Baannok

No, as I said I have NOT signed or paid anything at all (except for insurance papers for the hospital bills).

So if paying the fine will close the case, that seems like a good option for me to do, no? I don't know if the policeman will let me do it though, as the more I think about it, he's on the samlor's side because he feels sorry for him and wants to help him squeeze money out of me. As I wrote above, he did not mention the fine at all during the meeting. It ended with "if you two can not agree on anything, I will get statements from the doctors on your injuries and you can take this further to court". I've since been told that this is won't really work in court by forum members here and Thais I've talked to.

If you have already accepted and payed an official fine to the police, they can not start a criminal case against you. The the samlor needs to start a sivil case against you, which costs money and is unlikely

Interesting, can anyone else confirm this? I have not yet signed or paid anything. I have asked for them to give us some time to get the money (more time for me to think about this).

Thanks. If I was wealthy I'd refuse to pay anything (except the fine) and see how far this goes, just for fun. However, as I'm on a terrible Thai salary, I really don't want to risk getting in more trouble. As much as I'd like to give them 2 or 3k, I'll never forgive myself if it backfires and I end up paying tens of thousands later on in legal fees just because of 10k. It's painful to lose money like this but it's not the end of the world.

I do believe that what you, MikeyIdea, write should be correct but without someone like a lawyer going with me it's hard to argue against them.

Thanks for your replies. They called my gf and said they would accept her offer of 5000 + repair of samlor (7000), total 12000. I was a bit upset when I heard this as I think this is too much. However, she is tired of dealing with this (so am I really) and a few other Thai people I've talked to say I should just pay it to get this over with (as this is Thai culture and you are the farang, haha).

I'd like to do what MikeyIdea suggests, pay him 5000 and 1000 for the repairs, if they don't take it, go to court. However, I'm not rich and I would hate to end up spending tens of thousands on lawyers and court fees if they really manage to take it to court. I also get a feeling the police will get a slice of the 12000. He made it clear, like MikeyIdea said, that the judge will most likely sympathize with the samlor driver as he was hurt more and he is poorer than me. The Thais (on my side) I've spoken to said the police will back the samlor driver as he is poorer than me, not because I was at fault.

Anyway, I have NOT signed anything yet of course. My gf says she will go and pay 10000 tomorrow if I agree. So I'm posting this to see what you guys will reply with tonight.

Edit:

The police did not mention any 400 baht fine. Perhaps he will bring it up tomorrow (if I pay...). I will make sure that both parties pay it otherwise it would be only my fault, right?

Basically this whole thing boils down to: Can he really sue me?

Yes: Then pay him 10k. He asked for 12 but I think he will be happy with 10.

No: Give him a few thousand, maybe 3k. I do feel a bit sorry for him as he is old and so on.

Insurance unfortunately did not cover repairs of our vehicles, only hospital bills. I'll make sure to upgrade it now.

Back from the police station. Police was fairly neutral, saying as there were no witnesses (there probably were but nobody stopped to give a statement I guess), he could not say who was at fault. It's my story against the samlor. He said that the samlor was not supposed to have crossed the road where he did, and I was not supposed to be in the right lane. The samlor asked for 30,000 baht. I offered them 4000 baht, which I already think is too much. They were not happy and said they will sue. The police said we should solve this matter now as suing will cost both parties a lot more money than 30,000. My girlfriend was with me and she wants to see and end to this, so (without asking me) she offered them 5000 + we would repair his bike. They said they will meet again at 2pm and tell their decision to the police. It is now 3pm and we have not yet heard anything from them. The police said if we can not agree on anything, he will ask the doctor (who took care of us at the hospital) to write down our injuries and then the samlor driver can use it in court to prove that he was more injured than me and I should be responsible.

I have never sued anyone but according to most people I've talked to it should not be an easy thing to do and where they will get the money to hire a lawyer I don't know. He is claiming that repairing the bike costs something like 7000 and he hasn't been able to work for months. So I guess it's back to waiting again.

How likely do you guys think it is that he will be able to sue me?

Alright, time for an update. The police (not old lady) called this time for a meeting tomorrow. I'll do what MikeyIdea and others have told me. 400 baht fine for the police and maybe 1000 or 2000 for the samlor driver. If they want more, let them take it to the district attorney. Let's hope they are not good friends with the district attorney...

