renting a car in thailand

[UbonThani]

1 the legal right is in hotel or car contract

 

2 fraud protection varies - visa covers fraud with cr cards. Banks cover fraud with debit cards. Bank coverage is not as strong though and depends on local laws. Usually you have to report quickly and it takes 3 to 6 weeks to get money back. Cr cards offer quick reversal.

 

 

 

Otherwise it's the same. Same system. Same deposit. The only issue comes with fraud. Shouldnt happen with legit hotel or car company.

[Blue Muton]

37 minutes ago, saengd said:

I've driven in Thailand for the past almost twenty years, averaging around 15k miles per year. My experience is that there are westerners who can drive a car or truck here and there are those who really shouldn't drive anything anywhere. And any westerner who drives a motorbike or similar here is simply asking for trouble, I don't care how much experience you have or how good you are, it plain and simply is very unsafe and the statistics confirm this.

Can you give a source for the statistics showing how dangerous it it for experienced, sober, sensible correctly attired motorcyclists in Thailand? No, I thought not, you just made that up.

[Moonlover]

27 minutes ago, saengd said:

And any westerner who drives a motorbike or similar here is simply asking for trouble, I don't care how much experience you have or how good you are, it plain and simply is very unsafe and the statistics confirm this.

What statistics? I have never come across any statics that indicate that a westerner riding a motorcycle is in any more danger here anywhere else in the world.

 

Yes, I know that most of the RTA deaths here are motorcyclists, but the vast majority of those deaths are Thais and is due to their own lack of training, especially when it come to defensive riding techniques and often stupid behaviour, including drinking.

 

I feel as safe here on my motorcycle as I would anywhere in the world. Yes I acknowledge the risk, but many fun things in life involve some risk.

 

"I refuse to walk carefully through life only to arrive safely at death." ~ Paulo Coelho : quotes.

[Don Mega]

1 minute ago, Moonlover said:

What statistics? I have never come across any statics that indicate that a westerner riding a motorcycle is in any more danger here anywhere else in the world.

 

Yes, I know that most of the RTA deaths here are motorcyclists, but the vast majority of those deaths are Thais and is due to their own lack of training, especially when it come to defensive riding techniques and often stupid behaviour, including drinking.

 

I feel as safe here on my motorcycle as I would anywhere in the world. Yes I acknowledge the risk, but many fun things in life involve some risk.

 

"I refuse to walk carefully through life only to arrive safely at death." ~ Paulo Coelho : quotes.

of those "motorcycle" deaths... how many are scooter related or actual proper motorbike related ?

Edited March 8, 2020 by Don Mega

[Moonlover]

27 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

1 hour ago, Moonlover said:

This is not the case with the company I use. Cash for payment and the excess deposit is accepted and that's how I always pay.

 

Neither have I been asked for an IDP. My UK licence was acceptable. (N.A. now because I have a Thai DL)

 

27 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Is revealing the name of the company you use prohibited?

To be honest, I wasn't quite sure about that, which was why I initially withheld. But it is now in the thread.

 

'Publish and be damned' as they say. ????

 

[transam]

3 minutes ago, Blue Muton said:

Can you give a source for the statistics showing how dangerous it it for experienced, sober, sensible correctly attired motorcyclists in Thailand? No, I thought not, you just made that up.

It is dangerous to drive/ride anything here, doesn't matter if you are sober or sensible, the others are not.

I rarely use our Honda, I got to an old-ish age sorting out unnecessary risks outside my fun hobbies...... ????

[saengd]

1 minute ago, UbonThani said:

1 the legal right is in hotel or car contract

 

2 fraud protection varies - visa covers fraud with cr cards. Banks cover fraud with debit cards. Bank coverage is not as strong though and depends on local laws. Usually you have to report quickly and it takes 3 to 6 weeks to get money back. Cr cards offer quick reversal.

 

 

 

Otherwise it's the same. Same system. Same deposit. The only issue comes with fraud. Shouldnt happen with legit hotel or car company.

I'm not going to debate this point with you, just do yourself a favor if you're going to continue to believe those things, just check or ask the questions of your bank and card issuer, for your own sake.

 

I've had a five star hotel in Bangkok try to bill me 15k baht for a call to Hong Kong that I didn't make, I did however make a 30 second internet connection to a HK ISP that didn't disconnect because of the hotels telecommunications kit. After arguing the point I agreed to pay the cahrge as long as it was a stand alone charge item on a credit card. When I got back to HK I handed the matter to the CC company and told them to deal with it, six months later the charge was cancelled.

