What do you hate most about driving in LOS?

[Small Joke]

'No light' bikes at night.

Suicidal.

And there's no such thing as traffic cops on the night shift. 

In the UK, traffic division have some of the best arrests. 

The logic behind this is that criminals 

1. Usually flout traffic and roadworthiness laws along with every other law. 

2. Are either coming from or going to a crime (work) when they're on the road. 

Skilled questions have often turned a routine traffic stop into a right old result. 

So if the BIB got out on the streets in cars like everywhere else, crime overall would fall. 

[smotherb]

1 hour ago, NaamGin said:

When I first came to Thailand to live, I remember shouting at other drivers all the time under my breath for pretty much driving Thai style. Used to drive me crazy, people pulling out in front of you, motorbikes all around you like pilot fish, u-turns from hell, people driving the wrong way and on and on. After a while I accepted that this is the way it is and adapted. Now, according to the wife, I drive the same way Thais drive, which in a way is kinda scary. The other guy will wait for me when I pull out in front of him, the same as he does to me.  Mai phen rai

I ride motorcycles more than drive a car; the car is the wife's. I actually prefer the bike to the car, I can maneuver much more easily. Like you, my driving style has acclimated. I was riding a friend's bike in the Philippines last year, and looked around at a stop light. I was the only one past the pedestrian crossing lanes, the rest were behind the traffic line. 

[Formaleins]

I often get fed up of having to continuously thank the local drivers for their polite behaviour, the way they let me out at a junction, the way they often pull to one side to let me pass. I am fed up of waving Thank You at the traffic lights when they stop on amber just to make sure I am clear to go on green. I am so fed up of waving thank you to the considerate motorcyclists who come in to join my lane from the soi on the left, I am sick of having to thank them with a beep of my horn for not simply pulling out and almost killing them. I am so fed up of having to thank the locals that are in front of me when the lights turn green, it is so kind of them to sit there for 10 minutes just to make sure that the road ahead is clear for me before putting their car into gear and moving off.

 

It is so good of them to come in the opposite direction on my side of the road at bends and on a bridge just making sure that they are clearing a path ahead for me, so kind.

 

I'm so sick of it and all of my waves of thank you and my mouthing expressions of thanks that my wrist arms and lips ache everyday  that I travel with these thoughtful polite drivers.

[hkt83100]

Not necessarily in this sequence: Drivers who are driving

- on the wrong side of the road

- at night without proper lights, or motorbikes with red front lights on the wrong side of the road

- on the fast lane even though there is no one to pass

- uphill in top gear

- passing other cars with the minimal possible difference in speed

and last not least these idiots who are sleeping at the traffic lights when the lights turn green.

Please keep me from thinking longer about what prevented low blood pressure while driving during my last 25 years here.

[dundas]

Well, I'm aware i can quite easily get killed in my own country by drug crazed drivers (we have more than a few of those) but getting back to the topic, as I ride a Honda Wave mostly when I'm in Thailand, what really irks me is pick up drivers (nearly always pick up drivers) who take calculated risks with my life and miss me (so far, so lucky) by thaaaaat much, I'm talking mm, not cm. Oh, and a while ago there were a lot of Chinese renting motorcycles who would sometimes surprise me by coming around a corner on the wrong side of the road, but that doesn't seem to have been happening so much recently. Generally, I don't like the terrible driving and the lack of effective policing, but on the other hand, I enjoy being able to pay attention to the road and conditions, and not worry that I'm exceeding the speed limit by 2km/h and might be heading for a radar trap and a fine ... 

[EVENKEEL]

22 minutes ago, Formaleins said:

I often get fed up of having to continuously thank the local drivers for their polite behaviour, the way they let me out at a junction, the way they often pull to one side to let me pass. I am fed up of waving Thank You at the traffic lights when they stop on amber just to make sure I am clear to go on green. I am so fed up of waving thank you to the considerate motorcyclists who come in to join my lane from the soi on the left, I am sick of having to thank them with a beep of my horn for not simply pulling out and almost killing them. I am so fed up of having to thank the locals that are in front of me when the lights turn green, it is so kind of them to sit there for 10 minutes just to make sure that the road ahead is clear for me before putting their car into gear and moving off.

