Udon Thani Thailand Forum - Udon Thani, Thailand

When you have been away for a few months in the land of normal people, as I have, you often see things which become the norm when you are here all the time, which strike you as ridiculous.

This morning en route for my morning ovaltine from 7/11, I spotted, as I often do, a young lady (or more likely a katoey!) with a parasol riding a motorcycle. This was slightly different as, rather than holding the parasol, it seemed to be attached somehow to her head. Obviously she wasn't wearing a helmet

What must go through her head to think that, rather than mess her hair up, it makes sense to risk her life but still look absurd with a parasol/hat thing providing less shade than a helmet would!! On the positive side, she didn't have to hold the parasol so, had both hands on the handlebars!

Obviously this is a subject close to my heart as our business tries to actively promote safety and have worked with local schools and the like to encourage the use of helmets but, even so....!

On the positive side, she was well fit!!

Helmets should be a person choice not forced on people, FREEDOM OF CHOICE, I hate all these laws. she wanted to stop the sun on her face, her choice.

minimiglia wrote:Helmets should be a person choice not forced on people, FREEDOM OF CHOICE, I hate all these laws. she wanted to stop the sun on her face, her choice.

Wow. Didn't expect my resolve to be tested quite so quickly taking into account my comment on the FRAUDULENT POST thread.

Your "FREEDOM OF CHOICE" view is very noble and something, in principal, I agree with but...

1. Like it or not, it is the law
2. What about the freedom of choice of other people if she is fatally injured in an accident which may be her fault. I know I would have nightmares about my involvement in someone else's death whether at fault or not.

By the way, there are previous debates on here about the effectiveness of helmets, enforcement of law etc. I was attempting to bring some levity to the forum!!

minimiglia wrote:Helmets should be a person choice not forced on people, FREEDOM OF CHOICE, I hate all these laws. she wanted to stop the sun on her face, her choice.

But your choice not to wear a helmet imposes a huge financial cost on society for health care.

It probably saves money since dead people don't need a whole lot of treatment. Those surviving through using a helmet could end up needing long term care or surgery.
Not to detract from your point as I can't see one plus for not wearing a helmet. They're cheap enough to buy and become priceless once you're riding.

"Helmets should be a person choice not forced on people, FREEDOM OF CHOICE, I hate all these laws. she wanted to stop the sun on her face, her choice."
IN todays Society there is NO FREEDOM OF CHOICE and this is the reason behind laws
Speed limits
Alcohol levels
Seat Belts
Insurance
License plates
In some countries vehicle safety checks
In some countries Vehicle Emission testing
and on and on and on

I am a believer is Laws to not only penalize the people who break them but am a believer that we need rules to set the limits for all (whether they are enforced or not is another discussion)
I also agree with Udon regarding his comments

Hope this helps
Ding

Udon Map wrote:

minimiglia wrote:Helmets should be a person choice not forced on people, FREEDOM OF CHOICE, I hate all these laws. she wanted to stop the sun on her face, her choice.

But your choice not to wear a helmet imposes a huge financial cost on society for health care.

Agreed. In addition there is the selfish aspect of inflicting pain, death, stress and anx on the OTHER people you hit OR hit you if u are the cause.

I suspect there are few families that havent suffered the impact of auto death in their or their extended families.

The ones holding parasols are more attentive of their ego than their safety or the safety of others. One handed scootering.. grr..

panmotor wrote:When you have been away for a few months in the land of normal people, as I have, you often see things which become the norm when you are here all the time, which strike you as ridiculous.

This morning en route for my morning ovaltine from 7/11, I spotted, as I often do, a young lady (or more likely a katoey!) with a parasol riding a motorcycle. This was slightly different as, rather than holding the parasol, it seemed to be attached somehow to her head. Obviously she wasn't wearing a helmet

What must go through her head to think that, rather than mess her hair up, it makes sense to risk her life but still look absurd with a parasol/hat thing providing less shade than a helmet would!! On the positive side, she didn't have to hold the parasol so, had both hands on the handlebars!

Obviously this is a subject close to my heart as our business tries to actively promote safety and have worked with local schools and the like to encourage the use of helmets but, even so....!

On the positive side, she was well fit!!

That is absurd. A grown man drinking Ovaltine!

I've seen a fair number of parasol-carrying motorcycle girls....mostly in Vietnamese-oriented Nakhon Phanom. I doubt those girls contribute much to the accident rate.
I still cringe when I see a family station wagon, like the one below (I also posted earlier on a different thread): mom has no helmet, daughter has no helmet or seat belt. At least the little one is flat on her back already, so there's less of a fall to the ground (sigh!). Oops, I guess the baby would have been better protected strapped into a child safety seat.
Did someone say, 'child safety seat'? Go to Central on any given day and count the number of vehicles entering with children probably standing on the front seat. Middle/upper class folks.
It's all part of t.i.t.

