Few days back I went to Phuket as a tourist. One day I take a bike from a Indian owner on a rent of 200 Bh for two hour. Somehow I had a small accident in patong beach road. No one hurt in accident. Due to unbalance I was off the road but there was a big hole just beside the road so I fallen there. Bike had some damaged but it was not so much. Bike's side mirror had some scratchs and tyre eliment had effected, few scratch on mud flap of front tyere of bike. When I was trying to let owner know about the incident he said that in Thailand bikes insurance is not mandatory so that bike was not insured so he demanded 15000bht for the repairing. When I asked about the insurance claim, he started to convince me that if he loge complained in police about the incident then my passport will be detained and I will be not able to go back India. What should I do? 

Did you take pictures of the damage? If so, please post them here.

Indians moving in on traditional Thai scams. This is unacceptable. Taking employment away from nice Thai people. 

Pay him 30,000 baht and return to India satisfied that you have had a quality Thai experience...

 

 

50 minutes ago, SUDIP said:

then my passport will be detained

Who is in possession of your passport at the moment? The Indian motorcycle renter or you?

Bike had some damaged but it was not so much. Bike's side mirror had some scratchs and tyre eliment had effected, few scratch on mud flap of front tyere of bike.

 

That's already enough to ask for 55,000 baht. 

How do you detain a passport if the passport doesn't want to be detained/ 

 

Bikes in Thailand for rental do not have such an insurance where such damage would be paid for. That has to come out of your own pocket.

 

Make some photos to be sure that not more will be replaced. Have you got photos/ Please post them here and I can tell you how much the parts are. 

 

 

Topic moved to Phuket forum from Insurance forum, for local input

 

I would also add that the OP seems to be posting from outside of Thailand. 

 

There are bike shops that demand one lodges their passport with them as security. I've always walked away.

Standard Mbikes in Thailand have no damage insurance. Only medical cover. 15k baht is far too much. offer 2k. Police nothing to do with it. Guy trying to scam you. 

 

Rent a mobike .... then you need to take your chances.  Unless your holiday insurance covers rental damage. 

If you have time take the bike to a repair shop yourself and get a quote.

 

If not negotiate.

 

If the damage is as you say the guy is scamming you.

Depends of the age of the bike, the condition it was in prior the the accident, and the model of bike.

 

if it was a newish high-end bike(honda pcx etc), without any preexisting damage/scratches, then 10k-15k may actually be an appropriate charge depending in the true extent of the damage you have done. 

 

If it was a few years old scoopy/nuevo/filano/click etc, with existing damage/scratches, and the new damage was some superficial scratches and/or small dents, then 3k-6k baht may be an appropriate charge. 

 

Quote

Few days back I went to Phuket as a tourist. One day I take a bike from a Indian owner on a rent of 200 Bh for two hour.

Guess you paid already??

An unhelpful post has been removed

I hope others get to read this post.  You are on a hiding to nothing if you confront him, better have a few mates with you, you may need them.  Never leave your passport or a credit/debit card, do not rent if you don't have a valid motorbike licence and always have your own insurance, the renter will not have it.  Then, if you can't ride, just don't try.  He may be scamming you, but you have very few good options to resolve this. try the negotiation route but be prepared to pay what is demanded.  

The OP hasn't been back.

8 hours ago, LivinginKata said:

Standard Mbikes in Thailand have no damage insurance. Only medical cover. 15k baht is far too much. offer 2k. Police nothing to do with it. Guy trying to scam you. 

 

Rent a mobike .... then you need to take your chances.  Unless your holiday insurance covers rental damage. 

 Many holiday insurances exclude 3rd party accidents from riding a bike. A registered licence may help. If you prang a rental m/c (and there's no injuries) try to fix it first. Assuming you have the funds and time to arrange the repair.

Basically it's 'caveat emptor'.

Small bikes when rented don't have the insurance you really need. you break it you fix it!

In fact full insurance for any bike is expensive and troublesome to obtain. 

Negotiation is the best way forward. Forget about ' I was right you were wrong'. Decide what you will pay for your folly.

2 hours ago, Joe Mcseismic said:

The OP hasn't been back.

 

Because it's a troll.. 

Take the bike, along with the owner to a shop that sells that particular brand. They will be able to provide a quote for the cost of repairs (parts and labor), and that's what you should give the owner. I've personally seen people do this several times at the Honda dealer in Patong while waiting for my bike to be serviced.

42 minutes ago, DrDave said:

Take the bike, along with the owner to a shop that sells that particular brand. They will be able to provide a quote for the cost of repairs (parts and labor), and that's what you should give the owner. I've personally seen people do this several times at the Honda dealer in Patong while waiting for my bike to be serviced.

I knew a m/c rental company owner in Chiang Mai. He freely admitted to making more money from repairs than rental, but would happily agree to extend the rental period of the damaged bike until the customer had it repaired at Honda. He said nobody ever did, because Honda would generally take 2-3 days to get and fit the parts (probably longer on Phuket), and the customers were usually at the end of their holiday.