simple1

Don't forget to buy First Class insurance, do not just use 3rd class

You can't buy 1st class insurance on cars over 7 years??? old. I'm sure if I am wrong someone will correct me.

True you cannot buy first class insurance on an older car. Not sure if it is 7 years. The insurance company I used said 10 years. However you can increase the public liability insurance to whatever amount you wish. I increased pl & pd on my wifes car to 5 million bahts..Lets face it if you are driving an old car you don't really care about the damage to your car. But if you run into a new mercedes benz and total it you want to make sure your have enough insurance to cover the damage. I guess if you happen to be unfortunate enough to kill someone in Thailand you don't need to have high pl & pd.. I read a few days ago on Thia visa about the bus accident in the south that killed 11 people..The insurance company is going to pay 400,000 bahts and the bus company 30,000 bahts.

If a foreigner has an accident and someone dies you need to have sufficient funds to cover the 200k baht bail bond. I admit I do not know if this facility is available via 3rd class insurance, but is provided with 1st class insurance. Anyone have the answer re facility with 3rd class insurance to cover bail bond? Of course the way around this would be to negotiate financial settlement with the aggrieved parties, but it is likely you will not be released from police custody until financial arrangements have been finalised.

Should be departs oz on Thai passport go to oz on Australian passport

No, if you have an Australian passport the visa for Australia in the Thai passport is cancelled. Therefore depart Oz with Australian passport, enter Thailand with Thai passport etc...

"Hello to all! quick ?, if I marry my fiancee here in Australia, would I still be obliged to pay sin sot? Would you? and would this change the amount?"

I lived in Australia for 17 years with my Thai wife, now living in Thailand.

No I would not pay Sin Sot. Why? Very likely that as part of the T&C's of fiancee moving to Australia will be monthly contributions to support her family in Thailand. To avoid any potential conflict this needs to be agreed/sorted out prior to the marriage. If luck is on your side the family will be self supporting, even so no sin Sot payment - need to communicate the message that it is not a component of Australia society. Many Thais moving to Australia will insist on making decisions according to "Thai style"; fair enough, but be aware. Again some unsolicited advice, with wife's social interaction with other Thai women, she will experience never ending gossip & could be an unpleasant experience for her.

EDIT: PM me if you would like to take this conversation offline.

Thankyou. Question answered.

I believe it's appropriate to clarify that when the close family children were old enough to start work and support their elders (who were very poor) we ceased sending family support monies. Even though the family support payments were not significant, by Australian standards, my wife agreed with me that we had "done the right thing" and needed to focus on saving for our future retirement. Every dollar counts etc... Now the family occasionally buy some fruit as a present for me, that's a really nice expression of thanks for past support.

Don't know about bars or it being to severe but apparently she's been moved to Bang Jo already. That's a prison farm Nth island where they grow veggies. for the "Big House". With a bit of luck one or two of the dikes in there might find her " attractive " and give her something to think about.

Apparently her boyfriend who stuck by her during her "ordeal " of sentence and appeal, has stuck by her even 'till now. The guys either got no brains or as we say in OZ, " She must be a helluva good root." Then again I guess not too many 20+ guys think with their big head. Like attracts like.

Hopefully peer pressure on ozzie soil will soon convince him otherwise !

Hopefully the Australian Government with invoke the Proceeds from Crime Act to ban her from selling her story to the media

Don't forget to buy First Class insurance, do not just use 3rd class

Would depend on the facilities the government hospital has in-place to treat your illness/accident e.g. MRI. Maybe a few communication challenges, at least with nursing staff.

EDIT: Members of my Thai family who have been seriously ill have received good treatment & I have seen foreigners in beds in the open ward. You can pay for a private room at the government hospitals; at least in the Chon Buri area

Seems the local police did a good job with this one. I'm guessing they knew who the suspect was right away but kept it quiet as they knew he left the country? If so, great work.

What a coward. Hope he gets put into a Thai jail for a very long time.

+1

"Hello to all! quick ?, if I marry my fiancee here in Australia, would I still be obliged to pay sin sot? Would you? and would this change the amount?"

