Lungstib Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 (edited) My wife owns a Ford Laser, 16 years old but tidy, still seen for sale at over 100,000b. Today on the way back from taking two kids swimming we parked right off the road on the red dirt to buy ice creams. Along came a motorbike doing a good 70kph and it drove right into the front of the car. My estimate 25 - 30,000b worth of damage. The m'bike driver turns out to be an illegal Burmese worker, no licence, no papers and drunk. He escaped almost completely unhurt despite wrecking the bike and having no helmet. He has admitted borrowing the bike from a woman living near my village but says he has no money. The woman was called to the Mae Ai police station, she has the green book for the bike but has never put her name in it. The bike has no insurance, no tax and no number plate. She admitted lending the bike to a man she has known a while but was allowed to walk off uncaring of any problem, said its nothing to do with her. Can this be true? Does owning a bike mean you must have your name in the book? The police say we must pay our own bills, there is no one to take responsibility. The driver will be jailed for a while and then deported. Our minimum insurance doesn't cover this type of accident. Edited May 7, 2018 by Lungstib spelling error Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiangMaiLightning2143 Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 At least in Thailand he will be jailed and deported. America is 30 percent uninsured drivers many illegal aliens when they cause accidents nothing is done unless they injure somebody. Suing people with no assets a waste of money and no more debtors prisons. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornishcarlos Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 Just one of the reasons living in Thailand is so fun.. Couldn't get this kind of entertainment back in a nanny state !! I'm guessing the guy was also on the wrong side of the road, if he hit the front of your car !! Or were you parked on the other side, facing oncoming traffic ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KhaoYai Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 You're going to have to swallow it I'm afraid. If he'd been Thai you could have taken action but it would have been civil and as in all such cases, you have to consider the merits of chasing someone who has no money. Even if he had been insured, most motorbikes only have that minimum compulsory insurance which only pays towards your medical costs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thailand49 Posted May 8, 2018 Share Posted May 8, 2018 (edited) Sadly, this is majority of the cases here whether they are Thai or not. I'm going to guess just from my experience living here that maybe 1% of Thai driving motorbike have any type of 3rd party insurance to cover such a accident. The Thai women attitude is what I've myself experience " nothing to do with me " play stupid and ignorant but regardless they know how to use this to their advantage. My saying " you can't get something when you are scraping the bottom of the can " In the West you have a overreach of lawsuits here there is none whatsoever. You got no recourse, no small claims court, no way to garnish wages, really no way to collect even if you get a judgement. In the end, your car was stationary and off the road, the fault belongs to the driver, no license, and drunk? Just be glad he wasn't Thai because as soon as they know you are a foreigner they want you to pay? why? because you can. Edited May 8, 2018 by thailand49 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Juan B Tong Posted May 8, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted May 8, 2018 Consider yourself a lucky foreigner If a poor drunk unlicensed uninsured Thai had hit you, you might be expected to pay for repairs to the bike and medical for the driver. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulic Posted May 8, 2018 Share Posted May 8, 2018 At least you don't have to pay for the scooter repairs. Just another life lesson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacessit Posted May 8, 2018 Share Posted May 8, 2018 2 hours ago, Juan B Tong said: Consider yourself a lucky foreigner If a poor drunk unlicensed uninsured Thai had hit you, you might be expected to pay for repairs to the bike and medical for the driver. Sad but true. If you are a falang, you are assumed automatically to be rich and therefore liable. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natway09 Posted May 8, 2018 Share Posted May 8, 2018 Lucky none of your family injured or worse. Call it experience,,, (tough but you cannot get blood from a stone) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev1n Posted May 8, 2018 Share Posted May 8, 2018 Wow, that's frightening. As I live in Bangkok, I can say that a lot of persons don't care about wearing a helmet and the number of people on a bike. Hopefully, none of your family is injured. Wish you courage with the heavy bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericthai Posted May 8, 2018 Share Posted May 8, 2018 10 hours ago, Lacessit said: Sad but true. If you are a falang, you are assumed automatically to be rich and therefore liable. Not true in all cases. I've had two accidents in Thailand over the years and never had an issue. I hit a Thai in once accident insurance came took care of everything. Police came and as soon as insurance guy showed up they left. Nobody got a ticket. Second accident a Thai guy hit me. He was drunk. An off duty police was there and saw what happened. The Thai guy saw me and starting talking about he had no money to fix his bike. The off duty police talked to the drunk guy telling him if they call the police to report this he is going to have problems for being drunk. The drunk guy decided best to shut up and leave. The off duty police guy was great. You have good an bad police all depends on what you get! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essox essox Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 why can yu not have repairs done on YOUR insurance...that is of course you have some?? Some guy caused damage to my pickup....I had to pay for repairs thru my class one insurance.....he had NONE and was Thai.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEVUP Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 (edited) 18 minutes ago, essox essox said: why can yu not have repairs done on YOUR insurance...that is of course you have some?? Some guy caused damage to my pickup....I had to pay for repairs thru my class one insurance.....he had NONE and was Thai.... & if he did he would probably still say he had none, so he wouldn't lose all his no claim bonuses & have the prospect of his policy going up next year So I would still of got his credentials & let the Ins company go after him, as to you not wearing the above But this TIT, relying on NO FAULT, so just fix it & hit the innocent party policy holder Edited May 9, 2018 by BEVUP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seajae Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 take the bike as payment, she doesnt have her name in the book so cant claim it as hers, tell her she can have it back when she pays for the damage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watcharacters Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 On 5/8/2018 at 5:30 AM, cornishcarlos said: Just one of the reasons living in Thailand is so fun.. Couldn't get this kind of entertainment back in a nanny state !! I'm guessing the guy was also on the wrong side of the road, if he hit the front of your car !! Or were you parked on the other side, facing oncoming traffic ?? I hope you realize your post is not really funny or helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornishcarlos Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 4 hours ago, watcharacters said: I hope you realize your post is not really funny or helpful. I do... What's your point ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lungstib Posted May 9, 2018 Author Share Posted May 9, 2018 6 hours ago, seajae said: take the bike as payment, she doesnt have her name in the book so cant claim it as hers, tell her she can have it back when she pays for the damage For the Burmese it was a miracle. The bike was a 100cc Wave, old, and he was going fast enough to hit our car back 2 meters with the handbrake on and the auto in P. There was nothing unbroken on the bike. But 5 hours later the man walks into the police station with a bandage on his knee. I could hardly believe it. The police offered us the bike but it really was just scrap value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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