VIDEO: Speeding Thai minivan driver rages at foreign tourist who told him to slow down

[Peterphuket]

7 hours ago, darksidedog said:

You have to laugh when he says "why worry?" A quick reference to the country's accident statistics might provide the answer.

Much of which are caused by idiots driving too fast.

The problem is, this kind of people never reading the statistics.

They are rather self-centered, and thinking (if they think) that the world revolves around them, instead of being a small part of the world.

[SoilSpoil]

27 minutes ago, CGW said:

You don't do a lot of driving in Thailand do you? nonsense statement, I have as many problems with people driving slowly and hogging the road, more than I do with drivers speeding! 

 

The bottom line is Thai's are a lot smarter than us when dealing with their fellow country folk, they know that they are most likely going to be "angry" when anyone says anything to them, thats why they are able to accept noise, pollution & whatever else is thrown at them, least they stay alive, life has little value here!

Interesting thoughts, haha.

[moonseeker]

Exact same happened to me on trip from Penang to Surathani. Driver complete maniac. Passengers terrified. Me and a French lady and Thai man got off in the middle of nowhere. Well known for 20+ years these trips to reach the ferry to Samui in time are suicide missions. Our driver totally freaked, after we asked him friendly to slow down. Not easily scared, but this was my last time in a van. They must be on something... MS>

[Golden Triangle]

4 hours ago, lapd said:

You can still accomplish your goal (to get the driver to slow down).  You just have to learn to go about it a different way than in the western world.

 

For example, say that you have an irrational fear of riding in minivans.  Say your friend was in a tragic accident and now you have nightmares.  Or maybe that you are getting sick and might puke and make a mess of their van.  So if they slow down that might help.  Get creative.  As long as you are not critisizing them, blaming them, trying to tell them what to do.  You get the picture.

 

Or don't and risk running into problems like this sometimes.

You spout the biggest C**P I have ever heard. Do you really believe that kowtowing  to a moronic minivan driver will get them to slow down and drive sensibly ?? You sir are deluded.

[wealthychef]

This is why I NEVER use minivans to get around if I can avoid it.  They are well-known death traps.  Untrained, drug-addled drivers endangering themselves and their passengers for no reason.  Just like to drive fast for the F of it.  

[Yann55]

2 hours ago, gunderhill said:

What  image? most people I know back home know Thailand for one thing and one thing only.

 

Can't see what you're referring to ...

 

Tuk-tuks ?

Tom Yam Goong ?

Temples ?

Art Galleries ?

Classical Music Festivals ?

Litterature ?

 

 

 

 

 

[Jadam]

1 hour ago, Jadam said:

...I actually agree with the driver: if you're scared, get out....

The driver also makes a valid (though not very well articulated) point that only the furang spoke up because the Thais weren't worried.  They probably noticed nothing out of the ordinary until the tourist started complaining.  Every day vans are speeding up and down the highways in Thailand and you can't change that by complaining to one van driver.

On the other hand publicity from this video will get back to the owners of the van companies.  If they're smart, they'll get their drivers to slow down, if for no other reason than to "stop scaring the furang."

[newnative]

Very simple solution.  Require a governor on all mini van engines that prohibits them from going faster than a certain speed limit, maybe 100 kph.  While they're at it they could require it for motorcycles, too.

[gunderhill]

Just now, newnative said:

Very simple solution.  Require a governor on all mini van engines that prohibits them from going faster than a certain speed limit, maybe 100 kph.  While they're at it they could require it for motorcycles, too.

Does that stop them driving too  close and weaving in and out,  not  giving signals and just being pratts as  well?

[Odysseus123]

1 hour ago, stud858 said:

The responsibility lies with government to ensure police stop the speeding with harsh fines, I think it would be exactly the same in oz if it weren't for a properly organised government and cops. I'd, just eventually ask to get of the bus if  thought it dangerous. The driver was kind of right.

Oh yeah sure..in Oz..

Another weird sufferer of Stockholm Syndrome suggested Malibu..

 

Who wants to die at the hands of a 14th century serf?

 

The Thais have had ample opportunity to clean up their act.

 

It is not the roads,the cars,the police or a miserably innefectual gov't-it is their delusional brains which informs them that they are number 1 when,in actual fact,they are 104.

 

They cannot change because no-one has ever really punished them for their behaviour...

