I ride a few years now in Bangkok. I ride everywhere and every time there is.

Sukhumvit IS dangerous, but not when the most here think it is. In the daytime, when the traffic is bad, I would say it is pretty safe to drive there. When it is getting dangerous is in the early mornings and late (really late) nights, when the streets are basically free. Those delivery trucks are the most dangerous drivers in Thailand. I mean the Toyota PickUp ones with extra Case on top. And in the morning (like 3am - 6am) is the time they get active. They drive with 100km/h on Sukhumvit, full with stuff to deliver. Means: they never will break in time if there is something happening. Also no lights when switching lanes and so on. And, I am sorry to describe it like that, but that's how it is, they're mostly low class. Drunk or Drug addicts. Totally sleepy or sleep deprived and so on. Basically ticking time bombs on the street.

If you look at the most (deadly) incidents in Thailand, then it involves two types of cars: Toyota Pickups and real trucks. So if you see them, avoid being to close and if you have to pass them, leave a lot of space.

Also taxi drivers. Never pass them on the left side, because if they see someone waving for them, they will just pull on the side.

If you live in a village, then the most dangerous thing is intersections. Stop at them. Many Thais expect no other cars coming on intersections and will just pass without breaking.

3 hours ago, Davvidd said:

I have always rented a scooter when I go outside Bangkok especially Krabi. The worst riders I have seen are the farangs riding without a care in the world. They are a menace. The Indians seems to blend into the flow probably because it’s so chaotic in India too and they know how to avoid causing accidents.

It’s good that there is traffic jam in Sukhumvit as no one drive or ride fast. I always take a motorcycle taxi for short distances and always tell them to take it easy when I get on the back. I always found that to me the easiest one to sit on the back is The Honda Wave.

Some of the farang drive crazy because they don't have any experience or license. For whatever reason, it's common (and dumb as fuck) for tourists to think it's a good idea to rent a scooter and drive in Thailand without any experience or any legal motorcycle license. Plenty of locals drive crazy too though.

Out of the common bikes used for grab, I find the Wave one of the worst to ride pillion on, since it is a semi-auto, the bikes that pick me up are mostly beat up and have jerky shifts, along with drivers who don't shift smoothly. Surprising that you have the opposite opinion. The PCX, N-MAX, newer model Click, then Giorno/Fazzio are the easiest for me to ride pillion, roughly in that order. I have been taking a motorcycle Grab to language school every day in the morning for 6 months - every time I get assigned a driver with a Wave I hope they cancel and another driver gets assigned before they show up. 😄

3 minutes ago, eccentricfusion said:

Some of the farang drive crazy because they don't have any experience or license. For whatever reason, it's common (and dumb as fuck) for tourists to think it's a good idea to rent a scooter and drive in Thailand without any experience or any legal motorcycle license. Plenty of locals drive crazy too though.

Out of the common bikes used for grab, I find the Wave one of the worst to ride pillion on, since it is a semi-auto, the bikes that pick me up are mostly beat up and have jerky shifts, along with drivers who don't shift smoothly. Surprising that you have the opposite opinion. The PCX, N-MAX, newer model Click, then Giorno/Fazzio are the easiest for me to ride pillion, roughly in that order. I have been taking a motorcycle Grab to language school every day in the morning for 6 months - every time I get assigned a driver with a Wave I hope they cancel and another driver gets assigned before they show up. 😄

I get what you mean about Forza etc but I have issues when I have to bent my knees or raise it too much. The wave is the ideal height for the foot pegs for me. Yes a lot of them are beat up and worse if you get a chubby Thai rider and a chubby me on the pillion The poor Wave is crying its heart out.