Flash, Flash ... You're in my way!

Around 27,000 people a year are killed on the roads of Thailand. That's a lot by any standards. The following is a true account of some of what you might see on Thai roads. On average, Thai driving is not too bad. People say that driving in Bangkok is dangerous: it isn't. Not so dangerous that they should ban all traffic. No, the truth is that in central parts of Bangkok, there is so much traffic that it moves at very low speeds where dangerous driving is very difficult to accomplish. In the quitter parts of Bangkok, maybe it's a different story. Let's go out of town, now. Drive along the major single carriageways of Thailand and you may suddenly face the situation of a bus or lorry or car coming at you, in your lane, flashing its headlights at you. The message is simple: I am overtaking one or more vehicles but I cannot or will not get back into my lane before I smash into you. So, get out of my way. The first time that happened to me was when I was rounding a bend and a large single decker bus was having at me. Fortunately there was a hard should of sorts and with that split second warning I was able to get out of the way. This has happened to me a few times over the last 12 months or so and whilst it is a shock, so far I have got away with it. I tend to give way because these incidents have happened on fast roads and/or when the opposition driver was clearly driving quickly. Be warned, be ready. However, last weekend I went to Chong Chom market and on the way there there is an army check post. It is unusual for the soldiers to stop anyone but there are half barriers in the road to ensure that all drivers have to slow down. As I approached my barrier, a pickup truck was coming at me and he started flashing his headlights. Since we were going at relatively low speeds I decided to call his bluff and I did not move out of his way. We did not crash or even have a near miss because I achieved my objective of getting him to stop and then I moved out of his way in time. I could see by the driver's face as I slid past that he couldn't believe what I had just done. Then again, I cannot believe that drivers here feel able to put the lives of many people, including themselves, at risk with their flash, flash mentality. DW