Songthiews (Pickup Taxis)
The drivers of these vehicles are notoriously bad for making sudden stops and changes of direction without any warning. They are often cruising in search of fares, focused on the footpaths and not paying any attention to other traffic. On spotting a potential fare, they'll suddenly swerve left without signalling and stop abruptly. God help YOU if you're sneaking down the inside of the lane!
Aside from that, they are frequently inconsiderate, prone to unsignalled lane changes, cutting in front of other vehicles, making fast right-hand turns across straight-ahead traffic at lights, etc. Watch them carefully!
Road Marker Posts
For some inexplicable reason, Thai roading networks use solid CONCRETE marker pegs at close intervals on almost all minor roads. At best these are unforgiving if you hit one, and at worst they are fatal!
Bear that in mind as you are pushing hard on the corners on a country road... take a hard look at those posts, and think about how hard its going to be to avoid one if you come unglued...
Many other countries use flexible plastic marker posts that are unlikely to inflick serious damage to a body or a bike. One would think that the plastic posts would be cheaper to produce and easier to install and maintain than the concrete ones...
The drivers of these vehicles are notoriously bad for making sudden stops and changes of direction without any warning. They are often cruising in search of fares, focused on the footpaths and not paying any attention to other traffic. On spotting a potential fare, they'll suddenly swerve left without signalling and stop abruptly. God help YOU if you're sneaking down the inside of the lane!
Aside from that, they are frequently inconsiderate, prone to unsignalled lane changes, cutting in front of other vehicles, making fast right-hand turns across straight-ahead traffic at lights, etc. Watch them carefully!
Road Marker Posts
For some inexplicable reason, Thai roading networks use solid CONCRETE marker pegs at close intervals on almost all minor roads. At best these are unforgiving if you hit one, and at worst they are fatal!
Bear that in mind as you are pushing hard on the corners on a country road... take a hard look at those posts, and think about how hard its going to be to avoid one if you come unglued...
Many other countries use flexible plastic marker posts that are unlikely to inflick serious damage to a body or a bike. One would think that the plastic posts would be cheaper to produce and easier to install and maintain than the concrete ones...
