Road rage

Sep 1, 2011
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I have never subscribed to the notion of road rage and have seldom seen any excuse for it...
But...

Yesterday I rode, as I do most days, to Kiew Lom Viewpoint for coffee. On the way there I was faced with 4x4 overtaking a bus on an outside corner, at speed. The driver made no attempt to avoid me/veer away/brake, and just continued ploughing on. I gave him a few Aussie ephithets within the confines of my helmet and drove on, just a little shaken. Not 5 minutes later a clown in a Toyota Vios (tiny little car) took the racing line through a blind corner and forced me onto the gravel. Again, shaken a little I pressed on to my date with Java at the top of the range. I there met a group of Thai riders who were aboard a Hyabusa, Ducati, a 1300 something, 2 x 1200 Harleys, a 1400 Kawasaki tourer, a BM1000r and other assorted high end bikes. They were all toting 'Babes' and very expensive riding gear.

Anyway...after coffee and a look at the view, I headed for home. 23 klms of nice mountain road and an effing bumbore swinging wide on a switchback who eyeballed me and smiled as my ABS worked overtime to avoid a sideways whallop into the front of his Mitsubishi.

For the first time in my riding life I was tempted to turn around, catch this rat, and thump his nose for him.

I resisted this temptation...just.

In 46 years of motorcycling I have never travelled in a place where local road users have such little regard for road rules, such disdain for the safety of others, and such callous disrespect for their passenger's well being.

I put it down to my riding experience and some excellent skills courses attended over the years, which saved me from potential loss of life on average of every 17 kilometers during that one brief outing.

What I would have given for a pocket full of rocks!
 
Jul 18, 2009
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I would have thought you'd need something a bit stronger than a coffee after that ordeal. Same thing happens all over Thailand every day unfortunately. Reading your storey I must compliment you for managing to keep calm , Im not sure I could of ..
 
Jul 17, 2007
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I regularly ride with a couple of R1's whose riders have no hesitation in punching wing mirrors of bad drivers. Appears to work quite well.
 
Nov 7, 2007
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Rustic Charm;272836 wrote: I regularly ride with a couple of R1's whose riders have no hesitation in punching wing mirrors of bad drivers. Appears to work quite well.

...quite the feat when you're trying to avoid an oncoming car in a turn... regular acrobats these guys - or do they go after those cars? I mean even if they did, it's not the way I want to spend my trip chasing after some idiot who has never driven his car on a mountain.

Either way, road rage is ill advised. The offending party will not learn, and loss of face could lead to violence pretty easily. Try to keep a buddhist mind.

...Ok well I do honk at them though, so at least they know it was not OK.
 
Sep 1, 2011
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My standard response to oncoming traffic on the wrong side of the road is just to gesture, by pointing at the correct side of the road for them. I know it will do little, but it makes me feel a little better. As for the buddhist mind....okay, I'll pop into the local Wat tomorrow and have them bless my lotto numbers.
Cheers..
 
Dec 27, 2007
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I usually carry a small ball bearing or two in the back of my glove, reserved for cagers who, through ignorance, selfishness or clueless-ness try to kill me... Knocking off a side mirror or kicking in a door also seems to get their attention :take-that:
 
Jan 16, 2008
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I used to gesture angrily against idiot car drivers who did that sort of thing, however I have scaled that back somewhat after getting my GF riding along with me, as she hits me and pinches me if I do that sort of thing.
Her reasoning for this is that one day, I will meet "Somchai" - The Yaba head and he will blow me away with a gun.
Seeing how much madness there is on a regular day in the news reports, I am inclined to agree with her that there is a very good possibility this could happen.
So I just rage in my helmet and pick a conservative line most of the time I'm going through corners as well to try and avoid those idiots.
 

KZ

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Aug 20, 2003
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Here in the south it could be a very big mistake flipping another driver off - if they catch up with you, they may hit you with a baseball bat, or maybe they have a machete or even a handgun in the glove box.
I don't gesture, curse, show then my longest finger or yell - I'm just glad that I escaped the dangerous situation without getting hurt.
I guess we all agree that it's a mistake to apply our western views and values to the Thais; that also includes traffic, even though the laws may be similar to ours.

For me cursing the ignorant driver inside my helmet and riding on without loosing my good mood is the best way to go.

Doesn't always work, though.
 
Nov 4, 2010
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KZ;272853 wrote:
For me cursing the ignorant driver inside my helmet and riding on without loosing my good mood is the best way to go.

.

I agree - I met "Somchai" already - chased me (I was in the pickup) for about 10 kilometers for giving him the finger. Tried to run me off the road many times. I keep my finger hidden now
 
Jul 17, 2007
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nikster;272840 wrote: ...quite the feat when you're trying to avoid an oncoming car in

Either way, road rage is ill advised. The offending party will not learn, and loss of face could lead to violence pretty easily. Try to keep a buddhist mind.

