Motorcycle Accident In Nakhonsawon

[rana391]

I am amazed at the volume of responses I have received. Obviously this is a subject that concerns many.

I will try and answer the queries raised shortly

My wife is coming back to Oz on Saturday, hopefully with more news of any further developments. She has been speaking to the Insurance rep and my lawyer.

Once again I appreciate the level of support you guys have shown.

C

[ray23]

Your correct I haven't read all the posts. My post may have been intereting, however only three of my comments are of significance, One a good attorney that he trusts. Secondly, the time factor and the everything being the same for a Thai as it will be for him. That is my experience in Thai courts.

Oh beleive me I do feel for him having been through it myslef, I know even at my level I was scared to death, I wanted instant answers and assurance especially with all the horror stories going around, But if I say anything else I would be basing thoughts on what I have heard, not what I know to be fact.

When my lawer was still practising I carried my lawyers phone number in my wallet and it was programmed on my phone. That was the first person I contacted. This was a good reminder to contact Thai Visa and make a personal contact with an attorney there.

The first thought the cops I was drunk. I don't drink. Hard to do a field sobriety while someone laying on in a hopital bed.

First let me tell you I am retired cop, I also owned a Private Investigation Company, and I have done accident reconstruction work. Now that being said it mean's nothing here. But I do know how to prepare a case for a lawyer. In both incidents I did that myself. I will tell you that the evidence that was prepared was accepted in the Thai courts the same way it would have been in the states.

I would help this guy in a heart beat, if I could. But, that is wrong for me to do that. I simply have a basic knowledge of what Thai Law says and no epxerience in case law here. You have to know that to be effective. I did go to law school for a year and took, contracts, criminal Law and Torts. That means nothing here.

If he doesn't fully trust his attorney, he needs to act and do it now. But that is not a decesion I can advice on he has to make that decesion for himself.

Having compassion for someone is one thing and doing what is best can somtimes can be two different things.

The best thing I can do is be truthful with him from my experience.

I will say this all the horror stories I have heard of the Thai courts were not true in my case.

He need to speak with a qaulified lawyer, if he already has one, thats great, If he in't confident then he needs to pay what he has to pay to get proper representation. I couldn't profess in a million years to know that, I have never met his lawyer. Only he can make that decesion.

I had to bring in a second lawyer in one of my case because I didn't trust what I saw. That's life. sometimes a friend of a friend is not the best answer. Listening to the horror stories is not the answer either.

The only fear I have today, is I have not made that personal contact with a lawyer I trust yet. I need to get that done for myself. When these things happen no one is prepared, knowing who to contact is about the only preperation any of us can do.

Vague threats and intimidation especially of farrangs are part of what happens here. Doesn't mean the courts are a party to that. We are easy targets, becaue we don't understand the system. But the system is real, it is based either on French Law or Old English Law and I beleive it is French.

I wish him luck, but I'm not going to give him guesses. Only what I have experience and the truth as I know it. To do anything else would be harmful.

[t.s]

"The fact that you are a farang is neither here nor there in the court's eyes. You will be treated as any other person will be treated."

Soundman, I know you want to think you know alot about Thailand, and maybe you usually do, but in this case you are horribly wrong and giving out terrible advice. There are entire websites set up to document and report ridiculous rulings by Thai judges that favor Thai vs Farang in cases where the judge states "I am ruling in favor of the defendant as he is Thai and you are foreigner and this is Thailand" YES THAT IS ALMOST A DIRECT QUOTE. They see nothing wrong with this.... its a travesty of justice, I would gladly find the links for you but THEY ARE BLOCKED IN THAILAND.

I am in bangkok on a direct line to singapore for internet, and i suspect many others out there are not in-country and could benefit from these links. why don't you "gladly" put them up for us?

I too have had sucess with the thai legal system, although perhaps becuase i didn't use issan lawyers.

[soundman]

"The fact that you are a farang is neither here nor there in the court's eyes. You will be treated as any other person will be treated."

