Caddie injured by Italian golfer in Chiang Mai claims she only got 5,000 baht compensation

 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

A Chiang Mai caddie who was seriously injured in the eye after she was hit by a golf ball has gone back to the Chiang Mai police. 

 

Phairin Kanthawong, 56, has not been able to work since January after she was hit in the left eye socket by a ball struck by Italian golfer Giacoma F. aged 67. 

 

She was standing 200 yards in front of the golfer when the ball struck her.

 

Initial reports suggested that the golfer had agreed to pay her 500,000 baht demands but this appears not to be the case at all. 

 

Phairin told Pol Lt-Col Susaran Sribuncharoenchai of the Mae Ping police on Monday that she has received only 5,000 baht from the Italian. 

 

In several previous attempts at a settlement the Italian had attempted to force the payment down to 20,000 baht. 

 

Phairin said through her brother that this is not enough at all. She would have earned 480 baht a day and has been unable to work since the end of January. 

 

In addition she had had to undergo surgery and still can't see properly over long distances and has such an intolerance to sunlight that she is forced to wear sunglasses all the time. 

 

The police said that they had done all they can in the case and recommended that the matter be handled by the district court back at the end of July. 

 

Now Phairin is preparing to go to the government's Damrongtham organization for assistance after claims that all contact with the Italian golfer had ceased. 

 

Thaivisa notes that Thai Rath said that the manager of the "well known" course had gone with the claimant to the police but made no mention of a salient point in the case raised by many golfers online: 

 

Was the course not insured for such eventualities?

 

Source: Thai Rath

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2020-09-29

 

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I feel sorry for her but may I ask why she was standing in front of the golfer ?

1 hour ago, JoePai said:

I feel sorry for her but may I ask why she was standing in front of the golfer ?

Maybe she was caddying for another player and he hit his ball before the fairway was clear, maybe his shot hit an adjoining fairway. Who knows but if, as reported, he agreed to pay damages it would appear he had previously accepted liability.

seriously any Caddie should know you don't stand in front of the golfer.  Contributed to her own injuries

i wonder if she was on the same whole fairway he was playing or another?

 

 

Edited September 29, 20205 yr by GeorgeCross

Should have paid nothing. He did not assault her and the club should have had insurance

21 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Should have paid nothing. He did not assault her and the club should have had insurance

The Club does not always have insurance in Thailand BUT all Golfers should have their own policies to cover this

2 hours ago, JoePai said:

The Club does not always have insurance in Thailand BUT all Golfers should have their own policies to cover this

The club should have insurance for this kind of accident. If should be provided as part of your green fees.

It's the golf clubs responsibility and they should have public liability insurance to cover injury. Even if this I Thailand it would be mandatory.

 

500,000 promised , and she got 5000 THB, just a misunderstanding ????

I take it the Italian golfer is not here anymore ?

regards worgeordie

500 baht would still be to much.

Typically a person engaged as a caddie is deemed to be aware of the possibility of accident from being struck by a golf ball and therefore assumes the risk.  Usually a person is liable for damages only if the injuries were caused by negligence or deliberate action.  In this instance, the caddie certainly was at least partially if not totally responsible for her injuries for standing in a place that she knew would place her in front of a golfer striking a ball in her direction.  In USA her employer the golf club would be required to carry workers compensation insurance to cover her for injuries sustained on the job.  In Thailand. Probably not. 

5 hours ago, JoePai said:

I feel sorry for her but may I ask why she was standing in front of the golfer ?

She was keeping her eye on the ball!!!

480 Baht a day....those 300 Baht compulsory tips are not required then

PLUS there is a chance she could have discovered the cure for COVID if she had a good eye.

 

I say 100 million baht.  The Italian was doing something dangerous in a country that is not his, so the penalty must be impossibly high.  Back home, people know it's dangerous and only if he hit her on purpose.  Here, i think she could have made 10,000 a minute.   

 

1 hour ago, billsmart said:

The club should have insurance for this kind of accident. If should be provided as part of your green fees.

Every tour operator needs one that covers up to 1 million, so way these guys (golf courses) are not insured.

