Motorbike Accident

[SiamSully]

I am a Farang who, along with my Thai wife, was involved in a motorbike accident caused by a Thai. The young man and his family immediately admitted his guilt and agreed to pay all related expenses and they quickly removed the wrecked motorbikes from the scene. Now, we’ve all heard the farang always pays rhetoric but I’ll ask you all to simply listen (read) this story and comment objectively. It was around 9:30pm whilst traveling through a small Isaan village on our motorbike heading home a young Thai man came out of a side street on the wrong side of the road and turned straight into the path of my motorbike causing a head on collision. He received a broken leg while I, acting as an “airbag” for my wife, got a bruised rib/liver and a broken tooth. Could have been so much worse. The entire incident was captured on the CCTV at a nearby shop. My wife and I were doing things right. We were both wearing helmets, driving at a responsible speed, had our lights on, were driving on the correct side of the road, had drivers license and insurance. Like all that makes any difference here in Thailand. It all happened so fast as the CCTV footage shows, there was simply no time to avoid this crash. So, as I said, they admitted guilt and quickly removed both motorbikes from the accident scene. The young Thai guy and myself went to the local hospital and got patched up. The next morning we all met at the police station. We made our statements and they signed a paper accepting liability. We then proceeded to get additional medical attention - X-rays and repair the broken tooth and we took our motorbike to get repaired. The bills came to 15,000 baht. I was laid up in pain for 2 weeks. When we presented the bill to these people we got the down trodden look of despair and the “I have no money”. So, back to the police station where we eventually offered them to pay today and pay only 9,000 baht. They declined and told us to take them to court. I feel empathy for these people but I also feel that this young man must accept responsibility as he was clearly in the wrong. If it was me that was wrong how much do you think they would want from me? I assume it all comes down to the fact that the poor Thai family may not have any money but does that mean they just walk away and are immune to any responsibility? Maybe trade for work???
Have a look at the CCTV footage and see for yourself.  

Crash.mp4

[JAS21]

Lucky for you ...CCTV else....

[sanemax]

Click on the link and it begins to download .

[tifino]

... certainly glad you've managed to get your own copy of that video!

 

Considering they seem now to be playing 'hardball' - do they know you have a copy?  

 

 

I'd expect they'll try to have it (cctv) deleted, and it'll cost them something less than 9000 - a bargain!!   (not)

 

 

 

I can't wait for the sequel, in Court

when the Deleted Truth is revealed

[SiamSully]

Ya, for sure, Tifino. My wife spotted the security camera and we went back a few days later and retrieved the footage. Apparently the guilty party knows about it and I heard they have even seen it. But still, we get the defiant stonewall from them. 

[seajae]

simple, they have admitted fault, go to the police and tell them you want the other rider charged, they dont want to pay then get the police to do their job. Once they charge him you also have the standing to claim damages, the police charge along with the video will mean they have no standing to deny it, go for their throats seeing they are trying to avoid their responsibility

 

[mamypoko]

Counter with: 9k then a payment plan?

:) you were wearing helmets because you two have brains :)

 

[scubascuba3]

I guess that's another reason 1st class insurance is required here

[BuaBS]

In case of accident , always contact your insurance .

[jacko45k]

You seemed to be going a little fast.

 

You didn't mention it but did the Thai guy have the compulsory insurance?

 

You can afford it, they can't and the police presumably don't wish to prosecute. You are lucky they didn't press you to pay for the kids medical expenses and to repair his bike! I have heard of police withholding the accident report until expenses for the guilty party are covered.

 

Responsibility..... probably doesn't translate. And they realise a civil case will cost you a lot more than you will recover.

Edited November 11, 2017 by jacko45k

[thrilled]

Your A faring.You have money.They are Thai.They don’t have money.Open up your wallet.One of the non benefits of living in Thailand.

[SiamSully]

Ya Jack45k, it does look like that coming into frame but we were traveling only at about 40km through the village. The Thai kid didn’t have a drivers license. His motorbike had an insurance sticker though.
Granted it’s a different perception of reality here in Thailand but to think that poorer people can run roughshod and not be held responsible is clearly just not right. We’ll just let this thing run its course and see if the police will do their job. #Longshot
I’m thinking you may have more money than me - your buying the beer.


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[terminatorchiangmai]

That time of evening i never drive faster then 30 max 40 k per hour.

many crazy or drunk drivers on the road after working hours.

[Stokakrishna]

every time farang is involved in a accident  thais suddenly are poor. no money and stuff.  bullsh#t. they see you as an ATM so they will all play this game. 

no need to feel sorry for them. they should pay. or not use the roads

Edited November 11, 2017 by Stokakrishna

[Kadilo]

Ya Jack45k, it does look like that coming into frame but we were traveling only at about 40km through the village. The Thai kid didn’t have a drivers license. His motorbike had an insurance sticker though.
Granted it’s a different perception of reality here in Thailand but to think that poorer people can run roughshod and not be held responsible is clearly just not right. We’ll just let this thing run its course and see if the police will do their job. #Longshot
I’m thinking you may have more money than me - your buying the beer.


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Sadly mate I think you could end up footing the bill. They know it will just be hassle for you to pursue and I doubt the Police will enforce. Fingers crossed for you as you did everything right......but this is Thailand.
As difficult as it may seem after what you have been through but you will probably look back in years to come and think that this was a lucky escape not the opposite.
Best of luck.



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[robblok]

You can go to courts.. will take you a long time and cost a lot of time and money upfront.. to see if you can get all of that money back is important. Because it might well be that even after a court judgement they won't pay up. I seen this happen Thai on Thai. So even a court judgement won't do much if they plead poverty.