Soundman, I know you want to think you know alot about Thailand, and maybe you usually do, but in this case you are horribly wrong and giving out terrible advice. There are entire websites set up to document and report ridiculous rulings by Thai judges that favor Thai vs Farang in cases where the judge states "I am ruling in favor of the defendant as he is Thai and you are foreigner and this is Thailand" YES THAT IS ALMOST A DIRECT QUOTE. They see nothing wrong with this.... its a travesty of justice, I would gladly find the links for you but THEY ARE BLOCKED IN THAILAND.

I have personally observed 3 court cases in Thailand where a farang has been involved. In each of those cases the court worked to the letter of the law and there was absolutley no bias for or against the farang.

How many court cases have you personally observed that you may care to enlighten us with personal observations of bias agianst the farang?

Here is a quote from one of them.

Judges

Thai family court is presided over by 5 judges at any one time. They are conservative, dignified and generally mature in age but I did occasionally see a few younger judges. Judges all consider themselves to be eminent and all expect a great degree of respect. The judge in the middle of the bench is always the senior judge and commands the most respect. Any judge can interrupt proceedings to ask a question or pass a comment. One should only speak to judges when spoken to. All courtroom discussion takes place in the Thai language. A Westerner is expected to bring their own official interpreter who is approved by the court. I rarely noticed the judges smile or laugh – not much different to the West I suppose!

Precedence

Western courts always try very hard to follow precedence and maintain consistency between various cases. People attending Western courts have a reasonable idea what to expect in the way of a judgment or at the very least the range of possible outcomes.

The judges in Thai court are not constrained by the need to follow any kind of legal precedence that may have been set from earlier judgments in similar cases. It is often difficult to predict what kind of outcome to expect from a Thai court. Thai judges can often place a great deal of weight on emotion testimony or evidence and they can make a decision based on a positive or negative feeling they get from somebody giving evidence or presenting a case.

Thai judges can go out on a limb with a judgment and nobody is ever going to dare question it.

Disadvantage for Farang

There is NO disadvantage WHATSOEVER being a farang in a Thai court when you are arguing against a Thai person. I personally found some of the judges were fascinated with me and looked at me in a quizzical manner whilst other judges were completely disinterested in me and paid little attention. Above all, the judges applied the law as they saw it and provided I presented myself in a respectable manner, there was no issue with me being farang. There was no nationalistic pride that crept in to prevent me the farang from having a fair hearing.

My daughter holds dual Thai/Australian citizenship. The Thai court was aware that if I was successful in gaining primary custody of my daughter that I would take her out of Thailand and back to Australia. This did not present a problem for them and it did not go against me at any time in my dealings with the Thai court.

Where I believe most farangs are at a disadvantage is that they are not properly prepared by their Thai lawyers and are not well presented and don't know how to be respectful to the judges. In my case I was extensively prepared by my lawyers, instructed how to dress, instructed EXACTLY what to say (no more, no less) and presented to the judges in a very precise manner.

Choosing the right lawyer is also crucial to the farang getting a fair hearing (see next item).

Choosing the right lawyer

At the suggestion of a very knowledgeable person, I chose one of the most expensive legal firms in Bangkok to represent me. Tilleke & Gibbins is an international legal company with head office in the US. They charge in US dollars and they charge at US rates – very expensive but I had a very capable team of hot-shot lawyers represent me and I was very impressed with their competency and performance. Some of the lawyers were Thai and some were American, all of them spoke perfect English and had training both in the US and Thailand. The lawyer heading my case specifically dealt with Thai family law.

Before I enlisted the services of Tilleke & Gibbens I spoke with many different Thai lawyers, all claiming to have knowledge of Thai family law and all of them clearly not having a clue what the hel_l they were doing. But they were quite happy to take my money. I also got the impression that whilst the Thai judges are impartial to a farang taking a Thai to court over custody, the Thai lawyer representing the farang in court often does not fight very hard for the Westerner because they feel it is unpatriotic of them. Thais must all stick together. I certainly got this impression early on from one of the lawyers representing me from Tilleke & Gibbins so I had him thrown off the team. I think he lost some face from that around his office but I was there to win, not to protect some useless lawyer's pride.

