Abandoned motorcycle: Salvage law?

[RocketDog]

A Thai woman I was renting a motorcycle from left town to work in a restaurant well over a year ago. She asked me to keep the bike and some possessions for her until she returned.

She is not a bar girl and is hardworking and reputable. I considered her a friend.

 

We were in touch for a while but now she has not answered my LINE inquires for many months.

 

She is the legitimate owner as I know first hand because I accompanied her to the land transport office to renew her registration before she left.

 

My question is simple: can I claim salvage rights to the bike, and if so, how/where to do it?

 

My goal is not to profit from it as I have my own car and new bike and don't need the money. However, her bike is just a nuisance and obviously becoming more useless every year. I ride it occasionally just to keep the battery alive but don't want the problem of storage.

 

My plan would be to sell it and keep the cash for her when/if she returns.

 

Naturally I am looking for bona fide advice <removed>

 

Thanks in advance for any legitimate responses.

Edited November 16, 2018 by CharlieH
derogatory remark removed.

[ezzra]

No you can't... the right thing to do will be to go to the local police tell them the story and see what they will say and advise you on the matter...

[canthai55]

1 hour ago, ezzra said:

No you can't... the right thing to do will be to go to the local police tell them the story and see what they will say and advise you on the matter...

555

[jackdd]

Just park it at a Big C, Hospital or similar, then it will still be there in 10 years if she wants to have it back and you don't have to keep it at your place.

If you really want to return it to her: Ask the DLT or Police for the address at which the bike is registered. There is a good chance that still somebody from her family is living there, so send a letter explaining the situation and a way to contact you back

[Caine]

Dump it and if she returns tell her someone must have nicked it, send her a message to that effect, she not answering keep the message as proof you tried to inform her. Simple.

[finnishmen]

same topic i need ask, were all accident crash bikes go and were can go buy crashed bikes,parts etc. i think big bike HD or big 900-1200cc custom honda etc.

 

[neeray]

20 hours ago, RocketDog said:

She is not a bar girl and is hardworking and reputable. I considered her a friend.

I see the answer in your own words, mainly in your last word "friend". Friends help friends, the friendship should endure a little inconvenience. Maybe she is in trouble, maybe not even alive anymore.

Why not tuck it away somewhere around your home (don't worry about the battery) and wait awhile longer? Maybe even up to a year.

That would be real friendship.

Hope she returns okay, to your mutual benefit).

[johng]

same topic i need ask, were all accident crash bikes go and were can go buy crashed bikes,parts etc. i think big bike HD or big 900-1200cc custom honda etc.
 

Lots of them end up a the police station and the local police impound sites...then after all the legal stuff is sorted they'll be off to the mechanic and paint shop for a new lease of life..I would imagine the police do auction off vehicles quite regularly to clear space...though maybe the best stuff would already be "spoken for"

[Media1]

The correct procedure is to advise her via LINE and direct text. of no reply in 14 days contact the police

END

[Tony125]

As she is not answering your line messages maybe she lost her phone and can't reinstall line without old password. Can you call her ? If you cannot speak Thai well enough have someone call her. Maybe use line as well and inform  her that you want to know what she wants to do with the bike . Since you used to rent the bike from her maybe she thought she would pay you for holding her possesions by letting you ride the bike for free. Hold onto the bike longer or try to contact her.

[neeray]

Just now, Tony125 said:

As she is not answering your line messages maybe she lost her phone and can't reinstall line without old password. Can you call her ? If you cannot speak Thai well enough have someone call her. Maybe use line as well and inform  her that you want to know what she wants to do with the bike . Since you used to rent the bike from her maybe she thought she would pay you for holding her possesions by letting you ride the bike for free. Hold onto the bike longer or try to contact her.

This is good advice about why LINE is not answered. There must be some way to contact this "friend".

[Formaleins]

20 hours ago, ezzra said:

No you can't... the right thing to do will be to go to the local police tell them the story and see what they will say and advise you on the matter...

Yeah right, we all know where that bike will end up once  you involve that shower of sh#T

 

I would be more inclined to let her relatives deal with it rather than try to argue that it is abandoned, it is more as if the lady is missing rather than that she has dumped the bike. It isn't exactly the high seas where salvage comes into play, I would have thought you would need something like a death certificate to get anything changed on the bikes  title book. I agree with Neeray, hang on to it for a while longer at the least. After that give it to one of her relatives but get a written receipt to cover yourself.

Edited November 17, 2018 by Formaleins

[Gandtee]

2 hours ago, Caine said:

Dump it and if she returns tell her someone must have nicked it, send her a message to that effect, she not answering keep the message as proof you tried to inform her. Simple.

He considers her a friend.

[gamini]

4 hours ago, Caine said:

Dump it and if she returns tell her someone must have nicked it, send her a message to that effect, she not answering keep the message as proof you tried to inform her. Simple.

what a moran you are!