 

Last month my UK newspaper sub. automatically renewed using my CC for payment, the newspaper said I had agreed to the renewal which I hadn't. I gave the matter to the CC company and the problem was solved.

 

If either one of those incidents, (and I can recite many others) had involved my bank they would have said tough.

[saengd]

8 minutes ago, Blue Muton said:

Can you give a source for the statistics showing how dangerous it it for experienced, sober, sensible correctly attired motorcyclists in Thailand? No, I thought not, you just made that up.

Blah blah blah.

 

25,000 road traffic deaths in Thailand each year, 75% involve motorbikes, look it up yourself.

[Moonlover]

3 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

of those "motorcycle" deaths... how many are scooter related or actual proper motorbike related ?

I have absolutely no idea and to honest I don't see the relevance. Surely it's down to how one rides, not what one rides.

 

[Just Weird]

2 hours ago, AussieBob18 said:

You must use a credit card for the deposit - they will not accept cash/debit etc.  But here is where it can become very serious - and it has for some people in the past - seach TV and the web.  If the accident/theft is not covered by their own insurance (for whatever Thai reason), they will hit your credit card with the costs.  Some have been known to hit the credit card and then refund some/all of the charge months later when/if there insurance company pays up. 

That is not the case for every rental company!

[Don Mega]

3 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

I have absolutely no idea and to honest I don't see the relevance. Surely it's down to how one rides, not what one rides.

 

Well it does matter..

1 fella on his GSXR 1000 that crashes and become dead = 1 death.

5 peeps on a honda wave that rash and become dead = 5 deaths.

 

suggesting the bike big is safer due to less deaths !!

Edited March 8, 2020 by Don Mega

[saengd]

2 minutes ago, pdtokyo said:

i think i detect the source of your very common nerviness around this subject ... "westerners" ? like it's a genetic thing ?? seriously ???

 

Driving in Thailand is an experience? Right? ... and like almost every experience in a new place, ... if you take the time and make the effort to observe local conditions, identify obvious blackspots, make allowance for this and that and most importantly emulate the examples provided by local successful entities. That's universal common sense.

 

Sure ... everything is a spectrum and i wouldn't even consider driving anything short of a tank in Idlib right now ... far too many random events that no amount of common sense could prevent ... at the other end of the spectrum i wouldn't enjoy driving in Switerland either ... can't get away with having even a tiny bit of fun there. But Thailand? Really? turn on your radar and it's a hoot.

 

Take everything i've said about cars and knock off maybe 10% of my enthusiasm if we're talking about bikes, but i ride both in Oz and have ridden bikes in Thai also. I know bikies and all of them accept that bikes are not as safe as cars but they do it anyway. Informed consent. Fear everything and you wouldn't get out of bed. And die of bedsores or thrombosis.

 

as usual this little rant and others have wandered off-topic (rental cars) so moderator, again, feel free to delete (but if you do, delete his too ????)

My 15k miles a year times 20 years tells me that luck plays a huge part here, from what I've seen it's not about the skills or the way the bike rider is dressed that's the issue, it's everyone and everything else that's going on  around him/her.

[Just Weird]

2 hours ago, AussieBob18 said:

2 hours ago, Don Mega said:

I rent from smaller companies that don't require a credit card and accept cash for the deposit.

With a foreign licence and IDP the blood alcohol limit is 0.02.

Do you know any smaller ones in Bangkok? 

Lumpini Car Rent, just down the road from Lumpini police station.  There is another on the next junction at Rama IV/Sathorn.

[saengd]

http://www.thaiwebsites.com/caraccidents.asp

 

Old numbers but nothing has changed.

[OneMoreFarang]

3 hours ago, watgate said:

I am planning on renting a car and was wondering if the collision waiver damage  (cwd) in thailand is like in the US. In the US when you rent a car and take out the cwd, if you have an accident or there is damage to your rental car you are covered and there is no out of pocket expenses to worry about. Is it the same in Thailand when renting a car here? Thanks for any info.

If you are not really used to Thailand's traffic chaos maybe rent a car with driver. That eliminates a couple of possible problems.

[Moonlover]

2 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

Well it does matter..

1 fella on his GSXR 1000 that crashes and become dead = 1 death.

5 peeps on a honda wave that rash and become dead = 5 deaths.

 

suggesting the bike big is safer due to less deaths !!

No it does not. It suggests, by your example, that there a 5 times as many small bikes on the roads than there are super bikes. (which could be true) Besides, you've changed the criteria. You initially said 'scooters and motorbikes'. Now your saying 'big bikes and small bikes'.