I lived in Australia for 17 years with my Thai wife, now living in Thailand.

No I would not pay Sin Sot. Why? Very likely that as part of the T&C's of fiancee moving to Australia will be monthly contributions to support her family in Thailand. To avoid any potential conflict this needs to be agreed/sorted out prior to the marriage. If luck is on your side the family will be self supporting, even so no sin Sot payment - need to communicate the message that it is not a component of Australia society. Many Thais moving to Australia will insist on making decisions according to "Thai style"; fair enough, but be aware. Again some unsolicited advice, with wife's social interaction with other Thai women, she will experience never ending gossip & could be an unpleasant experience for her.

EDIT: PM me if you would like to take this conversation offline.

I have taken the wife and kids to Pattaya numerous times and the kids in particular love the hotels...Amari, Hilton, Holiday Inn, Hard Rock, The Zign. We are going again next month. The beach is ok for collecting shells and stuff.

You would not want to take your children along Beach Road after sunset with the hundreds of freelancers. With Pattaya you have to make a decision where not to take the kids. Jomtien? not in the high season with many foreigners parading with their young male prostitute. Also wouldn't allow the children to swim in the sea - still polluted. There are many places better than Pattaya to take children. Yes I live in Pattaya - why? because my wife was born and raised in Pattaya and how retired wishes to be close to her extended family.

No

My mum had a minor stroke at 85, l went back to UK to be with her. Whilst in hospital had another stroke and l was told the effected part of her brain is final for her. I asked ''what happens now', they said ''we stop food and water till she dies''. Hmmmmm, are your sure thats the only option ?

''Yes''

''How long does that take'', ''about five days''

Eleven days later she finally gave up. I sat there and watched her starve and dehydrate to death, with all the gory stuff that went with it. I said at the time ''can't she be helped on her way'', ''No, she must die by her own means''.

A very sad story, but regrettably not rare. Like others in this thread I have advised my wife that if I have a terminal illness let me have a dignified death. For those of you that are interested I have provided below the URL for a Thai Living Will that also comments on how the Thai medical profession handles terminal illness. Take it as you wish as I am not posting this info for a long argument of the pros & cons of the content., nor the source

http://www.pattayaci...g will form.pdf

I'm going to make a few rash assumptions as to guilt, but I find it absolutely delicious that years of training and possibly thousands of quid to finance a terrorist plot, it all goes down the drain because some idiot didn't pay the insurance on their vehicle. I hope after a couple of decades to think about it, they get deported back to whichever shit-hole they come from, even if it's Birmingham.

More than likely UK citizens.

No idea what PDS means. I am not Australian.

PDS - product description statement

Negative. It means Product Disclosure Statement, and there is a difference.

yes you're correct - my error

I did it my way - version by Sid Vicious

I just re-read the newspaper article and the injured party was traveling with his company boss. You would think that his employer would cover his medical expenses and sort out financial matters later.

1/ Why

2/ You are like most Thai's, you assume that all farangs have plenty of money, maybe his boss is not the CEO of some

large international company, maybe he's just a small shop keeper, who has come on holiday with his one employee.

Why not read the thread and do some basic research prior to posting such a comment. No I am not Thai, I am Australian living in Thailand. Australian federal law covers employees injured whilst working or during work related travel whether an SME/corporate or government entity. As already stated in this thread, obviously will not apply if on private holiday with manager.

I did not mean that you are Thai, what I meant is that you are thinking like a Thai.

I was replying to your first post.Perhaps you should re-read it.

As I said read the thread prior to posting and you would have had your answer

I just re-read the newspaper article and the injured party was traveling with his company boss. You would think that his employer would cover his medical expenses and sort out financial matters later.

1/ Why

2/ You are like most Thai's, you assume that all farangs have plenty of money, maybe his boss is not the CEO of some

large international company, maybe he's just a small shop keeper, who has come on holiday with his one employee.

