Tourists and rain blamed as road carnage body count hits 12 in Chiang Mai

[unamazedloso]

what have the tourists done? I dont get it?

[Samuel Smith]

3 minutes ago, unamazedloso said:

what have the tourists done? I dont get it?

Driven like idiots in wet conditions.  Massive influx of Thai tourists on Chiang mai roads over new year.  Not used to wet mountain roads?

[Ulic]

Why not just blame the real culprits.........the cars/trucks and motorcycles with the occasional train. 

[connda]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

The deputy governor of Chiang Mai province said officials had done everything they could to limit the death toll on the roads at New Year. 

Did they put police in patrol cars and pull over idiots clearly breaking the law and issue tickets and arrest drunks during traffic stop for moving violations?  Nope.  They set up road blocks like they do every year which are just as ineffective this year as they were last year, and the year before last, and the year before last.....

So Deputy Governor, you haven't done everything as you have yet to adopt First World Policing practices which would in fact decrease the number of people driving like idiots.  You also have yet to implement a campaign to train Thai drivers to follow First World driving methods. Simple things like stopping at red lights and knowing how to efficiently accelerate and merge into traffic while yielding the right-of-way and showing a modicum of civility and courtesy.  Nope, all you've done is make ridiculous excuses and rolled out the xenophobia in order to blame foreigners instead of placing the blame on Thai's aggressive, selfish driving habits and total lack of driving skills.  Foreigners are responsible for that?  I don't think so, but it plays well to a equally xenophobic Thai media and the xenophobic society they pander to. 

[Samuel Smith]

2 minutes ago, connda said:

  Nope, all you've done is make ridiculous excuses and rolled out the xenophobia in order to blame foreigners instead of placing the blame on Thai's aggressive, selfish driving habits and total lack of driving skills.  Foreigners are responsible for that? 

Where are they blaming foreigners?  They're blaming tourists.

 

But you're spot on about everything else ????  

[PerkinsCuthbert]

The deputy governator is mistaken; it is an incontrovertible factoid that 99.99% of road accidents throughout Thailand are due to totally unforeseen brake failure.

[Justgrazing]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Rather than blame the authorities he blamed tourists and the unseasonal rain

and the bloody foreigners for inventing those damned infernal motobike's and car's that are everywhere now .. This wouldn't happen if everyone was still driving Khwāy's like they did in the old days he added .. 

[Grusa]

 

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The deputy governor of Chiang Mai province said officials had done everything they could to limit the death toll on the roads at New Year. 

 

But despite their "100% efforts" Khomsan Suwanampha admitted that this year had been worse than last. 

I recommend that he and his ilk get a few of these:-

 

 

[hansnl]

4 hours ago, Thailand said:

So wet tourists are to blame for road accidents and deaths?

Obviously.

Like foreigners are always scanning Thai.

 

Go on, authorities, Go on chasing the western foreigners out, of course you are better off with the Chinese.

[Lacessit]

Driving from Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai today, there must have been at least a dozen times when I witnessed some vehicle overtaking into a blind curve.

Until such time as Thai authorities acknowledge Thais are lousy drivers, and respond with more stringent training and enforcement, Thailand will stay on top of the dangerous roads list.

[NanLaew]

4 hours ago, johnnytuc said:

Pathetic Country

Still here huh?

[NanLaew]

32 minutes ago, hansnl said:

Obviously.

Like foreigners are always scanning Thai.

 

Go on, authorities, Go on chasing the western foreigners out, of course you are better off with the Chinese.

Since upwards of 80% of the foreign tourists visiting Chiang Mai are already Chinese, we can safely assume that the tourists they claim are contributing to the seasonal mayhem on the roads are mostly Chinese.

 

Western tourists have been fewer and farther between for many years already IMHO. No white-skinned and round-eyed tourists have been chased out... well, not the legitimate, bona fide tourists anyway. They simply find better and cheaper and less westernized places to visit.

[observer90210]

Those awful farang car brands are at fault....

[hotchilli]

And he wonders why the figures are higher than last year..

Sack him!

[joecoolfrog]

3 hours ago, bdenner said:

No not a "pathetic country"! The fault lies with the 'Anti-Corruption Organization of Thailand' and the system which puts an IDIOT like Khomsan Suwanampha in the position where he is obviously out of his depth..

The system is pathetic , the level of driving skill is pathetic , law enforcement is pathetic. In short Thailand is pathetic in regard to road safety.

