I May, Or May Not, Owe Money In Thailand. Will I Be Able To Get In?

[Phantasy]

I had an unfortunate accident where my rented scooter was stolen in Phuket. Ironically, this happened a few hours before I had to return the bike and fly out the country.

I rang the police, and went through the rigmarole of red tape associated with theft.

In the end, I had to pay a THB 10,000 down payment on the bike, which would be refunded the Police found the bike (fat chance I guess?), or I would then have to pay an additional 20,000 after 3 months of not being found.

They took all my details etc, contact details and what have you, and I presumed I would be contacted to what availed.

Been about 8 months now and no contact.

If the bike had not been found, I theoretically owe 20k.

If I just let it pass, would anything happen in regards to entrance to the country? Or would the rental company have to find me, and sue me personally for the money?

It's two fold why I haven't paid or contacted myself. I'm rather tight for cash, and in fact don't have that much money to pay; But I also don't actually have the rental companies contact details!

I presume somehow I could get in contact with Phuket Police to get the details, but is this neccessary, or should I just let sleeping dogs lie?

Will it ever come back to bite me, or legally can it stop me from gaining entry?

Cheers

[Benjie]

If you can't afford to pay 20,000 that you promised to the Thai police (if it is the case) I think you'd best stay away to be honest.

[PoorSucker]

They will let you in but might not let you out.

[torrenova]

If you can't afford to pay 20,000 that you promised to the Thai police (if it is the case) I think you'd best stay away to be honest.

No onus on the motorbike owner to contact the OP then ?

I can't think how he was allowed to leave without paying the full 30k and therefore suspect it was a set up and the 10k was viewed as the most they thought they could scam him for the first time. Thus forgotten.

I wouldn't let you leave the country if you had lost one of my hired out bikes on the promise that you would send me Bt20,000 later ! No way !

[H2oDunc]

So you cannot afford to repay the man who rented his motorbike to you,That is how he makes his living by the way! which you carelessly lost yet can afford to fly back to Thailand for a holiday <deleted>!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice guy

[NamKangMan]

There's every chance your rental bike was not actually stolen, just hidden by the shop owner for a while in an attempt to extort money out of you for a new bike. They may be happy with the 10,000 baht and you will hear nothing more about it, or, they could put the pressure on for the extra 20,000 baht.

An idea may be to apply for a visa in the Thai Embassy of your country. You will get it for free, before the 5th March. If they issue the visa, there's a fair chance nothing has flagged up on the computer system. If they don't issue the visa, they might tell you why and you will have to send 20,000 baht before you are ever allowed in again, but, I doubt they are chasing the 20,000 baht. This is just an idea for you.

Either way, I bet that bike you hired is back out the front of the shop ready to hire to the next victim of the scam.

[PoorSucker]

There's every chance your rental bike was not actually stolen, just hidden by the shop owner for a while in an attempt to extort money out of you for a new bike. They may be happy with the 10,000 baht and you will hear nothing more about it, or, they could put the pressure on for the extra 20,000 baht.

An idea may be to apply for a visa in the Thai Embassy of your country. You will get it for free, before the 5th March. If they issue the visa, there's a fair chance nothing has flagged up on the computer system. If they don't issue the visa, they might tell you why and you will have to send 20,000 baht before you are ever allowed in again, but, I doubt they are chasing the 20,000 baht. This is just an idea for you.

Either way, I bet that bike you hired is back out the front of the shop ready to hire to the next victim of the scam.

Visa does not mean anything.

Been reports about blacklisted people that gets visa but been refused to enter.

Other cases also where had visa and end up arrested at immigrations because of an outstanding warrant.

[PoorSucker]

There's every chance your rental bike was not actually stolen, just hidden by the shop owner for a while in an attempt to extort money out of you for a new bike. They may be happy with the 10,000 baht and you will hear nothing more about it, or, they could put the pressure on for the extra 20,000 baht.

An idea may be to apply for a visa in the Thai Embassy of your country. You will get it for free, before the 5th March. If they issue the visa, there's a fair chance nothing has flagged up on the computer system. If they don't issue the visa, they might tell you why and you will have to send 20,000 baht before you are ever allowed in again, but, I doubt they are chasing the 20,000 baht. This is just an idea for you.

Either way, I bet that bike you hired is back out the front of the shop ready to hire to the next victim of the scam.

You can not get a new bike for 30.000 baht.

A new honda click 48.000 baht, used 1 year old 30.000 baht.

Don't think it's a scam.

[Mario2008]

Not paying for the motorcycle is a civil case, not a criminal one.

[chiang mai]

Not paying for the motorcycle is a civil case, not a criminal one.

And Civil Court cases in Phuket take up to five years before coming to trial.

[BWPattaya]

Do you remember the details about the bike? Registration number? Dealer location?

Any friends in Phuket?

