British woman breaks nearly every bone in face in Thailand

[Postmaster]

What a terrible thing to happen to anyone even moreso to her such a pretty girl she is.

[cnx101]

21 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Yeah, right, of course it is!

Your too serious guy if you are from Liverpool your supposed to have a sense of humor 

[NoshowJones]

On 12/17/2022 at 5:40 AM, Mino said:

Few years ago I need to be hospitalised and before can go in, they ask me 10,000 THB cash deposit and to check my insurance. Of course it was not a government hospital.

All they are interested in is money especially if you have a white face, treatment comes second, same applies to government hospitals, although there will be a few exceptions.

[ttrd]

15 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

We’re not sure if she was insured or if the insurance company have used some clause to wiggle out of payment. 

 

Insurance companies can be very slippery - I’ve had a payout refused before after they initially pre-authorised cover. 

 

The lady also went as a passenger on a motorcycle - I think this is something pretty much every single one of us has done in Thailand...  Its not the ‘outrageous risk taking’ you seem to imply it is. 

 

The lady has suffered some incredible bad luck - but for me, the main question to be asked here is the most important... she allegedly did have cover, how did the insurance wiggle out of payment ?

 

 

RE - she allegedly did have cover, how did the insurance wiggle out of payment ?

 

* The answer to your question may be found under 1.9 GENERAL EXCLUSIONS TO CARD TRAVEL INSURANCE

 

We may assume that a blood test was taken on arrival at the hospital, so it is most likely point 12 that has been used as a basis for the refusal - something that unfortunately has turned out to be a regular occurrence on holiday trips in particular ...

 

https://www.americanexpress.com/content/dam/amex/uk/benefits/UK-Platinum-insurance-documentation-July21.pdf

[NoshowJones]

On 12/17/2022 at 7:12 AM, findlay13 said:

I paid  extra  on my credit card insurance once for larger motorcycle coverage only to find out later I wasn't covered because I owned the bike and it wasn't a rental. Luckily I didn't need it but always read the fine print

The fine or small print is only used by thieving crooked companies as an excuse to avoid paying out. If they were honest, there would be no need for fine or small print at all.

[ttrd]

13 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

The fine or small print is only used by thieving crooked companies as an excuse to avoid paying out. If they were honest, there would be no need for fine or small print at all.

Does it exist a single honest insurance company - if so, pls advice ...

[NoshowJones]

23 hours ago, aussienam said:

The woman made a terrible mistake not having appropriate insurance cover.  I hope she recovers. The article reads as though she did have insurance.  Lots of conditions can void cover even if she was covered for riding/being a passenger.  

People going on vacation are often prompted to take cover when booking flights by affiliated links and think all is good to go.  

Insurance companies are to blame in part by being more interested in taking money for policies but hiding a lot of details in large volumes of fine print.  They could do a much better job highlighting problematic areas where policy holders often think they're properly covered but are not.  Many inferior cover insurance policies out there just happy to take your money.  

 

Of course we should all spend an hour or two reading insurance terms and conditions and other information before paying for a policy.  I used to download the documents and run word searches on 'motor bike', 'motorbike', 'motor cycle', 'motorcycle' which would bring up those relevant sections.  Alcohol, drugs, speeding, no helmet, engine capacity limits (often no more than 125 or 150cc) are some main ones for voiding cover.  Plenty of other conditions may void cover as well. 

"Of course we should all spend an hour or two reading insurance terms and conditions". As well as the crooked small print, what about all the legal jargon that most times it would only be people in the legal trade who would understand? 

Insurance companies are up there with banks and the medical profession when it comes to deceiving the ordinary people.

[NoshowJones]

7 minutes ago, ttrd said:

Does it exist a single honest insurance company - if so, pls advice ...

Could you please repeat this in proper English language. If you are not an English Native speaker then please accept my apologies.

[spidermike007]

4 hours ago, Eloquent pilgrim said:

She wasn’t riding, she was the pillion passenger, her boyfriend was riding

Was she wearing the very best helmet she could afford? 

[DJ54]

Did the rental motorcycle not have rental insurance?

[DJ54]

If it results they have to pay cash they should ask for a cash discount. Whether cash discount are available here I don’t know. When I was on holiday in the US had an emergency room visit that wasn’t 

covered with insurance. They emailed the bill @ $7,000 USD I called the company that handles hospital payments and asked for a cash discount… the bill was paid in full @ $3,500 USD… 

[newnative]

4 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

But does it change the view about insurance ??

