some enjoyable road trips with fine courteous drivers, but they have been few and far between, But you still have the other drivers to keep things from getting boring..

But then I lived here for a few years while you both are not immigrants and come with a place in mind and go short trips as tourists, that makes a difference.:thank ya:

[kylsq0Ln]

Yes, there is a definite shortage of mountains in Ang Thong, and though the roads were narrow (not many cities where I was) there was not a lot of traffic.

It's not the I don't believe you. I've had my share of scary times in the countryside in China and meeting aggressive logging trucks in Malaysia wasn't a picnic either... It's more that I was pleasently surprised that I didn't have any scary moments in Thailand, though we did spend a lot of time on the wrong side of the road, as I noted in this blog: http://www.thai-blogs.com/index.php?...&pb=1#comments

[rusculture]

I guess the main point in my post was: what would you do in that situation, just accept it or take immediate action to protect yourself? And would demanding that the driver slow down be acceptable in Thai culture?

[valiumcheepval]

It is perfectly acceptable to ask the driver to slow down,however do not demand just ask him/her politely.

[MeatteCen]

Bus speeds really vary between different drivers. If you think the driver is unsafe, get off! Wait 5 minutes and take the next one.

Minibus drivers are not about to change their driving style because one person doesn't like it. Even if you ask politely, you would be very lucky to get the driver to drive any slower.

[DownloadMan]

As Dan said, ain't gonna do no good to tell him to slow down, he feels that you are talking to the worlds best driver so it will do no good and maybe only make matters worse.
But it is hard to just get off when on a long run and bus' only leave the station every few hours, and the next one might be worse,,I hire a van for the long runs anymore and I am the employer so if I tell him to slow down, he will do it.

[WertyNtont]

...go short trips as tourists... When you go to visit your family, do you consider yourself a tourist? Also, I never considered an 8 hour bus ride a short trip, especially when it's immediately after a 24 hour plane ride. BTW Last time I checked Isaan was in Thailand. How is it you distinguish between Isaan and "Thai" drivers?

The only problem I ever had with a driver was the last time we left Kalasin the driver rushed us onto the bus before we could say proper goodbyes to our family. He was rather rude and abrupt, without any consideration whatsoever. However, when I am with my wife I can't say anything to anyone. She hates it when I fight with people over things, so I just lay back and think good thoughts.

[Caursedus]

Well I once had a night mare ride in a Taxi from the Seri Center to Samrong, high speed driving heavy breaking, ducking and weaving and no safety belt in the back seat, I had to tell the Taxi driver to slow down.

[sessoorale]

Maybe ISSAN drivers are better than Thai drivers,,or maybe you just are not the observant type.

Just look at how easy it is to get the Thai driving license, one will understand what you mean.
I drive in Thailand, so I know what you're talking about.
I had a friend who asked me to teach him driving 1 day before his driving test... I had a fright of my life and told him if he ever passed his test, please drive far far away from me... the next day, he passed.... jus slipped the instructor 2 bownish papers he told me...
So you can imagine how many people here are driving without proper trainings....
I also have a collegue who already had 3 car accidents since she got her driving license 3 months ago....

[DownloadMan]

When you go to visit your family, do you consider yourself a tourist? Also, I never considered an 8 hour bus ride a short trip, especially when it's immediately after a 24 hour plane ride. BTW Last time I checked Isaan was in Thailand. How is it you distinguish between Isaan and "Thai" drivers?

The only problem I ever had with a driver was the last time we left Kalasin the driver rushed us onto the bus before we could say proper goodbyes to our family. He was rather rude and abrupt, without any consideration whatsoever. However, when I am with my wife I can't say anything to anyone. She hates it when I fight with people over things, so I just lay back and think good thoughts.

Well I just go by what the folks tell me, and they say that the folks around SARIN are Khmer people and they don't consider them as real Thai, 555 always say something about em eating dogs.
And there is no way that you can convince a Thai over here that the ISSAN area was settled many years before the rest of Thailand was.

And I would figure that someone that comes here for a short while with a plane ticket and plans to go back to whereever they came from would be a tourist. What did your visa say??

And yes it was not very nice of the driver to rush you on the bus, he pobly thought that you had time before he got ready to leave to have said your goodbys. Some folks just do not think..

[sessoorale]

What would you guys have done in that situation?

Well, if I'm you, I'll have done the same as you.... just close my eyes and pray I reach my destination safe and sound or stop at the first nearest station.
This is for bus, mini vans, song theaw, etc...
But if in a Taxi, you can always ask the taxi driver to slow down or stop if you feel uncomfortable....

[DownloadMan]

OH YEA, just on the news about a bus running off the road and flipping over on the BKK to Chiang Mai run at NakonSawan and it hurt a bunch of folks, don't know how many dead or if they knew who was driving it, usually if the driver ain't hurt bad, he runs away and they never know who was driving.

Keep ya posted if I hear anymore.

[JoesBro]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the Thai driving test does not even take place on a public road -is this true?

[sessoorale]

Well I just go by what the folks tell me, and they say that the folks around SARIN are Khmer people and they don't consider them as real Thai, 555 always say something about em eating dogs.
And there is no way that you can convince a Thai over here that the ISSAN area was settled many years before the rest of Thailand was.

Its funny when I was in Chiang Mai and I had to hire a driver to drive me to Lamphun and he was complaining to me about how Lamphun drivers like to drive slowly on the right lane... sometimes chatting on the mobile.... no considerations at all he told me.
I think inside... isn't this how most of the Thai drivers are?

[sessoorale]

OH YEA, just on the news about a bus running off the road and flipping over on the BKK to Chiang Mai run at NakonSawan and it hurt a bunch of folks, don't know how many dead or if they knew who was driving it, usually if the driver ain't hurt bad, he runs away and they never know who was driving.

yes, this is very common news... happens all the time...
Which also reminds me of this joke:
If I want to die,
I want to die like my uncle...
peacefully in his sleep...
unlike his passengers....
screaming and yelling behind the passenger seat of his car....



Goodnight dudes...