Danish man dead as taxi overturns on way to Pattaya

[Jonmarleesco]

47 minutes ago, Happyman58 said:

Thais usually drive on the  wrong side of the road

They're safer that way.

[JHolmesJr]

Dying in a car crash is a tragedy.

 

Dying in a car crash when you haven't yet reached pattaya is tragedy to the power of 100.

 

Dying in a car crash while returning from pattaya….that is one way to die happy.

[Jonmarleesco]

4 hours ago, ThaiTrav said:

Ha funny you say that , I had an experience whereby it was night going to the airport from the city and the driver kept driving off the road . If it wasn't for me reaching over and grabbing the steering wheel to oversteer for him  we would have hit the barrier blocks several times upon entry to the airport and had many a run off the road. I sort of sensed his vision was not good . Goodness knows how he drove alone . again on a recent trip from airport to Pattaya apart from having to yell at the driver to stop changing lanes for no reason and drive at speed then brake hard on the cars behind in front . I noticed not one but 5 rego stickers plastered on the windscreen , and amulets about 50 located all over the dashboard and the usual flowers and amulets to restrict vision hanging from the rearvision mirror . Don't they realize this is quite dangerous particularly at night trying to get a full view of the road ahead through the overtinted glass with all these obstructions and moving stuff to break concentration. The place is mad, when I drive with a cabbie I sit in front and make myself in reach of the gearstick ,handbrake and streering wheel and are prepared at all times to use whatever ,and my eyes are driving and lookout for whats ahead. and yes I often make myself vocal who cares what they think. its my life!

The best advice to a newcomer is if you find a cab whose driving skills are quite good and there are believe it some good ones who don't rip off or want to die yesterday. Get there card and keep it for when you need to use it long distance . i,ll give you one of mine Mr .A lek 0910298546 /0950674615 . He is very cautious and courtious .you can trust you or your family would be in good hands from Bangkok. Only downside is you have to book in advance or guess one could use Uber but not from airport , The drivers are a bit more cautious because they own therir own cars. Good luck! 

'Don't they realize this is quite dangerous particularly at night trying to get a full view of the road ahead ...' Don't you realise that those talismans are their assurance that they - and you - will survive the journey. If not, than fate played its hand.

 

And there are actually private firms will drive you, from the airport or any location, good cars (Camries), good rates, and good drivers.

[USPatriot]

This is why seatbelts are standard in cars

[Camryman]

6 hours ago, JohnnyBKK said:

I always check if the driver falls asleep, 1 out of 3 times they are half asleep while driving. More than once I had to wake up them while they were driving. They always get angry. Stupid dudes.

Few years ago from Dom Muang to Chachoengsao at 3 am because 5 hour Air Asia delay. The driver appeared to be intoxicated and spoke like a Xanax swallower. I showed my Thai dr.license and he stopped at the elevated highway. I drove home while he was joking with another friend on the phone........'Farang driving......'

[yamonn1]

10 hours ago, worgeordie said:

 

"The driver told police that he had left Bangkok at 5am and reached Tak at 10am. He was taking the couple to Pattaya."

he was taking them the very long way around ?,  RIP Danish guy. never got to the promised land.

regards worgeordie

Was he going via Chiang Mai?

[KittenKong]

Most Thai car/taxi drivers seem to be incompetent and I would not trust my life to any of them.

 

I either drive myself or just take the Jomtien airport bus. I have always found their drivers to be sensible and apparently not on drugs or asleep. It's also much cheaper.

[A1Str8]

10 hours ago, AGareth2 said:

tragic

but was he wearing a safety belt?

Yes. That was the reason the car flipped.

[FarangJon]

RIP unlucky danish guy.

Bad for his Thai gf. Her ATM is gone.

[lvr181]

If there are no working seat belts for the passenger/s DON'T use the taxi! 

 

RIP Dane and condolences to your family and friends.

[aslimversgwm]

3 hours ago, tonboy said:

That means an average of 150 km/h. Sorry, can't believe that. Or do you have an airplane ?

Or nearly 94mph for those not gone metric. Impossible - a straight lie in fact.

Even on a German autobahn you'd be hard pushed to average that speed over that distance let alone on Thai roads

[tonboy]

1 hour ago, aslimversgwm said:

Or nearly 94mph for those not gone metric. Impossible - a straight lie in fact.

Even on a German autobahn you'd be hard pushed to average that speed over that distance let alone on Thai roads

Must be a German member, with Germans everything is possible, and bigger, and better, and faster.

[Pigdog747]

13 hours ago, CelticBhoy said:

"The driver told police that he had left Bangkok at 5am and reached Tak at 10am. He was taking the couple to Pattaya."

 

Bangkok to Pattaya via Tak. That's the route most of us would take I'm sure  . . .  