Why not read the thread and do some basic research prior to posting such a comment. No I am not Thai, I am Australian living in Thailand. Australian federal law covers employees injured whilst working or during work related travel whether an SME/corporate or government entity. As already stated in this thread, obviously will not apply if on private holiday with manager.

So many people a oblivious to the financial risks they take when riding a motorbike here. $10,000 will not financially ruin you, but if a Thai is seriously injured or killed in the accident, the sky is the limit for the extortion that will be put on you - then, we are talking losing your life savings.

I thought a Thai life was valued at 25kbht by the courts.

Better to kill, than to injure.

Stirring the pot again?

I do not want to die. As stressful as my life can be, I have worked too hard to just say, mmkay, I'm crippled or incapacitated and I'm just going to toss the towel in and float away.......

I have obligations to some furry critters and I know that as long as I am breathing that I am doing some good for others.Perhaps some people are not in that position, or would be unwilling to fight for life. That's their personal choice, not mine. On the other hand, if I was a vegetable, I have no problem with the plug being pulled as I wouldn't want to spend my remaining days with tubes stuck in me, on life support, incapacitated. However, Mr. Death is going to have to fight it out with me in oher situations.I know that even with terminal cancer, there are painful actions I can take to prolong my life a few months or years. I will do it. I worked hard to put money aside for such a situation. That extra time will allow me to close things off and put my affairs in order. Besides, I want to keep living just to piss off those who want my money. Better yet, when I die and the critters get my money, I'll have the last laugh. On the other hand, if I am run down by an idiot driver, I'll never know, so who cares......

What you are descriping here was somehow, what I had in mind when I started this thread. If diagnosed with terminal cancer, I would try keep my self painfree for as long as possible and when that is not doable anymore, I'll drink my "Mexican medicine" and hopefully while waiting for it to work, think about all the good times I have had. I know it is very easy to say while still healthy, but that is my plan.

I mentioned the content of this thread to my wife, and she knows my position on this. After thinking about it for about 10 secs it came: "but who is going to feed the dogs?" Talking about having a pragmatic attitude towards death.

"Mexican medicine"? Please elaborate.

Nembutal (Pentobarbital) - go to following URL for an example:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/story?id=5481482&page=1#.T_eogJExDcw

I have read all the posts people are commenting about why? Insurance companies do not pay.

It is the sole directive of any insurance company to find out reason why NOT to pay first - it’s not about the person themselves - the insurance companies will spend literally ten’s of thousands or substantially more depending on the potential pay-out to avoid debits to the companies accounts across the entire organizations coverage spectrum whether its travel, auto, home or otherwise.

If they can con a person into believing they are not liable - they will.

In this case if the insurance company sold a product represented as "Full Coverage" it would infer the insurance company would pay for "hit and run" and/or “Uninsured” in the most obvious sense of drivers in Thailand fleeing the scene of any accident - no matter how large or small - which is so commonplace.

If this accident was not this man’s fault – not matter if he was on a motorcycle or not – the insurance company should pay – it’s like being struck by a falling rock – no matter who’s fault the rock was falling – the insurance company has represented the policy to be full coverage – to cover any and all accidents no matter what the cause.

The fact that they misled this individual for "full coverage" but excluded even 1 shred of coverage that would contradict their representation of "Full Coverage" in the most literal sense - this is quite disturbing and would be viewed the same by any court of law.

I think I would be safe to say the family should hire legal representation and sue the insurance company for fraudulent practice and neglect of execution of their contractual agreement for financial support of medical need.

This should be easy enough to prove the company representation of “Full Coverage Policy” during the sale of the policy and then subsequent failure to pay-out when it was required for seriously needed medical care.

It would be nice if any insurance professionals were to read this thread of discussions would jump into this conversation and elaborate with real facts and methodology of insurance company practices – but I think that would not happen because they would be divulging trade secrets they do not want their potential customers to know about.

I have had only a few experiences with insurance company pay-outs of friends and family – and on all cases they went into many areas of blood testing and other means to try and discredit or absolve themselves of any pay-outs - even when it was the other persons fault and the policy clearly stated uninsured and full coverage.

