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is it safe to ride a bike in Thailand


moose7117

Is it safe to Ride a scooter or big bike in Thailand ?  

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4 hours ago, mike787 said:

 

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A retarded Meme in no way brings anything to the discussion... 

 

If you don't believe we need to evaluate risks intelligently instead of blindly following stats, please explain why... 

 

Also, it would be interesting to learn if you have ever ridden a motorcycle, here or anywhere else which may help us understand how you evaluate the risk when suggesting that motorcycling in Thailand is simply too dangerous. 

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Unfortunately, in Thailand, rather than the statistical data being inversely proportionate, the case of high motor cycle  mortality rates are directly proportional to "objectively" gathered statical data by various institutions from Thailand, and the world.  They are not mutually exclusive variables, rather, calculated factual events that directly correlate and support the high motorcycle death rates. Directly demonstrating a cause and effect result, ie risk versus death = stats. 

 

Owned various motorcycles for years.  Do not now.  Have ridden motor bikes/scooter/bicycles in Thailand.  Been educated by TVF submissions of advice: if you want to live a safer life in Thailand, don't be on 2 wheels, however, do as you please, your decision is between you and your God.  We agree to disagree. 

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As someone with life experience in all forms of motorcycles and an enthusiast and motivator of others too ride for the fun, adventure and skill learnt i have to say its NOT safe. It not safe anywhere really. I don't think people should be allowed to rent out scooters end of story!

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1 hour ago, mike787 said:

your decision is between you and your God

I never know if I should laugh or cry about comments like that.

If there would be a god then he would let people drive safer. If there would be a god he wouldn't kill so many innocent people.

So you can chose if you have a bad god, a god with no power or no god. Over to you.

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1 hour ago, mike787 said:

Unfortunately, in Thailand, rather than the statistical data being inversely proportionate, the case of high motor cycle  mortality rates are directly proportional to "objectively" gathered statical data by various institutions from Thailand, and the world.  They are not mutually exclusive variables, rather, calculated factual events that directly correlate and support the high motorcycle death rates. Directly demonstrating a cause and effect result, ie risk versus death = stats. 

 

Owned various motorcycles for years.  Do not now.  Have ridden motor bikes/scooter/bicycles in Thailand.  Been educated by TVF submissions of advice: if you want to live a safer life in Thailand, don't be on 2 wheels, however, do as you please, your decision is between you and your God.  We agree to disagree. 

 

Having owned and ridden bikes you are clearly well qualified to make an informed decision which suits you. 

 

The high death rates in Thailand are alarming. However, once broken down with a little critical analysis the potential death rate / stats for a sensible riders are not quite as horrific as it would initially appear.

 

Its been discussed but I'll mention my thoughts on this again for the purposes of clarity, once those outlined below have been removed from the statistic I imagine the statistic for those of us remaining is far less extreme. 

 

- Riding without helmets

- Riders without other protective gear

- Kids Racing

- Riding at night

- Riding while drunk

- Riding while stupid 

- Riding in the wet

- Riding without rider / driver education

 

Cut out most of the above and I wonder if the road fatality stats for the majority of Western Riders is not reduced to levels not too far off those recorded in our home countries (Of course, there is no way of telling until far more detailed stats are recorded). 

 

 

 

 

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14 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Having owned and ridden bikes you are clearly well qualified to make an informed decision which suits you. 

 

The high death rates in Thailand are alarming. However, once broken down with a little critical analysis the potential death rate / stats for a sensible riders are not quite as horrific as it would initially appear.

 

Its been discussed but I'll mention my thoughts on this again for the purposes of clarity, once those outlined below have been removed from the statistic I imagine the statistic for those of us remaining is far less extreme. 

 

- Riding without helmets

- Riders without other protective gear

- Kids Racing

- Riding at night

- Riding while drunk

- Riding while stupid 

- Riding in the wet

- Riding without rider / driver education

 

Cut out most of the above and I wonder if the road fatality stats for the majority of Western Riders is not reduced to levels not too far off those recorded in our home countries (Of course, there is no way of telling until far more detailed stats are recorded). 

I would love to exclude the condition:

- Riding with all those other crazy drivers on the streets

 

I don't claim what I do is perfect but it is predictable and visible. Many riders here do totally unpredictable things (at least for my mind unpredictable) and some take high risks where it's impossible to see them. That makes it dangerous for all of us.

 

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Just now, OneMoreFarang said:

I would love to exclude the condition:

- Riding with all those other crazy drivers on the streets

 

I don't claim what I do is perfect but it is predictable and visible. Many riders here do totally unpredictable things (at least for my mind unpredictable) and some take high risks where it's impossible to see them. That makes it dangerous for all of us.

 

Agreed...  I find it is the other motorcycles which post a far greater risk to my motorcycling well being....

- you can avoid the idiots to some extent by avoiding being in their proximity as much as possible which isn't very often when the streets are busy. 

 

I just had a guy stop dead in the middle of the road in front of me... No exit route as there was a bike hovering in my blindspot to my left and I couldn't quickly switch lanes as there may have been a car (I didn't have time to check)... I hit the brakes hard, ABS came on...    I'd have probably ended up dropping the bike without ABS. 