Maybe the local cab didn't want to make the trip so the Danish man called someone or a cab driver he knew it BK to come and get him and his girlfriend and bring them to Pattaya. A friend of mine has a certain number he calls when he requires a cab,  he says that he now knows the driver, he doesn't drive like an idiot and he always treated fair.

[Pigdog747]

2 hours ago, aslimversgwm said:

Or nearly 94mph for those not gone metric. Impossible - a straight lie in fact.

Even on a German autobahn you'd be hard pushed to average that speed over that distance let alone on Thai roads

If only people new basic Math.. Tak to Bangkok ... 378 km and it took him 5 hours??? 378/5 = 76 kph

[Andrew Dwyer]

If only people new basic Math.. Tak to Bangkok ... 378 km and it took him 5 hours??? 378/5 = 76 kph

If only people would read all the topic they would realise these figures were quoted as someone had claimed that they regularly drove 1200 km in 8 hours or 150 km/h ( 94 mph ) average.
All totally irrelevant to the OP .

[jacko45k]

18 hours ago, kwonitoy said:

I had a driver from the limo service at the airport nodding off and weaving all over the motorway from the airport to pattaya, I yelled at him to wake up and he got pissed at me.

All the rest of the way I had my eye on him and when he closed his eyes I clapped  my hands, he got angry every time and said he wasn't tired or sleeping. Must save face.

Were you able to lodge a complaint against him, seems necessary?

[Stargeezr]

I do not take taxis anywhere but in the city where I hire them because of this reason, the drivers

all drive a lot of hours and you just do not know how they will hold up driving the boring

highways between cities.  I take the tour buses that cost a decent rate, but the drivers mostly

are in better shape.

Geexer

[zoza]

13 hours ago, ThaiTrav said:

Ha funny you say that , I had an experience whereby it was night going to the airport from the city and the driver kept driving off the road . If it wasn't for me reaching over and grabbing the steering wheel to oversteer for him  we would have hit the barrier blocks several times upon entry to the airport and had many a run off the road. I sort of sensed his vision was not good . Goodness knows how he drove alone . again on a recent trip from airport to Pattaya apart from having to yell at the driver to stop changing lanes for no reason and drive at speed then brake hard on the cars behind in front . I noticed not one but 5 rego stickers plastered on the windscreen , and amulets about 50 located all over the dashboard and the usual flowers and amulets to restrict vision hanging from the rearvision mirror . Don't they realize this is quite dangerous particularly at night trying to get a full view of the road ahead through the overtinted glass with all these obstructions and moving stuff to break concentration. The place is mad, when I drive with a cabbie I sit in front and make myself in reach of the gearstick ,handbrake and streering wheel and are prepared at all times to use whatever ,and my eyes are driving and lookout for whats ahead. and yes I often make myself vocal who cares what they think. its my life!

The best advice to a newcomer is if you find a cab whose driving skills are quite good and there are believe it some good ones who don't rip off or want to die yesterday. Get there card and keep it for when you need to use it long distance . i,ll give you one of mine Mr .A lek 0910298546 /0950674615 . He is very cautious and courtious .you can trust you or your family would be in good hands from Bangkok. Only downside is you have to book in advance or guess one could use Uber but not from airport , The drivers are a bit more cautious because they own therir own cars. Good luck! 

your average decent taxi co. lasts no more than a year before they slide down the slippery slope, my last and best one ever I had more than three years before their standard of driving/cars began to plummet, nothing in Thailand lasts and any ride of any distance you have to keep your eyes on the driver and be prepared to wake him, even a good firm will swap drivers if they are busy and you can end up shouting at the driver and banging on the seats just to keep him on the road...certainly grabs your attention when you see a new driver turn up.....and when I do find a decent driver I keep him/her my little secret...RIP the Danish lad.

[lvr181]

7 hours ago, Pigdog747 said:

If only people new basic Math.. Tak to Bangkok ... 378 km and it took him 5 hours??? 378/5 = 76 kph

Those who couldn't work that out were probably "educated" in Thailand?  

[elgenon]

Why doesn't the government require operational seat belts in taxis?  They want drivers not to transport people in pickup beds siting safety.

 

One benefit of using a private taxi company is that they use a regular car with operational seat belts.

 

I did worry when a driver used one of those neck pillows while driving. But it did support his head and he didn't fall asleep. Yikes!

[The Deerhunter]

22 hours ago, CelticBhoy said:

"The driver told police that he had left Bangkok at 5am and reached Tak at 10am. He was taking the couple to Pattaya."

 

Bangkok to Pattaya via Tak. That's the route most of us would take I'm sure  . . .  

It's a special taxi-only short cut.  Pattaya is a long way.  (So is this.)

[kiwikeith]

23 hours ago, kwonitoy said:

I had a driver from the limo service at the airport nodding off and weaving all over the motorway from the airport to pattaya, I yelled at him to wake up and he got pissed at me.

