What Happens If Your Crash A Rented Motorbike In Pattaya?

[1stbase]

Just wondering the consequences in returning a damaged motorbike to a Pattaya rental company. I assume they will charge you an arm and a leg for imported parts. If they don't have your passport as ransom though, what can they do if you don't have the money to pay or don't agree on the damages?

[onnut]

Just wondering the consequences in returning a damaged motorbike to a Pattaya rental company. I assume they will charge you an arm and a leg for imported parts. If they don't have your passport as ransom though, what can they do if you don't have the money to pay or don't agree on the damages?

Beat you around the head with a bit of 4by4.

[bkkperson]

Beat you around the head with a bit of 4by4.

and then phone up their friends to come and have ago...

but seriously..i would go to a normal bike shop and fix the damage that you know you have caused then return the bike and hope they don't see otherwise your gonna have to pay like it or lumpit unless you do one..

[Cuban]

I assume they will charge you an arm and a leg for imported parts.

Depends on the bike/damage - many parts are "locally" sourced.

If they don't have your passport as ransom though, what can they do if you don't have the money to pay or don't agree on the damages?

They have a copy of the Passport or the TM6 (White& Blue Departure Card), you get flagged via a police crime report and can easily be stopped from leaving the country. Possible arrest at the airport/border crossing - a bit dramatic.

Worth the risk for a few '000 of damage ?

There was a long thread in this forum a month or so ago talking about damage to two bikes, the couple that rented them I think sorted out the repairs themselves - not sure.

[1stbase]

They have a copy of the Passport or the TM6 (White& Blue Departure Card), you get flagged via a police crime report and can easily be stopped from leaving the country. Possible arrest at the airport/border crossing - a bit dramatic.

Worth the risk for a few '000 of damage ?

There was a long thread in this forum a month or so ago talking about damage to two bikes, the couple that rented them I think sorted out the repairs themselves - not sure.

Do you know where I can find this thread?

[1stbase]

Think I found it

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...155731&st=0

[tattoodrob]

they will make a big fuss thats what they will do.......if they dont beat you on the spot then boys in brown will be called who will take your passport till it is sorted.i presume the rental company has your address here and/or copy of your passport if you leg it at this point.

an amount will be wanted and if you dont have the money then they suggest you borrow it from family/friends ....if you dont do that then could lock you up to till paid(that wont be nice)....after that i have no idea as i dont think many people go past this point for sure.

if its an expensive bike and you really mashed it and you aint gonna pay then i suggest that you leave the country asap and not come back...........ever. up to you.

ive had a couple of problems before with crashed rented bikes ,one did mean getting the police involved...the other was that i parked bike and some drunk w anker managed to push it over in his drunken state outside a bar,i was a long way from the bike at the time but when i come back bike was on its side and obviously damaged.what pissed me off was that the girls in the bar didnt make any attempt to see where he went or anything...i actually had to go and ask what happened as they ignored me as i looked at the bike that was only 5m away from the outside bar........he was long gone and i took bike back to rental guy and told him what happened and the damage was not too bad and couldnt rip me off too much as i had an idea how much parts were....and painting is dirt cheap so that time was ok and paid less than 2k baht .

[cali4995]

1stbase, you really have to be careful. Some of these rental operators, whether jet-skis or motorbikes are the biggest scam-artists here. With the bikes often they will get "stolen"

and the tourist required to pay a large lump-sum. Everytime I take a walk down the beach

there is a mob around one of the jet skis and some Thai person pointing out damage with

the foreigner arguing it must have been there before. BIB only mediate payments.

[ClaytonSeymour]

Well you were certainly given plenty of warnings in your various postings on the topic of renting motor bikes.

I suppose much depends on the extent of the damage. I came off in Phuket a few years ago, suffered a few cuts and grazes & certainly thankful I had jeans on and not shorts. Minor damage to the footrests and didn't have to pay, but I didn't return it - the wife took it back and did the explaining. As a farang, I suspect they may not have been as reasonable with me.

I'd suggest you try and get this motorbike repaired before informing the rental shop - then hope they don't notice.

[tropo]

Just wondering the consequences in returning a damaged motorbike to a Pattaya rental company. I assume they will charge you an arm and a leg for imported parts. If they don't have your passport as ransom though, what can they do if you don't have the money to pay or don't agree on the damages?

Your full liability should be clearly marked on your rental contract...usually about the price of a new bike.

If you had a bad accident and caused substantial damage it wouldn't be smart to get it repaired yourself. They may decide they don't like the quality of your repairs and charge you again, and they'd be well within their rights to do so too.

