richard_smith237

I think I was in that bar a few months later... a guy with a screwed up eye mentioned that he’d received a seeing to from a an ex Special Forces hero who was a black-belt in Karate with a PhD in Keyboard warrior.... ????

The smart people make sanctimonious comments on this forum don’t they !!!... Those steps look like they’d be perilous when wet.... With the amount of poor lighting are you so sure you’ve never stepped where you aren’t 100% sure you’d have perfect footing ??? Never stepped on a drain cover only to read later in the day that someone went through a drain cover (or similar) and scraped up their legs ??? I was in a very poorly designed pool the other day... dangerous with tiles 1” under the waterline and sloping down slightly, then underwater steps which couldn’t clearly be seen and underwater seating which couldn’t be clear.... I wonder how many people have slipped and hurt themselves, jumped in and hurt themselves etc... Still, I very nearly slipped over... lethal... (and this was at what may be considered a higher end resort). This is Thailand and we have to ‘expect’ that its dangerous... But, I think ‘victim blaming’ is unfair in this case... the old fella was only walking down the steps.

Do you mean the sort of people who tell you to drink disinfectant to cure Covid? Wow... much going out on a limb to shoe-horn in an out of context, ridiculously politically motivated and completely incorrect comment... ???

You want a photo of a mans swollen, bloody and severely bruised penis, which resembles an aubergine ??? ????????????????

I doubt so too. I am not aware of this card, I wonder how many other Brits are. I’m sure its readily available, but it takes a specific mindset to ‘hunt out’ information regarding such cover, which may not even cross the mind of those who’ve never thought about such issues before. Perhaps this is the issue - it's not arrogance, its simple lack of familiarity with such issues (of course, called out as ‘arrogance and racist’ by Brit haters looking for a cheap dig ?) Wow... because a motorcyclist is involved in an accident they are arrogant and racist ???? - thats some impressive hyperbolic reasoning....

Purely anecdotal... other anecdote suggests the UK NHS is much better - the experience depends very much on which hospital and in which area you end up (in either country). Agreed... there are good travel insurance companies. BUT, there is also another facet to this issue that some companies are misleading in the level of cover provided, particularly with credit cards etc... some cards ’sell’ themselves with loads of perks including travel insurance etc... often this cover is minimal at best and some people may be travelling under a false understanding of the cover they have. The policy wording can often be far less vague and ambiguous - the language used in the policies can often be confusing, even for the educated (non-lawyers). Then of course, there are plenty of those who are ‘just chancers’ and travel with the full knowledge they have no cover and the belief ‘it won’t happen to them’... What were you staying about the ‘education system again’ ????... (if you’re going down the ‘education road’ its perhaps better that you don’t allow your own writing to betray your own flaws !!!) ????

I’d argue that it's not the value on life which contributors to this thread have held in low regard, rather its the higher value many of us have placed in recognising the irony of a petty thief being the architect of his own demise.

Why Darwin Awards... at 45 years of age its likely he’d already contributed to the gene pool !!!

Skiing was the main one for us... BUT, its not easy to examine the policy before buying, I found it difficult to get hold of policy details and even any specific information on this before buying. This was Health Insurance rather than Travel insurance and the Companies were being extremely vague regarding cover... As I wrote; at one point their response was that they’d assess extent of injury before deciding if we were covered. I interpreted that as “we’ll see how expensive the medical care would be before we decide if we’ll pay out”... We were covered in the end, but it took a lot of back and forth to get that guarantee in writing. I’ve since reduced the level of cover we have to inpatient cover only, and use World Nomads for our overseas trips (to ensure cover for possible out patient treatment from ski injuries / baggage loss etc and such similar potential issues on our trips).

