Uninsured Brit seriously injured and stranded in hospital after motorbike accident in Hua Hin

[jonclark]

12 minutes ago, jenny2017 said:

 

 How can it be Thailand's fault when people have accidents?

 

But too many foreigners just rent bikes without even having a license or practice driving on one. 

 

Sorry to paraphrase and take some of your post out of context. 

 

If it is common knowledge that bikes are being rented out to people (tourists) without licenses then that is an issue that Thailand needs to tackle. The people renting are only interested in the money and take no responsibility for their role. 

 

The people and companies allowing the renting of motorbikes without licenses need to be brought to book. If AVIS or BUDGET or another vehicle rental company knowingly allowed a person to rent a vehicle without holding a proper license, the local police would throw the book at them. Why? Because they knowingly played a role in the ensuing accident by being negligent and did not check the person renting the vehicle was capable of controlling the vehicle. 

 

So their is a responsibility on Thailand's part to ensure that people renting the bikes are capable of controlling them. 

[SpicyMeatball]

I thought today most cc’s come with travel insurance? Whats the point of having one if its not included?

Stupid fool for not paying a few quid more for insurance especially since he’s renting a bike.

Get a lawyer & go after the car driver. Make them sell the damn car among other assets.

[jenny2017]

7 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

If the motorbike was rented then it should be insured (TIT so who knows?).  It is something I always tell friends on holiday to check.  If he owns the bike then it is ludicrously cheap to insure your own bike.  I did it years ago and when I was taken out by a hit and run pick-up the insurance paid all of my hospital bills and I was treated in Lanna Hospital in CM.  An international hospital and in a private room.

 

As for travel insurance, well that's a no brainer for Thailand although many policies do have a no motorbike accidents clause in them.  Wonder why that is?

My motorbike insurance only covered 12,000 baht when I had an accident, the main bill, 100,000 baht was paid by the Thai social security insurance. They don't do much for 12 K......................

[Bastos60]

8 hours ago, YetAnother said:

what happens if he cannot pay ?

He will just get just basic treatment to keep him alive. 
Without proper treatment it will be the last trip he ever takes I am afraid.

[JOC]

10 minutes ago, SpicyMeatball said:

I thought today most cc’s come with travel insurance? Whats the point of having one if its not included?

Stupid fool for not paying a few quid more for insurance especially since he’s renting a bike.

Get a lawyer & go after the car driver. Make them sell the damn car among other assets.

Time to take your medication....

According to most posts here...the driver of the car was not to blame....

[jenny2017]

1 minute ago, JOC said:

Time to take your medication....

According to most posts here...the driver of the car was not to blame....

Someone should take him off Haloperidol, me thinks . 

[JOC]

16 minutes ago, jonclark said:

The people and companies allowing the renting of motorbikes without licenses need to be brought to book. If AVIS or BUDGET or another vehicle rental company knowingly allowed a person to rent a vehicle without holding a proper license, the local police would throw the book at them. Why? Because they knowingly played a role in the ensuing accident by being negligent and did not check the person renting the vehicle was capable of controlling the vehicle. 

 

So their is a responsibility on Thailand's part to ensure that people renting the bikes are capable of controlling them. 

The irony here is, that most m-bike rental companies in HH are run by farangs....

And because business is bad, they will cut any corner they can...

[jenny2017]

7 minutes ago, Bastos60 said:

He will just get just basic treatment to keep him alive. 
Without proper treatment it will be the last trip he ever takes I am afraid.

And the first hours/days are the most important ones. An inner bleeding as reported, even when the hospital staff said it wouldn't cause problems, could be his death sentence. 

[DipStick]

Too many contradicting posts about insurance, who was to blame etc,but there is a very worrying underlying issue here and that is that there appears to be no hospital in the Hua Hin area capable of handling such injuries, hence the required Helo trip to a Bangkok hospital. For a very popular international tourist resort plus a vibrant residential city, this is just unbelievable.

[Donotdisturb]

8 hours ago, kannot said:

Are  you sure?? so Im going down a 3  lane road in the outside  lane  and Somchai Knievel decides to pull out from the inside lane thru the fast lane to u turn without  looking, no lights, no signal ,  3 am, drunk, no licence, no insurance etc etc Ok an extreme example but I beg to differ  that the  car will be responsible.

Somchai stands higher on the social ladder than Hans or Robert. So maybe Somchai goes free ... ?

[barsie]

The guy on the bike- almost certainly won't have correct license, so has no right to be on the road.

 

No travel insurance - shouldn't even be traveling.

