Phuket Scooter Driving

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My expectation, before I arrived at the Muay Thai camp, was that all the standard amenities and sustenance goods purchasing could be done within walking distance of my accommodation. This was true insofar as one could live on the food available in the many cheap restaurants and also purchase water and fruit nearby. However, when it came to goods such as cereal, milk, bread, tuna, cheese etc, Tiger Muay Thai proved somewhat isolated. In order to make up my own meals, made up of the latter, saving a tiny bit on the expenditure, I had to go a little further afield. This necessitated the rental of a scooter. Having been given my first mode of personal transport, a Yamaha 125cc motorcycle (undoubtedly used in WWII), at the tender age of fifteen and a half, I feel that I have a fair amount of personal private transport experience and as a result have been quite comfortable on any road that I have had the need to ride or drive on. In Phuket, however, my getting back into the driving groove proved a little more of a challenge than I had previously experienced. It turns out that the Thai road transport system has evolved a few unique practises that I had to adjust to as quickly as rattling Thai transport trucks take hairpin bends - at serious pace!

Below is an extract from the learners’ test that would have been passed by all those utilising the tar covered thoroughfares of Phuket Island:

27. What is the minimum age one must have reached before being allowed to solo pilot a scooter?
a. 13
b. 16
c. 17
d. 18

34. What is the maximum number of passengers a scooter driver is allowed to carry on a standard 2-seater scooter (excluding livestock / pets)?
a. 1
b. 2
c. 4
d. 3

35. What is the maximum number of passengers a scooter driver is allowed to carry on a standard 2-seater scooter (including livestock / pets)?
a. 2
b. 6
c. 5
d. 1

45. When turning right onto a highway, do you:
a. Wait for a sufficient gap in the traffic from both directions, carefully cross the intersection and feed into the traffic.
b. Cross the lane of oncoming traffic when there is a sufficient gap, halt in the space provided in the centre of the intersection and then feed into the traffic when it is safe to do so.
c. Turn immediately into the emergency lane of the oncoming traffic. Pick up enough speed while driving towards oncoming traffic. Zip across the oncoming traffic, whilst driving towards it, provided there is a gap big enough to poke a pin through. Feed immediately into the traffic travelling in your direction because chances are you’re travelling fast enough by now.
d. Any of the above.

63. When a dog wanders casually into your lane, do you:
a. Slow down dramatically, change lanes carefully, and pass the dog slowly with as much distance between your vehicle and the dog as possible.
b. If the dog is large enough to take up most of the lane, swerve recklessly into the next lane (or the emergency lane) without reducing speed and pass the dog as close to it as possible.
c. If the dog is a small dog and only takes up a small portion of the lane, swerve just enough to miss the animal, but do not reduce speed.
d. b or c

Answers:

27. a
34. c (provided at least 2 are infants)
35. b (provided at least 2 are infants and animals are held with 1 hand)
45. d (However, c is recommended)
63. d

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