[Motorcyclist killed in Phuket crash]

This might not be a particularly sensitive sounding or popular post, but I have a hard time feeling sorry for some of the locals getting killed riding their little motorbikes. Lets face it: they drive like utter lunatics and the result is inevitable. When riding myself, when one of these insane individuals passes me in daredevil fashion, instead of getting angry at their insanity or doing something stupid/retaliatory myself, I just smile and remind myself that, sooner or later, the individual in question will be paying a hefty price tag for his stupidity and ignorance.

People, especially non-motorcyclists, enjoy making the point that these individuals are endangering others. While that might be true to an extent, from my own experience, they endanger mostly themselves, like the person who killed himself in this article. Crashed into a pole. Just maybe he'd been riding like a drunken lunatic for years and it finally caught up with him. He will no longer endanger others. So am I supposed to cry about this? Darwinism at work.

[Riding Laws for Larger Cycles]

Being the original poster of this thread, it's sad to see what it's deteriorated into. One guy even threw politics into it, somehow claiming that allowing larger cc cycles onto tollways and onto the right lane would pit the "haves" against the "have-nots". Another takes offense to the word "biker" as used by Americans for avid motorcycle enthusiasts. This is pathetic.

After reading all the posts here, there is at least one guy who gets it and obviously rides cycles in Thailand enough to know what he's talking about. Gweiloman. My advice to you, sir, is not to waste your time going back and forth with individuals who post useless and flawed material. We ride large cycles, and we ride them in the real world, not some fantasy theoretical world.

One guy doesn't know why Thais don't separate larger cc cycles from smaller, and claims we can't know. Well, we can give it an educated guess. Thais realize that smaller cc cycles make up the VAST majority of cycles on the road; therefore their laws, in their mind, will be good enough because they apply to the masses. Since large cc cycles are a minority, they don't give them much thought. This is the Thai way.....ignore the problem and hope it goes away. Or is it just laziness? I dunno. But there are definitely a few Thais out there who get it.

I was pulled over by a cop once while riding my Honda CB650F Naked while cruising the right lane. He wanted to cite me and told me that it's not wise to ride the right lane because "cars in the right lane drive 150 kph". I could write a book on the stupidity and even irony of his statement, but it's "Thai thinking".

Still I do agree that riding in (NORTHERN) Thailand is easier and better than riding in the West, where laws are now enforced with extremeness, and costs of tickets astronomical.

The purpose of this thread once again is to get something done, not discuss the pros and cons. I know this forum will not accomplish the actual changing of a law, but I was wondering if there was actually anything we could do to initiate such laws which would enable large cc bikes to have the same rights as cars, which they should. I have not see one idea thrown into the fray; only agreement and disagreement.

My thought was that there might be some farang-based group which has some interface with the government in these matters. If there is, I'll enlist and contribute more than my share. For those who are not interested in changing the law, why would you want to combat it?? If you believe it's unsafe to ride large cc motorcycles on tollways and in the right lane, you are free NOT to. But please let others have FREEDOM and get out of our way instead of trying to protect people from themselves. That's the type of "big brother" thinking I'd like to leave behind in the West :-)

[Riding Laws for Larger Cycles]

Wouldn't it be nice (hearken Beach Boys) if Thailand road rules differentiated in their laws regarding big cycles vs smaller cycles the way it's done in the west? For example, it is actually the law that ALL motorcycles must ride on the left lane, or on the left side of the road, regardless of engine size. Also, large cycles are, for some ridiculous reason, restricted from riding on toll roads. Why? There is no good reason for this. Thais stupidly group all cycles into one category, probably because the vast majority of cycles on the road are under 150cc. This is backward thinking and it's time for change to this ridiculousness. After all, there are plenty of cycles on Thailand's roads with larger engines than some of the cars and much more fast and powerful.

I got pulled over once (talked my way out of paying a fine) up here in northern Thailand by a copper who told me, while riding my Honda 650cc cycle, that riding in the right lane is illegal for cycles. His explanation was that cars in the right lane regularly drive 150 kph and this puts me in danger. LOL, what a joke. In other words, the police inability to stop people from almost doubling the speed limit impinges on my riding rights?

Another significant factor in this is that it's SAFER to cruise the right lane on roads with multiple lanes because, as experience riders know, vehicles (especially mopeds) are predisposed to pulling out in front of you (from the left) without checking for oncoming traffic. This is a serious hazard, especially for the cyclist. Riding to the right alleviates this to a great degree. But it's illegal. This needs to be reversed. We have a situation where obeying the law actually puts the rider in greater danger.