Anything else I should prepare beforehand?

True about right lanes and motorbikes, but somlor's also must stay to the left unless turning/overtaking. I assume you aren't in an area where pedaled samlors are illegal, such as anywhere in Bangkok?

This happened in Nonthaburi. We went to the Nonthaburi police station. Samlor claims he was in the middle of the road (a small bridge without streetlights) waiting to cross. Is it by Thai law required to cross only at zebra crossings? I also tried to find out whether samlors are legal in that area (on krungtep-nonthaburi rd) but wasn't able to find anything.

We have not heard anything back from the police or anyone. I'll keep you guys updated if anything further happens. Once again, thank you all for your replies.

A little update

I simply translated it myself, signed it myself, and handed it to them, and said "No, my embassy won't stamp anything with Thai script. If you need it stamped, take it yourself to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Cheang Wattana and you deal with it."

This is pretty much what happened. I went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (on a different matter) and brought the translation along (translated by a certified translator) to see what would happen. They refused to stamp it because it did not have an embassy stamp. So I went to my embassy where they, of course, refused to stamp the translation. As BuddhistDruid said, they don't stamp anything with Thai script on it. They were kind enough to stamp a copy of my passport and said it should be enough to get the people at the Ministry to stamp the translation.

We have been to the khet office and they said all the paperwork was fine except for the translation of my passport which requires

1. translator stamp

2. embassy stamp

3. ministry of foreign affairs stamp

They showed me a folder full of other foreign fathers who had both stamps so apparently in the khet we need to go to (Jatujak), this is now a requirement. Just a heads up if any of you guys are planning to have a kid around there. I wonder what would happen if we had the baby somewhere in rural Thailand. Would they really force the father to go all the way to Bangkok? I hope the laws there might be a bit more relaxed.

Thanks for all your replies. One police officer said it was my fault as I was in the right lane, apparently motorcyclist are only supposed to be in the left lane. I don't think it was an official "verdict" or something and I did not admit or sign anything of course. If this goes to court I'll say I was about to make a right turn. The samlor driver says (most likely adviced by the old police woman friend) that he was walking with the samlor across the road, not riding the samlor. Maybe in court I can counter with that he did not cross the road at a zebra crossing.

Anyway, I've spoken to some more people and most say to not worry too much about it. It's kind of hard not to though as who knows what having some connections and corruption can do in this country.

Hello all

About a month ago I was in a motorcycle accident. I hit a samlor (the three wheeled bicycle kind, not tuktuk) at night. I was in the right lane and he merged from the opposing lane. It was dark so I did not see him. We were both taken to the hospital and I had surgery. Not sure how hurt the samlor driver was. A few days after the accident we met with relatives of the samlor driver who said perhaps we could help him out to repair his samlor. They mentioned it might cost around 700 to 1000 baht. We did not agree on anything back then but just said we'll discuss it later when both of us have recovered.

Now it turns out the samlor driver has a friend at the police station. A nasty old lady. I'm not certain of her exact position but she does some kind of work there. She did not wear a uniform. We were called to the police station and met up with samlor driver, a relative of his and this old lady. She was not even interested to hear our side of the story and was very rude throughout the whole conversation. She said it was 100% my fault. No police officer came in to be the middleman during the conversation. We asked the samlor driver: "if it is our fault, what do you want us to do?" He did not reply. Neither of us admitted of being guilty, so both parties left the police station. The old lady was very upset and called me names. I kept myself cool throughout the whole ordeal.

Now I'm not sure what will happen but I think we will be called to the police station again, hopefully talk with a real police officer then. Meanwhile I'm worried about what this lady can do. I don't know if she has the power to get me into more trouble, sue (bribe judges etc) or whatever. She wants us to talk with her instead of to the samlor driver, most likely because she can come up with whatever she wants and demand more money than the samlor driver would dare. I would like to refuse to talk or meet her again as she was very rude, but maybe that is not possible.

