Thailand’s Tragic Death Toll on the Roads

The Thai élite won’t discuss or adopt foreign advice and solutions.

I would list THREE main reasons why Thailand has such a high death toll on its roads, and a higher than world average traffic accident record. Deeper analysis shows that there are 3 cultural reasons for this appalling outcome: low national educational standards, sub-standard road infrastructure, and lack of effective police enforcement of the rules.

Low national education standards.

Some background information.

In the Sukhothai period (1238 to 1378), only boys of the élite received any form of education, and that to minimum standards. Commoners were taught, if at all, by the local monks who were not trained teachers.

In more recent times, education in Thailand is controlled by the government. Even privately owned schools have to follow the Ministry of Education diktats. They must, for example, include weekly lessons on the Thai language and culture, and again, the schools must teach the cultural values in the way that the government sees them. More of that later.

Changes in education policy are frequent. Ministers in the education department serve for only 9months on average, making it impossible for long-term plans to be implemented. Thais, in general, want to avoid conflict and loss of Face whenever possible. To avoid being criticised, it’s therefore common for there to be lots of talk but not lots of action.

Rote learning is practiced throughout Thailand, resulting in pupils and students being extremely good at memorising what they are being told but being unable to think or comment about it. Students cannot, therefore, relate to the concepts being taught or think rationally.

Thailand ranks 46th in world league tables, and only 94% of the population is literate. Outside Bangkok and for ethnic minorities, the figures are worse. I know people from the hill tribes who cannot read or write Thai or English but can converse in those languages in order to sell on street markets.

The country is short of Maths and Science teachers but has an excess of physical education instructors who are paid the same salaries.

The values that Prayut wants to instill in all Thai children.

General Prayut Chanocha, the former coup leader and 29th prime minister of Thailand, and now President of the King’s Privy Council, introduced 12 values for children to follow in July 2014, just two months after the successful coup d’état.

1.Loyalty to Nation, the Buddhist Religion, and the Monarchy.

2.Teaching Honesty, Sacrifice, and Endurance.

3.Gratitude to Parents and Teachers.

4.Being Keen to Learn.

Anyone who has taught in a Thai school, or has observed how students chat amongst themselves, or play with their phones during lessons may disagree.

Carol Hollinger, in her excellent book on Thai lifestyle, Mai Pen Rai Means Never Mind, referred to her students holding “committee meetings” during her lectures at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, discussing amongst themselves how she should discipline an unruly student.

No-one fails an exam in Thailand. It would result in loss of Face to the student and his parents. A teacher will coach or provide suggested answers. I’ve observed this myself and Hollinger gave an example in her book.

5.Preserving Thai Customs and Traditions.

6.Respect for Others, especially Elders.

We have to observe this in context. Thais do not believe all men are created equal. Bangkokians consider they are better than those in other provinces. And everyone thinks they are better than hill-tribe people and foreigners. In practice, the rules of respect, Napteuh, are not always observed. A wai or a smile doesn’t always mean respect.

7.Remembering that Thailand is a constitutional elected democracy with the King as the non-political head of state.

Elected politicians often find themselves unable to complete their democratic mandates and are removed from office by military coups on technical breaches of conduct. The coup leaders who then take office are pardoned.

8.Respect for Law.

Thais have no respect for the police or the slow Thai justice system. Paying to avoid fines is commonplace. Corruption is routinely seen as part of one’s salary in Thailand. Cash under the counter, or given openly, is the way to get things done.

9.Practice good deeds, as taught by His Majesty the King.

10.Accept the Self-Sufficiency concept.

11.Gain physical and mental strength, and refuse to give in to religious sins.

12. Nation is more important than self.

The Royal Thai Army runs the “Land Defender Battalion” where kids from the age of 4 years of age crawl under netting and are taught to salute by soldiers.

Thais don’t follow the rules of the road. Several Thais have told me that they regard laws, ordinary laws as well as traffic laws, as restrictions on their right of freedom.

Goong never wears a seat belt when driving her car. Seeing a police checkpoint ahead, she and her passenger hastily put their belts on. After being waved through, they stopped the car and removed the belts. “Thais are born free”, they said. Thai logic often escapes me!

Sub-standard Road Infrastructure.

The width of most carriageways is only sufficient for the average vehicle. Thais drive on the left (usually) and your car will be less than one-third of a metre from both the kerb and the white line. Trucks and trailers aren’t able to negotiate bends in the road or make sharp turns unless they cross the centre white line. Completing a U-turn is especially hard for them.

The government continues to build narrow roads and construct U-turns. Only a few roundabouts are being added to the current infrastructure. That’s a pity because they are easier to negotiate than turning left or right at junctions, which in Thailand tend to be built at tight right-angles.

