Thailand's car ownership reaches 31 per cent

[KoratCat]

Thailand's car ownership reaches 31 per cent

Bangkok - About 14 million Thais, or 31 per cent of the population over the age of 20, now own a car, media reports said Thursday.

According to a recently released regional survey by Nielsen Media Research, Thailand ranks fifth worldwide in terms of the number of total cars owned, estimated at 14 million, and has one of the highest car ownership percentages in Asia, said the Bangkok Post.

At 31 per cent of the adult population, Thailand ranked above Singapore (21 per cent), Hong Kong (16 per cent) and the Philippines (10 per cent), but below Malaysia (67 per cent), Taiwan (66 per cent) and South Korea (74 per cent).

China and India, although ranked among the fastest growing markets for automobiles, still have fairly low percentages of car ownership at 6 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively, said the Nielsen survey.

The US ranked first with the highest percentage of car ownership among adults at 89 per cent, or nine in every 10 adults, and a total of some 190.3 million vehicles. Japan was excluded from the survey.

Monsters & Critics May 4, 2007

I wonder whether they just forgot to mention that 2/3 of those weren't allowed to be on the streets in most Western countries but only in junkyards.

I bet this "high standard of living" convinces the world that Thais should pay for the full prize of AIDS medicines, just as USA for Innovation wants.

[Naam Jai (?2008)]

I feel safer in my car than walking the streets of Korat, travelling as a pillion on a motorbike taxi or a breathing the air and weaving through the traffic in a TukTuk, so it is no wonder that so many Thais own cars. Once they learn how to drive them and appreciate the social ettiquette of a sort of highway code then I will like them better.I went to collect my 5 year Thai driving licence yesterday. Its straight forward if you had one previously and have a UK driving licence.
At JOHO the queue of drivers sitting in cars awaiting to take the test was impressive. What happens at the front of the queue was anyones guess. To stimulate a little more interesting contributions here, could we have contributions to a lighthearted Thai Highway Code?
1. Drive on the left , right or centre
2 Drive in the opposite direction for short cuts.
3. Park anywhere, but especially where it will obstruct as many others as possible.
4. Always keep 200bht handy to grease palms.
5. Have as little consideration for other road users as possible. Especially mothers with infants in arms trying to cross the main road on a crossing.
6 Crossing? What crossing?