Since when have businesses in Thailand cared for or even considered safety of the customer ? Its illegal to rent a motorcycle to someone without a license in Thailand, this has been mentioned numerous times by the Police, who invariably have a crack-down on one or two shops following a Russian or Arab in Pattaya decapitating himself on a 1000cc sports bike. The businesses are never held accountable so its not in their interest at all do do anything about unlicensed riders using cheap illegal (substandard) or no helmets.... Whereas in the other nations (i.e. the UK / France etc)... Anyone renting a car or bike has to show a full licence, if they have an incident and they are not licensed the rental company can be accountable. Additionally... anyone riding a motorcycle without a helmet does not get very far at all until stopped and fined a lot of money.

No it's not... ‘your version of putting yourself in danger’ is different from mine.... Is getting on the back of a motorcycle taxi putting yourself in danger ?... With a thin plastic helmet ? Insurance companies CAN do better at outlining what is not covered - they never make it that clear because they want to attract the customer and not frighten them away with exclusions knowing many will not read the pages of details. Agreed.... Should insurance companies also insist that we wear a full face ECE rated helmet when going on a motorcycle rather than a Big C plastic bucket ? Mini-vans and safety in the same sentence is somewhat of an oxymoron.... In the car yesterday my Wife and I both noticed a Mini-van behind me, driving considerately and not tailgating us... We both commented on the rarity of seeing a considerate mini-van driver !!! No you don’t... you take Mini-vans !!! (ok, a bit harsh... IF you are privately hiring minivans you can control the driver - but if you are taking a public mini-van the drivers are generally lunatics and you have no control over their speed or driving). What rack ???... you mean a shop or do motorcycle rental shops have racks ? (I have a number of helmets in my house - Bell (closed face), Bell (Open Face), Shoei (Modular) AVG (open face - the last one mail ordered to Phuket when I was sandboxing there for 2 weeks and hired a motorcycle - I refuse to use rental helmets... because, the best one on the rack is still rubbish). This shows you are making stuff up... No motorcycles use drum brakes anymore.... And... Chose one with ABS. You mean you wear full body gear (riding boots, riding pants, riding jacket with armour, Gloves and full-face helmet) ?????...... If you don’t you’re being hypocritical..... And... no insurance offers you are ‘more likely to be covered if you have worn kit to improve your chances of survival’... it simply stipulates you must have followed the law (and the law is to wear a helmet and ride licensed). 100% Agree..... But where is that line ????...... I’ve been on elephants and never once considered that my insurance would not be valid because its considered a ‘dangerous activity’... ... So is rafting also dangerous ? what about the water-park..... the ’dangerous clause’ offers the insurance company way too much wiggle room IMO. UK law doesn't matter in other countries, only the law of that country matters and any further clauses an insurance company would add. i.e. Do insurance companies cover pillion passengers with a cheapo- plastic helmet ? apparently so, but that helmet would be illegal in the UK.... it may also be illegal in Thailand too as there are safety standards here, but the issue is that they are not so commonly followed or enforced, there are also many counterfeit items).

Just reading the policy coverage would have saved you wasting your money, no one to blame but you. Recently when switching medical insurance policies (for my Wife and Son) I narrowed the choice down to a selection of 5 Companies / Policies - I requested the details (the detailed Policy cover - including what some would call the small print). I was told I could only receive this once confirming / taking out the cover. I’m not sure if this was down the broker or the individual companies themselves.

Can you post that list ?.... (screen print of that policy section). - I think it was both April and LUMA that I had to push to give me a list a number of years ago, its very good of LUMA to now provide specifics.