 

Oh, I'm bored with this and we're well off topic anyway.

[Don Mega]

Are you eye's painted on.... where did I refer to a scooter as small bike ?

[saengd]

20 minutes ago, pdtokyo said:

i think i detect the source of your very common nerviness around this subject ... "westerners" ? like it's a genetic thing ?? seriously ???

 

Driving in Thailand is an experience? Right? ... and like almost every experience in a new place, ... if you take the time and make the effort to observe local conditions, identify obvious blackspots, make allowance for this and that and most importantly emulate the examples provided by local successful entities. That's universal common sense.

 

Sure ... everything is a spectrum and i wouldn't even consider driving anything short of a tank in Idlib right now ... far too many random events that no amount of common sense could prevent ... at the other end of the spectrum i wouldn't enjoy driving in Switerland either ... can't get away with having even a tiny bit of fun there. But Thailand? Really? turn on your radar and it's a hoot.

 

Take everything i've said about cars and knock off maybe 10% of my enthusiasm if we're talking about bikes, but i ride both in Oz and have ridden bikes in Thai also. I know bikies and all of them accept that bikes are not as safe as cars but they do it anyway. Informed consent. Fear everything and you wouldn't get out of bed. And die of bedsores or thrombosis.

 

as usual this little rant and others have wandered off-topic (rental cars) so moderator, again, feel free to delete (but if you do, delete his too ????)

My emphasis on the word Westerner reflects a belief that Thai's drive according to precedent rather than according to the law, westerners fail to know or understand that.

[gomangosteen]

I have hired from Europcar, Hertz, Budget in past eight months, all pickup and drop off at Suvarnabhumi.

Have found them all to be thorough with pre-hire checks in my presence noting any existing minor scratches, only sign when I've checked the diagram on the form

Each car I've had has had relatively low kms, from 1200 up to around 30,000 and have not hadcany problem when hiring or returning and re-doing the body checks.

About 3yrs ago I had a hire from a smaller no-name car yard, it was fine at flat fee of 5000 per week. Months later I went back to same place, as our car was being driven from storage to where we were waiting the auto trans failed/seized. Walked away, I'm guessing if that had happened while I was driving it would have been my fault, my responsibility (as well as upset our travel plans) .... Never again, only deal with international name companies from then onwards.

 

[Logosone]

2 minutes ago, saengd said:

My emphasis on the word Westerner reflects a belief that Thai's drive according to precedent rather than according to the law, westerners fail to know or understand that.

Could you please elaborate on what you mean by driving by precdent?

 

 

[transam]

2 minutes ago, Logosone said:

Could you please elaborate on what you mean by driving by precdent?

 

 

The word is "precedent", and the meaning is obvious in the post...

[Blue Muton]

37 minutes ago, saengd said:

Blah blah blah.

 

25,000 road traffic deaths in Thailand each year, 75% involve motorbikes, look it up yourself.

Blah Blah Blah that doesn't answer my question and it certainly doesn't support your previous assertion.

[Moonlover]

32 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

Are you eye's painted on.... where did I refer to a scooter as small bike ?

Here you said. (I quote)

 

55 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

of those "motorcycle" deaths... how many are scooter related or actual proper motorbike related ?

 

You made no reference to the size of either vehicle. If you want to get pedantic A Legend 150cc is a proper motorcycle and a Honda Forza 300cc is a proper scooter.

 

That, in my view, negates any point that you're trying to make.

 

 

[Don Mega]

12 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

Here you said. (I quote)

 

55 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

of those "motorcycle" deaths... how many are scooter related or actual proper motorbike related ?

 

You made no reference to the size of either vehicle. If you want to get pedantic A Legend 150cc is a proper motorcycle and a Honda Forza 300cc is a proper scooter.

 

That, in my view, negates any point that you're trying to make.

 

 

those are both scooters.... I now understand your confusion.

 

EDIT: I do apologize, I thought the legend was some Honda scooter, it appears to be some sort of chinese thing assembled in Thailand and is labeled as a motorbike.... still not I would class as a motorbike though.

Edited March 8, 2020 by Don Mega

[Moonlover]

10 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

those are both scooters.... I now understand your confusion.

I'm confused?????????????????

 

So buddy. I don't think you have clue what you're talking about. Meet the two machines and decide which one is the scooter.

 

Edited March 8, 2020 by Moonlover

[Don Mega]

7 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

I'm confused?????????????????

