Driving in Phuket Thailand

When arriving in Phuket for the first time from any western country, you may get a bit of a shock at the lack of road rules and enforcement by the police. You will see many drivers speed as the speed limits are very rarely enforced. Other things you will notice are drivers who don’t keep on their side of the road and carelessly wander across the lines or lack of lines in some places. You will also see that most Thai people and tourists – don’t wear their helmets when riding a motor bike.

Riding a motor bike here is a high risk as someone is seriously injured or killed every day in Phuket and it’s not hard to see why when you spend some time here. Almost every Thai person that I’ve met has scars on them from motor bike accidents and risking it every day on a motor bike is just part of their everyday living and they think of it as just – ho hum.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen people on motor bikes – riding on the wrong side of the road for a few blocks – simply because they are too lazy to cross to the other side and do it properly or just can’t be bothered. I’ve also seen so many overloaded motor bikes and it’s not uncommon to see a family of 5 on the one bike, with shopping bags – darting in and out of the traffic like there’s no tomorrow with no regard for their families safety. Oh and I almost forgot to mention that none of the families that I have seen were wearing any helmets.

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Helmets seem to be un cool with the Thai’s and hardly any of them seem to wear one, as the police are too busy trying to book the tourists because the tourists have more money. A tourist will cop a larger fine than a Thai person and that is the way it is for lots of things here in Phuket.

There are many accidents in Phuket on a daily basis and most of these accidents involve motor bikes in the places that have high traffic. The roads in the most crowded places in Phuket are constantly congested with motor bikes and is an accident waiting to happen. Even the places that are not crowded can still be dangerous as stray dogs can just jump out of nowhere onto the road.

The most dangerous places to be on a motor bike are in Patong and Phuket Town and the roads in these places are jam packed all day long and travelling through these places can sometimes be a nightmare. The roads in Patong are still very crowded through half of the night and the roads here really don’t settle down until after midnight till around 8am, before getting busy again.

If you were to stay anywhere in Patong or Patong Beach, you will hear the ambulance sirens once every few hours and whenever I hear this sound, I know that someone has come of their bike somewhere in Patong. I don’t know what it is about Thai people and riding their bikes, but there seems to be no fear and little regard for safety.

So my advice is to only hire a motor bike if you are confident and try not to ride one in high traffic areas and be wary of the things mentioned above at all times.

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Being a passenger in a taxi can be a nerve racking experience too and not only do they go way over the speed limit, they go through red lights and occasionally wander onto the wrong side of the road. Many Thai drivers seem to have a habit of crossing the middle lines and wandering onto the other side of the road when turning corners and this is concerning, as others may be doing exactly the same thing and are out of site until it’s too late.

It is also a common site in Phuket to see utes or pick up trucks with around 15 to 30 Burmese labor workers pilled into the back like sardines. Sometimes you will see a whole truck load full of Burmese who are crammed in like cattle - coming home from there labor shifts. Now if there was an accident while all these people are in the back, it would be a catastrophe, but the police just turn a blind eye.

The safest way to get around Phuket is to drive yourself around, as it can be hard to find a good driver that will drive safely. A good local car rental comparison site is - CarHirePhuket.com which lets you compare the best Phuket car rental deals.