richard_smith237

Not easy for who ?? (perhaps only those who don't meet the requirements ??? The trickiest part is making sure the submitted photos are acceptable. It could be argued that its a grey area - but if the 'stamp came from Immigration' then its valid...

100% agree... I have fwd and rear facing on both my Car and Motorcycle... Its still not 360 degrees coverage of course, but covers 120 degrees to the front and 120 degrees to the rear, is hard-wired and always on whenever the ignition is on. While I've been here long enough not to be concerned with unfair treatment from the Police etc, I'm well aware that it may not always be possible for them to know exactly what happened and establish genuine fault... In most cases its not a big deal and just let the insurance company handle it... BUT.. there are very rare cases where cam footage could be essential. The use of a 'dash cam' is to shut down false conclusions immediately before they get a chance to grow arms and legs.

Thats how it works with cars - and it works quite well... the difference of course is than in a standard 'fender bender' no one is hurt. When there is an injury, things usually get a little more complicated as one side will usually want some form of compensation and medical bills paid, and that side is usually the poorer party even if they are the cause of the incident... (as they often will not accept or even understand they are the cause). So.. when there is an injury, the Police usually get involved and they can dictate fault, but we don't have to agree with that. It could get pushed up to the next level.

Yep, thats the tricky part... looking to my long term future here, I have concerns regarding level of medical cover I can secure as I age. But.. we are also discussing 'emergency medical costs'... and not elective care... in an emergency situation we may not even be conscious and have any impact on where we are taken or how much it could cost. Without decent medical cover our costs could well be significant... and this would sting somewhat, especially in a 'no fault' incident. On the private vs government care - obviously I have a preference... and those who don't undergo private treatment argue their case well... but they always argue that it 'was as good as private care'... same doctors etc - but not always and the level of nursing care is different etc (we could debate this ad nauseam - but private care is just better, more comfortable, less waiting etc etc - but obviously more expensive). That said, If paying for myself and not insurance, I'd seek out a good Government facility every time though, as private costs are astronomical.

You have good 'medical insurance for your motorbike' ??? - thats rather confusing. Its seems you do not have 'good medical insurance' (as in good international Medical Insurance i.e. provided by Cygna International, or LUMA international etc)... IF anyone has any concerns that they could at some point incur medical costs through not fault of their own - this is exactly what medical insurance is for... OR enough funds to self insure of course. Whether or not you trust Thai Policies is of course an individual choice, I too am sceptical as to the ease of which a Thai Underwriter would pay for medical treatment at a time I might not be in a very good physical mental condition to argue with them and that is an additional stress I wouldn't want.

You know why its the usual, 'it's part of Thai culture' explanation ??..... Because it is !!! What we see as corruption the west is at the very heart the Culture and 'cost of doing business' here - its just not seen as a bad thing, its seen a normal every day life... - Pay 500 baht to get your Certificate of Residence sooner rather than waiting two weeks... - Allow agents to Queue jump and process visas & extensions more quickly... there's a cost for that. - Allow the same agents the 'efficiency' of not checking their paperwork in detail / allow flexibility on some details... there's a cost for that. As I mentioned, I know a number of Police and Immigration officers very well... YOU personally may not see this every time you walk into an Immigration Office or Police station, or do any business here... but the 'facilitation fee' is very much a facet of every day life here.

How many have you been in and used? How any do you need to be in to understand that what we see as corruption is seen by Thai's as a perfectly normal way of doing things.... Corruption is systemic.... to imply this is not so of Immigration highlights a certain degree of naivety... But if you wanted more confirmation, I have a number of friends who are well placed in the Police force and Immigration.... 'kick backs' are SOP and agents facilitate this perfectly.

There is also the facet of dual charging.... As we know, many Government Hosptials employ dual-charing, charging more for Westerners than Thai's (i.e. two price lists)... the Government ruled that this was legal (in a recent case with a Westerner receiving Cancer treatment in Hua Hin a couple of years ago). If the non-Thai (i.e. Westerner) victim of an incident through no fault of their own needs medical care.... Should they have to pay for that medical care which may be charged at elevated rates because they are foreign ????

Decent people pay their bills, I thought this was common knowledge. This binary view point could be considered unfair... IF someone is injured through the illegal and careless actions of others, why should that person be financially accountable or have to pay their own medical expenses ? IF the government fail to adequately enforce the law and ensure that people have insurance, and if they fail to enforce the law such that people can flagrantly ride with disregard for regulations and cause injury, why should the injured party (victim) be out of pocket ? I agree with you, we 'should' all pay our bills, however, this is also a grey area when we consider fault and accountability.

I have first class motorbike insurance, I am referring to an accident as a pedestrain who is not at fault, I know how these things work in Thailand, I would do everything I could not to pay and tell them the get any expenses they are due from the person at fault, if the police cannnot track the guily person down then it is not my fault. But it seems you don't have medical insurance..... I agree with you, firstly, given the numbers of motorcyclists riding down the pavement here your scenario isn't far fetched... in such circumstances the BiB should make the culprit pay for your medical bills etc.. But, its unlikely the 'culprit' has any money to pay in the first place, so what can you do then ? But, I don't know about you, but I wouldn't be in a government hospital unless I had to... so the only option is to ensure we have our own cover to protect ourselves when authorities can't.

Thats good to know.... So theoretically, there is no need for anyone else to have to 'cover the costs' of someone else's medical bills, unless that 'other person' is not Thai of course.