...Ok well I do honk at them though, so at least they know it was not OK.
Wasn't necessarily talking about oncoming cars, smartarse!

And I've never liked the fact that some westerners here adopt a 'bend over and take it' attitude with dangerous Thai drivers. Thankfully I ride with guys who still have their balls attached.
But each to his own I guess.
 

KZ

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Aug 20, 2003
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Rustic Charm;273068 wrote: Wasn't necessarily talking about oncoming cars, smartarse!

And I've never liked the fact that some westerners here adopt a 'bend over and take it' attitude with dangerous Thai drivers. Thankfully I ride with guys who still have their balls attached.
But each to his own I guess.
Wow, you're really cool, dude! Racing with your friends through Bangkok, punching mirrors of bad drivers...

I'd love to join your gang - I just have to empty the piss out of my boots first!

(Sorry, David, couldn't help it! Feel free to erase this post.) :)
 

KZ

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Aug 20, 2003
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You're right, you're right... I thought the post would be gone by now...

We should not forget that we are not "at home" here, even though we may be living here for years. For many Thais we are 'farangs', foreigners, who come here to have fun on vacation and spend more money per day than many of them make in a week. We should respect the way things are over here, even if we don't agree with them, or like them. Nobody is perfect, nothing is perfect, and neither they nor any of us is a perfect driver or rider.
Showing others in an aggressive way that they were wrong is not polite anywhere; it's especially not polite when you're a guest in another country. Also if you've lived here for a while you know how Thai people react to direct confrontation - no more smiles, suddenly they flip and try to kill you. So try to avoid it!

Try to remember that when you're looking "bad" in their eyes, you make every foreigner look bad.

Try to remember that when you're riding "bad" in their eyes, you make every rider look bad.

This has nothing to do with 'bending over' but with being mature.
 
Apr 23, 2006
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Agreed! After all this is their country & we are guests. Try to ride/drive defensively & assertively without aggression. Especially on two wheels - in a confrontation with pickup/lorry/ car there will only be one winner. Having said that I do agree that sometimes the "standard" of driving (or lack thereof) would make a saint swear!
 
Jul 17, 2007
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Wow! Five replies since my last post. Never realized this site had so much traffic.
KZ;273070 wrote: Wow, you're really cool, dude! Racing with your friends through Bangkok, punching mirrors of bad drivers...

I'd love to join your gang - I just have to empty the piss out of my boots first!
Ok, I see your reading comprehension is a little off. Can't see anywhere in my post where I mentioned 'racing through Bangkok'. Or even anything about 'bad drivers' or a 'gang' but feel free to invent anything you like.

Though you'll have to explain the 'piss in your boots' part. Incontinence, maybe?

Car drivers carelessly endangering riders' lives with ridiculous maneuvers deserve a slap on the mirror at the least. I mean, it's not as if they use them.
KZ;273088 wrote:
Try to remember that when you're looking "bad" in their eyes, you make every foreigner look bad.

Try to remember that when you're riding "bad" in their eyes, you make every rider look bad.

This has nothing to do with 'bending over' but with being mature.
Right! Thanks for the lecture. I'm sure you're the expert on Thai culture. Though I'm surprised you're trying to shift the blame onto the rider here. And we're not merely talking about 'bad' drivers, are we?
I'm not too sure what your comment about how much money tourists spend has to do with this subject. If you're trying to suggest that causes some resentment towards westerners and we should all tread carefully because of it, I'd disagree. And while you're being so mature, don't forget to wai after you get run off the road.
 

KZ

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Aug 20, 2003
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Well, seems like that comes from that.

I don't want to argue every little point, so can we just agree that we disagree?
 
Dec 27, 2007
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Rustic Charm;273117 wrote: Wow! Five replies since my last post. Never realized this site had so much traffic.
Ok, I see your reading comprehension is a little off. Can't see anywhere in my post where I mentioned 'racing through Bangkok'. Or even anything about 'bad drivers' or a 'gang' but feel free to invent anything you like.
Aye, having witnessed Rustic "ride" I can confirm that he has never raced in his life. Even Phantoms call him slow! :lol-sign:
 
Jul 17, 2007
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TonyBKK;273128 wrote: Aye, having witnessed Rustic "ride" I can confirm that he has never raced in his life. Even Phantoms call him slow! :lol-sign:
Ah, it's Toxic Tony. Actually I'd like to go to the track but a little apprehensive about show-offs on Gixxers breaking riders' ankles by commiting dangerous overtaking maneuvers.