It comes down to age as well.... when I was young I was under the impression that the travel insurance provided by my ‘credit card’ sufficient cover... why wouldn’t I ????.... when I took the card that was one of the main points of the advertising (full travel insurance) so when I received the card I thought I was covered whenever I travelled (turns out I needed to book the travel through the ‘cards travel provider, or some such similar technicality’). I’m sure many others have fallen into that trap / been mistaken and look back and realise they were lucky. The No Helmets / Riding while drunk / without a licence etc are also issues - I know this is common sense, but Insurance companies could be a lot clearer with their exclusions, particularly in key areas of cover. (i.e. on front page - NOT COVERED IF RIDING WITHOUT A LICENCE, WITHOUT A HELMET OR WHILE INTOXICATED) Regarding the main article: Since when was this considered a ‘hazardous sport’ ??.... I’ve done this, my family have all done this - IF such activities are considered dangerous insurance policies need to **list them, not hide behind vague wording ‘DANGEROUS ACTIVITIES’ because what I considered dangerous may be different and if an insurance company is not specific on this, their wording simply gives them wiggle room when the underwriter decides the claim is too high and ’rafting down a river’ or ‘falling off an elephant’ (or horse etc) was a ‘DANGEROUS ACTIVITY’.... This is untrue - Driving in Thailand on a UK licence is legal, there is also misconception that an IDP is needed (it not for a Licence issued in English from a country which is signatory to 1968 Vienna convention on road traffic). (*Note: if the driver is a resident (i.e. on a Non-Immigrant Visa) they need to have a Thai Licence). I don't care to get into the nth debate about these facts and the various interpretations surrounding the vagueness of the Thai Land Traffic Act etc (That said: I would advise any tourist to also get an IDP and any resident to get a Thai licence to avoid such debates with ether the police or an insurance company etc). ---------- **Regarding Elephant tracking being considered a dangerous sport. No insurance policy I have ever read mentions this. A while back it took me two months to obtain clarification from an insurance company regarding their wording ‘dangerous activities’... their response was repeatedly vague and ambiguous... At one point the response was something along the lines of “cover (for skiing) will be decided upon based on the extent of the injuries in the event of an accident”, when pushed on this they responded that they’d decided IF in the event of injury they’d interpret if we were skiing dangerously based on the extent of injury... Which, IMO was utterly ridiculous. Eventually after a lot of back and forth and pushing them into corners I received a list and of specifics regarding cover. - Skiing (any country On Piste and / or Off-piste with a guide) - [full cover] - Bicycling (in Thailand, on roads) - [full cover] - Mountain biking (on and off road) - [full cover] - Wakeboarding / water skiing (in Thailand) - [full cover] - Motorcycling (in Thailand, on roads) - [full cover when licensed] - Motorcycle Taxi (in Thailand) - [full cover / no mention of helmet or not] - Taxi (in Thailand) - [full cover / no mention of seatbelt wearing or not] - Diving - [full cover - when recreational diving IF certified (PADI) or with an instructor] - Competitive Sports - [when not professional - fully covered] Things I didn’t think of... - Rafting / Elephant riding / Bungee jumping / SkyDiving / *crossing the road !!!... (*potetnially one of the most dangerous activities in Thailand !) The Point with my List is that it took two months to push the insurance company to be specific - their initial ambiguity provided them with sufficient wiggle room to avoid a claim, I accused them of such. At that point I was a few months away from needing renewal cover and wanted to ‘win’ and push them to give specific responses just to see how far they would go to avoid specifics and potentially avoid responsibility. IMO, they’re [insurance companies] are all as bad as each other and look for the smallest of reasons not to pay out.

Another facet of Thailands roads is that they are simply so very very busy.... There is a huge amount of freight which not only significantly impacts traffic, but also damages roads which require more frequent repairs, additionally, when accidents involve freight lorries the (the common break failure and lap-nai) the impact is far more tragic. .... I’m wondering why much of this freight cannot be placed on rail. This rail freight could also subsidise passenger travel

Considering how young they start, a nice little highway code book taught in schools would make sense to me. Once the road is complete though, I will hate going to the Nakhon Pathom transport office even more. It's immediately after the exit road of it, making it incredibly dangerous to enter from the current Malainman Road. TIT. Life Skills !!.... Schools teach so many subjects which are of-course important, but none more so than those which can save their lives... Basic safety and attitudes towards safety are sorely lacking in Thailand. Nearly every person in Thailand will drive a car or ride a bike, teaching road safety in Schools along with other important subjects such as water safety, electrical safety and road safety would go a long way towards filling the gap that so abundantly missing amongst a significant proportion of Thailands population. This is not a Thai bash, I also argue that road safety and ‘drivers education’ is an incredibly important factor of general education which is missing in the UK... We have strong driver training, but very poor training with regards to pedestrian and cycling safety etc. A lot of 'life skills’ are not taught in schools and children move into adulthood often missing important skills.