 

It is so good of them to come in the opposite direction on my side of the road at bends and on a bridge just making sure that they are clearing a path ahead for me, so kind.

 

I'm so sick of it and all of my waves of thank you and my mouthing expressions of thanks that my wrist arms and lips ache everyday  that I travel with these thoughtful polite drivers.

I hope you feel better now.

[Jdietz]

I mainly dislike the steering. 

So nowadays I just point my car in the general direction I want to go and drive.

Seems to blend in well with the rest.

 

[monkfish]

Roundabouts Thais believe they have right of way entering the roundabout this goes against my basic gut in-stink and drives me nuts, so I refuse to stop whilst on the roundabout nearly had a few accidents though. When the Mrs stops on a Roundabout I go nuts as well. The rest I can deal oh apart from U turns on dual carriageways as well eek danger danger.

[DJ54]

The lack of understanding how to drive and practicing safe driving. So just have to be over cautious because you never know what the other person might do. 

 

I joke sometimes that I’ve not researched but I’m pretty sure another Asian country taught the driving skills to Thailand. 

 

Some countries teaching is sub par and DL can be bought with no 

skills. 

 

Drive safely and keep alert

[dotpoom]

The total disregard for fellow road users.  The full beam headlights after dark (and in the day too) or no lights at all. The lack of use of  indicators....and of course the pulling out in front of you..

.even though you might have nothing behind you had they just waited another second.

[NoshowJones]

Extra loud motorbikes, I would have them confiscated on the spot.

[HAKAPALITA]

Listening to Ferangs who cant adapt.

[zaZa9]

Drivers who wedge their car into a hole in traffic , knowing they can never get through , but then preventing even scooters getting through.

[NanLaew]

14 hours ago, greenmonkey said:

The list is pretty huge but I think my biggest pet hate about driving here is the use of slip roads for entering and exiting main roads. When using a slip road to enter or exit a main road, the car that is on the road that you wish to get onto will almost always try to stop you coming in!!!! Even though they can clearly see that your slip road will end very shortly they will often flash their lights to say "don't come - I'm coming" or they will hit the accelerator to close any gap that may be there for you to move into. The total opposite to back home where the car that occupies that lane will either adjust their own speed to allow you on safely or even move over to the next lane. The behaviour here in LOS absolutely mystifies me as it is so dangerous and can easily lead to a fatality if the car entering the main road from the slip road has nowhere to go. On the whole I find local drivers to be extremely selfish and inconsiderate. The fact that they only have a signal for "Stop, I'm coming" and do not have one for "you first" say's it all really!!!! Just wondered what people thought about driving here and your pet hates!?

I think the Thai Highway Code says that one should give way to merging vehicles which ultimately means that when a merging vehicle is sighted, everyone piles over into the right-hand lanes without slowing down except for the maybe the 5th or 6th car in the 'convoy'.

 

The Thai Highway Code also says that such merging traffic should tootle along slowly until all the faster traffic on the highway has passed BEFORE accelerating up to speed.

 

.... which is why the 5th or 6th car (above) when seeing the convoy of cars forming unreasonably on the right lane, quickly dives to the left and without slowing down, runs right up the backside of the tootling merging car.

[Thian]

8 hours ago, smotherb said:

I ride motorcycles more than drive a car; the car is the wife's. I actually prefer the bike to the car, I can maneuver much more easily. Like you, my driving style has acclimated. I was riding a friend's bike in the Philippines last year, and looked around at a stop light. I was the only one past the pedestrian crossing lanes, the rest were behind the traffic line. 