..and many people (who should know better) aid and abet it.

[jvs]

3 minutes ago, newnative said:

Very simple solution.  Require a governor on all mini van engines that prohibits them from going faster than a certain speed limit, maybe 100 kph.  While they're at it they could require it for motorcycles, too.

Already almost every registerd van has a GPS system installed that sends an alarm when the van goes over 90KPH.

It works really well and i have rarely ever see a van going over the limit anymore.

Beware of rogue riders,they make their own laws.

Yes and it does stop them from behaving like lunatics,no passing and no need for dangerous maneuvers.Of course they are not all saints now.

[newnative]

3 minutes ago, gunderhill said:

Does that stop them driving too  close and weaving in and out,  not  giving signals and just being pratts as  well?

Unfortunately, no. Just stops them 'driving too close and weaving in and out' going over a set speed.

[Pedrogaz]

I refuse to get on these dangerous things. Once was enough. From Korat down to Victory monument. On the return journey I took the big blue bus. It was cheaper, more comfortable and I didn't have an ignorant pig of a driver doing 130 kph, one foot from the car in front while texting his wife or girlfriend. One time was enough.

[jvs]

15 minutes ago, Jadam said:

The driver also makes a valid (though not very well articulated) point that only the furang spoke up because the Thais weren't worried.  They probably noticed nothing out of the ordinary until the tourist started complaining.  Every day vans are speeding up and down the highways in Thailand and you can't change that by complaining to one van driver.

On the other hand publicity from this video will get back to the owners of the van companies.  If they're smart, they'll get their drivers to slow down, if for no other reason than to "stop scaring the furang."

Believe me,a lot of Thais are worried also.They don't speak up because they do not want a beating or worse!!

They just hope luck is on their side,maybe they went to the temple yesterday so they should be ok.

[newnative]

Just now, jvs said:

Already almost every registerd van has a GPS system installed that sends an alarm when the van goes over 90KPH.

It works really well and i have rarely ever see a van going over the limit anymore.

Beware of rogue riders,they make their own laws.

Yes and it does stop them from behaving like lunatics,no passing and no need for dangerous maneuvers.Of course they are not all saints now.

   Good to know--although there seem to be vans going over 90 when I am on the motorway to Bangkok.

[Odysseus123]

That is true-anyone who speaks the truth or objects to their running amok is in deadly danger of being beaten or killed.

 

Hence number 104.

[Odysseus123]

1 minute ago, newnative said:

   Good to know--although there seem to be vans going over 90 when I am on the motorway to Bangkok.

Yeah.

[myfriendu]

5 hours ago, lapd said:

Everyone knows a farang that constantly has problems with thais.  The reason is that they have not learned how to deal with thais.  

 

If you go around acting like you do in the western world you are guaranteed to have problems. 

 

When I have a problems with thais for whatever reason I just say it's all my fault.  I am wrong.  I made a mistake.  I am the stupid farang.  You get the idea.  Does not matter if it is your fault or not.  That is not the point.  If you do things that help a thai save face you will make your life much easier in Thailand.  

 

The LAST thing you ever want to do is act/say/do things that makes thais feel like you think you are right and they are wrong.  That goes double/triple for farangs.  Thais dealing with thais can get away with it sometimes but that does not mean farangs can. 

So your saying lie to them and treat them like retards,  

[myfriendu]

4 hours ago, jouec said:

Yep, it's about the only useful thing about being fluent in Thai. Sit quietly and listen to hatred pouring out of them

They often say a Thai changes when they get into a vehicle/moto.

That is WRONG, they change when they get out. The true Thai is the one behind the wheel .

Excellent spot on post  

[Golden Triangle]

2 hours ago, colinneil said:

Cheap Charlie lifestyle me?

I made my above post just to show how easy people jump in and make themselves look stupid, as you have just done.

Take time and ask some other members on here, why Colinneil is on his bed at lunchtime.

As you probably wont do that i will tell you, as i am held together with titanium rods and screws, i can only sit in my wheelchair for 3/4 hours then have to be assisted back on my bed for 1/2 hours.

Please take time to explain to me how you think i can get my ass out and do something productive.

 

Feel stupid now for making your vile comment? If not you should be.

Nice one Colin, I hope he really, really feels bad and shuffles out of TVF never to be seen again.