[Thai Chi]

7 minutes ago, gamini said:

4 hours ago, Caine said:

Dump it and if she returns tell her someone must have nicked it, send her a message to that effect, she not answering keep the message as proof you tried to inform her. Simple.

what a moran you are!

I think you meant Moron. In which case I entirely agree ????

Edited November 17, 2018 by Thai Chi

[BTB1977]

Does she have a facebook page.? Contact one of her many friends on it and see if they can track her down. Unless she has blocked you. Than take a hint. She does not want anything to do with you. 

[MyFriend You]

21 hours ago, Caine said:

Dump it and if she returns tell her someone must have nicked it, send her a message to that effect, she not answering keep the message as proof you tried to inform her. Simple.

I considered her a friend.  The poster said that - if this how you treat your friends, dump their possessions and lie to them, who needs you??

[neeray]

5 minutes ago, TunnelRat69 said:

I considered her a friend.  The poster said that - if this how you treat your friends, dump their possessions and lie to them, who needs you??

10 likes for your post TunnelRat69.

 

(or, with friends like that, who needs enemies?)

[DILLIGAD]

10 likes for your post TunnelRat69.
 
(or, with friends like that, who needs enemies?)

I’d ask her family to clear the bike out of your way.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[johng]

If she left the bikes green book with you...you can drive it around taxed and insured just like you own it.

[RocketDog]

On 11/17/2018 at 11:54 AM, neeray said:

I see the answer in your own words, mainly in your last word "friend". Friends help friends, the friendship should endure a little inconvenience. Maybe she is in trouble, maybe not even alive anymore.

Why not tuck it away somewhere around your home (don't worry about the battery) and wait awhile longer? Maybe even up to a year.

That would be real friendship.

Hope she returns okay, to your mutual benefit).

Thank you Neeray. Of course you are correct. I have actually been holding it for over 18 months and been trying to contact her for most of that time.

 

Unfortunately I don't know her real name, last or first. Only her nickname. From other of her friends I have found that she can be somewhat a drifter from time to time. Apparently she is a good restaurant cook and can easily find short term work.

 

I have replaced the tarp over the bike twice after UV destroyed it. That's what made me think that I needed a better long term storage solution.

She also discovered right before she left that she had developed an extreme alcohol allergy after waking up in the hospital after one beer. I was surprised until I realized that I had never seen her drink in the 8 months I knew her. So your thought of her possible demise might prove correct.

 

In any event, my reasoning was for the long term and I thought the money would help her more than a motorbike degraded by sludgy oil, stale gas , corroded battery, rotted wiring, rusted brakes, etc.

 

If I simply wanted to dispose of it I would leave it on the street with the key in the ignition. I'm sure it would grow legs overnight.

 

Thanks for a couple of good ideas.

Contacting the owner's family via a registration address is a good one. She has two LINE accounts and I've tried both of them asking if she wants me to sell it for her. No answer, so I suspect that's a dead end. I have no phone for her.

 

I'll hold it another year and then try the registration address idea. After that I'll just contact the police and let them deal with it.

 

Thanks for the responses.

 

Edited November 19, 2018 by RocketDog
Update and clarify.

[RocketDog]

As a followup to the story I'm pleased to say there is a happy ending, at least for me.

Yesterday I happened to run into a close female friend of the bike owner. The owner had contacted her wondering if I still had the bike. She offered to put me in contact but I suggested that she instead simply take the bike off my hands.

 

She consented and immediately took it. The tires were full, the battery charged, and a small amount of gas in the tank. She just started it and rode off into the sunset.

Cynics will suggest that she will keep it herself for her own use. This occurred to me too, but she is a longtime local who is always in touch with the owner and her ethics are not my responsibility. She said that the owner had seen my LINE messages so she knows I wanted her to take the bike back.

 

In any event its no longer a quandary for me. I'm not holding my breath waiting for thanks from the owner.

 

Thanks to all who responded with ideas and info.

 

**END**

[neeray]

2 minutes ago, RocketDog said:

In any event its no longer a quandary for me. I'm not holding my breath waiting for thanks from the owner.

 

Thanks to all who responded with ideas and info.

 

**END**

Follow-ups are a rarity on Thaivisa. Thanks for posting.

All is well that ends well.

[johng]

1 hour ago, RocketDog said:

She said that the owner had seen my LINE messages so she knows I wanted her to take the bike back.

So why didn't the owner  contact you directly  and give written permission for "her friend" to take the bike ???  

 

1 hour ago, neeray said:

**END**

Maybe not !!!

Edited December 6, 2018 by johng

[RocketDog]

3 minutes ago, johng said:

So why didn't the owner  contact you directly  and give written permission for "her friend" to take the bike ???  

 

Maybe not !!!

It's been nearly 2 years now.

I'm done. No way for any party involved to prove anything, right or wrong.

Written permission? Yet another step that I'm simply not willing to take.

 

As they say here: Mai pen rai. Nevermind.

 

Thanks for your concern.