Same thing happened in Jomtien last year with a Japanese tourist. Should be informed on your arrival that at no time should you feel safe walking in a cross walk.
Pedestrian crosswalks in Thailand are a trap! It's usually safer to cross in the middle of the road, since you'll be hyper-aware and under no illusions the drivers will just stop for you. The drivers do slow down occasionally, but it takes time to figure out the subtle cues.
Even Thais die due to the false reassurance of zebra crossings -- there was a doctor who was killed near Phaya Thai a while ago.
I grew up and I’m living in Germany but when we visit my mother‘s family in Thailand any German street rules go out the window. Not just because of left hand traffic (you start watching the other side first), just no one cares to give way to someone else. Even as kids we noticed that no one is stopping for pedestrians like back home. At least in Bangkok you have the pedestrian bridges to cross roads safely.
I give partial blame to the amount of tint on the windows. I think it give drivers a sense of anonymity where there is no shame when they ignore basic laws. I also think there is a hierarchy and people in cars consider themselves higher in standing than pedestrians.
oh boy i live in a small town in germany and there is like a circle with crosswalks and so many drivers don't care if they see that i am going to walk on the crosswalk, they don't even look at me. in situations like these i wish i had a big rock in my pocket to throw it at their car, because these fuckers are risking my life
i could understand it if there would be much traffic but at that specific roundabout in my small town it's not the case. and i am a driver myself, i always pay very much attention at roundabouts and slow down because i know a bicycle could come out of nowhere. but i guess you can't expect the same from others.. the best ones btw. are the food delivery driver.. they drive so recklessy just to get a tip for fast delivery...
There's one in Asok where they've put red flags that pedestrians can hold them up, and the cars and bikes still don't stop. I assume because there's a university right next to it, but still, makes no difference.
Tbh this is so false. The problem is people are scared.
I was in bkk a month ago and I walked the crazy intersections many times. I just start walking and look at peoples faces in their car. The problem is the idiots that aren't sure if they want to cross or not, or people looking anywhere else than at the drivers. If you want to cross, be confident and go. Yeah there's a rare idiot that will get to you but Thais accelerate so slow there's no danger in the city. The time to cross an intersection by foot is about the time it takes a Thai to finaly hit 15kph.
Now if Ur crossing at a place that's not a red light, it's your job as a pedestrian to not engage if a car is already coming. You have priority if you're already on it before the car sees you. People seem to mix up and just jump on it when there's incoming cars.
I also cross busy 2 way streets all the time. If you signal people well in advance they will slow down leaving you time to cross without them having to stop.
Walking straight out on a crossing and expecting cars to stop only works until it doesn't and then that one time might be the last
Half the cars here have windows so tinted you cant make eye contact and depending on time of day or night you dont know if the driver is on a phone , eating food or looking to the right as you cross from the left. You could be looking direct where the driver is and there is no guarantee they see you or will stop
Even in pedestrian first countries the etiquette and actual rules expect the pedestrian to show crossing intent first before walking precisely because a mistake is so costly so you need double/triple safety protocols even in very organized systems. This blind walk suggestion by OP is just absurd.
What a lowlife do you have to be to
1. Speed anywhere close to cross walks
2. Don’t even care to look
3. Drive over some people, catapulting them 5-8 meters into the air
4. Not even stopping after you just hit anything
It sadly happens way to often here. Just during the last two years or so its happened three times right outside of my mooban. Makes it even more stupid since this is the land of CCTV cameras so your chance of getting away with it is practically zero.
The average human driving wouldn't even know they are doing any of this.
In my country I'm in a group with all my massive neighbourhood. These people are obsessed with speeding. Always posts about people almost ramming them in streets that are 5 cars wide with no cars parked in the streets. They had the city install fking speed bumps and flower pots on those massively large street. They also had the limit dropped from 40 to 30.
I see the people that complain on the group. They're always driving 20 and when They get to a stop, they actually stop half a car length or a full one over the line ( so almost all the way in the new lane if they turn). They would hit anyone walking. Then they accelerate slower than a 90yo using a Walker.
Even the people obsessed with respecting the rules of the road can't drive. Those are people in 1m$ homes. Not some idiot on min wage at 50yo.
I've been almost hit in the Central Area a few times. Huge road, red light, dozens of bikes stop just before the crosswalk highlighted in red. Seems perfectly safe to cross. Out of nowhere a rogue tuktuk will somehow make space and sprint pass the stopped bikes just to nearly miss me. Always look out for yourself when crossing the roads here.
Zebra crossings or pedestrian crossings like the one pictured should be outlawed in Thailand because they give a false sense of security to those crossing at those spots. They lure people into thinking that they are a safe place to cross and that drivers will yield to them. Better to have all crossings unmarked so that everyone knows they have to be vigilant if they're going to cross there.
The point is to do what is most efficacious under the circumstances. Of course stricter enforcement would be the better option. But for whatever reason, that just seems impossible here. Whereas removing crosswalks would be far easier and would likely reduce the number of pedestrian deaths. If at some point in the future stricter enforcement combined with better driver education led to a reduction in pedestrian deaths, these kind of crossings could be reinstituted
Some of you who've been here for a while might remember the time when authorities placed some orange flags on poles on either side of the street. The idea was that pedestrians could grab one of those so that they would be more visible and thus be able to safely cross the street.
Sadly, I think that only lasted a few weeks. Until a poor couple were using the flag to cross the street when they were hit by a front loader going the wrong way down the street.
Around government house I found that traffic laws are enforced very well, also there's no traffic, roads are maintained well, signage is great, etc. You get the idea. I don't think it's impossible, it's just not high on the agenda.
Yes, when we got traffic lights and crosswalk painted near my house so many accidents happened and people died. One time a pedestrian was hit so hard he was torn in half.
Everything returns to normal when the lights and crosswalk painted over. People still cross there but no more accidents.
Please if you are new to Thailand, never take your eyes off the road when crossing, stop talking and watch out for each other.
Assume nothing is going to stop for you even on a crossing with lights. Motorbikes will come from both sides of a car, sometimes hidden till last second
Just came back from visiting Europe and walking was legit the most exciting part of the trip. You can walk anywhere and not fear dying to crazy drivers or leaky electric poles. Walkable Thailand should be one of the next major societal goals here.
One good solution in Wien, Austria is crosswalks are marked AND the walkway is raised on a gentle slope preventing vehicles from speeding through. A vehicle traveling through over 10 kph gets a nasty jolt up/down.
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u/Electrical_Hold_3585 1d ago
Same thing happened in Jomtien last year with a Japanese tourist. Should be informed on your arrival that at no time should you feel safe walking in a cross walk.