 

Does that mean every time we get in a taxi in Thailand (or anywhere) we need to check that the driver is fully licensed ?...     Does it mean whenever we get on a motorcycle taxi we need to check that they rider is fully licensed ?...  

Is our insurance void if we use a motorcycle taxi ???

 

Many of us have been on the back of a moto-taxi - that may have well voided any insurance cover we have...  Did we ever double check that ??? 

 

Have we even thought about our own situations and potential mistakes before sanctimoniously handing down judgment ???

 

 

 

lots of questions... I’m wondering what the insurance used for ‘wiggle room’ to avoid payment ?

i.e. simply not covered if going on any motorcycle ?

 

 

 

     From the article, her Amex card did not have travel insurance, which she thought it did, and her other insurance was 'invalid'--it's unclear what the invalidity was.   If her boyfriend was driving illegally with no motorcycle license, it may have invalidated her insurance.  My health insurance has an exclusion for 'illegal acts'. 

    In any case, it's more about the safety of everyone, not just the unqualified, unlicensed tourists killing or injuring themselves on unfamiliar motorcycles driving unfamiliar roads and conditions.   A friend of mine was nearly killed by a woman tourist with no experience with motorcycles, no motorcycle license, and no insurance who should never have been allowed to illegally rent a motorcycle in the first place.  

[Mino]

4 hours ago, NoshowJones said:

All they are interested in is money especially if you have a white face, treatment comes second, same applies to government hospitals, although there will be a few exceptions.

I went twice in two different government hospitals, one in Phuket and one in Chiang Mai. Both time they make me a "local card" for 30 thb. But they no ask nothing more. Maybe cause it was just a daily hospital treatment.

[NoshowJones]

1 hour ago, Mino said:

I went twice in two different government hospitals, one in Phuket and one in Chiang Mai. Both time they make me a "local card" for 30 thb. But they no ask nothing more. Maybe cause it was just a daily hospital treatment.

The 30 Bt thing for foreigners was stopped years ago.

[SGD]

You need to remember George Orwell.

Four wheels good, two wheels bad.

[Pique Dard]

On 12/17/2022 at 1:35 PM, Spock said:

She had insurance. 

so why " she might have to stay until the medical bills are paid off, it is a nightmare."?

 

[scubascuba3]

Girls shouldn't get on the back of bikes with plonker farangs, riding too fast, dangerous riding, they are often showing off too which makes it worse

[Peterw42]

16 hours ago, DJ54 said:

Did the rental motorcycle not have rental insurance?

I think you will find no rental bikes have insurance, besides the compulsory 3rd party built into the yearly tax/registration. And that coverage is limited to 30k per accident.

[The Fugitive]

1 hour ago, Peterw42 said:

I think you will find no rental bikes have insurance, besides the compulsory 3rd party built into the yearly tax/registration. And that coverage is limited to 30k per accident.

Thanks, almost certainly the case. However, the rental company/person is probably not declaring that the bike is continuously hired out otherwise I doubt they could obtain even this insurance?

[ben2talk]

On 12/17/2022 at 5:54 AM, VinnieK said:

License? Lol

She probably never rode a scooter, let alone have a license.

Same old story - idiots riding on an empty head.

 

I rode bikes for years... from 18-36 years old in the UK, then from 37-60 years old in Thailand.

 

When I was younger, I rode my tyres down to the canvas, and I've gone from my old GSX-R750 with superb stopping power to crappy rental bikes with brakes that didn't work better than simply putting my feet down.

 

Needless to say I rode slower... always paranoid on a scooter because the other traffic can be faster, more aggressive, and more busy playing with their phones - and when I did fall off in the rain, it didn't hurt much.

 

So once you've discussed the insurance question, move on to remind people not to ride bikes unless they know what they're doing... Helmets won't compensate much, especially the Thai variety, and nobody will ride a scooter in full leathers on holiday.

[Eloquent pilgrim]

21 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Was she wearing the very best helmet she could afford? 

Classic deflection tactics. My comment was to inform you that she was not the rider, because you asked if she was an experienced rider; you also asked if she was even wearing a helmet at all, so you obviously had not read the article, despite making a lengthy comment.

As someone that frequently corrects other posters, I thought you would be pleased to have your errors corrected; it seems there’s no pleasing some people.

There is no information as to what type of helmet she was wearing, but it was a rented scooter, so not unreasonable to assume it was an ill-fitting, inadequate helmet from the shop, good enough to prevent a police fine, but not useful for much else.   