In some neighbourhoods (like Chinatown BKK) there are painted letters on the road which mean that the area is for motocy's while waiting for the red light. They are big area's and iirc they painted the letters M and C on the tarmac.

 

Many times i was the only one in those area's so i still don't know if that place is for motocy's or not...it's in front of red light, can't get more to the front.

 

 

[richard_smith237]

I find the most frustrating thing the general inability to give way.... 

 

Even when someone slows to give way to you space is not completely yielded... a vehicle will stop not with plenty of space to allow you to scoot through quickly, but instead just enough space for you to squeeze through carefully.... Yes, the driver of other vehicle has given way, but its as if there is something within the subconscious which prevents them from making this easy.... 

 

But for the most part driving in Bangkok is not as bad as many make out. Its easy enough to go with the flow while being a little 'road assertive' to get where you want. 

 

I like the general lack of road rage here.... in general there is far less aggression shown on the roads. 

 

That said, driving outside of Bangkok often concerns me... I've seen some exceptionally daft and dangerous stuff... cars, pickups, busses, trucks overtaking and coming straight towards you is just one example of many crazy and potentially deadly manoeuvre...  In a car in Bangkok the most we are at risk of is a fender bender... outside of Bangkok and the risk greatly escalates through nothing more than the general stupidity of those around you. 

 

 

[chicowoodduck]

Nothing to hate....do not drive on the crazy roads here in LOS.......????????????

[Moonlover]

15 hours ago, NaamGin said:

After a while I accepted that this is the way it is and adapted. Now, according to the wife, I drive the same way Thais drive, which in a way is kinda scary. The other guy will wait for me when I pull out in front of him, the same as he does to me.  Mai phen rai

Actually, I don't think this as scary as you may imagine. I have adapted to a number of countries throughout the years and I've learned that 'do as the Romans do' sometimes can be to your advantage. Because your are now doing what they expect you to do.

 

An example of this is, as a motorcyclist, when I'm making a right turn into a minor road with a vehicle waiting to emerge. In my home country, I would have 'right of way' and pass in front of that vehicle and complete my turn. Here it works the other way round. It's not supposed to, but because they've never learned the rules, they do it wrong anyway. So now I follow suit and carefully do it their way.

 

So adapt. By doing their way I'm sure I've avoided quite a number of collisions and near misses.

 

Of course, one must always use caution when doing so. Defensive driving is still your best defence, always.

 

Back to the original topic. My answer is nothing. I live in rural Issan, ride a motorcycle and love riding out on the quiet country roads and the twisting lanes that traverse our few, but lovely hills. It reminds me of when I first started riding a motorcycle in similar countryside in Norfolk UK. I'm looking forward to buying a new, larger machine early next year and getting out and doing some touring.

 

Oh yes, there is one thing I that I don't like about riding here. That's when my wife shouts 'SLOW DOWN' in my ear. She hasn't yet found out that you can buy rider/pillion intercoms here. And I'm not in a hurry to tell her! 

[Bredbury Blue]

I hate the way turning my indicator on to move lanes makes the car behind, in the lane I'm  about to join, ACCELERATE to stop me moving lanes.

[Bredbury Blue]

Cars and bikes going the wrong way on the hard shoulder or edge of the road.

[Bredbury Blue]

Give a thai the choice of correctly overtaking or wrongly undertaking and yes they prefer to undertake.

[essox essox]

21 hours ago, wgdanson said:

Which is completely the opposite to the UK, flashing your lights means COME ON, I'M LETTING YOU GO.

very true but here, as you know, means the complete opposite !!

[Humpy]

There is little or no 'politeness' shown by Thai drivers when you give way to them at a junction or wherever.

Of course if some acknowledgement was offered then it would not be seen because of their tinted windows !! . Time for tinted windows to be banned...... but if they are banned then it would be difficult for the driver to hide the fact that they are not wearing a seat belt, texting or dialing a phone number. When I ordered my new car the sales person was astounded when I said I didn't want the windows tinted.

