Buriram Expats
Buriram Province - General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: davureborn on June 01, 2016, 08:33:18 AM
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I have a new school run, using the Elephant Roundabout twice a day now. As I go past it before 7am, no problem in the morning, however at 4pm this thing is appalling. Traffic lights working: you will probably go through two cycles, meaning about 5 minutes wait, but doable, get in the correct lane, do your thing. Still, five minutes wait is frustrating as is shown by drivers' foolish behaviour as soon as they get off the roundabout.
However since Monday the lights aren't working, and anything that you might think that people would have learned during the period of having the traffic lights working never happened. A diabolical carve up as far as I'm concerned. Being in the left hand lane signalling that you intend to turn left doesn't prevent drivers overtaking you on the left, forcing you to stop in the middle of the roundabout, as happened to me this morning. How come they obey traffic lights but can't obey the simplest rules of lane discipline and courtesy?
There is something called the road safety council in Thailand, whose job is apparentlyto tell people that police presence will be increased at Song Kran but never do a thing about education.
There are some Youtube channels showing traffic stunts in Thailand, but no effort is made to explain what happened, why an unstrapped on safety helmet is no use at all, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0PqDdLPeJo
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I've stopped being surprised by the lack of pro-activity regarding road safety. Any country that turns a blind eye to 4 adults (1 clutching a baby) on a scooter or a dozen workers sitting on top of a loaded truck isn't going to educate drivers in roundabout protocol anytime soon.
Yesterday I drove to Korat. On the way back I narrowly avoided the 4m length of pipe that was dropped by a scooter rider. Had I hit it and broken it he'd probably have expected me to spay for it!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqgzE7F1oi0
Published on 21 Apr 2016
In April 2016, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, with technical support from Vital Strategies, has undertaken a powerful mass media campaign, entitled “Never Drink and Drive”, which shows how driving after drinking alcohol destroy lives – for both the driver and for innocent victims.
I asked the wife if she had ever seen this Road Safety Add on TV ,she replied "Never"
Hardly a ' powerful mass media campaign ' !!
Many Thai Drives/Riders seem to be oblivious as to what's happening around them when out on the road,they look at where they want to go and just go for it .
The same could be said about noise .whether they are making it or surrounded by it ,but that's another story !!
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Not only in cars. It appears that many Thais have problems with knowing what is around them.
How many times has any one been walking in Makro or somewhere and there is someone dwardling in front of you and they cannot sense that you are there trying to get passed.
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Not only in cars. It appears that many Thais have problems with knowing what is around them.
How many times has any one been walking in Makro or somewhere and there is someone dwardling in front of you and they cannot sense that you are there trying to get passed.
Point taken, but you see this in highly educated countries also.
I was trying to get at the point that we complain about stupid Thais driving badly when nobody bothers to explain the need for discipline and alertness on the roads. My dad drove trucks all over North Africa, Palestine and Sicily (third day of the invasion) and he thought that white lines down the road indicated where the middle of the car was supposed to be, probably something he learnt in the army. He got annoyed with me when I didn't want to do that. So not uniquely a Thai problem, more an education problem.
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An Interesting read from the Asian Correspondent !
80 lives lost every day: Why are Thailand’s roads so dangerous?
https://asiancorrespondent.com/2015/03/thailand-road-deaths/
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The traffic lights were operational as I went through at 1:30 PM today.
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The traffic lights were operational as I went through at 1:30 PM today.
Do they turn them off at night? I go through just before 7am and then at 4.0 pm. Interesting to see the way driving habits are changed by an electronic device,
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I have come through the circle at 6 am and the lights are turned off, but at 8 am they were on.
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Wait, are you saying that the big roundabout with the elephant statue has traffic lights now? Where's the sense in installing lights at a roundabout?
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Wait, are you saying that the big roundabout with the elephant statue has traffic lights now? Where's the sense in installing lights at a roundabout?