Your best option would be to get some quotes and take it back to the rental company.

No one should ever give a passport to anyone to keep as assurance. If anyone asks for a passport to hold, just walk away.

[calibanjr.]

Just curious, exactly what's the damage? You'd laugh at how cheap it is to get a bike fixed here. My wife had an accident last year, needed new front shocks, front wheel, plastic fairing pieces. Basically a pretty good going-over for the front end. 3k baht (paid by the insurance even, having an accident report) for the whole thing incl. labor at a dealership (Niyom Panich) here in Chiang Mai. If the bike is fixable, get an estimate for yourself and get the work done if reasonable, so that the rental people don't run it through their own "special" repair pricing menu.

[sweetchariot]

Just wondering the consequences in returning a damaged motorbike to a Pattaya rental company. I assume they will charge you an arm and a leg for imported parts. If they don't have your passport as ransom though, what can they do if you don't have the money to pay or don't agree on the damages?

Your full liability should be clearly marked on your rental contract...usually about the price of a new bike.

If you had a bad accident and caused substantial damage it wouldn't be smart to get it repaired yourself. They may decide they don't like the quality of your repairs and charge you again, and they'd be well within their rights to do so too.

Your best option would be to get some quotes and take it back to the rental company.

No one should ever give a passport to anyone to keep as assurance. If anyone asks for a passport to hold, just walk away.

Most places won't rent you a bike or a car without a copy of your passport

[gharknes]

Take it to Road Machine on 3rd road near the firestation, the only problem will be if you need parts - if it's just a paint job and straighten a few things then should be cheap and quick.

[Cuban]

Take it to Road Machine on 3rd road near the firestation, the only problem will be if you need parts - if it's just a paint job and straighten a few things then should be cheap and quick.

Bear in mind that teh repair shops will probably know the bike is a rental and may inform teh company of the repair work. Little lie leads to a big lie. The rental company might wonder what else you are trying to hide.

[mikethevigoman]

Just wondering the consequences in returning a damaged motorbike to a Pattaya rental company. I assume they will charge you an arm and a leg for imported parts. If they don't have your passport as ransom though, what can they do if you don't have the money to pay or don't agree on the damages?

You will pay, they get the police if you dont and in extreme cases the police wil take your pasport til its sorted, they assume ( quite rightly in 99 per cent of cases ) that you or a family member/friend will cough up,beware!

[mikethevigoman]

Just wondering the consequences in returning a damaged motorbike to a Pattaya rental company. I assume they will charge you an arm and a leg for imported parts. If they don't have your passport as ransom though, what can they do if you don't have the money to pay or don't agree on the damages?

Your full liability should be clearly marked on your rental contract...usually about the price of a new bike.

If you had a bad accident and caused substantial damage it wouldn't be smart to get it repaired yourself. They may decide they don't like the quality of your repairs and charge you again, and they'd be well within their rights to do so too.

Your best option would be to get some quotes and take it back to the rental company.

No one should ever give a passport to anyone to keep as assurance. If anyone asks for a passport to hold, just walk away.

almost all of these bike rental places have NO insurance, fact !

[tropo]

Just wondering the consequences in returning a damaged motorbike to a Pattaya rental company. I assume they will charge you an arm and a leg for imported parts. If they don't have your passport as ransom though, what can they do if you don't have the money to pay or don't agree on the damages?

Your full liability should be clearly marked on your rental contract...usually about the price of a new bike.

If you had a bad accident and caused substantial damage it wouldn't be smart to get it repaired yourself. They may decide they don't like the quality of your repairs and charge you again, and they'd be well within their rights to do so too.

Your best option would be to get some quotes and take it back to the rental company.

No one should ever give a passport to anyone to keep as assurance. If anyone asks for a passport to hold, just walk away.

Most places won't rent you a bike or a car without a copy of your passport

Sure, a photocopy of your passport. I'm talking about giving them your passport to keep.

[1stbase]

I'll answer my own question. I guess it really depends on who you deal with. I am sure most of the rental companies will try to screw you in one way or another but theres always a few that if your nice to and don't lie or try to hide it they will take a reasonable cash settlement for the damage, if your lucky, 25% of what you had in your pocket ready to cough up in negotiation . Just be careful who you deal with. Last week a middle eastern guy appeared to be arguing with a rental place on Soi 13/4 where he rented and supposedly crashed an R1. They kept his passport ransom until he paid, not sure what happened after as I didn't stick around. This is the same company I rented a superbike from a few times. I looked over at the R1 and didn't notice any damage but didn't have the opportunity to ask where it was damaged. Now I am pretty skeptical about renting from these guys again but they seem to have a lot of nice bikes so it's tempting

[rocky123]

What would be the consiquenses if he just legged it back home without telling the shop ? I know its a very naughty thing to do !!