I also suspect that farangs can rub their lawyers up the wrong way thru not observing Thai customs and trying to do things the farang way. This can cause the lawyers to become discouraged from doing their best to represent the farang.

No matter what country you are in, ultimately family law is a long, hard and protracted battle and if your lawyers are not determined to fight as hard as they can for the long haul then you've got the wrong lawyers.

Thread.

[t.s]

So my best advise to the OP is. Don't your Thai family have a circle of who knows who, where they can ask some help from? If so, let them arrange the problem, and keep yourself out of it and certainly don't make any contact with your opponent or police.

The very best the OP can do.

I had a car accident once - the pickup hit me when it was on the wrong side of the road. They were trying to pin it on me until I made the phone call to the "poo yai". They spoke with the Chief of police(a small Isarn town) and it turned from me having to pay them to them paying for all my damages + compensation. It's the way it works here - get that "important persons number, whateve it takes".

Next question is has any Farang here riding his/her bike been hit by a Thai in a car and what was the outcome of that?

i was hit by a thai while riding my motorcycle on phetburi. she put me down by cutting in front of me while doing an illegal u turn across 4 lanes of traffic. she was at fault, i had no licences. her insurance paid my medical checkup (no injuries, scrapes) and full repairs for the bike. i was never asked for id, just an adress and name so they could write and courier the check. they paid immediately once i had received the repair bill.

her insurance company paid

[Farma]

I’ve also experienced the Thai courts in a civil case, Farang vs Thai, with multiple appeals lasting nearly 5 years. I have nothing but praise for the professional and unbiased way the judges dealt with my case.

My biggest hurdle was finding a reliable trustworthy lawyer. Luckily the first lawyer showed his spots soon after a fact finding trip into the opposition territory. I switched to a respected Bangkok legal counsel and family friend. It was the best move I made.

During my case I got the impression upcountry Thai lawyers rely on stalling tactics, implied threats of violence and underhand methods to win cases. My legal counsel received 2 cash offers to throw the case. It took time but we won the case.

Ray23 and soundman have offered some good advice. I wish the OP well with his case and can only stress he finds a good lawyer.

[Ned]

I don't know how much you've invested in your house in Nakorn Sawan but why bother even thinking about Thailand at this stage. Sounds like you've been travellling down to oz quite regularly with no hassles. If you must live in this increasingly degraded land why don't you move down south or up north for a while.....as far away as you can from those scumbags trying to screw you. Or if you've got money live down in oz and holiday here.

Liberty Insurance ????? Anyone out there had any dealings with them?

Whatever you do don't go to court and risk being locked up for years.

[yabaaaa]

Can i put my hand up to being in a accident and getting money from the injured motorcyclist, as follows-

About 5 years ago driving with the wife on a semi rural road in Chiang Mai aproaching a blind right hand bend(curve) two motorbikes appeared(125 Sonic type) racing each other, the outer one in a lovley "Rossi" style drift towards my side of the road unfortuently when he saw me coming the other way the Rossi connection disapeared the brakes were hit and a broadside into the front of my vehicle(NV)was the result.

The rider jumped up from the front bumper area and promptly disapeared again i got out and found him rolling about on the verge in intense pain after finding out standing and a broken pelvis are not compatable, a ambulance and Police were called, the first officer on seeing falang driver involved called his superior to attend while doing the white spray outline of the bike imbeded in the wrecked front bumper area. When the Police area chief came the crash scene was appraised and and luckily the gouge from the bikes footrest starting on the other side of the road to the front of the NV noted, details were checked IDP at the time and i was told to report to the police station in two days to sort it all out.

Upon attending the station with the riders wife(he was obviously still in hospital) the decision was that i was completely blameless and the motorcyclist would have to pay for the damage done to my vehicle. I ended up with enough money to replace the front bumper so i must be very lucky .

