Driving in Thailand - Is it scary?

Driving in Thailand - Is it scary?

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Morning, afternoon or evening Hivers! Thailand is pretty well known for its road accident fatality rate. Normally, the Thai fatality road accident rate tops 21,000 to 24,000 in a population of almost 70 million of which 10.5 million live in Bangkok. Every year the nation ranks in the top 5 most dangerous countries road fatality wise. However, actually the number is much higher as this only shows fatalities at the scene of the accident not fatalities resulting from a road accident.


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Scary statistics

These statistics do paint a rather scary picture of driving in Thailand. I've never driven a car here but when I'm in a car its quite crazy watching all the motorbikes zooming around on every side. However, I do ride bicycles here daily and a motorbike every once in a while. Having cycle toured most of the country I feel quite informed to give my opinion on the reality of the situation as statistics don't show the story behind the numbers.

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Local roads vs. superhighways

Here I'll give my opinions that aren't backed by any statistics. I know what I've seen and that's good enough for me. Most accidents occur on local roads with motorbikes for sure. Firstly Thai people rarely walk. Nor do they wear helmets. I suppose although its the law here its a matter of choice. As well for less wealthy people motorbikes are a cheap form of transport. So regardless of their condition (drunk, sleepy or whatever) they will drive their motorbikes to the local shop. The roads are in good condition but normally don't have a shoulder. When I was first cycle touring and camping at the police station (yes they are very friendly to cyclists here), one of the policemen told me cycling on the main highway was much safer. He should know after all. From then on I used the highways for the most part. The road is wide with so much space and there are many shops along the way for stopping.

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But sometimes crazy things happen. If you look on the internet you'll find so many pictures of Thai cars upside down, leaning against poles and so on. People sometimes drive way too fast and then can't control the vehicle. Here's an example.

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Apparently the driver thought this was a drive thru 7-11. Well it is now... Luckily no one was killed although 5 people were injured. This was a rather lucky incident that no one died. The police said it was unclear if the driver was drunk or not... Ok then.


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When I lived in USA I was a bicycle messenger. We ran red lights constantly and were basically the "outlaws" of the road. No one else operated like us. Over here almost everyone drives like that. Especially the motorbikes. Want to run red lights here? You can but look out not only for those with the green light but other people from every direction.

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The positive side of driving in Thailand.

Yes there is a positive side. I've never seen any road rage here. People may drive crazy from every direction on any side of the road (motorbikes) but they really don't want to hurt you. I've had much worse situations many times in USA and Europe. If you give the finger to someone in Poland for instance they will literally try to kill you with their car. They just go balistic. That said, if something does happen here (someone cuts you off) you can not reason with the driver. But I'd say that goes in the "West" as well. If no damage just suck it up and keep going. There is a good chance they will react violently if you try to talk with them. The concept of face and intention are difficult to grasp from a "western perspective".


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My conclusion

They say statistics don't lie. Well I suppose that's true in most cases but here the situation is probably worse. However, I reckon most of the accidents are motorbikes without helmets hence the high fatality rate. If you drive, here just drive conservatively, be alert and wear a helmet. A motorbike that is. Probably don't need a helmet in your car but feel free haha. Don't make sudden movements and don't every assume that you can make any movement without looking. People pass you on every side imaginable. If the light is yellow just stop rather than go fast to try to make it. Not only do they run red they go early as well. All of this said... I think Vietnam was much worse in my opinion but everyone wears helmets there.

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Thanks for reading!

Feel free to upvote and reblog!

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Yes I have driven in Phuket (with zero incidences) before and I think if you can drive safely there, then you can drive anywhere!

It certainly was an adventure and I actually think I felt safer driving in the chaos there than here in Melbourne...

It's definitely funny to see all of the motorbikes surrounding your car and even funnier to see so many people on one bike.

But I never saw any Thai people in accidents- only the tourists...

And I did notice the complete lack of road rage too! How awesome is that! 😃

Hey thanks for stopping by and following me! Yes its quite amazing and as well the complete lack of horns! After being in India and Vietnam, Thailand is a true bliss on the ears when driving. I think most of road carnage happens in the provinces. Speed (both in driving and consuming) combined with alcohol it seems. Phuket is a trial in driving in itself indeed. I've cycled most of Thailand but when you cross that bridge to Phuket the driving becomes much more intense. Even if you take the bus in once the bridge is crossed the driver puts the gas down and really goes for it... Glad you enjoyed and survived driving here ;) There are some lovely spots on the island...

I Absolutely LOVE Thailand! Unfortunately I've only been there twice- 2 weeks on Phuket and one month from Bangkok south to volunteer at an Animal Sanctuary near Hua Hin/ Cha Am for 2 weeks (Love Hua Hin) then down and across to Krabi, caught a boat to Koh Yao Noi for 2 weeks then flew back to Melbourne from Phuket.

Actually funny story. Caught the express train from Bangkok to Hua Hin and it said 4hrs journey. Somehow, it took us 8 hrs even though we were flying down the tracks too! I still can't work that one out. Must have crossed over into a parallel universe or something...🤣

If I could, I would live in Thailand in the blink of an eye. BUT, I have not been to Vietnam or Cambodia or anywhere over there yet so who knows...Lol...😀

Thanks for the memories!

My pleasure. Yes I live in Phuket town. Sounds like a nice trip you had. See you over here again soon enough hopefully! I've tried living in Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and used to live in India. These days Phuket suits me well ;) Yes time isn't so important here haha.

GREAT POST!!!

Thank you for publishing it to our community feed!
Compliments of the PHC founder @jaynie...

We have tweeted, upvoted and reblogged it for you.

❤ MWAH!!! ❤

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Wow I don't have twitter but yet I've managed to be tweeted! Thanks so much for the tweet, upvote, reblog and especially taking the time to check out my post! PHC is a great community and I look for to contributing more :)

Thailand and Vietnam is the same.
I never know how anyone can drive through each other and not cause a traffic jam

Yes quite similar except Vietnam loves to beep the horn. haha. In Thailand that is not acceptable. Thanks so much for your comment! Do you drive in Vietnam?

Thanks so much for the reblog!