 

What are chances he's had a few beers too?

 

Who's paying for the damage to the car?

[soalbundy]

6 hours ago, whaleboneman said:

Thai pockets always empty.

remortgage his house, sell his car, get a loan from the bank on his farmland, get his family to pay, dock his wages etc, there are always ways to get money and the police know them all. An old woman smashed into my car on her motorbike, no license of course and as you say no money, they telephoned her daughter to come to the station and questioned her about assets, the only asset they had was another daughter married to a swedish guy living in Sweden, so the police told her to ring her up and they spoke with her on the telephone threatening prison time for her mother unless she transfer funds from Sweden to pay for the damage, worked a treat.

[JOC]

7 minutes ago, DipStick said:

Too many contradicting posts about insurance, who was to blame etc,but there is a very worrying underlying issue here and that is that there appears to be no hospital in the Hua Hin area capable of handling such injuries, hence the required Helo trip to a Bangkok hospital. For a very popular international tourist resort plus a vibrant residential city, this is just unbelievable.

Hua Hin has some very high class hospitals....Like Bangkok Hospital (Hua Hin), but to get access to their services you need insurance.......

They are not running a charity...

[JOC]

1 minute ago, soalbundy said:

remortgage his house, sell his car, get a loan from the bank on his farmland, get his family to pay, dock his wages etc, there are always ways to get money and the police know them all.

Another one just hitting the keyboard without checking facts....

1) The car driver was not at fault

2) The car driver was a foreigner

[soalbundy]

6 hours ago, smotherb said:

You cannot get blood from a rock. Yes, you may take the Thai to court and get an adjudication against him; then what? He claims no money and what, maybe goes to jail for a month or two, and the victim dies.

If the driver has a car he has means to get funds. My brother in law (Thai) killed a motor cyclist with his car in Bangkok, his insurance paid but it didn't cover the full amount of damage, he couldn't pay the rest sum and did 4 years in prison not a month or two, it cost him his job and his marriage. as well.

[Letseng]

If he can pay for travel to Thailand, he can pay for insurance. At 56 he should have more sense.

May be I should just cancel my insurance and rather spend the money. If I get sick there is always gofundme. 

 

 

 

 

[soalbundy]

2 minutes ago, JOC said:

Another one just hitting the keyboard without checking facts....

1) The car driver was not at fault

2) The car driver was a foreigner

Do we know that? If the driver is not at fault that changes everything, if the driver is a foreigner all the more easy to get funds.

[jenny2017]

17 minutes ago, Donotdisturb said:

Somchai stands higher on the social ladder than Hans or Robert. So maybe Somchai goes free ... ?

Nope, not true. It all depends on how many Buddha amulets Somchai's got around his neck. 

[soalbundy]

1 minute ago, jenny2017 said:

Nope, not true. It all depends on how many Buddha amulets Somchai's got around his neck. 

This may be myth or it really happens in Bangkok but in my experience in Isaan the police are fair

[dunroaming]

44 minutes ago, jenny2017 said:

My motorbike insurance only covered 12,000 baht when I had an accident, the main bill, 100,000 baht was paid by the Thai social security insurance. They don't do much for 12 K......................

Mine was about twelve years ago and the insurance policy cost 400 baht for a year.  I never thought for a second that I would get the insurance to pay especially as my wife moved me from the original hospital I was taken to, to Lanna because it was the hospital we always used.  Then she put me in a private room.  In fairness I only suffered broken ribs and collar bone but I did have bleeding from an ear and some facial cuts..  They did a brain scan but no luck, they still couldn't find one.

 

I was kept in for four days and had quite a few x-rays and an MRI but no actual surgery.  My wife (not one to argue with) dealt with the insurance so I don't know what the bill was.  If I remember correctly I did have to pay for the hospital food even though I didn't eat it.  Things may be different now but at the time I was pleasantly gobsmacked!

[abrahamzvi]

Whilst I really feel sorry for Mark and am considering making a modest donation, this just proves again that any tourist should prove having a sufficient Medical Aid insurance valid for Thailand, as most countries do when applying for a visa, before being allowed entry. This is for the benefit of the tourists, more than for Thailand and this case is an example.

 

Also isn't the Insurance company of the vehicle involved responsible for the costs (provided, of course the car was insured, the driver not being under the influence, etc) ??????

[richard_smith237]

8 hours ago, Thian said:

If you hit another vehicle from the back you're guilty in Thailand.

 

Was that car which hit him not insured?

