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WALKING AND DRIVING IN THAILAND, WHY IS IT SO DANGEROUS AND WHY ARE THAI PEOPLE SO STUPID AND BAD DRIVERS ?


If you have ever tried to walk in Bangkok you surely know how difficult is it to walk and cross roads in Thailand when you have no training, and if you ever tried to drive in Thailand, especially in Bangkok, you certainly know how bad drivers are Thai people, and you might even sometimes think that they are stupid.

Hey, first I have to say that I love Thai people and that I think that they are the nicest people in the world, but even though you love somebody you should be able to tell when he is so bad doing something, because when you tell somebody how bad he is, it should help him to improve, and that's what I wish that will happen with Thai drivers.

So if you travel first time to Thailand and come from Europe or America you will be surprised that Thai drivers for example never stop their car to let you pass when you want to cross the street, and worst, if you already are engaged many of them won't even break to let you enough time to cross the road, as if they would prefer to kill you than having to break their car.

And driving in Thailand is also very dangerous as people really have bad driving habits and do not care so much about what happens on the road, and also because it's difficult to look at the road when you are at the same time speaking on the phone, doing some makeup (women going to office in the morning), or even watching some movies (many cars in Thailand are equipped with DVD players and LCD screen).

And if you want to know the reasons of all this mess, it's not that Thai people are stupid or that drivers are so bad, but it's more because of corruption and because of the whole system. Let me explain.

Driving in Thailand means that you are rich, because compared to the minimum wage, a car priced at least 500000 THB (10000 euros) is very expensive, and construction workers or farmers will most of the time never be be able to buy a car during their whole life, but as everywhere in the world, when you are rich, you can do what you want, and especially in Thailand.

In Thailand doing what you want means getting a driving license even if you don't know how to drive, first because the test seems to be made for retarded or kids and is very easy, and second because if you are too stupid to get your license by passing the test you could also buy it!

Then, as they don't even have to know the minimum driving rules, you understand why Thai people drive so badly, and you also must agree that it's not because they are stupid that they didn't learn the rules, it's because the whole system is made like this, and that nobody teaches them the good things.

A solution could be to make the test more difficult and force people to pay for driving lessons, but this is not really possible because of corruption, as everybody would buy the driving license if it was too difficult to get the legal and official way.

So nobody ever taught Thai drivers that they have to break or stop their car when somebody is crossing the street, but nobody also told them that they have to focus on the road when they are driving, and not do anything else as makeup or speak on the mobile phone.

But this latest point is going to change soon as Thai police will enforce drive and talk law seriously, and a new decree will soon be publicised to ensure that motorists fully understand the conditions involved once it becomes law.

This new law prohibits speaking on cellphone when driving if the car is not equipped with hands free system, and motorists who violate this new regulation will face a fine of between 400 and 1000 baht.

We just have to expect that the ban on using mobiles phones while driving won't provide the police with yet another pretext to squeeze money out of motorists, but this is another problem, and it's already good enough that people will fear the fine and maybe stop speaking on their mobile phone when driving.

Every year in Thailand around 30000 people die on the road, which is 6 times more than any european country with the same population, but maybe more cars and drivers, so everything that can be done in Thailand to reduce the risk and make Thai drivers become more responsible is good,

Another problem is that your life costs nothing in Thailand, and that when a Thai driver harms or kills you when you are walking, he won't have any problem, won't be jailed, and might even not have to pay a fine, so this is also something that should be change to help Thai drivers to become more risk conscious drivers.

Last point, having seen Thai teenagers (you are a teenager until 30 years old in Thailand) driving a car, it seems that their world is different when they are sat behind the wheel, and that this is not the normal life. Thai people have to respect and follow so many rules in their life, especially with their parents, family, and job, that it seems that they feel free to do whatever they want to do when they are driving their car, without anybody to tell them what to do or think, a kind of revenge on their daily life. So many nice Thai people become crazy Thai drivers when they are in their car, as if they had to release the pressure of their respectful daily life, forgetting all the driving rules and risks, and this is very bad, as many teenagers are dying on the road everyday.

So it's maybe sometimes better to get angry and shout at office or with your friends as foreigners would do, and lose face, than taking your car and driving too fast on dangerous Thai roads where even elephants can cross the highway, and lose life.

If you know some Thai drivers, please tell them.

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