[BigBadGeordie]

3 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Driving from Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai today, there must have been at least a dozen times when I witnessed some vehicle overtaking into a blind curve.

Not much traffic on the road today obviously.....only a dozen times?

[Torrens54]

AMAZING LIELAND...ER... sorry, TYPO, I meant thailand.

[neeray]

5 hours ago, Samuel Smith said:

Where are they blaming foreigners?  They're blaming tourists.

 

But you're spot on about everything else ????  

Thanks for the clarity Samuel Smith. It seems like many of us initially took the term "tourists" to mean "farang". But on further reading, "tourists" seems to refer to Thai tourists.

[rumak]

10 hours ago, findlay13 said:

Drink Driving,Excessive speed.Throw in mental midgets with childrens emotions,super inflated egos,the driving skills of infants and top it off with a complete lack of law enforcement

I thought you and most of your friends stayed home watching Netflix , having beers, and bashing the Thais....No ?

[rumak]

6 hours ago, Samuel Smith said:

Where are they blaming foreigners?  They're blaming tourists.

 

But you're spot on about everything else ????  

And your spot on....Except that the speeders and crazy ones are a small percentage.  Most of the thais do not drive like idiots,  but no doubt some do.  And they should be dealt with, but are not.  Having said that,

it is the lack of enforcement that is the problem. Agreed !  (ever count how many have bkk license plates?)

 

[eastendanto]

13 hours ago, Phuketshrew said:

Always someone or something else to blame but he missed the brake failures.

hmm nothing to do with the 1000's of drunk drivers riding around on their loaded guns!!

[Sir Swagman]

Did all they can to limit fatalities they say......sure. Like blocking traffic light intersections to prevent right turns on highway roads, just to try  to make traffic flow a bit easier. It may do that, at that position, but it then  creates a bottleneck at the next U-turn with the standard, orderly manner of Thai queuing to make the turn and the inevitable greater risk of such a turn  against speeding oncoming traffic. 

[balo]

This got nothing to do with farangs , they were Thai tourists. 

[bkk6060]

Some of you need to check yourself.

Tourists does not necessarily mean foreigners.

If a Thai family from BKK drives to CM for a holiday, they are tourists.

I have been here since Saturday the place has been packed.

People using parts of the road I have never seen driven before.

Lots of Bangkok plates and many from other provinces.

The Chinese rarely rent cars and Falangs don't either.

So in fact, it is mostly Thais that are the" tourists" in Chiang Mai.

[Stargeezr]

Yes blame the tourists, as all the local drivers are angels and do not get into accidents.

This only happens on weekends and holidays when Tourists are around.

Got it.  Glad us foriegn farangs do not get involved wih most of these accidents.

Geezer

[spidermike007]

Very, very small men have a hard time taking responsibility for anything. Always deflecting. Always passing on the blame. Khomsan Suwanampha is no exception. Granted, there were probably a few tourists that had barely ever ridden a motorbike before, that did not survive the holiday. But, to make a sweeping statement like this is beyond ignorant. Unfortunately alot it comes down to the incredibly weak practice of face. Want to know how I feel about the atrocious practice of face?

 

Face is no doubt, the greatest form of weakness, a human can engage in. Many will say it is societal, cultural, etc. No matter. It is the absolute and complete lack of the ability to introspect, and look within for the source of any problem, shortcoming, conflict, or issue. It is the polar opposite of spirituality, and therefore an absolute scourge on Buddha, and all of the precepts he taught. By practicing face, you are denying your spiritual heritage. You are refusing to man up. To take responsibility for your actions. If a man or a woman cannot, and will not take responsibility for their actions, the problems they create, the mistakes they make, and the issues they involve themselves in, what are they? Are they still an adult? Are they a complete individual, if they allow themselves to be limited by such infinitely small social convention? 

 

Who cares what people think of you? For those of us with high self esteem, it just does not matter. Sure, close friends and family. But strangers on the street? Who gives a rat's butt about this? It means nothing what they think, nor what they say about you. They count for nothing. They are just people, and people you do not know, nor will ever see again. Face is rife with self doubt, and by subscribing to this weakness, and man or woman is made a far lesser person. For those of us with high self esteem, we know who we are. What others think, what society thinks, what a guy or gal thinks, means less than zero.