Agreed.... But is there any harm in carrying emergency cash anyway ? - a different subject perhaps. Regardless - the entry requirements are exactly that, whether they are hardly ever checked or not. I wouldn’t advise anyone not to bring cash. The Op asked the question what the entry requirements are... as usual, many are highlighting that the some of those entry requirements are rarely checked. In other threads guys are stating that they are never checked for onward flights etc. All somewhat moot: The Op asked for facts and those facts were provided.

Agreed... the chances of being checked for Cash is extremely limited, but not unheard of. Op asked for facts... Entry requirements - and that is 20k baht and onward ticket.

The tail gating of some of these guys is horrific… Recently I had a couple of drivers at what appeared to be about 2m behind me. Usually I just get out of their way, but I couldn’t… middle lane was full, I was following traffic at about *130kmh…. Nowhere for me to go… it infuriates me how they so readily and carelessly place others in danger. A couple of days ago I had one of those old lorry’s (the ones with extra wide mudflaps) hitting his horn for me to get out of the way, as above, about 120kmh & nowhere for me to get out if his way too.

Liverpool Lou giving another classic example of being Liverpool Lou…. …. Arguing the technicality of a word rather than discussing the issue at hand. & on that point - if all the taxi drivers are in cahoots and illegally refusing to use the meter and instead charging inflated rates, it’s a scam & the drivers are ‘scammers’…

Agreed… but are you suggesting the AOT limos are cheating & taking passengers for fools because they charge more for better service ? IMO it’s ‘some’ of the metered taxis who cheat and take passengers fir fools which is why some prefer to avoid them when there are reasonable alternatives.

Officially…. - A return ticket ( within visa exempt duration). - 20,000 baht currency equivalent in cash. Some will argue and use anecdote that they have never needed these, however, those are the requirements. Some may argue a credit card is ok for the cash requirement, again, that’s not so clear. As far as covid is concerned… no longer any requirements for PCR or fax cert etc.

A mates mum arrived, he couldn’t pick her up (working)… The metered taxi took her all over Bkk on an 800 baht journey (which should have been 400 baht. Another mate arrived with family, the metered driver fell asleep at 100 kmh… the screamed as the driver veered towards the wall, drive woke up, incident averted. Both now use AOT… that’s not to suggest risk is completely eliminated, but the probability of fukwittery is significantly reduced. If on your own and you know bkk and the usual tricks then go for it and save a few baht.

I’d also be ok with a metered taxi, but they can be a hassle I don’t want after a long trip…. Are people really concerned about the difference between $12 & $35 ? I’m cheap and there’s a lot I won’t pay ‘extra’ for…an extra $23 for a guaranteed 100% hassle free trip in from the airport is not a tough choice IMO, Pleb or otherwise…. Some people sometimes get too close to the trees and can’t see the forest….

Agreed… but it won’t happen. Years ago I was involved in a collision with ‘one of these vans’… speeding down the wrong side of the road, no licence, no insurance, running a ‘service’…. In the police station I watched a 3rd party (the boss) arrive & envelope of what I assume to be money (about 1” thick) change hands, Police decided it was my fault… I refused it accept blame or sign any document. After a few hours of back & forth with the other guys story changing the BiB we’re getting frustrated (with the op an driver not me)… in the end we were sent to a district station where the chief stated the accident was 50:50…. The van driver also stated it was his 3rd accident in as many months… Police were simply not interested in the legality of the van / driver… I imagine most vans / drivers are the same.