 

The same thing also happened in the Car this week - ABS came on again. 

 

Both times I stopped in time etc... but both times it was the completely unpredictable and idiotic actions of a complete and total tool that nearly caused an accident. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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My wife and I are always out on her Honda (me pillion) about town and I know sharing the road with the local maniacs is freaking dangerous but I trust my wife and know her bike is in good nick, we both wear skidlids and have good travel insurance just in case we survive an accident.  That's really all we can do.  

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10 minutes ago, OneEyedPie said:

My wife and I are always out on her Honda (me pillion) about town and I know sharing the road with the local maniacs is freaking dangerous but I trust my wife and know her bike is in good nick, we both wear skidlids and have good travel insurance just in case we survive an accident.  That's really all we can do.  

Travel insurance???

You mean medical insurance with a decent ceiling? 

 

Is travel insurance not for tourists and for a limited period? 

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3 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Is travel insurance not for tourists and for a limited period? 

My wife and I live in falangland and only visit LOS for a limited period and our travel insurance covers bikes.  I hope this clarifies.

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On 4/27/2019 at 3:16 PM, scubascuba3 said:

I ride about 6,000km a year in Pattaya, once you have good enough skill and know the roads its ok. But, you have to concentrate 100% as plenty of people going too fast, drunk driving and making mistakes. In the last week, a guy in a car coming straight at me on 2nd road the wrong way. Another farang on a bike starts a U-turn without looking both ways. Bozos about.

 

i often watch videos of motorbike accidents in Thailand, every single one has been ridiculous reckless driving, so if you ride carefully and wear a good helmet hopefully you'll be ok, we all need some luck too, or just no bad luck.

 

Most people commenting on this thread will be frightened rabbit non riders

 

 

 

 

I largely agree with you. I've done about 400-500,000 kms on bikes in Thailand. Two or three extremely close calls in 30 years. Nothing for seven years. I'm due...which makes me concentrate even more. And there is often something to learn from the accident videos. I translate most of these stories on Thaivisa so I watch them in the course of my job. As far as the survey goes I don't think I would recommend any beginner to get on the roads in Thailand without some serious training. I didn't have any formal training but I took it step by step with advice from pals who had been there doing it for years. I feel now that I will continue though if my mental faculties decrease in my late sixties and seventies I will stop. It is an extremely perilous activity. On the flip side - riding a bike is a total joy that marks my life.

 

Rooster

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22 minutes ago, Pattaya28 said:

is it safe to ride a bike scooter in Thailand ? and why ?

 

75 road deaths a day.

Statistically the 2nd most dangerous country in the world for road deaths.

Isn't that enough of a reason ?

 

75% of the road deaths are motorcycles... which means 18 of those deaths are for other means of transport (cars, buses, vans, pedestrians).

 

The UK has approx 1750 road deaths per year - about 4.8 per day.

 

Excluding Thailands motorcycles, Thailands roads are approx 4x more deadly.

 

So, how do you get about ?

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7 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

So, how do you get about ?

Car.

A motor bike would be far more convenient for numerous reasons, but far far far too dangerous in my view. 

Parking a car in Pattaya is a nightmare, and restricts what I do. A motor bike would solve that problem. But dangers far too high.

And my friends all take the piss with my attitude. 

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On 4/28/2019 at 10:40 AM, richard_smith237 said:

I always cringed when I saw everyone riding without gloves as hands are fragile and a scrape will ruin them. The m'bike taxi drivers do wear them- only sensible m'bike riders in LOS.

I raced bicycles for years.  Couldn't tell how many times I was involved with crashes. When you are going to the pavement, it's natural to put your hands out to brace your fall. Gloves are very important.

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I will admit, I'm through with walking in the village, 'cause of the dog packs. We only live two doors away from the mini-mart but in that 40 metres there are up to 12 dogs. We now have to go right round the block, a trip of 400 metres, to bypass them, just to get some tooth picks*.

 

My mountain bike is of no use in the village as the dogs band together with the aim of forcing the rider to crash; when they would rip the rider to shreds. Accordingly, I only ride my Carerra for long distances, along the Mekong, and across country to Penn and So-phasia.

 

It seems that it it unsafe, to do anything, anywhere in Thailand; especially for the farang.

 

* or anything else one might buy from a village mini-mart.

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Bike rider who hit us couple of weeks ago had no helmet, no shoes and riding down the wrong side of the road. There are precautions you can take to limit the danger, avoiding all Thais driving anything would be the safest!

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6 hours ago, Damrongsak said:

Some bikes are safer to ride in Thailand than others.  Think "big bike".

 

image.png.b4b8ac5f3c3bb8e656587dd2a83fdad4.png

Nah, you'll still get posts going on about how unsafe it is to be up that high.  Poor fellow might get a nose bleed from the altitude.

