Until the Thai authorities fully embrace ALL aspects of road safety there will be little or no improvement in the overall picture.one has to learn to live with it.I think your statistical comparison with Finland is somewhat specious too. The market was very small, with only 3,232 passenger cars sold.But 50 years on, despite having one of the biggest (top 10) motor industries in the world, they still haven’t embraced the basic principles of road safety.Yes - Thailand is still developing - but I don’t think the state of road safety is justified or mitigated by this at all. A lot bigger than Finland’s or even the UK.There has been a motor industry in Thailand since the 1960s. Rome wasn't built in a day.There are about 32 million vehicles registered in Thailand - of which over 7 million are cars/pickups.Thailand’s auto industry is in the world top ten. In the year 2013 there were around 3,000,000 registered motor vehicles and 235 road fatalities in Finland. Reasons for secure traffic are pretty similar everywhere. Terry Pratchet once described tropical rain as 'not so much rain as water cut into strips'Of course Thai roads even new motorways can find themselves under sheets of water several inches deep in a matter of seconds. I think not a lot of people realise that the basic rule of the road is that traffic on the left has priority - there was a similar rule in France and much of Europe (except it was from the right) which may still be law - so priorities had to be changed for main roads - unfortunately there is no signage to this effect in opical rain has its own problems - those of us from temperate climes are not used to that amount of water falling all at once. #Thailand boat lincence driversThe stats are horrific.Yes - I should have included your bit about lights in the 'weird & wonderful section - I think that stems from the days when lights could drain batteries.' Constant awareness is required for traffic entering a main road from the left - without the drivers even looking for other traffic.'. Thailand is a developing nation with many poor people who still earn a crust from agriculture.accordingly expect encounters with a wide range of agricultural vehicles and animals all travelling extremely slowly. Usually on the hard shoulder, but it can be encountered in any lane, even the offside lane of dual carriageways. Traffic, usually motorcycles, coming in the opposite direction on the same side of the road. #Thailand boat lincence windowsThailand has very “relaxed” gun laws - many drivers may be carrying firearms.Tinted windows - Thai drivers - like all Thai people avoid confrontation as much as possible - tinted windows help this, so it is difficult or impossible to see other drivers - this also means drivers can’t communicate at junctions or gauge their actions by their expressions, signs etc.The weird & wonderful - Some driving or road usage that is pretty unique to Thailand will be encountered e.g. Lane discipline is slack most Thai drivers see the nearside lane as almost exclusively for the plethora of very low-speed vehicles, such as handcarts, trikes, motorcycle-side cars combos and livestock.Road Rage - To be avoided, take a break or don’t drive at all.
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