Film should think about doing the same thing. PM Abhisit (not everyone's favorite person, I know) is seeking ways to reduce the huge road toll in Thailand. Film getting on TV to tell everyone to wear their helmets so what happened to him and his friend won't happen to them could go a long way towards helping that ![/p][/QUOTE]


Hi every one !

The story of a young man dying too soon on a bike (or for whatever reason ) always make me feel bad.

But i have to admit that in Thailand (like in many south east asia Countries ) , helmets are not considered safety product, but just a piece of plastic that you put on your head to avoid a police fine.

The market has been polluted by pieces of junk for too many years, so promoting a safe and durable helmet among the young thai people is very difficult.

I have read that last year 11 000 people died in Thailand on motorcycle accident, and according to the article, those 11 000 people died because they did not wear helmets.

According to what i see every day on the street and roads of Thailand, i think that many riders are wearing very low quality helmets (i guess less than 600 Baht ) but they are riding bikes of more than 40 to 70 000 baht, all those bikes are able to ride over 100 km/hour , so with this kind of helmets, if they hit something at this speed, my best guess is that they won't survive.

My point is to say that forcing the riders and their passengers to wear helmets might be a good intention, but this can be only a first step. laws and regulation concerning the safety of the helmets have to be modified as well, to really give some safe product to the young (and less young ) Thai riders.

Assuming that there would be a law in the near future forcing the Thai riders to always use helmets, if the helmets are still the same quality as today , i bet you that the number of people dying in Thailand on motorcycle will still be very close to 11 000.


It is too stupid to die at 20.

best regards

Sylvain

Quote by: You Should Be Ashamed
.....When you decide to start up a public forum website like this you take on a responsiblity to the public........

What a load of tosh.

A forum is a place for people to discuss topics and ideas. The content comes from the members. The forum owner only has a "responsibility" and only if he/she wishes, to ensure that the content and language etc. used in posts meets the standards he or she set forth in the forum rules if there are any.

As for the van accident which is irrelevant anyway. The accident would not have happened had not an under-age driver with no licence rear ended the van in the first place. Yes seat belts, if worn, may have saved lives but lack of them was not the cause.

Is there a reason you did not register as a member of this forum? I note your "nome de plume" is not in bold lettering.

Agree with 'Should be Ashamed'.

The Thai media, including this website, don't want the truth to be known.
And 'yes', you DO have a responsibility.
If you have tried to get the factual facts from the Boys in Brown and failed, then TRY AGAIN.

Ask the survivor of the accident.
He's a Thai hero.

Agree that the Thai media should dig in and find out. But then it may not be important for them to know whether or not he was wearing a helmet. After all it doesn't cost the state anything to keep him in hospital as it would else where.

I do not consider this site to be "part of the media" don't know why you would it is a forum. Ay least that is what it says at the top of the page.

An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages.[1] They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived. Also, depending on the access level of a user and/or the forum set-up, a posted message might need to be approved by a moderator before it becomes visible.

No responsibility is implied or needed.

As for the survivor being a Thai hero we will have to wait and see what he does in his future life to deserve such a accolade. Riding a GP bike is one thing. Riding pillion on a bike with no helmet is completely different. I seriously doubt he will be wearing a Vemar helmet next season. Not exactly a good ambassador but maybe they are a very forgiving company. Not the norm sadly in the dog-eat-dog corporate world.

Well it should be important for the Thai media and "Motorcycle Thailand" to find out the truth.
This site is more than a forum; it covers such aspects as riding safety.

Whether or not the two young men were wearing helmets IS very relevant.
The deafening silence on this question suggests they weren't.

As I said before; I believe we will never know.
The 'cone of silence' is at work again.

From experience living in Rayong, the police stop people who are riding with no helmets and extract ?? Baht.
After 5.00pm, when the police stop work, all the helmets come off. Why?

Young men and women ride around at night looking for prospective partners. Like "Paseo" in Spain except mobile. As I was told, if they wore helmets no one could see them and how pretty or handsome they are.

It could be that as the accident happened at 3.00am then most would assume, as he has head injuries, that he wasn't wearing a helmet. So from a media point of view it is a non issue as they would be reporting the obvious.

Personal safety is just that personal. The one responsible is the individual.

I suggest a better forum for your concern about the media would be a well-worded letter to the editor of the Bangkok Post. If they are concerned they will print it.

Disagree with some of your points there 'Flying Squirrel'.

1 'personal responsibility'

A chap like 'Film' should always be setting an example. He is idolized here.
And there are laws about the wearing of helmets, including for pillions.
These laws should be obeyed by all, especially the Boys in Brown. But they aren't.
We know the many reasons why they aren't and it's more than just vanity after 5pm.

2 We can only assume helmets weren't worn.
We don't know for sure because the Thai media is incapable of getting to the facts.
There is such a thing as 'investigative journalism'; maybe not so much so here.
Because Bangkok Post may or may not be interested in this issue is not the point.
WE are interested! And I suspect many people not involved with the media, here and overseas are interested.

The cone of silence prevails.
No surprises there.

Idols don't make mistakes. Well not here anyway.

Enough allready, The guy has surely learnt his lesson, His close friend died in the accident. ( apparently wearing a helmet )
Everybody makes mistakes, ( sometimes major ones ) And im sure there would not be a person on this forum who at some stage has ridden or been a passenger on a motorbike without a helmet. ( ever caught a motorbike taxi in Thailand, ? even just to the end of a soi ? 95% of then dont carry a spare helmet )
Im sure everybody has, its not safe, its not sensible, but we all decide at some point to take that chance and very occasionally we come un stuck.

Give the guy a break and get on with an interesting topic, If your so passionate about this helmet subject, write to the government and express your views, its the only way any change in laws will happen. ( altho i doubt they would listen to us farang anyway )
Matt...

Agree Matty.
Many good points were raised on this topic and I'm sure we'll never know the facts.
'Film' is alive to ride another day, luckily, and has, hopefully, learnt that heroes are not invincible.
Time to move on.

How about Ratthapark Wilairot now?