The fact is that cycles 650cc and over are well able to keep up with autos. There should be no motorcycle restrictions on these cycles. They should not be grouped with smaller cycles. They should be given the same rights on the road as cars, same as it is in the west.

I would gladly take action, if I knew what to do, in order to bring this about.......but I would not know where to start.

[Riding motorbikes in Thailand? You need to watch this!]

I've lived in chiang mai for almost 3 years now, owned multiple cycles small and large, put about 60,000 km on them, and have never had a crash bigger than a little jam-up on a moped not even worth mentioning. I'm sick and tired of folks who are deathly afraid of cycles and quote statistics to try to convince others out of their own cowardice. Many of these guys are afraid of their own shadows. In my book, they are already dead! The key to safety with riding motorcycles is awareness and ability to react quickly to what happens in front of you. It can be done with an acceptable degree of safety once you get the hang of the "jungle rules" way people ride in northern Thailand. I would not wish to do anymore riding in the south (anything remotely near BKK or Pattaya). Way too treacherous and just not fun. The NORTH is where all the fun riding is.

If you are a confident rider and know the basics of motorcycle riding, once again it CAN be done with an acceptable degree of safety in northern Thailand. If however, you are afraid of motorcycles and afraid of the idea of getting on one, then don't, as a lack of confidence itself will cause you to be uncomfortable while riding. This in turn will cause you to be distracted, and THAT is the worst possible mental state to have while riding. You WILL crash. Confidence, calmness, and coolness are required.

Yes, there are folks out there riding around like maniacs who believe they are invincible. Rest assured they will eventually kill themselves. These are the folks responsible for the scary statistics in Thailand. Keep your eye out for them, give them a wide berth, and you will be OK. Let them kill themselves if that's their wish :-)

There are few things more exhilarating than the laissez-faire way we can ride here in northern Thailand.....freedom from the over-regulation existing on roads in the west. Riding in the west is too sterile an environment for me......too many police out to get you for minor infractions in ridiculous situations just to collect revenue to pay down the country's (or state's) debt!

Get yourself out of the city and into the mountains, and on the remote roads of northern Thailand and many times you will be hard pressed even to find other vehicles around you to collide with. Live your life while you can.....plenty of time for rest in the grave.

[Death penalty states unmoved by botched execution]

The argument of life without parole vs death penalty is a meaningless argument. Since the liberal establishment controls the judicial system, legislative system, and pretty much everything else in the US nowadays, what's the difference between being on Death Row vs life w/o parole? Nada. Fact is that those on Death Row are there for upwards of 20 years with all their rights to appeal, which not only costs taxpayer money but causes painful and pathetic delays. This is 20 years x $50K a year to keep their worthless hearts beating = $1 MILLION dollars for the sole purpose of keeping a person alive who is, 99.99% of the time, no more than a bag of human trash better off fertilizing a corn field with his useless excuse for a body. We can thank the liberal establishment for this. Even with Tim McVeigh, who waived all his rights to appeal and practically begged to be put to a quick death, it took our INEPT legal system 6 years to execute the man! In reality, if a man is sentenced to die, he should die at sunrise the following day, no excuses. And with that said, hang him, and hang him HIGH, and hang him publicly so that all can see what happens to human filth. Violent perps like serial killers, hardcore rapists and child molesters should, in a just world, be brutally beaten to death PUBLICLY. This would put teeth into our justice system. But of course this is my own personal fantasy because the likes of Mr Publicus infest the USA nowadays, and the infestation is overgrown and festering. We can thank the likes of Mr Publicus for the fact that, due to atrocities like our liberal legal system, there is no real deterrent anymore to violent crime in America today. Criminal perpetrators laugh at the spectre of prison, which for many is as comfortable as their own home. For the likes of Mr Publicus, you can bet that all the vim and vigor with which he holds his position would vanish into thin air if he had to fund his grand ideas out of his own pocket. All of a sudden, you'd hear resounding silence emanating from his gaping piehole. Amazing how liberalism fails when scum like him run out of other folks' money to spend. With all the problems the US has, people like him spend their time and MY money defending cop killers, rapists, murderers, thieves, and other degenerates that constitute the liberal constituency. I'm only happy I don't have to interface with people like him, for the most part, living here in Chiang Mai. And on the odd occasion where I do, I don't have to fear the PC that dominates almost every corner of the States and I can tell him exactly where to shove it. Try committing some of the crimes committed in the USA in Thailand and see how you're treated. BRAVO THAILAND for treating criminals like criminals. Think Thailand is harsh? GET OUT. Try Cambodia and see if their prisons are more to your liking.