Agreed
http://www.buriramexpats.com/forum/index.php/topic,8613.msg56061.html#msg56061
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Wait, are you saying that the big roundabout with the elephant statue has traffic lights now? Where's the sense in installing lights at a roundabout?
The idea being that the powers that be have realised that a roundabout in that position is inadequate. They need to update the systen to allow a better flow of traffic.
They cannot move or demolish the roundabout due to the significance of the monument atop of said roundabout.
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Wow that's just incredibly stupid! There are exactly two reasons for a roundabout, and one of them is not having a need for traffic lights. Also the big roundabout has always worked smoothly so why the change?. :(
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That roundabout was not designed for the volume of traffic it now gets. When it was first built the volume wasn't even 10% of what it is now.
Have a look around Buriram. How many junctions are managaed by a roundabout?
If it wasn't for the monument that roundabout would have been dug up, just like the on in front of the old city hall.
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Wait, are you saying that the big roundabout with the elephant statue has traffic lights now? Where's the sense in installing lights at a roundabout?
Best possible decision in the circumstances.
Whether it was built with lower volumes or traffic in mind or not, the fact remains that the Thais are not ready for roundabouts - they don't understand them or the driving rules relating to the them. A classic was the roundabout on the Jira Road - everyone just drove in a straight line along the road as if it didn't exist.
Whilst the lights may have been installed for the wrong reasons (driving incompetence) I applaud the authorities for making the change as it was the best option for Buriram.
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Believe we are down to two roundabouts in Buriram, the Elephant Circle and the Train Station. Last time I was by they had dug up the one coming out of the GVT hospital road.
However, Thailand added a big roundabout about 30 KM east of Korat on 226, and that one seems to work well.
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Wait, are you saying that the big roundabout with the elephant statue has traffic lights now? Where's the sense in installing lights at a roundabout?
Best possible decision in the circumstances.
Whether it was built with lower volumes or traffic in mind or not, the fact remains that the Thais are not ready for roundabouts - they don't understand them or the driving rules relating to the them. A classic was the roundabout on the Jira Road - everyone just drove in a straight line along the road as if it didn't exist.
Whilst the lights may have been installed for the wrong reasons (driving incompetence) I applaud the authorities for making the change as it was the best option for Buriram.
Good points made.
Thai people most certainly cannot negotiate roundabouts. Probably not their fault as there is nothing in the driving tests about such things.
The traffic problem is often due to the standard of driving but also increased by the fact that most Thai towns were not designed for the amount of cars now on the roads.
I can remember sitting in a cafe in the middle of town about 18 years ago. You could count the amount of cars that you saw on one hand. 2 stroke motorbikes, on the other hand, were in abundance.
It was even impossible to actually buy a new car in Buriram. The number plates on the cars were Nakorn Ratchasima, Krungthepmahanakorn and Khon Kaen.
With most roads in around Buriram now having cars parked up at both sides there is very little room for drivers. The elephant roundabout suffered in the same way as there were usually 2 or 3 lanes of traffic entering at the same time.
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IMO the elephant roundabout was excellent. Sadly, for all the reasons mentioned above it became unworkable.
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What are the rules governing priority on Thai roundabouts? Does the driver entering the roundabout give way to the cars already on the roundabout as in the UK? Or does the driver already on the roundabout give way and let cars on?
I’ve no idea. I once asked a taxi driver as we went round the Dolphin roundabout in Pattaya, he had no idea either.
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Same as UK.
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What are the rules governing priority on Thai roundabouts? Does the driver entering the roundabout give way to the cars already on the roundabout as in the UK? Or does the driver already on the roundabout give way and let cars on?
I’ve no idea. I once asked a taxi driver as we went round the Dolphin roundabout in Pattaya, he had no idea either.
Even the most superficial observer must notice the dashed lines and continuous lines to be found at the entrance to roundabouts. I seem to remember that these are just there for decoration..
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What are the rules governing priority on Thai roundabouts? Does the driver entering the roundabout give way to the cars already on the roundabout as in the UK? Or does the driver already on the roundabout give way and let cars on?
