Mopeds - The Real Terror of the Road

Cars are not the only troublesome vehicles on the road, indeed they are not even the most dangerous. Anyone that has spent any amount of time in Thailand will tell you, normally with trembling breath, that it's the mopeds you've got to be wary of. They appear out of nowhere, cut you up, dodge in and out of traffic through spaces that aren't really big enough to accommodate them, drive down the wrong side of the road, hardly ever indicate, and either pootle along while the driver has a nice little chat on his mobile phone or go so fast they end up screeching to a halt a hair's breadth away from you. Name a driving offence and there's no doubt most moped drivers have committed it. It's made all the worse by the fact that there are millions of them. Mopeds are a far cheaper mode of transport than cars, and, in the heavily congested cities, a far more sensible form too. This is especially so when they can drive up on the pavement to escape a particularly nasty traffic jam, which I have witnessed on numerous occasions.

Mopeds and motorbikes definitely rule the roads in Thailand. Queuing up at traffic lights illustrates this better than anything. Two-wheeled modes of transport do not queue up like the cars, vans and lorries. Oh no, as they can fit through the gaps they see it as their right to be able to squeeze themselves up to the front of the queue. There they gather, more joining the group by the second, until everywhere you look there are mopeds and motorbikes. As soon as the light turns green (and often just before!) they rev their engines and speed off, leaving the cars to tail behind them. There is no point in trying to move off before they have all gone as you'll only end up knocking one over and, as a farang, that means trouble. In fact, even if you're involved in an accident and the Thai driver is at fault, you'll still be in trouble. The feeling is that you're a foreigner in their country and if you weren't in the country the accident wouldn't have happened. There's a weird sort of logic in there somewhere. Be warned!