[nausea]

Basically, it's about not wanting to create a fuss, a very Thai characteristic. My SO, who is very atypical, will usually complain loudly, then tell the van driver or taxi driver to stop and get out. We may be in the middle of nowhere, but she relies on my financial power, a lot of Thais aren't so lucky. As an aside, the situation has improved dramaticslly over the last ten years. These guys are now the exception rather than the rule.

[Jackin1960]

I would have got out and taken another ride. I know how he feels we had a van driver drive me and my girfriend to her village (CM to Issan) for our wedding with some family, I thought it was going to end with us all dead. The man drove like a bell-end I had to keep telling him to slow down. 

[Golden Triangle]

Far too many Thai apologists on this forum, nothing a Thai does or says will ever be wrong or bad in their book, a very sad example of expats gone rogue.

 

Or maybe they don't live here and therefore have no experience of Thailand and just like to wind people up...........

[Media1]

Just now, Golden Triangle said:

Far too many Thai apologists on this forum, nothing a Thai does or says will ever be wrong or bad in their book, a very sad example of expats gone rogue.

Let them lick ass. They must like spicy

[Media1]

10 minutes ago, Jackin1960 said:

I would have got out and taken another ride. I know how he feels we had a van driver drive me and my girfriend to her village (CM to Issan) for our wedding with some family, I thought it was going to end with us all dead. The man drove like a bell-end I had to keep telling him to slow down. 

Been there many times. You see the news. It's no secret. They are asylum out patients

[TKDfella]

6 hours ago, lemonjelly said:

130 kmh is around 80 mph, not that fast, but taking the average driving environment in this blessed country, the fear and subsequent adrenaline rush can make it feel somewhat faster.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

'130 kmh is around 80 mph, not that fast'... Compared to what? Formula 1, Circuit racing, Light Aircraft? 80 mph is in the middle of the Texan Rural Highway speed limit, 70 mph on UK motorways, 80 mph on Italian highways, China Expressways 75 mph. Yeah, sure it's not that fast if your a fighter pilot, an astronaut but they have the whole sky to play in...we're talking about Thai traffic conditions

[Mark mark]

9 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

Typical Thais. They agreed with the driver. 

"But that wasn’t all. Many of the Thai passengers also complained the driver was rude, bad mannered and had they had been overcharged 150 baht for the journey"

 

Doesn't sound like they sided with him to me ? ... They were just Quiet at first, as they are, but Reasonable at he end. ... Well thinking about it, they probably may have seemed like they were siding with him, but just to get him back in the drivers seat and the bus back in to the journey.

 

(I hate the Southern Thai Transport System and +++ My Self) 

 

Like from my Experiences, trying to go by Bus, ANYWHERE in the south is just letting you self fall in to one huge, transport Mafia Black hole, and well to be avoided !!! Go to Cambodia instead ??? (And Experience manageably ?  less of it at Poi Pet ?)

[Easy Come Easy Go]

5 hours ago, lapd said:

You can still accomplish your goal (to get the driver to slow down).  You just have to learn to go about it a different way than in the western world.

 

For example, say that you have an irrational fear of riding in minivans.  Say your friend was in a tragic accident and now you have nightmares.  Or maybe that you are getting sick and might puke and make a mess of their van.  So if they slow down that might help.  Get creative.  As long as you are not critisizing them, blaming them, trying to tell them what to do.  You get the picture.

 

Or don't and risk running into problems like this sometimes.

No I fully get what you are saying. It doesn't only apply to Thais though, just in general. By nature I am very polite and considerate to strangers, and how you enter into a situation often is reflected right back at you. If you go in guns blazing and hostile, that is most of the time the kind go response you will get. 

[Tongjaw]

8 hours ago, jouec said:

For a country of people who don't like to lose face, it's almost a national past time.

I wonder if they really know what foreigners think of them?? 

Perhaps you meant to type what certain posters on TV think of them? Well they probably don’t give a rats a** what you think of them. I wonder if you really know what your Thai neighbours think of you. I was going to say Thai friends but going by your comments I don’t think you’d have any. 

[Thaijack2014]

9 hours ago, jouec said:

Typical Thaivisa member's comment.  They didn't.

Exactly.. the story said: "But that wasn’t all. Many of the Thai passengers also complained the driver was rude, bad mannered and had they had been overcharged 150 baht for the journey".

 

It doesn't look that they are agreeing!