I’ve no idea. I once asked a taxi driver as we went round the Dolphin roundabout in Pattaya, he had no idea either.
Dolphin roundabout - another failed Thai traffic system where traffic from Naklua is not allowed to do round the roundabout. Probably best to put lights there as well.
This is probably a good moment to applaud the Thais for the brilliant 'left turn (if clear) at junctions' driving rule.
For those that remain unaware of traffic regulations in Thailand:-
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Same as UK.
this one must have a rule book all to itself:
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Same as UK.
this one must have a rule book all to itself:
That one is called The Magic Roundabout and it's in Swindon :biggrin:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Swindon)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OGvj7GZSIo
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Holy crap :o Are you kidding. The aerial photo on Reply #22 looks totally bewildering.
Imagine approaching this roundabout for the first time in a car. Traffic going in both clockwise and anticlockwise direction within the roundabout. loco
Apparently it's the 4th worst intersection in UK. Phwrrrr ... the first 3 must be doozies.
On a lighter note .... there apparently is a Roundabout Appreciation Society in the UK. Can't really think of anything witty to say about that .... except that it gave me a really good laugh.
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Sounds a little like this topic.
The Roundabout Appreciation Society (UKRAS) is a group of people in the United Kingdom that discuss traffic roundabouts. The main topic of discussion is the architecture of the roundabouts, including their design and safety features. Other topics have included the approaches people take when driving towards and around a roundabout, and the wildlife present on some of the larger junctions. Their aim is to promote safe driving and consideration towards other road users.
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:biggrin:
http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2014/02/why-americans-dont-understand-the-roundabout
Here are some fun roundabout facts:
• According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, there is on average a 40% decrease in all accidents and a 90% drop in fatal ones when a traffic intersection is replaced by a roundabout.
• Washington leads the states in roundabouts, followed by Colorado, California, Florida and Kansas
• France has over 30,000 British-style roundabouts; the most in the world.
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I noticed a couple of days ago that the traffic lights no longer control the Elephant roundabout.
Whilst slowing everyone up, the lights worked well, and there was good lane discipline within the roundabout.
Now its back to normal. Hell for leather into the roundabout, no lane discipline, everyone cuts to the centre and then pulls out again when they turn off. Talk about farangs leaving their brains at the airport upon arrival in Thailand...seems the Thais were born without them all together!
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seems the Thais were born without them all together!
After reading some of the things you write on forums about Thai people I'm surprised you have stayed here as long as your have . :laugh:
Why do do you feel a need to constantly post derogatory things about Thai people. ::)
Not all Thai people are bad drivers,gamblers,drunkards,lazy ,adulterers or brainless idiots as you want us to believe , though like many people worldwide.... some are. ::)
When I was a Bar owner one of the jobs I hated most was having to listen to whinging Expats or long term stayers and their constant needed to put-down Thais at every occasion they could ....one of the reason I wont use forums like Thai Vis'a that seems to have a vast number of bigots spot1
Over the many years I have lived here in Thailand I have had to changed my driving driving style because it it different for the UK , I not that righteous that I think it should be the other way round !!
If the local want to drive around with no crash helmets or aren't bothered if their kids do the same then so be it. But hopefully with education and Darwin's Theory of Evolution things will get better :biggrin:
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It should be obvious that people that receive very little education in driving correctly will drive badly. Most of us grew up sitting in a car with their dad or even granddad, learning interesting new words describing other drivers. In the UK at least we got 'don't be an amber gambler', 'look left, look right, look right again' and all the rest of it along with our evening beans on toast. These guys' fathers and grandfathers were on motorbikes or buffalo carts until not too long ago, south of Ayutthaya transport was mainly boat traffic.