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Let's face it, riding a motorcycle isn't the safest form of transport anywhere.  Many Western doctors referring to riders as "organ donors".  All you can do is try and mitigate the risk with proper riding practices and equipment.  However, while it does appear to be riskier here, I'd be willing to bet that, if you weeded out all the motorcycle deaths that were directly attributable to the rider, Thailand's road toll would be far closer to the West's, per capita.  Things like:

Crashing off the road or into another vehicle, whether moving or parked, through lack of attention, drunkenness or high speed.

Dangerous riding, such as racing, pulling wheelies, out riding the brakes / headlights (when used).

Badly maintained motorcycles, including rear lights, brakes and tyres. 

Crossing the centre line, and generally riding the wrong way down the street.

Pulling out into traffic without looking, especially when turning right, or crossing multiple lanes to do a U-turn.

Running red lights and jumping green ones.

No safety equipment, especially a decent quality helmet.

 

And, for all those stating that these things only happen in Thailand, I have witnessed, or read newspaper stories about, pretty much all of those things happening in western countries too - just in far less numbers, which puts the root cause down to lack of law enforcement.  I would go as far to say that if you were to swap the entire traffic police and attitude to law enforcement of any Western country with Thailand, it wouldn't be long before Thailand became much safer and the other country's road toll rapidly increased.

 

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12 hours ago, Pattaya28 said:

is it safe to ride a bike scooter in Thailand ? and why ?

 

75 road deaths a day.

Statistically the 2nd most dangerous country in the world for road deaths.

Isn't that enough of a reason ?

The overwhelming majority of defensive, careful bike riders reach the end of their natural span with barely a scratch. 

 

Given the joy and practicality of motorcycle riding, isn't that a better reason?

 

Rooster

 

 

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20 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

If there would be a god then he would let people drive safer. If there would be a god he wouldn't kill so many innocent people.

Lord Buddha also seems to be very absent, despite all the amulets the locals are wearing.

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45 minutes ago, Vacuum said:

Lord Buddha also seems to be very absent, despite all the amulets the locals are wearing.

The amulets are part of the problem.  On par with Superman and Kryptonite.

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I ride a big bike here and also one back in the states.

 

Just for the heck of it I did an informal survey.    I counted 3 sets of 10 bikes going by home pro and checked for the following.

 

Of the 30 bikes surveyed,  40% had helmets (driver only).  

 

of the 40%, only 40% of them had full face helmets.  

 

None had boots or protective type of apparel.   No gloves, no armor of any kind,   and about 20% of the total had passengers (none had helmets or gear)

 

As a rule,  you can test your gear with a hammer.    If it would protect you from a blow with a hammer,  it is good gear.   would you take a hammer to your foot in flip flops?    If not,  what do you think a steel bumper of a car is going to do to your foot at 50 mph?  especially with the weight of your bike behind it.

 

 

 

When it is this hot,  I soak down my top and ride wet.   drink a ton of water.   After 20 minutes or so,  you are dry again.   Wear your gear,  even for short trips..   Most accidents happen 5 minutes or less from home.

 

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How many of the death stats is attributed to foreigners...!? I think cautious and passive riding helps, of course some drunk can run you over, but they can do that if you cross the road on foot...

 

We get a lot of tourists riders crashing here in Phuket, but that is mainly because they never riden much, and not with a fat girlfriend on the back, and also not on the hills with sharp bends, no local road knowledge, add rain to that and it's a carnage... But you can show a different stats for this, it's another story altogether ...

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  • 4 months later...

I think it also depends where you set the bar at. Over the last 15 years i rode motorbikes in india, pakistan, nepal, bhutan, myanmar, sri lanka, vietnam, cambodia to name a few. Most of these countries people dont even have rear view mirrors. Narrow roads, blind turns, people pushing 60-80mph on gravel roads, ive seen it all.

 

So far i found thailand to be the safest. Of course, not being smart about your own riding style is your own responsibility.

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Interesting discussion.

 

I didn't fill in the survey, because I think 'potentially dangerous' is a more accurate description than 'safe.' I started off in Chiang Mai in 2010 on a bicycle. After pedalling the bicycle on the road around the moat and merging (but only just) into fast moving traffic once or twice, I gave it to someone upcountry and now I ride a scooter – in Chiang Mai, I still ride a mid-size bike in my home country, have had a motorcycle licence for many years. 

 

A charity I once worked for found that there were large numbers of villagers in rural parts of northern Thailand with disabilities as a result of not wearing a properly secured helmet and then being involved in a motorcycle crash. Not wearing a helmet is another factor in the appalling stats for deaths on the road. 

 

In Thailand, I always wear a helmet, avoid riding at night, and if at all possible amble along quiet back roads rather than mix it with fast highway traffic. Plus I accept that the traffic style here is not about everyone staying in their proper place or paying the slightest attention to red lights or lane markings, it's that idea of water following the path of least resistance (even if that path is the wrong way against the traffic), so my goal is to stay out of the way.  Despite that I've had a couple of near misses that probably weren't my fault – but also proof that I still need to work on my skills.  

 

Something basic that I've learned from reading the posts here – the need to wear gloves, even on the hottest day. I haven't, but from now on I will. 

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