Hmmmmm I would really like to know what percentage of accidents end up like this instead of the TV replies where the bar room brigade "can" take over. Having met my wife on the internet and before meeting her reading the endless stories of failure made me wonder a lot, however everything turned out fine and this is why TV and the "bad " stories always make me think its just s small minority and not the "true" picture.

[Mike45]

I'm a little confused by the Insurance companies actions. I have automobile insurance in the USA and I know that if I am found at fault by a judge and ordered to pay they must pay up to my insured value ( 1 Mil$) anything over that amount I am responsible for.

They are also required to pay if they negotiate a settlement without a judges ruling.

What kind of insurance limits are specified in the automobile policies in Thailand? I hear people talking about "first class insurance", I have no idea what that is. No one ever talks about their liability limits like we do here in the USA. We buy insurance using use words like "fire and theft" "collision" "comprehensive" with the liability amounts specified.

On my most recent trip to LOS I drove half the night from Bangkok to Ubon. I decided after that NOT to drive at night again. Too many bikes, "iron buffaloes" without lights pulling in front of my truck.

Is it impossible to buy insurance to protect yourself from these kind of liabilities?

Edited January 17, 2009 by Mike45

[ajahnlau]

I'm a little confused by the Insurance companies actions. I have automobile insurance in the USA and I know that if I am found at fault by a judge and ordered to pay they must pay up to my insured value ( 1 Mil$) anything over that amount I am responsible for.

They are also required to pay if they negotiate a settlement without a judges ruling.

What kind of insurance limits are specified in the automobile policies in Thailand? I hear people talking about "first class insurance", I have no idea what that is. No one ever talks about their liability limits like we do here in the USA. We buy insurance using use words like "fire and theft" "collision" "comprehensive" with the liability amounts specified.

On my most recent trip to LOS I drove half the night from Bangkok to Ubon. I decided after that NOT to drive at night again. Too many bikes, "iron buffaloes" without lights pulling in front of my truck.

Is it impossible to buy insurance to protect yourself from these kind of liabilities?

1st class ins. is usually fire&theft,collision.p&d. Most have no deductibles.

[dotcom]

If this gentleman is really really smart he will not return to Thailand. 14.5 million indeed. 50,000 is the real price.

[ray23]

The problem is a lot of us who build lives here, they will never be awarded that much money.

I sincerly hope he had not been drinking when this happened. They are really cracking down on that at the moment. Not making a judgement call just hoping. If the guy wasn't somone very special they will never be awarded that kind of money.

If I hadn't done anything wrong I would just stay and fight. If I were really wrong, short trip to Laos

[mickba]

Can i put my hand up to being in a accident and getting money from the injured motorcyclist, ............so i must be very lucky .

Hmmmmm I would really like to know what percentage of accidents end up like this instead of the TV replies where the bar room brigade "can" take over. Having met my wife on the internet and before meeting her reading the endless stories of failure made me wonder a lot, however everything turned out fine and this is why TV and the "bad " stories always make me think its just s small minority and not the "true" picture.

Firstly I don't think your "bar room brigade" jibe is justified here - people have just reported what happened in their traffic incident. The guy above was indeed lucky and the trouble the police went to in investigating the facts is unusual in my experience and observations - well done to him and it does serve to balance things up a little.

Secondly, I don't think this is a topic where it's relevant to post crowing about your (so far) successful relationship - way off topic - but lucky old you anyway.

[haybilly]

It seems to me a very scary thread if this IS the reality of life in Thailand.

Indeed it is.

I drive myself and this is always in the back of my mind, and is probably one reason why I tend to shout profanities at stupid motorbike drivers so much.

Ditto--as they swerve to within an inch of my wing/bumper etc.. my thoughts are 'for f...s sake don't kill yourself--you'll cost me a fortune!!!!' and some time in the local nick, probably.

I constantly wonder why these idiots can't be required by law to be able to drive competently, old enough to do so and sober, all at the same time--surely this isn't too much to ask?