We have something that describes itself as a road safety council that seems to limit its activities to telling cops that they won't get any time off during the holidays as they will be punishing motorists (that don't know any better). No prevention, no education, not even much repression as a ฿300.- bribe for forgetting your driving license won't deter anyone (the penalty of ฿20 000.- seems to have been forgotten about). I was recently allowed to contribute ฿200 coffee money for something I absolutely hadn't done, who's going to argue, but respect for the law is non existent, which brings me to one of the things I admire about Thailand, the way it still works as a society despite that.
Why did they install expensive traffic lights on the roundabout (which were interfered with for no apparent reasons by bored policemen) and then turn them off? Dunno, even in intense traffic they don't get turned on, maybe nobody knows how to turn them on again.
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seems the Thais were born without them all together!
After reading some of the things you write on forums about Thai people I'm surprised you have stayed here as long as your have . :laugh:
Why do do you feel a need to constantly post derogatory things about Thai people. ::)
Not all Thai people are bad drivers,gamblers,drunkards,lazy ,adulterers or brainless idiots as you want us to believe , though like many people worldwide.... some are. ::)
When I was a Bar owner one of the jobs I hated most was having to listen to whinging Expats or long term stayers and their constant needed to put-down Thais at every occasion they could ....one of the reason I wont use forums like Thai Vis'a that seems to have a vast number of bigots spot1
Over the many years I have lived here in Thailand I have had to changed my driving driving style because it it different for the UK , I not that righteous that I think it should be the other way round !!
If the local want to drive around with no crash helmets or aren't bothered if their kids do the same then so be it. But hopefully with education and Darwin's Theory of Evolution things will get better :biggrin:
Now you are talking like a
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Now you are talking like a
Thank you..... :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
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Now you are talking like a
Thank you..... :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
You recognise the compliment ;D
You appear to have integrated a bit too deeply - the Thais (generally and certainly the majority in Isaan) are bloody awful drivers. We all know the reasons why but the fact remains.
I have an American friend who believes that Darwin by-passed Thailand - so your theory of his theory may also be flawed.
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You appear to have integrated a bit too deeply
Not really, I have just change my driving style to suit Thailand's roads and its users bike037
I have just managed to drive into town and back ( 50k round trip ) safely. I would say over 50-60 % of Thais on motorbikes had crash helmets on which is far better than it was 5 years ago ....so things are improving slowly
I know no amount of me whinging about road safety in Thailand will change anything ( only the Thai law makers.MP's and educators can do that ) so I tend to just stick with the skills I've learnt to avoid accidents and just accept that driving in Thailand is more hazardous than driving in the UK. :)
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You appear to have integrated a bit too deeply
Not really, I have just change my driving style to suit Thailand's roads and its users bike037
I have just managed to drive into town and back ( 50k round trip ) safely. I would say over 50-60 % of Thais on motorbikes had crash helmets on which is far better than it was 5 years ago ....so things are improving slowly
I know no amount of me whinging about road safety in Thailand will change anything ( only the Thai law makers.MP's and educators can do that ) so I tend to just stick with the skills I've learnt to avoid accidents and just accept that driving in Thailand is more hazardous than driving in the UK. :)
Good to hear that you won't be whinging about anything in Thailand.
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I have an American friend who believes that Darwin by-passed Thailand - so your theory of his theory may also be flawed.
I understand where you're coming from but it may take a few thousand years to see if I'm wrong or not :laugh:
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Good to hear that you won't be whinging about anything in Thailand.
iammike accused me of being a Thai hater the other week but I think he realised in the end the difference between a light hearted joke and a derogatory remark (https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSwyXq8Eo9e18yfFROZE9T43rdg3XdzP38ga6fwHCsvsnwWg8Nigg)
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Good to hear that you won't be whinging about anything in Thailand.
iammike accused me of being a Thai hater the other week but I think he realised in the end the difference between a light hearted joke and a derogatory remark (https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSwyXq8Eo9e18yfFROZE9T43rdg3XdzP38ga6fwHCsvsnwWg8Nigg)
B...dy hell. What has that do with this thread !
The Picture Co-Co posed is spot on for you SK!