[Chang_paarp]

Be aware that many rental contracts also have a clause stating that yo are liable for the rent of the vehicle whilst it is being repaired. Sometimes they generously reduce the rental to 80% of the daily rate.

So while you are disputing the repairs and then the vehicle (cars and bikes offer this clause) sits in cousin Somchai's yard waiting for parts, you are paying rental. Yes it is common, and it is legal as you signed the contract. In the event there is an insurance policy, the insurance will cover this and as a result will ensure the vehicle is repaired quickly.

I was advised to check this when renting anything in Thailand by a rental company, they offered 1st class insurance that covered this, so they were less stressed in the event of accident. Just kept the insurance excess.

[torrenova]

What would be the consiquenses if he just legged it back home without telling the shop ? I know its a very naughty thing to do !!

Not a lot initially. As long as you get out of the country before your rental is due to expire (or you extend it) then what can they do ? you are back home and they are stuffed.

Now I'm not saying you would not get arrested next time you come to Thailand but they sure ain't coming to the UK or USA for you !

MTVM is right, most places (read like 99.99%) have zero insurance.

Some shops have been know to "steal" the bike themselves.

What would I do, I'd get some quotes and take it back to the shop. If they wanted substancially more than the repair cost then I'd be onto the tourist police.

There was a report a while ago of some guys who hired a jetski being asked for loony money for damage which they claimed they did not do. In the end, they said they would get the fibreglass people to look at it and either the threats disappeared and they left or they paid a small amount the same as Somchai would pay.

[gharknes]

Take it to road machine like I said, it doesn't matter who tells who what, you get the bike repaired properly and everybody is happy

[Farside]

about 3 years ago i was going down 3rd road on my hired CBR 926 Fireblade, I had Just past club xzyte and 3 girls on a scooter jumped a red light and straight into the front of me, Here's the result:

I had 3 witnesses and all of them told the police what the girls did, The police told me i had to pay for everything including the girls scooter because i was a farang thus i would be richer and could afford it.

100,000 baht the hirers charged me, And the police told me i had to pay it or else. In the end i had to get my parents to send me the payment.

dam_n pattaya police.

[tattoodrob]

about 3 years ago i was going down 3rd road on my hired CBR 926 Fireblade, I had Just past club xzyte and 3 girls on a scooter jumped a red light and straight into the front of me, Here's the result:

I had 3 witnesses and all of them told the police what the girls did, The police told me i had to pay for everything including the girls scooter because i was a farang thus i would be richer and could afford it.

100,000 baht the hirers charged me, And the police told me i had to pay it or else. In the end i had to get my parents to send me the payment.

dam_n pattaya police.

u were truely kippered up there son .......if you had witnesses i would have got there details(if you could) and also told the police that you were skint and that there was no way you could pay it ...they might have stuck you inside for a few days which wouldnt have been pleasant but maybe the embassy could have been informed that you were being totally ripped off by the local mafia(police).

the police assume you were richer than the girls but i would say get there sponsor a.k.a farang boyfriend to pay as he was probably richer than you!!!

i know its easy to say this as it didnt happen to me and these situations really <deleted> me off the way they just say we are richer so we pay...everything is ok in thailand till something goes wrong then the shi t really hits the fan against us.

[Farside]

u were truely kippered up there son .......if you had witnesses i would have got there details(if you could) and also told the police that you were skint and that there was no way you could pay it ...they might have stuck you inside for a few days which wouldnt have been pleasant but maybe the embassy could have been informed that you were being totally ripped off by the local mafia(police).

the police assume you were richer than the girls but i would say get there sponsor a.k.a farang boyfriend to pay as he was probably richer than you!!!

i know its easy to say this as it didnt happen to me and these situations really <deleted> me off the way they just say we are richer so we pay...everything is ok in thailand till something goes wrong then the shi t really hits the fan against us.

I couldn't really risk that, I am diabetic and need 4 injections a day as well as the correct amount of food, Being in a thai jail isn't a good idea.

[Crash999]

100,000 baht the hirers charged me, And the police told me i had to pay it or else. In the end i had to get my parents to send me the payment. dam_n pattaya police.

Wow from the state of that bike it's lucky you weren't badly hurt!