[tango]

The fact that you are a farang is neither here nor there in the court's eyes. You will be treated as any other person will be treated.

Wake Up

Yeah...I agree: Wake UP!!! Go visit any of the multitude of court sessions in Thailand...even the completely innocent have to cough up big baht if they wish to remain innocent.

Best to pay before it ever gets to court as the police, the prosecutor, defense team and ultimately the head honcho who renders a verdict require payment. Once the paper trial begins and evolves it takes even more money to quash as there are more and more staff and departmental paperwork to undo. Pay the cops at the scene, right away before the paper trail even begins; that's the first step of any so-called 'reputable' insurance agent.

[ray23]

Darn none of that happened in my case guess I went to the wrong court.

[jingjoke]

Quote: The government set the value at 50,000 as paid by the compulsory insurance.

True enough. The brother of my son's friend was on his motorcycle on his way to technical school a few months ago when he was run down and killed by a teacher who immediately fled the scene. A farang, out jogging,witnessed the accident, phoned the police who caught the teacher several kms away. Teacher ended up paying only 50,000 Baht.

Family still in mourning. Zeus weeps!

Edited January 21, 2009 by jingjoke

[bruceboy]

I have seen many accidents. Money does seem to play a large role.

[henryalleman]

I'm a little confused by the Insurance companies actions. I have automobile insurance in the USA and I know that if I am found at fault by a judge and ordered to pay they must pay up to my insured value ( 1 Mil$) anything over that amount I am responsible for.

They are also required to pay if they negotiate a settlement without a judges ruling.

What kind of insurance limits are specified in the automobile policies in Thailand? I hear people talking about "first class insurance", I have no idea what that is. No one ever talks about their liability limits like we do here in the USA. We buy insurance using use words like "fire and theft" "collision" "comprehensive" with the liability amounts specified.

On my most recent trip to LOS I drove half the night from Bangkok to Ubon. I decided after that NOT to drive at night again. Too many bikes, "iron buffaloes" without lights pulling in front of my truck.

Is it impossible to buy insurance to protect yourself from these kind of liabilities?

That's the first I learn in Thailand. NEVER DRIVE FROM THE MOMENT THE SUN GO'S DOWN;

[yabaaaa]

Can i put my hand up to being in a accident and getting money from the injured motorcyclist, ............so i must be very lucky .

Hmmmmm I would really like to know what percentage of accidents end up like this instead of the TV replies where the bar room brigade "can" take over. Having met my wife on the internet and before meeting her reading the endless stories of failure made me wonder a lot, however everything turned out fine and this is why TV and the "bad " stories always make me think its just s small minority and not the "true" picture.

Firstly I don't think your "bar room brigade" jibe is justified here - people have just reported what happened in their traffic incident. The guy above was indeed lucky and the trouble the police went to in investigating the facts is unusual in my experience and observations - well done to him and it does serve to balance things up a little.

Secondly, I don't think this is a topic where it's relevant to post crowing about your (so far) successful relationship - way off topic - but lucky old you anyway.

If you only ever read TV before coming to Thailand you would never set foot in the country, i nearly didnt after reading all "the stories" spread all over the internet. Ill report back in 20 years how the marriage is doing. T.v gives a very small very limited picture of what might be happening on any subject I realised this a long longggggggg time ago.

[torrenova]

I say again what I was told "big car hit small motorbike - big car can pay" and double it for farang.

I met a woman from Laos, she has a truck in Vientianne.

She was stationary at a junction a motorcycle crashed into the back of her truck and she had to pay as her truck was bigger than his motorcycle, even though she was stationary and he crashed into her through negligence.

Well I am not from Thailand and was stationary in Pattaya when hit up the rear by a young guy on a motorbike. Smashed kiddie and smashed bike. Partially smashed truck.

They wanted me to use my insurance but I refused. Of course a crowd gathered but I got the driver's ID card, a few pictures of him, the bike and the ever increasing number of "witnesses". He and his family paid to fix the truck and presumably to fix him and the bike.