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the Thais (generally and certainly the majority in Isaan) are bloody awful drivers.
Maybe ...compared with UK's highly trained good drivers ........here's a You Tube you may enjoy ...good to see its up to Number 116 :biggrin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27ZTnuxPPVg
BTW iammike ...... no offense taken :biggrin:
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<snip>
BTW iammike ...... no offense taken :biggrin:
I think you just love to ruin every topic you see.
:biggrin:
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<snip>
BTW iammike ...... no offense taken :biggrin:
I think you just love to ruin every topic you see.
:biggrin:
Maybe some of the Expats I've helped on here might not agree with you ;) .........but hey...Forums are all about opinions ...some even think they're about onions :laugh:
Off Topic again buttslap
thumbup
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Sofa King
At about 10.00am you got on your high horse and had a pop at Prakhonchai Nick for “derogatory” remarks about Thai people.
You continued to demonstrate your high moral values just after 15.00 with your cut & paste thread “8 Rotten Ways”
Surprisingly, just a few minutes later in the “You Tube” thread you posted a derogatory vid about a Thai motorcycling lesson.
Again surprisingly just after 19.00 in the “funny foto's” thread you made a derogatory post about sexual orientation in Thailand.
I must agree with CoCo's post #30 above.
You remind me of a poster on here some time ago who suffered from ASPD (look it up) and had multi nicks – if you're him your spelling has improved somewhat.
You need the attached.
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Sofa King
At about 10.00am you got on your high horse and had a pop at Prakhonchai Nick for “derogatory” remarks about Thai people.
I merely pointed out PN like some other Expats on forums likes to put down Thais .
Thai visa is renowned for it ... https://www.reddit.com/r/Thailand/comments/1ylz9t/why_does_people_on_the_thaivisa_forum_hate/
He's more than welcome to reply to my post if he thinks I've been unjust
You continued to demonstrate your high moral values just after 15.00 with your cut & paste thread “8 Rotten Ways”
I wasn't my post ,it was a cut and paste ( as you have pointed out ) , As it wasn't written by me , how could it be attributed to me, I merely posted it as I thought it could be of interest . I have made no comments on that thread demonstrating any high moral values on that subject (https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSwyXq8Eo9e18yfFROZE9T43rdg3XdzP38ga6fwHCsvsnwWg8Nigg)
Surprisingly, just a few minutes later in the “You Tube” thread you posted a derogatory vid about a Thai motorcycling lesson.
Hardly a derogatory video, Ying and Paula and been Teaching westerners to talk Thai for 4 years . If a Thai girl and here western friend want to help teach Westerners Thai in a joking way then surely that up to them .So how can you accuse be of posting derogatory video's ???
Again surprisingly just after 19.00 in the “funny foto's” thread you made a derogatory post about sexual orientation in Thailand.
It was a funny photo about sexual orientation. I don't think Thailand is mentioned at all in that photo..Chinese are though (http://www.smileysnetwork.com/respect/respect3.gif)
I must agree with CoCo's post #30 above.
So does iammike :laugh:
You remind me of a poster on here some time ago who suffered from ASPD (look it up) and had multi nicks – if you're him your spelling has improved somewhat.
As for being a troll....who's trolling who here :biggrin:
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what I find quite amusing is that my wife gets more agitated about poor driving here than I do. I've got used to it and adapted. She really gets quite vocal at times and that always gets me chuckling.
In another year or so it will be time to start teaching her daughter to drive. My Thai remains poor so it will be quite entertaining with me giving instructions and Noi translating them to Tina.
I will post a warning of the areas to avoid on lesson days. :) :)
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This post is about elephant roundabout. Please only talk about that.
Some posts will be removed.
Please take care when talking about Thai people.
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Suggest you remove a poster rather than posts.
Sofa King is obviously the refugee/reject from Surin who was banned a short while ago.
Same m.o., opinions and posts on everthing, claims to be livening up the forum and helping people. Just likes to stir up trouble.