[Marco100]

Most of the people who come in Thailand do not know how to drive a bike . Specially those scooters which are mostly in poor conditions n dangerous  ...

I see them driving around emulating the Thai Drivers and taking great risk as they do not have the skills , experience and radars like the Thais does .

There should be some sort of sistem , brochures when people embark flights going to Thailand where it's clearly stated what the danger of riding a bike is and what you are covered in insurance in order to prevent at least part of this stupidity . ( With bad pictures like on cigarette packages ???? ) .

[10baht]

On 12/17/2022 at 5:35 AM, webfact said:

her career for the first time ever and was going to New Zealand after Thailand.

New Zealand is not a cheap vacation, put that money, which you will now not be spending, toward a helmet if you ride again.

[newbee2022]

Good luck.

Set up crowdfunding and let the crowd pay for stupidity. ????

[crazykopite]

On 12/17/2022 at 5:32 AM, RandiRona said:

Sorry to hear about her accident and condition. This happens quite too often here in Thailand. How do Thai hospitals handle that? Do they stop treating you and release you after a while when no payment is made? Or do keep you there as a medical prisoner till payment is made??

 

 

They ask if you can pay prior to giving treatment if you say  okay , if you say NO it then depends on the hospital from experience Samui government hospital are normally very helpful they have an office that deals with overseas patients Tina who heads it is very helpful she goes out of her way to help those in difficult circumstances  sadly most tourists have never ridden a scooter till they come to Thailand and rental bikes don’t have insurance to cover those who hire them 

[metisdead]

A post with excessive use of ALL CAPS has been removed as there is no need to SHOUT when posting.  

 

Some argumentative troll posts and the replies have been removed. 

 

An off topic post about Florida and a reply has been removed.

[BritManToo]

On 12/20/2022 at 9:35 AM, crazykopite said:

rental bikes don’t have insurance to cover those who hire them 

Thai minimum insurance has medical cover of 40kbht for anyone riding them (legally or illegally). If the bike has a valid tax disk, it will have the insurance.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 12/18/2022 at 5:20 PM, richard_smith237 said:

But does it change the view about insurance ??

 

Does that mean every time we get in a taxi in Thailand (or anywhere) we need to check that the driver is fully licensed ?...     Does it mean whenever we get on a motorcycle taxi we need to check that they rider is fully licensed ?...  

Is our insurance void if we use a motorcycle taxi ???

 

Many of us have been on the back of a moto-taxi - that may have well voided any insurance cover we have...  Did we ever double check that ??? 

 

Have we even thought about our own situations and potential mistakes before sanctimoniously handing down judgment ???

 

 

 

lots of questions... I’m wondering what the insurance used for ‘wiggle room’ to avoid payment ?

i.e. simply not covered if going on any motorcycle ?

 

 

 

Travel by taxi is normal and covered. Travel by m'bike is not normal and is dangerous, so is usually treated separately for travel insurance. I've always paid extra for m'bike cover.

I'm pretty sure it would apply in the event of using a m'bike taxi as well.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 12/19/2022 at 12:05 PM, scubascuba3 said:

Girls shouldn't get on the back of bikes with plonker farangs, riding too fast, dangerous riding, they are often showing off too which makes it worse

The ones I felt sorry for were the bargirls clinging on behind a moron farang tourist riding a big bike far too fast and likely never ridden a bike before. Must have been a tough choice- make money to pay rent or stay safe.

BTW, they were not wearing a helmet because apparently only the driver has to wear one.

[novacova]

On 12/17/2022 at 6:28 AM, nigelforbes said:

It's a sad story of course but many people who come here don't understand how dangerous the roads are and expect that similar rules of the road apply here as back home. I live off a main road that runs from Chiang Mai to Pai and also to the Mae Sa Valley, I see younger western tourists and western hitchhikers almost every day. I have to shake my head at the way they drive, very few drive defensively or even cautiously, they might as well be in the Cote d'Azur as far as driving style is concerned. Not too many try to emulate local bike riders but many do try to compete with cars and trucks for space and aren't afraid of blocking the fast lane. I did chat with two young Dutch guys on this point when we both arrived at the petrol station together. Their thinking was that driving aggressively was the better way to go and was safer for them because they believed the locals would give way.

There’s also a few resident foreigners that live here in cm I often see driving competitively and carelessly as well. It’s a real eyesore ????