Most Thai drivers do not know how to use a roundabout , what the double yellow pines are for or the massive areas of yellow cross hatching between dual carriageways. My list is endless!! 

[Andrew Dwyer]

There’s a lot of things wrong with the traffic here, I guess my greatest peeve is people not using indicators and on the rare occasion that they do they think they can just manoeuvre without checking that it’s safe to do so !!

Having said that I don’t mind driving here, it’s certainly entertaining and keeps you on your toes.

This phrase has been done to death but is still the best advice there is for driving here.

Expect the unexpected !!

[HAKAPALITA]

My Wife reads the Plates, seems to work, caution needed for NE and North  Provinces, cant read Thai but have memorised the Squiggly  Script of whats needed to back away from. Bkk is easy, they know where they are going. Nan , Buryram, and Khon Khen and Ubon are the ones to avoid .Where i live in the South they just dopey, not much aggression. its nice.

[Ctkong]

23 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

 

Or you could of adjusted your speed to let them go.

 

As for "back home" forget that and learn the Thai driving habits "right or wrong" it will keep you safe.

You are on the mark. Given the level of Thai mentality, it is better to adapt to their way of driving in their country . No matter whoever is right or wrong, in any road incident, both parties come to grief and lives disrupted unnecessarily . So if you plan to drive in Thailand, drive defensively as much as possible. There are plenty of incidents recorded in video to educate drivers on the quality of driving in Thailand. 

[Ctkong]

17 hours ago, nchuckle said:

The clearly very low IQ of drivers here given the utter stupidity of their manoeuvres. It is beyond not being properly trained ,it is a complete lack of basic self preservation ,anticipation and failure to learn from experience. Having done many track days in UK I can see when they try to drive fast they have no idea of handling,braking distances or judgement of distance. I think there’s a 'thick gene,'

‘Thick genes’ are in every rural areas of other countries too. I have seen worse in rural China in the 80’s. However they improve over time given the culling might have some effect on that. Darwinism at work. 

[Ctkong]

14 minutes ago, HAKAPALITA said:

My Wife reads the Plates, seems to work, caution needed for NE and North  Provinces, cant read Thai but have memorised the Squiggly  Script of whats needed to back away from. Bkk is easy, they know where they are going. Nan , Buryram, and Khon Khen and Ubon are the ones to avoid .Where i live in the South they just dopey, not much aggression. its nice.

That is also true in my case. Always keep an eye on the vehicles ahead. Whether they are from outstation ( unpredictable behavioir especially overshooting the exit to the frontier road) , time of the day, condition of the vehicles (souped up type or not) , type of vehicles like pickup, cars, trucks, .. keeping an alert mind when driving in Thailand is paramount for survival. 

[Ctkong]

17 hours ago, samsensam said:

 

gave up driving, my gf has a car so she drives.

 

what i hate most about, being a pedestrian, about drivers here people driving/riding on the wrong side of the road - it is dumb and so dangerous, also, and farang included here, it's people using mobile phones while driving.

 

and relax...

Doesn’t help matters if you are the passenger. I find myself more tensed up when my wife is driving. ‘Relax’  she said . How can I relax when I can foresee numerous scenarios on every kilometer of road ... I rather be the one driving and am more relax that way. Driving 800 Kms from Bangkok to chiangmai, I always put up a night somewhere in between like phisanulok or tak rather than having my wife replace me and drive the whole trip in a day. Either that or no trip. I guess you would have to make an informed decision and go with that. 

[HAKAPALITA]

British wont adapt, they are like Germans generally, never wrong, self important and so far up their own arse they dont need tinted windows .!. Apart from the Kawasaki attitude here in this post anyone can see thats true. We fit in with them, good or bad and this constant  Thai bashing gets on my tits. F1 has a few crap drivers too. They Must be Thai .