There’s right-angled bend near me where I have to come to an almost complete stop to get around. A few days ago, the police put up some yellow plastic bollards to stop drivers going wide on the bend and obstructing oncoming traffic.

But Thais are creatures of habit and they still tried to drive round the bend at their usual speed. The bollards were knocked over almost every hour. The police have now removed them.

On that roundabout, you can enter from the left or right. However, you do need to watch the signs for your destination very carefully. In practice, only the locals know how to take advantage of them. Better explanations of how to use these “Magic Roundabouts”, as they are called in the UK, are certainly needed.

At least in Thailand, the few roundabouts that are in use are more beautiful than that shown in the image above.

As in most countries, there are drivers who drive through red lights. Thailand is no exception. But you’ll see bikers, who want to turn right, taking a left at the lights, doing an illegal U-turn, and then joining the
traffic going right.

In this photo, the U-turn is perfectly legal, but nonetheless dangerous. Most biker accidents are the result of collisions with cars.

Lack of Effective Police Enforcement of Rules

Cars, and particularly motorbikes, pulling out of side roads into your line of traffic is the most likely cause of accidents in Thailand, followed by collisions at U-turns and being hit by cars behind you following too close and unable to stop.

Although the police are called out to such accidents after they’ve occurred, they turn a blind eye when they observe driving habits which potentially could cause such incidents. At checkpoints, they concentrate on collecting fines for technical offenses which are not accident-related, failure to pay road tax and insurance, for example.

In practice, the motorist is given the option of accepting a ticket and paying in the normal way or giving the officer some cash to be shared out later at the police station. I once asked a policeman why he didn’t stop Thai bikers. “Because they probably don’t have enough money, and no tax disc or insurance anyway”, was his response.

Other common practices.

Believing you can pull out to pass a parked car without checking no-one is following you. Everyone is expected to avoid you.

Pulling out of sideroads.

Riding towards you on your own carriageway.

Moving from one lane to another without warning, especially to make a U-turn.

Driving without lights at night. Particularly prevalent with motorcyclists.

Not using direction indicators and turning suddenly.

Here are a few extracts from my book, A Thailand Diary, which illustrate some of the comments in this article.

A Decent Copper.

I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I have forgotten to fasten my seatbelt. Even if it was not a legal requirement in Thailand, I would “clunk, click, every trip” as I would if I was driving in my home country.

But I had stopped to ask directions, and I only had to drive round a bend for 100 metres and I would be where I wanted to be. I should have remembered it was getting towards the end of the month and the police were working on making up their target quotas for driving infringements.

And as I rounded the corner, there they were. Ready to swoop. I quickly pulled on my seatbelt. One of the officers signaled for me to pull in. I lowered the window and, as is usual in Thailand, he saluted smartly. He politely asked to see my licence, asked what country I came from, and started talking about Arsenal football club. All very pleasant and friendly. This was obviously just a routine licence check. I was in luck. He was obviously a decent copper.

I’m going to have to give you a ticket. I saw you put your seatbelt on after you came round the corner.

He still had my licence and the procedure would have been for me to go to the police station, pay the fine, and retrieve the licence. I would have to have found the station first and then wait for ages while the paperwork was completed. I decided on the Thai approach.

Pom jai ngern hai khun dio nee. Taorai na kap. (Can I pay you now? How much?)

My wallet was 400 baht lighter, but I was not given a ticket. I had my licence back. He halted the traffic to allow me to pull out, gave me an even smarter salute than before, and I was on my way.

Collecting minor fines in this way is common practice. The money is shared out later at the station. It’s regarded as a perk of the job and really forms part of officers’ salaries.

It rewards individual officers while cracking down on motoring offences. A win-win solution.

Parking in Dangerous Positions.

Amazing how Thais park their cars and bikes wherever they like. A few motorbikes had some near misses this morning on a corner where two cars had double-parked. Thais aren’t the most careful of road users.

Driving tests are done off-road in Thailand and last only a few minutes. They watch a safety video but are not subjected to a particularly rigorous Highway Code test with a high pass mark.

Reminds me of an 80-year-old uncle — he was an undertaker in a village in Devon — being asked by a driving examiner where road users should not park their vehicles. Presumably, the correct answer includes not on a humpback bridge, not near a zebra crossing, not on a bend etc etc.

His reply always made me laugh.

Don’t know about any Highway Code Book. Never been a keen book reader. I only ride around the village on my moped. If I stop anywhere, I’d just park it in a hedge. I’ve no intention of riding in big cities like Exeter anyway.

I can imagine a Thai making a similar comment.