[JLCrab]

21 minutes ago, terminatorchiangmai said:

That time of evening i never drive faster then 30 max 40 k per hour.

many crazy or drunk drivers on the road after working hours.

That time of the evening, I never drive.

[SS1]

Sorry to hear about your accident, hope you are feeling better now. 

 

I just watched the video and as a biker myself, agree it would have been hard to avoid the crash. For the future, if you see headlights approaching on the road like that, slow down and be ready for a quick stop. This has saved me many times in Bangkok riding at night, when some idiots cut in front from between traffic without looking. The headlights are a good early warning when riding at night.

 

What a typical idiot that Thai guy, just riding straight in there without looking for a second and cutting directly onto your lane. Make sure he pays up even if you can afford it, just out of the principle. It's time to teach these monkeys to take resposibility. Don't listen to these "pay because you are farang" comments. 

[Kadilo]

4 minutes ago, SS1 said:

Sorry It's time to teach these monkeys to take resposibility. Don't listen to these "pay because you are farang" comments. 

That kind of language and attitude will just cause you more grief. Fortunately the OP appears a little more switched on. 

[samsensam]

 

the obsession with riding/driving down the wrong side of the road never ceases to amaze me. and ultimately, unsurprisingly, the offender reuses to take responsibility for their actions. as others have said it's probably not worth pursuing this due to the state of the police force and legal system.

[scubascuba3]

 
the obsession with riding/driving down the wrong side of the road never ceases to amaze me. and ultimately, unsurprisingly, the offender reuses to take responsibility for their actions. as others have said it's probably not worth pursuing this due to the state of the police force and legal system.

Riding down the inside of the wrong side of the road is normal practice here, you just need to accept it, no point in relating back to farangland

[catman20]

2 hours ago, mamypoko said:

Counter with: 9k then a payment plan?

:) you were wearing helmets because you two have brains :)

 

well one of them dose for sure.

[stephenterry]

You had a lucky escape - it could have been a lot worse, especially if the guy was killed. I would suggest if the Thai family could afford to buy their idiot son a motorbike (and get it repaired), they have enough funds to cough up. However, getting it from them is another story. And I do sympathise with their total lack of taking responsibility, but in their eyes, admitting liability and probably performing a wai in front of the police is enough. 

 

I would also suggest that your wife goes and talks to the village headman, which could be another route (for her) to get some recompense, even if it's public shame on the family. 

 

 

 

 

[SS1]

21 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

33 minutes ago, samsensam said:

 
the obsession with riding/driving down the wrong side of the road never ceases to amaze me. and ultimately, unsurprisingly, the offender reuses to take responsibility for their actions. as others have said it's probably not worth pursuing this due to the state of the police force and legal system.

Riding down the inside of the wrong side of the road is normal practice here, you just need to accept it, no point in relating back to farangland

While it's common, it's still clearly against the law. Yes, everyone should get used to it in terms of being more careful and ready for danger situations when riding here, but it doesn't mean farangs should accept liability when locals are breaking the traffic laws and causing an accident. 

[tandor]

18 hours ago, SiamSully said:

Ya, for sure, Tifino. My wife spotted the security camera and we went back a few days later and retrieved the footage. Apparently the guilty party knows about it and I heard they have even seen it. But still, we get the defiant stonewall from them. 

..that reckless young man..he obviously is not that poor..he is well nourished, has nice clothes, nice bike, out late and on his way in a hurry...you need money to buy all this and run a bike etc etc...i hope you win in court and they are forced to pay up in full..good luck..and hope your injuries heal quickly.

[tandor]

45 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

56 minutes ago, samsensam said:

 
the obsession with riding/driving down the wrong side of the road never ceases to amaze me. and ultimately, unsurprisingly, the offender reuses to take responsibility for their actions. as others have said it's probably not worth pursuing this due to the state of the police force and legal system.

Riding down the inside of the wrong side of the road is normal practice here, you just need to accept it, no point in relating back to farangland

...what!...the rider turned out of a soi into the path of oncoming traffic without giving way or looking..he didnt drive down the inside of the wrong side of the road at all..he cut the corner of the soi...why should the OP accept that..after all the family is only trying to bluff their way out of their obvious guilt...when will they ever learn the lesson that we all pay the price for being reckless and negligent?

[wump]

10 minutes ago, tandor said:

..that reckless young man..he obviously is not that poor..he is well nourished, has nice clothes, nice bike, out late and on his way in a hurry...you need money to buy all this and run a bike etc etc...i hope you win in court and they are forced to pay up in full..good luck..and hope your injuries heal quickly.

It's obviously all about saving face. Big loss of face havin to pay up to a farang.

Edited November 11, 2017 by wump

[tandor]

18 hours ago, SiamSully said:

Ya, for sure, Tifino. My wife spotted the security camera and we went back a few days later and retrieved the footage. Apparently the guilty party knows about it and I heard they have even seen it. But still, we get the defiant stonewall from them. 

...make sure you go to the insurance company (3rd party re injury to rider/passenger-Parabol) and make a claim..they usually pay up to 30,000b on your bike and a further 20,000b on the other guys insurance..hope this info assists.

[Coconut Kidd]

Offer the police 5000 to stick the kid in jail until the 9000 is paid. 4000 is better then nothing, and the kid hopefully learns a lesson.

[Belzybob]

6 minutes ago, Coconut Kidd said:

Offer the police 5000 to stick the kid in jail until the 9000 is paid. 4000 is better then nothing, and the kid hopefully learns a lesson.

They'll want another cut if the 9k is paid, so maybe 2000k at the end of the day.