 

Real men or women, simply own a situation, and take responsibility for their errors or mistakes. Small men, social deviants, or emotional adolescents deflect, obfuscate, attempt to confuse, and do everything in their power to deny that they made a mistake, or that they are responsible in any way, or on any level. They make up narratives about fake news, or alternative facts. Anything to avoid looking within, for the source of the problem. Anything.

 

The real issue here, is why the lack of traffic safety? 

 

The primary reason is the toy police force. Nobody, and I mean nobody takes these guys seriously. There is absolutely nothing in the way of a deterrent here, and both the local governments, the central government (weak Little P.) and the police do not take traffic safety seriously. Not even one iota. The safety of the public means less than zero to the small men in charge here. Nothing. They show that on a daily basis. They will not do a thing. Why? They do not care about the people one iota. Not the common people. Not the average pleb. No way. Never have cared, and may never care in the future. It is all about protecting the elite, the super wealthy, those that are connected, and those in power. The rest of the population? They do not matter. The ex-pat community does not matter. And the police will not get involved unless an accident has already occurred. There is no prevention. None. The idea of getting the police more involved, is an interesting one, and it would be an effective one. But, the issue is money. They are grossly underpaid, and until the government steps up, and spends the trillion baht on updating the police equipment, and paying each cop a living wage, it is not going to happen. Until then, they will just work the franchise. 

 

The only way to survive here on the road, is to be patient, have eyes in the back of your head, drive with caution, and always, and I mean always watch out of the other guy. Chances are, he does not have much driving skill, nor patience, nor reason, nor common sense. You cannot be too careful on the road here. Especially considering that the toy police offer no traffic safety, nor enforcement of the law. All the checkpoints do is clog traffic on the highways, and put alot of cash into the pockets of the toy police. It is all about catching people performing moving violations. That is what causes most accidents. And herein lies the deterrent. As long as everyone is allowed to get away with extremely reckless driving, entering the highway in front of an oncoming vehicle that is only 100 meters away, going 100kph, cutting in front of vehicles within one meter at high speeds, swerving like crazy idiots all over the highway, trucks and 40 year old cars occupying the fast lane doing 40kph, when other vehicles are approaching doing 120kph, drunk driving, etc, accidents, major injuries and deaths will continue to happen, and no amount of rhetoric and platitudes by the fabulously incompetent and insincere authorities are going to make any difference. The police are not here to protect you. They do not care one iota about your well being, your safety, or traffic safety. Expect that. Do not employ them, unless absolutely necessary. 

 

If driving, especially on a motorbike, treat the activity as an act of war, in a sense that you may be mowed down or killed at any moment. 

Maintain eyes in the back of your head. Watch everyone. Expect craziness, insanity, lack of reason, and a complete lack of courtesy and respect on the roads, at all times. 

Expect cars and trucks to be coming at you in the wrong lane. Expect people to overtake you with the slimmest of margins. Expect trucks to be driving very slowly in the fast lane of a highway. If riding a motorbike, only do so if you have many years of experience. Especially on the southern islands, where huge numbers of foreigners leave Thailand in a wooden box. Wear the best helmet you can afford. And drive like a grandmother. This applies to ex-pats too. Bring along an international drivers license. This helps you to avoid being fleeced by the local police franchisee.

 

 

[Dap]

"he blamed tourists and the unseasonal rain"  Then -

"He promised increased measures to ensure the situation did not further deteriorate"

Wouldn't that require expelling all the tourists and forbidding any further rain 

[hobz]

22 hours ago, tonboy said:

Looks like you are already very well adjusted to the Thai way of life and driving....

There were extra checkpoints on all roads leading out of town , maybe because of you being tired, you did not notice them. 
In town no, but traffic was so slow and so many tourists walking on the streets , extra checkpoints around the old city would be a waste of time.


 

I wasn't tired on New year's Eve. I drove in to town from hang dong around 23:30 using canal road. No checkpoints. I drove home from town 00:30 using hang dong road. No check points.

Where did you see checkpoints?

 

The day before when I was tired there was a checkpoint and they let me through without blowing.

[terminatorchiangmai]

if you cannot blame your own incompetent government or people you just call them tourists.????

[chama]

Chiang Mai pushed to get a bigger piece of the tourist revenue pie. So they weren't smart enough to plan on increased tourism placing increased drivers unfamiliar with Thailand's driving laws? I understand watching the weather reports are difficult but weather happens every year....planning sucks.