Potential loss to me was perhaps 20% of 30k + 20% of 30k + 10% of 40k * 3 = 24k plus any excess from the loss of no claims bonus which Thais cannot comprehend as they never achieve any even if they actually see the point in insurance.

As for an accident, just do a runner if you have to. Sorry to say that but it is the truth.

As for the Op's post. Why is no-one asking or answering how the heck they came up with Bt14,500,000 ? Does he own a house worth that much ?

Personally I think I would have seriously re-assessed the "bugger off and never come back" option a little more thoroughly.

[Lickey]

So we have to asume that any kind of insurance in Thai is worthless, well, ok if you dont have an accident or get ill i suppose,

it seems that even if the insurance pays, the victims family hound you for more.

Ive got no real advice for the OP, but in future, if the car/truck/bike is still driveable, i think i would drire to the next house and get my thai mrs to tell them there is somebody lying in the road, can you call police ambulance ect, and then carry on,

I know it sounds pathetic and inhumanitarian ect, but a biker on the wrong side, no lights/helmet ect,

As other posters suggested, contact the press, CNN would love your story & might even pay the stupidly requested 14.5 million bht for you?

Good Luck OP, Lickey.

[amsterdammer]

In regard to the previously mentioned case of the son of the former Miss Thailand who due to his aggressive driving killed one and injured three others.

From today’s (January 30th) Bangkok post….

"The court ordered him to pay 2 million baht for relatives of the dead woman, and 800,000 baht for two of the injured people.

Mr Kanpithak or Mu Ham, 21, is the son of the former Miss Thailand, Sawinee and Kan-anek Patchimsawat, and a nephew of retired deputy police Chief Ukrit Patchimsawat.

Mr Kanpithak was also accused of smashing a rock in the face of bus driver Sathaporn Arunsiri near Sukhumvit Soi 26, after his car was involved in a minor incident with the bus."

So a 15 year jail sentence, reduced to 10 years with the compensation mentioned makes the 14.5 million mentioned by the OP as the compensation been sought in his case is highly unreasonable.

See also http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...view=getnewpost for Thai Visa Forum coverage of the story.

Chiok Dee

[Ricochet]

Its the unwritten law that anyone involved with having a bike down is automatically to blame that would worry me, also you are a FARANG !.if i were you I'd do some serious negotiating before it goes on, ,forget all your western rights here, even in death greed rears its ugly head in LOS,

Good advice.

14,500,000 baht for a death caused by somebody elses, negligence compated to 20,000 baht offered to families who lost loved ones in the fire at Santika. Seems the Farang is being set up, Best get a good lawyer.

Spot-on : 20 000 Baht per family in the Santika case ; 14.500,000 B for this unlucky fellow !

[johnsurin]

14.500,000 baht is a rediculous sum of money to demand. Who was the victim, a future politician with the prospect of earning millions/billions of baht in his future employment? I very much doubt it.

Add to this your normal 1st class insurance (or mine anyway), states up to a 2 million baht payout for death related to an accident. The fact the family are demanding 14.500,000 baht is outrageous and surely any half decent/sensible lawyer or insurance company should be able to blow this "claim" out of the water. As stated in previous posts the government have set a 50,000 baht payout for accidental death, if this is true then if this is paid then that should be that. Further more if the family continues to harass the OP then, yes, quite simply he could re-locate.

As Maigo6 stated earlier. Matters like these just go to show how your life could be changed in the blink of an eye. A very wise and realistic statement that I have been coming to while reading this thread.

My best wishes go to the OP and hope this whole tragic event can reach an amicable agreement. Which getting a good lawyer certainly seems to be the first major step in the right direction.

John.....

[bunple]

... so what's the likley outcome if the farang who owns a car wasn't driving it when the car was involved in a smash, say he was a passenger maybe not even there, it was his GF who was driving, is the poor guy supposed to cough up shed loads of money? if it works like that then I'll never drive in Thailand.