Jello wrote:
That is absurd. A grown man drinking Ovaltine!

If you knew me Jello, you would know that that's only the half of it. Absurd is a fairly kind adjective!!!

Paul whilst you've been away , these umbrellas that sit on your head were all the rage and selling like hot cakes for a short while ,

You & your Ovaltine have opened a hornets nest alright

When you have been away for a few months in the land of normal people, as I have, you often see things which become the norm when you are here all the time, which strike you as ridiculous.

The title of this thread and the opening sentence are about the silliest I have ever read. How does one define 'the land of normal people and who is to say the author belongs in 'normal people land'? The absurdity of Thailand ? Really?!? Of course this begs the question, why are you in Thailand? It does not make any sense that you would/could find any sane reason to visit an absurd country?

One last question, would you care to provide the name of 'the land of normal people' where you spent a few months? This will give us an opportunity to test your theory and see just how normal the people and government are in this rational country?

Laan Yaa Mo wrote:

When you have been away for a few months in the land of normal people, as I have, you often see things which become the norm when you are here all the time, which strike you as ridiculous.

One last question, would you care to provide the name of 'the land of normal people' where you spent a few months? This will give us an opportunity to test your theory and see just how normal the people and government are in this rational country?

Laan yaa Mo that would be England then , land of the normal people 555 obviously dosen't know the people i know ,

Laan Yaa Mo wrote:

When you have been away for a few months in the land of normal people, as I have, you often see things which become the norm when you are here all the time, which strike you as ridiculous.

The title of this thread and the opening sentence are about the silliest I have ever read. How does one define 'the land of normal people and who is to say the author belongs in 'normal people land'? The absurdity of Thailand ? Really?!? Of course this begs the question, why are you in Thailand? It does not make any sense that you would/could find any sane reason to visit an absurd country?

One last question, would you care to provide the name of 'the land of normal people' where you spent a few months? This will give us an opportunity to test your theory and see just how normal the people and government are in this rational country?

Your taking this topic too seriously.

555

Galee wrote:

Laan Yaa Mo wrote:

When you have been away for a few months in the land of normal people, as I have, you often see things which become the norm when you are here all the time, which strike you as ridiculous.

The title of this thread and the opening sentence are about the silliest I have ever read. How does one define 'the land of normal people and who is to say the author belongs in 'normal people land'? The absurdity of Thailand ? Really?!? Of course this begs the question, why are you in Thailand? It does not make any sense that you would/could find any sane reason to visit an absurd country?

One last question, would you care to provide the name of 'the land of normal people' where you spent a few months? This will give us an opportunity to test your theory and see just how normal the people and government are in this rational country?

Your taking this topic too seriously.

Thanks Gary. The land of normal people is where we can find humour and laugh at ourselves and others without fear of insulting or being insulted. It was all tongue in cheek but, whatever...........

For me, it is absurd, illogical, risible that a young lady should wake up one morning and make a conscious decision to attach a parasol to her head which causes equal damage to her hairdo as would a helmet which may save her life. She would undoubtedly laugh at a falang drinking a milk shake in a bar (which I have been known to do) but, that's fine by me

LYM, I have always enjoyed your posts previously and suspect I caught you on a bad day. For what its worth, if you read any of my previous posts you will see that I love Thailand and would never seriously denigrate this wonderful country and its extraordinary people.

Think I will stick to promoting Pan Motors and drinking Ovaltine going forward. My attempts at finding humour seem to offend.

Thanks. You might find cocoa more relaxing. 555

panmotor wrote: Think I will stick to promoting Pan Motors and drinking Ovaltine going forward. My attempts at finding humor seem to offend.

Something I've learned when trying to be funny on a forum. The majority of people will recognize your post as humor. A minority will misinterpret it or take offense and post their disapproval.

So, post what you will and let the haters hate. The misinterpretations actually add to the humor of the thread.

Remember Emily Litella?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1myF6sztiTs

Funny. Who says Americans don't have a GSOH!! Is that a young Will Ferrell??

In return and to show my personal absurdity, this is me entertaining my staff on a typical Saturday night last weekend. I have blacked out my face because (a) it was fun to do it and (b) I cant stand the thought of anyone getting over stimulated!!
Now if that doesn't encourage new customers.....!!