rana391

Time for an update.

I have received a letter from the widow. The tone of the letter is a lot less threatening than the attitude of the rest of the family and their lawyers.

Basically she is claiming to be USD $120.000.00 in debt to the bank and is now willing to settle for USD $150.000.00. If I settle she has promised to have all charges (pending or otherwise) removed.

There is a veiled threat to pursue me through the Australian embassy if I do not put the money in her bank this month.

Comments are welcome.

Thanks

Rana

Oops.

Typo for sure. Make it $14.5 million Baht. Don't know how good a book would be. It has certainly been an experience though (one I could have done without).

Rana

Hi

She is the legal next of kin, however she seems to be influenced by the other members of the family and will not make any decision till she has consulted with them and their Lawyer.

There appears to be no extradition in place between Thailand and Australia at the moment. Again I am no expert but I think it would be highly unlikely. In Australia I doubt I would have been charged at all!

Rana

I am back in Oz and avoiding Thailand at the moment.

Basically I skipped bail and left the country as soon as I could. Any faith I had in the legal system dissapeared rapidly after my brief holiday in government supplied accommodation.

My wife and another new lawyer are still trying to negotiate to get me back into Thailand but I do not hold out much hope.

Some highlights of what has happened since my last post.

When things started going pear shaped in court my lawyer at the time apparently told the Judge he was only there to translate and was not acting as my lawyer.

The second lawyer we hired to negotiate with the family and liaise with the courts sent many bills and gave regular updates. However it now appears he never contacted anyone and all feed back he gave was fictitious! No contact was made with either the family, the court or the police.

The new lawyer (I have lost count now) has spoken to the dead mans wife. She apparently would have been happy with 50,000 Baht but the rest of the deceased mans family and lawyer are the ones looking for the multi million amount.

One of the strange things I do not understand is the lack of any blood alcohol results! There was a full medical done to prove that the dead man was in perfect health with no tumors, heart disease or cancers of any kind therefore allowing him to work till he was 75 years old. But despite many requests we have been unable to establish if any blood alcohol tests were done.

I will update if there is any progress

Rana

I am still around. Long story short, I got bail and left the country not to return. I had to leave behind a great life, several assets and a bunch of Thai people that wanted me in jail if I didn't pay up.

Any faith I had in the Thai system faded quickly when my insurance company started lying to me as well. I couldn't tell who if anyone had been offered a cut of the payoff but I had a lot of people showing way too much interest in me and my case.

Rana

Hi Ray

120,000 Baht. I was lucky I did not trust the insurance and made sure I had plenty of Baht in my briefcase.

C

And one that speaks English!

C

Hi Guys

OP here. Just heard back from Liberty insurance, they are not going to refund my outlay for the bail and may not supply legal help. Liberty's agent in Nakhon Sawon thinks they will be out of business soon. Liberty insurance is the company that Toyota were using when they sold us the Fortuner. As you can imagine this is extremely distressing to my wife and myself.

I will post more info soon.

Thanks all for your support.

C

Hi Guys

OP here. Just heard back from Liberty insurance, they are not going to refund my outlay for the bail and may not supply legal help. Liberty's agent in Nakhon Sawon thinks they will be out of business soon. Liberty insurance is the company that Toyota were using when they sold us the Fortuner. As you can imagine this is extremely distressing to my wife and myself.

I hope that TV insurance do not promote products from Liberty insurance.

I will post more info soon.

Thanks all for your support.

C

I am amazed at the volume of responses I have received. Obviously this is a subject that concerns many.

I will try and answer the queries raised shortly

My wife is coming back to Oz on Saturday, hopefully with more news of any further developments. She has been speaking to the Insurance rep and my lawyer.

Once again I appreciate the level of support you guys have shown.

C

Thanks for the comments. I will keep updating as things progress.

I don't understand why the post has been moved to from general to this forum, the post is more about the court system and the legal implications than about motorbikes.

I have met a few Farangs that have had similar accidents but none involving fatalities or court cases. My main concern is that the family may push for jail time or attempt to have my bail revoked. As far as I can see they have no security even if they win a judgment against me there are no assets to seize. Most other court judgments I have seen on the net the relatives have been paid a nominal amount, they then state to the court they have been compensated and this reflects in the penalty imposed by the court. I don't know how it affects the penalty if the family is not paid off.

C

Thanks for the comments. I will keep updating as things progress.

A nurse from a local hospital stopped and rendered first aid to the motorcyclist but it did not look good from the moment I saw him.

I do have first class insurance but their initial offer was 200k, this has now been reduced to 100k. The family want money from the insurance and also from me as an individual.

There is no property in either my wife's name or mine, they have threatened action against my wife as the car is in her name.

We have not been able to get any report on the blood alcohol level from the deceased.

I have met a few Farangs that have had similar accidents but none involving fatalities or court cases. My main concern is that the family may push for jail time or attempt to have my bail revoked. As far as I can see they have no security even if they win a judgment against me there are no assets to seize. Most other court judgments I have seen on the net the relatives have been paid a nominal amount, they then state to the court they have been compensated and this reflects in the penalty imposed by the court. I don't know how it affects the penalty if the family is not paid off.

C

I am thinking the same. Not a good feeling!

C

Sorry if I have been unclear with the timing.