So my question is, what should I do at this stage? We could try to contact the samlor driver directly and offer him some money, but I'm sure this old lady has instructed him to not accept any small offers. I would not want to pay more than 1-2000 baht as mentioned in the first meeting. I don't think the accident was entirely my fault, I was also hurt (needed surgery) and had to pay for repairs of my bike. The motorcycle insurance took care of the hospital bills for both of us, though he claims it was not enough for him. I've spoken to some Thai friends and some of them says I shouldn't worry too much as it is a small matter and the other party is unlikely to sue as it will take a long time and cost them more money and effort than it is worth. My concern is this old lady at the police station and what she can do.

BhuddistDruid: Thanks! I'm going back to the hospital tomorrow with my own translated papers. Will use your embassy would not stamp excuse. We'll see how it goes

Thanks Mario. I've read your stickied thread about how to become the legal father too. Good info. Well, I'll try to get hold of a translator and see if they'll accept it without any embassy stamps.

I've actually already written my name in Thai on some of their paperwork already. So anyone else been through this? Was it alright to translate yourself and have your embassy stamp it?

Alright so we just had a baby and we are not married. I'm a foreigner, she's Thai. The hospital (or one of the nurses actually) asked me to get my passport translated and stamped by my country's embassy. It was quite clear she wasn't certain of what exactly was needed as she first said I need to translate every single page of the passport (yeah right... that's over 30 pages) but then after some discussion it was just the photo page and the latest arrival stamp, I think! So has anyone else been through this? I just want to clarify what exactly it is they need.

1. Translation from English to Thai of photo page and latest entry stamp in passport.

2. Translation stamped by my country's embassy.

That's what I think they need. I think it's a bit silly that they need to translate something in English to Thai. I think I can do it myself but I'm sure it requires a certified translator that charges 100 baht per word or something silly. Would it be possible to translate by ourselves? Anything else I need?

No sound for me either. Running Vista Home Premium.

Internet banking?

Thanks Rikker!

Anyone know where the แบ๋ว in แอบแบ๋ว comes from? I know แอบ means to hide but can't find แบ๋ว in the dictionary. I'm guessing it's a loan word. If I understand the word correctly, it means to make yourself prettier/cuter than you really are. Is that correct?

Edit: Nevermind, found the meaning here: http://asda.exteen.com/20070502/entry but still curious about แบ๋ว

There's that funny morlam\ country song from a few months back by..... Lard Prao? making fun of upcountry, men' drinking Thai whisky' etc, the word bannork must appear about 200 times in that song. it's all lighthearted.

I remember Sunari Ratchasima's song from about 15 years ago, I forget the title but it had the line' you bannork khong rao deekwa;- better to live upcountry, (people more honest and caring).

She has a great voice and still looks stunning.

Hello fellow บ้านนอก. The song you're thinking of is สาวลาดพร้าว (Sao Lad Prao) by สาวมาด. Another song by สาวมาด with a similar theme is ดาวมหาลัย (Dow Mahalai). Check them both out on youtube, the videos are great.

Or buy one of those keyboard sticker sets (20-30 baht) and put thai stickers on every key.

I've only been to the old consulate before and was surprised to discover the new one (have not been following this thread). The new one is of course much nicer as there is now an actual queing system and you're allowed to sit down. If I go again I'll make sure to bring my laptop as there are plenty of chairs and power points upstairs.

Also, what's with the complete lack of Africans now? Did the Thais change the laws or something?

Yes, that would be great. Baannok what do you think? Can I put your sound board on my web site??

Sure, go ahead. I wish I could get started on the vowel soundboard but I've just been too busy lately. Feel free to download the swf and html to upload on your website.

What a shame I can't use your app offline! I'd like to practice in the privacy of my room or wherever I travel where there is no internet connection

Jamie: Please, please, please tell me there is a way to download this. I don't have a permanent internet connection and want to use this offline. Also, can you make this completely keyboard based? I touch type so I'd prefer not to use the mouse at all. Perhaps map the listen again button to a key that is not used (1/! for example).

Thai Alphabet Soundboard v1.0

Alright, since I won't see the lady who did the voice work for a week or more, I decided to just correct all non-audio stuff and release it as version 1. I don't like to have almost-completed stuff lying around.

Features in upcoming version:

- Male voice

- Maybe some fixes to the female voice

The vowel soundboard should take form this weekend.

You have to understand that this is not a Pattaya news story and therefore takes longer to arrive.

Ah yes, according to the OP, just two days! Well done!