All the rest of the way I had my eye on him and when he closed his eyes I clapped  my hands, he got angry every time and said he wasn't tired or sleeping. Must save face.

 

I had a taxi pick us up from BK to go to Hua Hin , we arranged it with him as he dropped us off at our hotel from airport , seemed like a good driver.

About 20 minutes later he fell asleep at the wheel with his foot down, I screamed at him he wake up and had to swerve into the safety lane to avoid colliding with the car in front, there was 2 adults and a five yr. old in the car.

He apologised, I watched him like a Hawke all the way and got him to stop a seven and bought him some coffee.

He got a bit droopy and had a few wake up calls but managed to drive quite well.

 

After he dropped us at the hotel he worked all night around BK and then picked us up to go to Hua Hin,that is why he was tired.

So where is the mentality or respect for lives with these people they don't care about children.

 

Life imprisonment for causing death , falling asleep or alcohol should be the penalty.

 

Don't forget the Log Book's Mr PM ,that were promised within 30 days.

[BernieOnTour]

18 hours ago, Don Mega said:

I do Pattaya to the wife's village atleast once a month and is a 1200km round trip. easily done in 8 hours.

With the increased traffic density on Thailands streets nowadays, even at night one won't manage anymore to drive at, let's say, 160-170 km/h to achieve a 150 average, just too many obstacles and other drivers slowing you down.

 

 

From my experience on German Autobahns: to achieve a 150 km/h average over such a long distance, you have to constantly strive to drive you car with 200 km/h,

because road construction, trucks and other slow drivers overtaking, etc. ... are constantly decreasing your average.

 

Good luck trying that for 8 hours on Thai roads! 

 

 

 

[kiwikeith]

3 minutes ago, BernieOnTour said:

With the increased traffic density on Thailands streets nowadays, even at night one won't manage anymore to drive at, let's say, 160-170 km/h to achieve a 150 average, just too many obstacles and other drivers slowing you down.

 

 

From my experience on German Autobahns: to achieve a 150 km/h average over such a long distance, you have to constantly strive to drive you car with 200 km/h,

because road construction, trucks and other slow drivers overtaking, etc. ... are constantly decreasing your average.

 

Good luck trying that for 8 hours on Thai roads! 

 

 

 

 

Suicide, on Thai roads at 120 km, to drive at 200 km/h  on the autobahn you need a very nice vehicle that can do that ,not your average car.

[ThaiTrav]

15 hours ago, FarangJon said:

RIP unlucky danish guy.

Bad for his Thai gf. Her ATM is gone.

no poblem ....many more lining up on thai friendly ! Kar!!!!

[ThaiTrav]

17 hours ago, oldsailor35 said:

I was contemplating driving from Koh Samui to Kukhan in november. I have never driven this far in Thailand before. But  after reading some of these posts i am beginning to fear the journey. Would it be safer to drive at night or during the day.

Driving at night presents another set of concerns :

1. Make sure the car you drive doesn't have tinted windscreen 

2. Watch for cars/trucks with no or faulty lights and their are heaps of them

some of the rear lights aren't even of the yellow or red color, or flash like their faulty , an offence in the real world.

3. Potholes watch out some are huge and when hit at speed can spin your car off in any direction.

Driving in Thailand is hairy don't trust any car or truck in your eyesight be prepared and ready to exit potential dangers well before they happen , Imagine the worst as you drive and be prepared to deal with it as it happens as sometimes it does . Was on a motorbike and the bike in front came to a t junction at speed .I thought this nuts not going to look right before he turns left .To my horror he didn't and felt the breeze of the bus that was hurtling straight down as it overtook him .. you'll see its beyond my total understanding as  from many a countless postings here ! look goodluck there won't be any improvement .

[NanLaew]

20 hours ago, cyberfarang said:

How about, he was tailgating the vehicle in front, as taxis always do, travelling too fast and when the car in front slowed down or braked, failed to stop in time and rammed into the back.

Except there's no mention of another vehicle being rear-ended or of any other vehicle being involved at all.

[bheard]

tragic
but was he wearing a safety belt?

Try to find a seat belt in the back seat some cabs - impossible.

[balo]

Why did the Dane order a Bangkok taxi  to pick them up in Tak ?  What a stupid thing to do , Take the bus instead , less risks involved. 

 

Oh , and if you want to sit in the backseat of a taxi here wear a helmet just in case it flips over. 

 

 

[Andrew65]

1 minute ago, balo said:

Why did the Dane order a Bangkok taxi  to pick them up in Tak ?  What a stupid thing to do , Take the bus instead , less risks involved. 

 

Oh , and if you want to sit in the backseat of a taxi here wear a helmet just in case it flips over. 

 

 

The taxi might have just dropped someone off who had traveled from BKK. Picked up a return fare.