I have even had the insurance company “share” the pay-out with the other insurance company 50/50 making a full claim with both parties and collecting deductibles from both parties involved thus reducing their pay-out.

Sorry, retail Comprehensive Insurance does not cover all eventualities. Many, if not all insurance policies for travel insurance to Thailand exclude motorbike/moped insurance, unless you pay an extra premium. it's not a secret as it is disclosed in the policy. The family will not be able to sue unless they took out the extra insurance.

The large number of motorbike accidents in Thailand involving foreigners, is precisely why the out of the box insurance cover excludes coverage.

It should be against the law in any country or line of business to use small print, It is a way of trying to dupe the customer. In this case, the insurance company had FULL COVERAGE on it's policy, then contradicted itself. They should be made to pay out.

In Australia the legal requirement is on the buyer to read the PDS. However some posts have questioned why you would spend the time to read the PDS! So you can go around and around, but will not change buyer responsibility. Even with "Full Coverage" there will still be exclusions. Simple example, driving without a license, DUI etc (not saying it's the case in this incident)

No idea what PDS means. I am not Australian.

PDS - product description statement

I just re-read the newspaper article and the injured party was traveling with his company boss. You would think that his employer would cover his medical expenses and sort out financial matters later.

Why would someone's boss cover his medical expenses? Don't understand.

Unless it was a private holiday trip, duty of care for the employee as he was traveling with his manager.

The relevant clause in my insurance policy states

you are not insured if you ride a motorcycle (except as a pillion passenger) without a license that is valid in the relevant country

Out of interest I just downloaded a comprehensive travel insurance policy for Thailand and the PDS does have a heading for motorbike accident cover, so easy to locate. Wording as follows:

Motorcycle / Moped Riding

If You wish to be covered for riding a motorcycle (including a moped) as the driver or pillion passenger during Your journey, You must pay an extra premium. Please ask the Providing Entity for a quote. Even if You pay the extra premium You will only be covered if:

• the engine capacity is 200cc or less;

• You are wearing a helmet;

• You are not participating in a professional capacity;

• You are not racing; and

• whilst in control of a motorcycle, You hold a licence valid in the relevant country.

The large number of motorbike accidents in Thailand involving foreigners, is precisely why the out of the box insurance cover excludes coverage.

It should be against the law in any country or line of business to use small print, It is a way of trying to dupe the customer. In this case, the insurance company had FULL COVERAGE on it's policy, then contradicted itself. They should be made to pay out.

In Australia the legal requirement is on the buyer to read the PDS. However some posts have questioned why you would spend the time to read the PDS! So you can go around and around, but will not change buyer responsibility. Even with "Full Coverage" there will still be exclusions. Simple example, driving without a license, DUI etc (not saying it's the case in this incident)

Out of interest I just downloaded a comprehensive travel insurance policy for Thailand and the PDS does have a heading for motorbike accident cover, so easy to locate. Wording as follows:

Motorcycle / Moped Riding

If You wish to be covered for riding a motorcycle (including a moped)

as the driver or pillion passenger during Your journey, You must pay an

extra premium. Please ask the Providing Entity for a quote.

Even if You pay the extra premium You will only be covered if:

• the engine capacity is 200cc or less;

• You are wearing a helmet;

• You are not participating in a professional capacity;

• You are not racing; and

• whilst in control of a motorcycle, You hold a licence valid in the relevant country.

The large number of motorbike accidents in Thailand involving foreigners, is precisely why the out of the box insurance cover excludes coverage.

It should be against the law in any country or line of business to use small print, It is a way of trying to dupe the customer. In this case, the insurance company had FULL COVERAGE on it's policy, then contradicted itself. They should be made to pay out.

In Australia the legal requirement is on the buyer to read the PDS. However some posts have questioned why you would spend the time to read the PDS! So you can go around and around, but will not change buyer responsibility. Even with "Full Coverage" there will still be exclusions. Simple example, driving without a license, DUI etc (not saying it's the case in this incident)

Government office so will not be open today. Opening & closing hours: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm (Monday to Friday)