Thai road joker caught in 'joker trap'

Alas, it's that time again, Thai road joker time!

This Thai road joker was caught on.......... you guessed it....... Highway 340!

On this occasion, the joker was luckily 'stopped' in their tracks by a well placed tree, residing in the middle of the 'joker trap' (a.k.a the central reservation 'ditch').

The joker trap catches all varieties of Thai road jokers: lorries, cars, mopeds, coaches, food vendor trikes - all of them. Many are left burned out by the time the emergency services arrive, looking like something vapourised in the dirt from a Star Wars movie....

The road joker can end up in the the joker trap for a whole host of reasons: falling asleep, pissed, losing control whilst taking corners at break neck speeds, many times a combination of the three. Lots of times they just happily run each other off the road, in true 'greng jai' fashion. (Funny how the Thai concept of 'greng jai' disappears as soon as a road joker gets behind a wheel, and welded to your rear bumper. Sometimes, when I meet the most polite and agreeable Thai people, it crosses my mind, maybe this is the maniac that just tried to kill me 10 minutes earlier).

Lots of lives are saved by the joker trap; although, that isn't to say they can't be improved. Large trees have far too much space between them, if you ask me, leaving room for a joker travelling in the opposite direction to 'bounce' over onto the other highway.

Of course not all Thai's are bad drivers, the majority are well-balanced, considerate drivers. But the bad ones really do ruin the reputation for the rest of the tribe.

We've been lucky, over this Songhran (notorious for bad road accidents) we've only heard of the odd horrific accident, but not actually witnessed one.

Apparently, the day before Songhran, a huge truck, carrying some kind of flammable materials, collided hard with another joker of some description (near to our house in Suphan), in the process managing to nuke each other into outer space, as well as take half the road with them.

Yes! - Apparently, large swathes of the road were completely destroyed by the explosion and ensuing fire! Like some expensively produced, apocalyptic scene from an Arnie movie!

Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately, Thai jokers often find themselves behind the wheels of 'flammable' trucks, speeding passenger laden coaches, overloaded lorries, 4x4's carrying dozens of people, ambulances etc.

You have to laugh, or you'd leave.

More example of the road joker, thai version here, here, here, here, here and here.

More to follow shortly.

Comments

[Catherine]

'You have to laugh, or you'd leave'

Gawd, I so agree!

For me, Thai drivers are one of the main downsides to living in the Kingdom.

Due to the many road deaths, I organise my trips accordingly: no inner country trips during Thai holidays.

There's a site around somewhere detailing the Thai ambulance service, or a group that takes care of accidents in Thailand. Have you seen it? If not, I'll try and track it down when I'm less mobile.

[Talen]

"Of course not all Thai's are bad drivers, the majority are well-balanced, considerate drivers. But the bad ones really do ruin the reputation for the rest of the tribe."

I take exception to that statement....I have yet to see a good Thai driver and the further away from the big city you get the worse they get.

My girls family in Nakhon Phanome see the lines on the road as a suggestion not as where they should drive. The prefer the middle of the road inbetween the lanes and most other Thai's I've seen do too.

And then there is turning...whether it be a curve in the road or an actual turn they slow the car down to 2 miles an hour or better yet to a complete stop mid turn.

My favorite though has to be pulling into traffic slowly and then stopping or impeding the the driver with the right of way...and the police are just as bad!

[Ben Shingleton]

Hi Catherine, because of work half my time is spent behind the wheel, I do confess I still quite enjoy driving in Thailand (in country) simple because the traffic levels are so low you can get from A to B easily. Approaching towns is where it starts getting a bit hairy I find, and night driving in unfamiliar territory when it all goes off road and is unlit I think is bloody risky to be honest, I've had some real white knuckle rides and I avoid as much as poss.

Heh heh, Talen, when I wrote that I admit I thought I may get some response and wasn't entirely sure I agreed with it myself. I literally just got back from a return drive to Bangkok, and I don't recall any decent driving from anyone, including myself. The trouble is, I find the Thai's bad driving can bring out the worse in me, something I'm REALLY trying hard to work on. I get so mad with the dodgy driving that it turns me into part of the problem. I'd much rather stay clear, slow, and accident free! And your right about lane discipline, it just doesn't exist.