 

So buddy. I don't think you have clue what you're talking about. Meet the two machines and decide which one is the scooter.

 

 

 

Yeah see my edit.... obviously you missed it.

 

one is a scooter, the other a joke.

 

 

[transam]

1 minute ago, pdtokyo said:

and dear sir, my emphasis is reflect a belief that anyone alien to an environment who observes, learns and adopts g the rules and customs of that environmentwill increase the alien's survival rate.

 

This universal principle is applied here to driving but equally valid to apply to eating, drinking, having sex, deciding where to build a house and ... to stay on topic ... renting a car ... that is precisely why the OP is posting the question ... he is in the observing and learning phases. Good on him and the very best of luck OP in extracting any real value from this thread so far!

 

Really? My taxi driver to airport last week scared the <deleted> out of me and i thrive on danger! Your suggestion may be based on the assumption the OP is a feeble driver, not likely if OP is in the habit of renting vehicles. Besides, aren't the rickshaw days over except for the super-rich who can afford to keep the stretch Hummer ticking over outside the front door while they pop into Big-C to check out the specials?

The locals don't observe the rules, the BiB don't enforce the rules....

[ben2talk]

3 hours ago, AussieBob18 said:

Rental car insurance in Thailand is not like US or anywhere else in 1st world. There are lots of gotchas and conditions in the fine print - and there is not any real consistency between companies - even the big named ones - they are Thai owned franchises and operate under Thai laws and consumer protections (what little they are). Basically, you should expect that you will have to give up all or some of your 10,000 baht deposit if you have an accident/damage.

 

You must have an IDP and valid licence. You must use a credit card for the deposit - they will not accept cash/debit etc. But here is where it can become very serious - and it has for some people in the past - seach TV and the web. If the accident/theft is not covered by their own insurance (for whatever Thai reason), they will hit your credit card with the costs. Some have been known to hit the credit card and then refund some/all of the charge months later when/if there insurance company pays up. There is no hard and fast rules/laws - this is Thailand - maybe OK, maybe not.

 

The best advice I got when I found out all about this years ago, and what I do every time I rent a car in Thailand, is that I have credit card that has a few thousand$ limit - from a bank that I have no other accounts with. Nothing has gone wrong for me, but the 'safety' of having a limit on the credit card I use, and the bank has no other accounts it can access, means I should be a lot safer - and I mean 'should'. And no not drink - at all - any alcohol in your blood after a serious accident and you are toast. And dont over-speed - same reasons.

 

 

This is excellent advice.

 

We learned this when our car was damaged by a third party - his insurance agreed to cover our costs... however, even this doesn't mean 'all of the costs' and we ended up with 17,000 excess rental over a month of rental (apparently it doesn't cover Sundays, or Wednesday mornings... but you don't return the car for those days because you don't have a spare car to get home...).

 

Rental cars are subject to localised maintenance (i.e. there's no proper M.o.T framework in Thailand - no real incentive for testers to fail any vehicle that can be driven and every incentive to overlook 'minor' issues like spongy brakes).

 

Other lessons to appreciate here: Honda (Thailand) is not Honda, just as Apple stores aren't Apple stores... McDonalds isn't McDonalds... it's not always bad, but don't be fooled.

[transam]

3 minutes ago, ben2talk said:

This is excellent advice.

 

We learned this when our car was damaged by a third party - his insurance agreed to cover our costs... however, even this doesn't mean 'all of the costs' and we ended up with 17,000 excess rental over a month of rental (apparently it doesn't cover Sundays, or Wednesday mornings... but you don't return the car for those days because you don't have a spare car to get home...).

 

Rental cars are subject to localised maintenance (i.e. there's no proper M.o.T framework in Thailand - no real incentive for testers to fail any vehicle that can be driven and every incentive to overlook 'minor' issues like spongy brakes).

 

Other lessons to appreciate here: Honda (Thailand) is not Honda, just as Apple stores aren't Apple stores... McDonalds isn't McDonalds... it's not always bad, but don't be fooled.

A car has to be 7 years old for M.O.T. here...Doubt there are 7 year old rentals..

[NanLaew]

52 minutes ago, Blue Muton said:

1 hour ago, saengd said:

Blah blah blah.

 

25,000 road traffic deaths in Thailand each year, 75% involve motorbikes, look it up yourself.

Blah Blah Blah that doesn't answer my question and it certainly doesn't support your previous assertion.

You expected sagacity from a member who responds to a post with 'Blah blah blah' ?