4 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Should have paid nothing. He did not assault her and the club should have had insurance

Correct she should go to her employer as it is a work related accident. Probably they are not insured as they are self employed or so called freelance. Because the golfer in this case is a foreigner he is supposed to be rich and an that makes him of course an easy target. 

I gave up playing golf because too many people around me kept getting injured. Anyway after to many temper tantrums I ran out of clubs and I really did not want to purchase any more equipment.

Bad luck to the caddie.

She was too lazy to accompany her player back to the tee box so she moved forward to hide behind a tree as all the caddies do in this particular hole...the tree is basically in the fairway and not off the fairway...

 

is she performing her duties by hiding behind the tree? It was all timing...she poked he head out as the ball arrived...

 

you really can’t blame the golfer...he hit a long basically fairway shot....he has no control of where the caddy stands or hides...

 

timing is everything....just unlucky but how can you fault the player as it could have been another player in his party (if existed)

now if he directed her to stand where she stood...

 

 

The Italians big mistake was yelling QUATTRO instead of FOUR. Confused the caddy and she gets hit. Pay up pizza boy. 

6 hours ago, edwinchester said:

Maybe she was caddying for another player and he hit his ball before the fairway was clear, maybe his shot hit an adjoining fairway. Who knows but if, as reported, he agreed to pay damages it would appear he had previously accepted liability.

Does the golf course not provide 3rd party insurance for accidents.

6 hours ago, wendyfromoz said:

seriously any Caddie should know you don't stand in front of the golfer.  Contributed to her own injuries

200 yards in front.  Maybe she wanted to examine his swing from every conceivable angle.  Or perhaps caddying for someone else?

Very unlucky, 1 in million maybe, but if true she was on the fairway waiting where the caddies wait then she's partly responsible, usually shouting FORE will get the caddies running for cover, as usual not enough info in this story or the initial one

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Caddie injured by Italian golfer in Chiang Mai claims she only got 5,000 baht compensation

What about Golf course ground Insurance? Why was she 200 Yards In Front of the Golfer ?.Her Problem she's Suppose to be Behind the Golfer. No Pay, Her Fault .

I was once hit by a tennis ball when watching a match at CMU, didn't know i could sue for damages. 

8 hours ago, wendyfromoz said:

seriously any Caddie should know you don't stand in front of the golfer.  Contributed to her own injuries

She was standing 200 yards in front of the golfer when the ball struck her. !!!!!

 

It’s surely the responsibility of the Golf Club to ensure its employee’s are fully covered. 

 

It's also a good idea for Golfers to have their own liability insurance for injuries and damages to anyone should their shot go wayward and ‘off the course’. 

 

Someone working on a golf course has no right whatsoever to place any blame on a golfer unless the Golfer was deliberately acting unsafely. i.e. not leaving enough distance to the group in front and teeing off into them etc. 

 

 

It’s a freak accident but ultimately one which ‘in the real World’ would be covered by an insurance policy held by the Golf Club. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 hours ago, baansgr said:

480 Baht a day....those 300 Baht compulsory tips are not required then

Not if you think they're overpaid working for little more than 10,000 Baht a month....!

2 hours ago, digger70 said:

What about Golf course ground Insurance? Why was she 200 Yards In Front of the Golfer ?.Her Problem she's Suppose to be Behind the Golfer. No Pay, Her Fault .

True it seems she was in the wrong place and bad luck but regardless of liability what has happened to common human decency? I feel that the Italian could have offered more satisfactory compensation, somewhat more than the paltry sum of 5,000 Baht.

5 hours ago, Thomas J said:

Typically a person engaged as a caddie is deemed to be aware of the possibility of accident from being struck by a golf ball and therefore assumes the risk.  Usually a person is liable for damages only if the injuries were caused by negligence or deliberate action.  In this instance, the caddie certainly was at least partially if not totally responsible for her injuries for standing in a place that she knew would place her in front of a golfer striking a ball in her direction.  In USA her employer the golf club would be required to carry workers compensation insurance to cover her for injuries sustained on the job.  In Thailand. Probably not. 

I once got hit by a golfer from a nearby tee who managed to hit the ball at a 90 degree angle.....hardly something that happens a lot but to say the caddie was somehow responsible without knowing more facts is a big conclusion jump