I too have heard the bad stories... but I wonder how much of a spine those 'victims' had when facing blame & how honest they were with their version of events (when blame was placed at their feet). There is one story (of a poster on this forum) within the last couple of years, whereby his Wife was turning right into a junction from a small road into a side soi... and a motorcyclist travelling the wrong way down the road on the wrong side of the road (i.e. the wrong way down the shoulder) rode into the turning car - Police deemed the driver of the car (posters Wife) was at fault.... (nothing to with nationality)... ... In these cases the BiB often blame the car driver as they have insurance and the bike doesn't - so their logic is that the insurance covers the costs so no one loses etc - or that the car driver has more money etc... BUT, that is still not following the law, so we don't have to give in to this way of doing things if we don't want to.

If no other insurance, I'm guessing you'd end up having to foot the medical bill yourself ( just one reason to have insurance or the funds to self insure... or as you highlight, be prepared to do a runner if you are fit to do so) No you wouldn't... thats just bar-stool talk.

OK.. So you, NoshowJones... IF injured in a motorcycle accident would not be able to pay for your medical care, and once able, would just walk out hospital (assuming they can't physically stop you)... and then get on a flight and go back to your home country never to return. Its not impossible to do this..... I guess it depends on the cost of the hospital bill of course and assuming you are fit for air-travel.

I agree... but I think one of the issues with the 30B scheme is that it only works in the Province of ID issue and many people work outside of their province (I'm not 100% sure of this but recall reading such on this forum). I too would also refuse to pay for someone elses' care, especially as my sympathy would be pretty much non-existent if they were riding dangerously and recklessly to cause the accident.

In an accident in Thailand (motorcycle or car) its quite unlikely that the other party has insurance... Por-ror-bor or otherwise. Thus, the only sensible option is to have our own Medical Insurance that covers the costs of our treatment. As far as getting stitched up to pay for others when the fault of an accident is theres, then we 'should' be very firm in that rejection or even take measures to avoid such possibilities.... i.e. I have forward and rear facing cams on my bike that are hard wired and record 100% of the time I'm riding (Innov K2). Thus... IF we are going to get heavily into the debate of who pays, where under what scenario, getting stitched up etc... we could also discuss how to ensure we protect ourselves from that. That said: I've had 3 car accidents here (luckily never a motorcycle accident) and ultimately, the Police were fair.

What consequences exactly ???... The Immigration requirements are easily met for those who are married. Do you think IF Immigration didn't permit these Visa agents then the list of requirements would significantly diminish' ??? It is Immigration themselves who put the requirements in place - They 'could' make PR a lot easier for (legitimately) married people so they don't have to do the hoop jumping each year (just as other countries do) - The reason this is no easier is down to antiquated attitudes within (and the authorities) and result of those gaming the system. Additionally, those 'gaming the system' do so almost at the preference of Immigration as they want the additional source of income (bribes)

Obvious answer is of course its easier as you can get a Non-Immigrant O Visa & Extension of stay based on marriage. IF your 'friends fixer agent' is obtaining legitimate Non-Imm O Visas based on Marriage to a Thai, then there is nothing to be concerned of anyway (theoretically anyway). Re-entering on a Visa exempt also shouldn't be an issue as the previous entries were with a Non-Immigrant Visa. Of course, there is always the risk of an Immigration Officer knowing the game when there are 5 years worth of back to back extensions issued from 5 different provinces - if they take a disliking to you that could lead to questions, but if the Visa's are still legitimate there still may not be much they can do unless they want to start accusing you of fraudulently obtaining your visa and thats perhaps just too much effort for them. Some may also be alluding to the question 'Immigration being more favourable' IF you don't have a Non-Imm O visa or extension of and are a borderline case with repeated visa exempt entries and / or back to back tourist visas... ... then in this case, its 'possible' that an Immigration officer acting with discretion may be influenced in your favour, but there are also perhaps many other factors too such as mood of Immigration Officer, your attitude, even your appearance etc etc...

They're good bikes... I suspect they're just so popular. I wanted to get the ADV 350... wait lists at every dealer I contacted were either 6 months, or simply 'cannot'... I gave up and went with alternative options.

There you go - a farang tax! Its usually a deposit (or it is for cars anyway)... and is returned when the plate is returned.

Do you have a link at all ? Sounds like the Russian was trying to under-take the truck and got caught on the left handside. As we all know (or should know) under-taking, or over-taking on the same side as a large truck is turning is a recipe for disaster.

He cares.. He cares that he's a human being and does the right thing.... Its incredible that there are so many callous shrinking violets on this forum who backup their cowardice with such ignorance - no wonder you think 'Thai's don't really like farang'...it seems you've hardly endeared yourself as a considerate and caring person. ----- For the record - I have helped a couple of times... No issues whatsoever, not even a sniff of impropriety. The only time I wouldn't help is if doing so placed myself or my family in physical danger. I can handle any idiots who may gossip and pin the blame... dash-cam footage is quite convincing for that.

Was the person who told you recently retired from special forces, is now a multi-millionaire but enjoys spending his time drinking in the beer bars so he can socialise with 'salt of the earth guys' such as yourself ?

Thats not a code, thats cowardice.... Bar stool rubbish... Tell me you live in Pattaya without telling me you live in Pattaya !!!

Got to say it... Props to you... Stopping is the human thing to do, good on you. Dash-Cam footage also prevents false blame... And yes, I can see how a handful of ignorant locals could influence the story... Witness statements are notoriously unreliable - yet so many people take them as absolute fact.