[dynabob]

German guy i knew when i lived in patong was driving home one night,he owned a small resort 3/4 cabins it was on the back road to airport ,old thai man full ofl thai whiskey was taking piss in the hedge at side of road,zipped up and stepped straight out onto the road,german reckon's he was doing about 110 on impact court judgement 2mil for family of pisshead he got 1mil for his road king and scraped another 600000 the court gave him 6 months jail to get the balance.all property was in wife's name and she vanished when he was in prison.after 6 months they deported him and banned for life.next thing the wife turns up and moves into their resort with her longttime boyfriend the policeman who was first on scene of accident.

2) I WAS DRIVING TO KAMALA ONE NIGHT AND CAME UPON A HEADON BETWEEN TWO MOPES ONE THAI WAS DEAD AND THE OTHER DIED ON THE ROAD THERE WAS 3/4 FARANG STANDING WATCHING HIM DIE I WENT TOGO AND SEE IF I COULD HELP A FARANG STOPPED ME AND INFORMED ME IF HE DIE'S RECIEVEING FIRST AID THE PERSON GIVING FIRST AID WILL BE HELD RESPONABLE FOR HIS DEATH AND PAY COMPENSION TO FAMILY.I WATCHED A YOUNG MAN DIE THE POLICE DID NOTHING BUT TAKE PHOTOS WHICH THEY SOLD TO PHUKET GAZETTE.WHEN ASKED WHY THEY DID NOTHING "WE ARE NOT TRAINED DOCTORS WE WAIT FOR THEM.

LOS = LAND OF SAVAGES. DO A RUNNER fuc_k THEM BEFORE THEY fuc_k YOU

[dynabob]

I'm a little confused by the Insurance companies actions. I have automobile insurance in the USA and I know that if I am found at fault by a judge and ordered to pay they must pay up to my insured value ( 1 Mil$) anything over that amount I am responsible for.

They are also required to pay if they negotiate a settlement without a judges ruling.

What kind of insurance limits are specified in the automobile policies in Thailand? I hear people talking about "first class insurance", I have no idea what that is. No one ever talks about their liability limits like we do here in the USA. We buy insurance using use words like "fire and theft" "collision" "comprehensive" with the liability amounts specified.

On my most recent trip to LOS I drove half the night from Bangkok to Ubon. I decided after that NOT to drive at night again. Too many bikes, "iron buffaloes" without lights pulling in front of my truck.

Is it impossible to buy insurance to protect yourself from these kind of liabilities?

1st class ins. is usually fire&theft,collision.p&d. Most have no deductibles.

I HAVE FULLY COMP ON MY STREET BOB WITH THAISRI THEY HAVE GERMAN UNDERWRITER,PAID 26980B

[rana391]

Hi Guys

OP here. Just heard back from Liberty insurance, they are not going to refund my outlay for the bail and may not supply legal help. Liberty's agent in Nakhon Sawon thinks they will be out of business soon. Liberty insurance is the company that Toyota were using when they sold us the Fortuner. As you can imagine this is extremely distressing to my wife and myself.

I will post more info soon.

Thanks all for your support.

C

[jayjayjayjay]

Hi Guys

OP here. Just heard back from Liberty insurance, they are not going to refund my outlay for the bail and may not supply legal help. Liberty's agent in Nakhon Sawon thinks they will be out of business soon. Liberty insurance is the company that Toyota were using when they sold us the Fortuner. As you can imagine this is extremely distressing to my wife and myself.

I will post more info soon.

Thanks all for your support.

C

Hey Matey, sorry to here! We've use MSIG insurance co at the factory for a couple of years, all seems to have gone well so far. Really hope this works out, looks like you will have just-cause to sue the insurance company, since you have a lawyer already why not start proceedings sooner than later. Surely you have rights, insurance companies like the fine print, see what you can dig up.

Again, good luck matey, keep us updated, theres a few puters rooting for you.

JJJJ