 

I'm not as convinced as you of this.... Driving in Thailand I have been lucky not to  rear-end motorcyclists pulling out  in front of me without looking to across from the left most to the right most lane for a U-Turn.... On a number of occasions, my reaction has saved the motorcyclist from injury or worse. This is the primary reason I have a dash-cam. 

 

I'm not suggesting this is the case in this accident, I'm am, however, pointing out that just because a vehicle is rear-ended the rear-ender is not automatically at fault as the rear-endee may have been the sole cause of the incident. 

 

 

[chrissables]

6 hours ago, travelerjim said:

FYI ...a 56 year old Brit traveling to Thailand... International health travel insurance is $122.50 month with 0 ZERO deductible and 100% coverage up to US $1Million dollars coverage.  

And as he is under age 70 his preexisting conditions would be covered.  Terrible mistake of the gent to travel without health insurance. 

With motorbike accident cover? I doubt it very much.

[dunroaming]

5 minutes ago, abrahamzvi said:

Also isn't the Insurance company of the vehicle involved responsible for the costs (provided, of course the car was insured, the driver not being under the influence, etc) ??????

In Thailand insurance is different to the West.  Also people drive other peoples cars without proper insurance.  Liability is another issue as nobody admits guilt.  So many different things come into the mix.

[chrissables]

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

55555555555555555555555

if you are driving in LOS you shouldn't be taking your eyes off the road, as it's so dangerous. If not the traffic, the potholes.

There is public transport almost everywhere in LOS.

You ride and stop to see the views as I'm sure you know.

 

Mae hong son loop on public transport? How about Doi Kham Faa or Phu Chi Faa? How many die on public transport every year?

 

If you have not actually tried going to these places or similar you are not qualified to criticise. 

[NoshowJones]

8 hours ago, ChrisY1 said:

I don't quite understand where being hit from behind makes him stupid....not a very fair statement?

What Colin means is the stupidity of not taking out insurance, and probably renting a motorbike without having a license or the experience of riding one. If he was hit from behind as reported, then in most cases the car driver is at fault.

[jenny2017]

39 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

This may be myth or it really happens in Bangkok but in my experience in Isaan the police are fair

Sorry, was just a joke...

[Polaky]

35 years of driving semi's local and  interstate in oz, had bikes for many years, have a license for just about everything, car/truck/boat/bike/bobcat etc, but I don't drive in los, remember it's not how good of a driver you are or think you are, it's all the drivers around you that you have to worry about.

[catman20]

5 hours ago, Johnboxer said:

I had a accident years ago. Not my fault, a thai man knocked me off my bike from the side while running across the road still on his mobile, he was paying no attention to traffic, I had to pay his hospital bill, my. Bike was. Confiscated until I paid, Police man said to me when I said it's not my fault, he said IF YOU WERE NOT IN THAILAND THE ACCIDENT WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED,PAY UP

i have herd cases like this before ive been hit 2 time in the rear of my car once by a coach another time by a motor bike the coach no problem there insurance paid up, the motor bike Thai man rider tried to blame me saying to stopped too quick, i said i want 4,000 baht for damage to my car after lots of talking i said to my Thai g/f tell him OK forget it he can go, only for her to say to me NO he wants you to pay for his bike hahaha i said OK get the police down here i spoke to the policeman nice reasonably chap i said i want to see his government insurance and licence to be on the road,  policeman spoke to Thai man,  then asked me how much i wanted i told the police 4,000 baht he told the Thai man who then tried to knock me down in price i told my g/f to tell him hes got to be joking after all this crap 20 mins later someone arrived and i got my 4,000 baht.

[Thian]

24 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

I'm not as convinced as you of this.... Driving in Thailand I have been lucky not to  rear-end motorcyclists pulling out  in front of me without looking to across from the left most to the right most lane for a U-Turn.... On a number of occasions, my reaction has saved the motorcyclist from injury or worse. This is the primary reason I have a dash-cam. 

 

I'm not suggesting this is the case in this accident, I'm am, however, pointing out that just because a vehicle is rear-ended the rear-ender is not automatically at fault as the rear-endee may have been the sole cause of the incident. 

 

 

I didn't know the situation before i reacted, but if he drove left and suddenly went for the U-turn he might have been wrong...Of course you can't do it like most Thai and just steer to the U-turn without looking over the shoulder/mirrors.

 

U-turns cause loads of accidents and dangerous situations..and there are far too many of them as well...even coaches and big trucks use them on very busy roads/highways blocking all incoming lanes..

 

Also i think the western travelinsurances have to make totally clear what is insured and what isn't. In fact i think that driving motocy is always included worldwide but it might be different for the Brits.