Several years back a friend and I rented bikes in Phuket and were staying in a small hotel on Karon beach. One day we were walking back to our bikes when a young girl shot past us on her scooter, totally out of control. She crashed into a line of scooters and they toppled into each other like a dominoes. Unluckily the last domino was my friend's rented sport bike which impacted the ground, causing all sorts of damage to the handlebar, fairings, and whatnot.

A crowd immediately formed with lots of shouting and gesturing. In front of the bikes were some beer bars and a particularly excited bargirl kept shrieking that the farang should pay as the girl has no money. Both my friend and I can speak Thai and he was ready to rip her head off.

A man in brown showed up and everyone (including us) tried talking to him at once. He told everyone to be quiet and one at a time asked us what happened. He asked us to summon the rental bike owner who showed up in a few minutes. Immediately he told the owner that there had been an accident, it wasn't our fault, and he needs to go and get a replacement bike for my friend to use. He took down our details and told us we were free to go though he might need to contact us later- he never did.

So in all a good experience in that despite the usual pressure for the 'rich' farang to take care of everyone the police wound up dealing with things in a quick and fair manner.

Another brief story- a friend of mine and I rented bikes and were driving through the mountains to reach Pai (via Samoeng). At one point I came off the bike while off-road. Not much damage except the clutch lever broke. Total cost to fix? 20 baht. I'm sure that would cost 400 baht or so to any renter in Pattaya.

Edited February 2, 2008 by Crash999

[Farside]

100,000 baht the hirers charged me, And the police told me i had to pay it or else. In the end i had to get my parents to send me the payment. dam_n pattaya police.

Wow from the state of that bike it's lucky you weren't badly hurt!

Several years back a friend and I rented bikes in Phuket and were staying in a small hotel on Karon beach. One day we were walking back to our bikes when a young girl shot past us on her scooter, totally out of control. She crashed into a line of scooters and they toppled into each other like a dominoes. Unluckily the last domino was my friend's rented sport bike which impacted the ground, causing all sorts of damage to the handlebar, fairings, and whatnot.

A crowd immediately formed with lots of shouting and gesturing. In front of the bikes were some beer bars and a particularly excited bargirl kept shrieking that the farang should pay as the girl has no money. Both my friend and I can speak Thai and he was ready to rip her head off. A man in brown showed up and everyone (including us) tried talking to him at once. He told everyone to be quiet and one at a time asked us what happened. He asked us to summon the rental bike owner who showed up in a few minutes. Immediately he told the owner that there had been an accident, it wasn't our fault, and he needs to go and get a replacement bike for my friend to use. He took down our details and told us we were free to go though he might need to contact us later- he never did.

So in all a good experience in that despite the usual pressure for the 'rich' farang to take care of everyone the police wound up dealing with things in a quick and fair manner.

Another brief story- a friend of mine and I rented bikes and were driving through the mountains to reach Pai (via Samoeng). At one point I came off the bike while off-road. Not much damage except the clutch lever broke. Total cost to fix? 20 baht. I'm sure that would cost 400 baht or so to any renter in Pattaya.

Ha ha ha it really funny when that happens, Thai's giving the farang crap and then the farang turn around and speak to them in Thai, Haha they look really surprised and gob smacked. They seem to think all farang can't speak and understand thai

Here's a couple more pics of the bike mess:

This is where my balls hit the tank, Jesus christ .... THE PAIN!!!

[tattoodrob]

looks like bike was a write off and all you got was bruised balls

how the <deleted> did the wheel get that bent up!!!!

its in your situation that it would have been good to have a friend in the b.i.b as he would have sorted it out for you at a fraction of what it cost you.

[mikethevigoman]

about 3 years ago i was going down 3rd road on my hired CBR 926 Fireblade, I had Just past club xzyte and 3 girls on a scooter jumped a red light and straight into the front of me, Here's the result:

I had 3 witnesses and all of them told the police what the girls did, The police told me i had to pay for everything including the girls scooter because i was a farang thus i would be richer and could afford it.

100,000 baht the hirers charged me, And the police told me i had to pay it or else. In the end i had to get my parents to send me the payment.

dam_n pattaya police.

Thats a great warning/reminder as to what can happen, , glad you were ok,.

[mikethevigoman]

looks like bike was a write off and all you got was bruised balls

how the <deleted> did the wheel get that bent up!!!!

its in your situation that it would have been good to have a friend in the b.i.b as he would have sorted it out for you at a fraction of what it cost you.

Sorry rob i have to disagree on this one, look at the damage, its probably going to cost that, the big bike parts are really expensive in thailand, they can fabricate a fairing but the rest will cost real money, id say that was fair, but ,as for blaming him becuse hes a farang serves as a good reminder ,this is thailand,