Teenage Drivers

Post by **parrot** » July 4, 2014, 4:05 pm

Malia Obama turns 16 today....and hot on her list of things to do, as with most anyone in the US when they turn 16, is getting their driver's license. And that made me think a bit about Thai culture......where it's common to see preteens driving motorcycles with mom and dad's blessings.
I realize that many Thai families are lucky to have one car....and that's going to be driven by the parents. But I can't say I've seen anyone behind a wheel in Udon who looks under 20.....the legal driving age for cars/trucks being 18. And that makes me wonder if there's something that keeps the well-to-do families from allowing their freshly-turned 18 year olders from getting their license. Maybe I need to open my eyes more when I'm in town.
Does anyone know a family with an 18 year old child who has a car/truck driver's license. Just wondering.

Post by **GT93** » July 4, 2014, 4:44 pm

Oh Buddha, Parrot's a thinker. Having a cobra under the house must sharpen the mind. Perhaps the parents in Thailand aren't trying to be best friends with their children and so in some respects don't over-indulge them.

Post by **parrot** » July 4, 2014, 5:31 pm

GT93 wrote:Oh Buddha, Parrot's a thinker. Having a cobra under the house must sharpen the mind. Perhaps the parents in Thailand aren't trying to be best friends with their children and so in some respects don't over-indulge them.

I suppose that's one way to view it. I realize there's an east way and a west way of raising kids.....but given a choice (even after all these years of trying to reorient my brain to the east), I'd do it the way we did (west). Independence at 18, summer jobs when she was a teen, beat-up old Honda CVCC when she got her license. Many Thais had a hard time understanding how we could desert our 22 year old daughter when we moved here. They were even more surprised when we told them she moved out on her own when she was 18....and she paid the bills.

And, that cobra under the house does sharpen the mind a bit. Especially when you've been within spitting distance of one at your back door.

Post by **Barney** » July 4, 2014, 5:47 pm

parrot wrote:
GT93 wrote:Oh Buddha, Parrot's a thinker. Having a cobra under the house must sharpen the mind. Perhaps the parents in Thailand aren't trying to be best friends with their children and so in some respects don't over-indulge them.
I suppose that's one way to view it. I realize there's an east way and a west way of raising kids.....but given a choice (even after all these years of trying to reorient my brain to the east), I'd do it the way we did (west). Independence at 18, summer jobs when she was a teen, beat-up old Honda CVCC when she got her license. Many Thais had a hard time understanding how we could desert our 22 year old daughter when we moved here. They were even more surprised when we told them she moved out on her own when she was 18....and she paid the bills.

And, that cobra under the house does sharpen the mind a bit. Especially when you've been within spitting distance of one at your back door.

yes be carful some of them cobras can spit 2 mtrs

Agree to the west way of vehicle education and if you can keep them from hooning around then most live through to old age. It takes a lot of serious road rules and laws to keep the aussie teenager in check when behind the wheel. I can't imagine what it would be like here if the Thai kids took to driving big time. Death and carnage come to mind if the same pattern was displayed by the young blokes on bikes. My young bloke is 22 and been on his own since 20 and up to car number 3.

Post by **SkyyWalker** » July 4, 2014, 5:57 pm

Many upper-class Thais don't allow their kids (even college age) to drive a motorcycle, not because they don't want to spoil them, but because they are keenly aware of how dangerous it is. When I taught English at KKU, I'd often survey students regarding different aspects of Thai culture. One week, I queried several hundred students as to whether they had ever had a motorcycle accident and 90% replied yes-many multiple accidents, too. Of the 10% who hadn't had an accident, the vast majority of them had never been on a motorcycle due to their parent's rules.

Post by **pf-flyer** » July 4, 2014, 6:15 pm

Our daughter back in the U.S. was 21 and a College student before she got her driver licenses. I think I can echo your Parrots sediments also when it come to Teenage Drivers driving in Thailand. There a two boys in our village one is 10 years old and the other is 11. They take the parents motor bike to go to school and leave the parents walk and it does not bother the parents or two young boys. The boys have the attitude that it is an entitlement because the 10 year old at the end of the village has his own motor bike. I struggle with the thinking that they would rather be a friend of the boys and keep them happy rather than be a parent and teach them that life is not a roll of entitlements that you acquire as you go along in-life.

Post by **phen** » July 4, 2014, 6:56 pm

Skywalker I agree with you.
The upper-class let there children ride a car when they are 15.
When something happen the thai rules are clear.(don't touch my children upper-class rule)

Post by **GT93** » July 5, 2014, 7:38 am

SkyyWalker wrote:Many upper-class Thais don't allow their kids (even college age) to drive a motorcycle, not because they don't want to spoil them, but because they are keenly aware of how dangerous it is.

Yes, I agree. I had noticed this. Extending it to not riding behind a friend might be more difficult. Do any udonmap members prohibit children, step-children etc from riding a motorbike? I used to nag my teenage step-daughters to wear a helmet without success. Then one of them had a serious motorcycle accident when she was a university student. They wised up after that.

I think things are changing in many western countries. There are now heaps of "children" in their 20s and 30s at home with their parents for economic reasons.