The accident was approx 4 months ago. After the accident I returned to Australia for approx 1-2 weeks prior to returning to meet with the family and the insurance. After the meeting my passport was held by the police for 2 months until they lodged the paperwork with the court at which time I received my passport back. The court then gave me a date to come back and talk to the prosecutor, I once again returned to Oz for 7-10 days before returning for the initial meeting approx 26th of November (this was the meeting when they were too busy to see myself and my lawyer). This was then rescheduled to approx 16th December. I was put in the cells, eventually granted bail and returned to Oz on the 18th December. My next appointment in court is the 16th of Feb.

Please accept my apologies for any vagueness, this as you can imagine has been a very stress full and taxing time.

C

Thanks all for the helpful and sympathetic replies.

The insurance company was Liberty insurance, 200k bail bond seems to be standard here. We have asked for the results of any blood test however we have had no answer. apparently we do not get to see the evidence in the case before the next stage in the court. The rider was in the wrong lane (far right lane overtaking a truck) but apparently was not speeding, I am a little cynical of that statement. The truck he was overtaking stopped briefly then drove off. The family is not negotiating at all, they want their 14,500.000 plus the insurance money.

I do not know what happens in court if the family is not happy with the offers put before them. The similar incidents I have found on the net all seem to have the settlement with the family in place and this is reflected by the judges decision.

The police appear to have been very fair and I have no real complaints with the way they have handled the situation. The charges were a result of the families complaints and the police did appear to try and talk the family out of pursuing it further.

I certainly did not appreciate flying back to Thailand from Australia for my first appointment with the prosecutor, driving with my lawyer from Bangkok to Nakhon Sawon arriving at the appointed time to be told they were to busy to see us that day and to reschedule! When we returned for the next meeting I was placed in the cells with assorted long term and short term residents while my bail hearing took place, I had no warning of this (in fact quite the opposite) I had my wallet, my gold ring and my phone with me, all attracted a lot of interest and several attempts to separate me from my money! My lawyer was shocked at what happened and I think was more upset than I was. It is not something I wish to repeat.

C

No witnesses but there appears to be no dispute as to what happened, we do not get access to the evidence from the prosecutor until after the first hearing apparently . In fact the accident itself seems irrelevant to the case!

C

Unfortunately I was involved in a fatal motorbike accident in Nakhonsawan.

The Motorcyclist was not wearing a helmet and struck his head on the road and died a few hours later. Initially the police laid no charges and left it to the insurance company and I to negotiate with the family. I have first class insurance, they initially offered 200k baht which was rejected out of hand. They demanded 300k from the insurance and 14,500.000 from me. The insurance company refused and the family then insisted I was charged. I have now been charged with reckless driving causing death and the family is pursuing me with great vigor through the courts for 14,500,000 baht. The fact he was not wearing a helmet and being in the wrong lane etc. does not seem to be important to either the family or the police.

My insurance company is not being overly helpful, even though my insurance includes a bail bond of 200k I ended up posting my own bail as it seemed the insurance company was not too enthusiastic about paying and delayed the process while I spent some time with some interesting characters in the cells!

One of the major concerns I have is the family is bring a lawyer up from Bangkok to assist the prosecutor at the first hearing. Neither my lawyer or myself can understand that. I have not entered a plea at this stage.

If anyone can help me understand the process it would be greatly appreciated.

C

I have first class insurance but they initially offered 200k baht, which was rejected. The insurance also included a bail bond of 200k however I ended up posting my own bail as it seemed the insurance company was not too enthusiastic about paying and delayed the process while I spent some time with some interesting characters in the cells!

Initially I was not charged by the police.

The major concern I have is the family is bring a lawyer up from Bangkok to assist the prosecutor at the first hearing. Neither my lawyer or myself can understand that.

C

Unfortunately I was involved in a fatal motorbike accident in Nakhonsawan. I will make another post in general asking for advise with some of the developments in the case later. The Motorcyclist was not wearing a helmet and struck his head on the road and dies a few hours later. I have been charged with reckless driving causing death and the family is pursuing me with great vigor through the courts for 14,500,000 baht. The fact he was not wearing a helmet does not seem to be important.

C

Anyone remember a tv programme about a car race where they drove across many countries including Thailand in Ferraris Porsches etc? I remember the competitors scored extra points by getting a Thai police officer give them his gun to hold.

Don't forget you need import approvals and ADR compliance for late model cars. I think if the car is over 15 years old it is easier.

C

Hi Guys

The dragon is coming back to Oz with me for a while and wants to drive around scaring the natives!

Where do we get her an international permit? Of course she does have a valid Thai licence, obtained after many years of highly skilled advanced training and many more months of dedicated study of the rules(of course being Thai she condensed it down to nearly a week in total). I have done a search and can find references to Farangs driving in Thailand with one but not vice versa.

Any help appreciated.

Rana

Hi Guys

I will be spending far more time in my apartment in Ratchada now I have everything for my company on line. I am still in Oz at the moment but I was wondering how I go getting ADSL connected through the swithboard in my apartment block? As far as I know you can't ring direct to my apartment rather you ring the apartment office and they get the apartment number and patch the call through. When I call out I think I pay per call. Any recommended ADSL suppliers? True is just in the Lotus around the corner but I used CSLoX for my dialup.

Thanks

Rana