Rules of the road
on My Thai (Thailand), 21/Mar/2011 05:37, 34 days ago
I suppose, having been in Thailand for six months now, it’s pretty surprising that I’d not seen a traffic accident before today.While I’d passed the odd overturned lorry and shunted hatchback on the expressway, the frequency of such incidents is something I’d heard about rather than witnessed myself.I remember the first few days spent in Chiang Mai where, along with the Thai language, I was also learning my Thai Green Cross Code. Instead of the old‘Stop, look and listen’, crossing the road was more a case of ‘Run, dodge and pray’. It was like being in some real life version of Grand Theft Auto with bonus points for pedestrians foolish enough to get in the way!Of all Thai wonders one of my favourites has to be the traffic light: a polite suggestion rather than a demand.Initially, pedestrian crossings were traumatic events as the LED display would count down the seconds left before imminent annihilation. There was just about enough of a pause to sprint across before your time was up one way or the other and I pity any doddery old dear trying to make it over to safety in time! But like I said, it’s a suggestion only and sometimes ten seconds is just too long for a driver to wait. It became a bit of a Russian roulette experience – would they stop, would they drive right through?It’s amazing the things you become accustomed to after a while though.The roads are pretty rage free places in Thailand. On the odd occasion I do hear a horn sounding I always turn to look thinking‘Jeez, if they honked then it must be bad!’I have to say I do really miss driving sometimes. Everyone is faultless in their own car and I think a discreet, internal shower of expletives focused on anonymous drivers and their many errors is the perfect way to vent after a stressful day.The rules of the road are distinctly less rigid here though. The minivan drivers between Mahachai and Bangkok definitely have their own style anyway and it essentially involves flooring it and tailgating like they’re playing a game of Chicken to see which mug gives in first. There’s undertaking, overtaking and you have to admire the resourcefulness of a nation that uses the hard shoulder as an extra lane.The most ludicrous story I read comes courtesy of the Bangkok Post:Highway police bought 140,000 packets of super-sour lollies with the 200,000 Baht (approx. $5,800) that was donated by the abbot of a wat in Hua Hin. The lollies were to be distributed to drivers from April 11-17 (Songkranholiday period). A police Lieutenant Colonel said the lollies were especially sour and would“wake drivers up instantly”. The idea is to help drivers who are both tired and who may have drunk too much.On Saturday April 7th, 2,999 monks gathered at a wat to bless the lollies.What’s worrying is that you can becometooacclimatised and doing things‘the Thai way’ isn’t always the best decision to make.Many’s the time that, on the busy road home from work, I’ll cross over to avoid the rabies patrol (aka ‘evil dogs’) and ride down the wrong side the rest of the way. Well I say ‘wrong’ but Thai people do it, right? It’s even got to the point where I’ll be all righteous indignation at motorbikes which dare to get in my way...while I’m on the wrong side of the road!It’s the same with the helmets.In Mahachai, as in most of Thailand, a very small proportion of drivers wear helmets despite it being a legal requirement. Sometimes the police will stop people in town but it seems that the 200B fines have very little impact. I’m sure there are many contributing factors to this lapse in law abiding. The heat undoubtedly makes helmets a less than appealing prospect and for the pristinely turned out Thai lady, helmet hair is a definite no-no. Vanity aside, the fact that most police officers in the town whiz aroundsansmùak-gan-nók doesn’t set the best of examples to the masses. There needs to be heavy investment into education programmes on the dangers involved and, based on the countless uniformed children I see weaving down the roads, this needs to begin at a young age.Having said all that, I have to hold my hands up and say I am a stupid fool too. As I mentioned, there’s a danger of becoming too acclimatised and there have been times when taking the helmet out for a short motorbike taxi ride has seemed like a lot of hassle and inconvenience. On the occasions when I’ve been idiotic enough to leave it behind I’ve spent the entire journey thinking about how much my mother would kill me if she knew, and rightly so.Well, this morning served as a valuable reminder of just how dangerous such a‘mai bpen rai’ attitude can be.Everyone I’ve met in Thailand seems to have a story about an accident they’ve seen which invariably involves the presence of a motorbike and the absence of a helmet. As far as that goes what I saw today was pretty textbook. After ditching my bike and running over I was frustrated by how little I could doto help the driver. Two others dragged the woman from the road while I moved the bike and she was then lifted into the back of a stopping pickup which I assume took her straight to the hospital. She seemed to be coming around slightly when moved to the pickup but it really hadn’t looked good therefor a minute or two.What most disturbed me about the experience was that a driver, that anyone, could do that and just keep on going. Even if it was unintentional, which I’m sure it was, how could you live with yourself not knowing the damage you’d caused? As far as any police involvement would go, ‘silver pickup’ accounts for about 80% of the four wheeled traffic here so it’d just be another needle/haystack situation.Well, I for one have definitely learnt my lesson.