If so, get them to wander near the dealer and look to see if your rented bike is there. Get them to take a picture with, eg a newspaer showing the date the picture was taken. Then if you do come back and someone tries to say you owe them money you can say it was a scam, the dealer had the bike all along. Common enough scam, not just in Thailand. The person renting the bike fails to lock it securely or they use a lock supplied by the company (and they have a spare key) so it disappears.

On the other hand if their case is genuine it may be possible that they have asked the police to arrest you. They may let you in the country but detain you when you leave. I doubt it though. As someone else says though, "if you can't afford to pay 20,000 Bt should you be coming for a holiday?

[PoorSucker]

Not paying for the motorcycle is a civil case, not a criminal one.

And Civil Court cases in Phuket take up to five years before coming to trial.

Yes and the OP will not be able to leave Thailand.

Read this thread.

It's exactly what can happen if the OP return.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Return-Phuke...ll-t266724.html

[chiang mai]

Not paying for the motorcycle is a civil case, not a criminal one.

And Civil Court cases in Phuket take up to five years before coming to trial.

Yes and the OP will not be able to leave Thailand.

Read this thread.

It's exactly what can happen if the OP return.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Return-Phuke...ll-t266724.html

As I said, civil case can take up to five years to be heard, as the article confirms:

"Under Thai law, the civil action had to be resolved before any criminal trial could take place, so they were uable to leave.

Mr Hesse said this could have meant waiting in Thailand for years with no source of income".

Unless of course certain palms are greased, which should go without saying.

[bellagrego]

As you can see, It's a mixed bag of opinions without any definitive answer. It all depends on how the local police played it, if at all. Primary coverage for insurance is the responsibility of the lessor in most cases with the lessee being responsible only for the deductible. About 2-3K baht or less on first class insurance. In your case, who knows, maybe third class and no theft coverage and you signed for total responsibility of any and all losses. Bottom line, read your contract, if there was one. If no contract you don't owe a baht, much less 10K baht, or God forbid, 30K baht. Way too much emphasis placed on the police doing anything. They don't give a crap, just want some cash for their services. I would have no problem returning here at all.

[Phantasy]

A contract was signed, and as is generally the case in Thailand, total onus was on myself for theft/damage etc.

I did have a good friend in Phuket, but things have soured, and I would worry about her being in cahoots.

I do have my doubts with it being an in house job, and feel it was more of an opportunistic attack.

I guess I feel somewhat sour myself, because this particular rental company was certainly not a dodgy operation, and would have had plenty of insurance for this type of thing.

However, I do understand that a contract had been signed.

It has been mentioned that it would be a civil case.

Would this constitute being detained in the country? Would it flag at immigration, and be arrested upon arrival possibly?

And I'm not planning a trip to Thailand soon, as I don't have the money. And when I do travel, I stay in cheap hotels, or with local friends to save money.

I feel I could ring Phuket Police, but I worry about corruption? Surely dollar signs would ring, and it wouldn't matter if the bike had been found or not

Is it a matter that I should ask a Thai lawyer to check up for me? Is this an expensive option?

[chiang mai]

If you feel uncomfortable about visiting, because of the circumstances, I would urge you not to come here until you are able to confirm the situation either way. Hiring a Thai lawyer in this case will likely cost you more than the worst case scenario were you not to hire one, chances are that you will get well and truly fleeced. Personally, if I were you, I would make a decision: do I have enough cash to be able to get out of the worst case scenario or not, if the answer is no, go visit Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia or the PI and have a great time.

[Phantasy]

If you feel uncomfortable about visiting, because of the circumstances, I would urge you not to come here until you are able to confirm the situation either way. Hiring a Thai lawyer in this case will likely cost you more than the worst case scenario were you not to hire one, chances are that you will get well and truly fleeced. Personally, if I were you, I would make a decision: do I have enough cash to be able to get out of the worst case scenario or not, if the answer is no, go visit Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia or the PI and have a great time.

What exactly is the worst case scenario in your opinion?

[jdinasia]

This ay NOT be a civil case. You agreed to pay the remainder of the money owed. That hasn't been done. If the company that you owe the money to says they tried to contact you and that you failed to respond, and a negotiation like the one you described took place and you left the country, I could see a case for theft by fraud being brought against you.

I am not saying this will happen or that you have comitted theft. I am saying that I could see those charges being brought against you if the business claims to have tried to contact you.

What is the 'worst case scenario' ? Who can even guess? You come to the country, get arrested on an outstanding warrant. They take your passport. You fail to make bail. You are stuck in a Thai prison until you do make bail, and stuck in Thailand until the matter is concluded.

Do I think that is likely? No.

Most probable resolution is that nothing happens. I would suggest NOT returning to the scene of the crime though!

[NamKangMan]

There's every chance your rental bike was not actually stolen, just hidden by the shop owner for a while in an attempt to extort money out of you for a new bike. They may be happy with the 10,000 baht and you will hear nothing more about it, or, they could put the pressure on for the extra 20,000 baht.

An idea may be to apply for a visa in the Thai Embassy of your country. You will get it for free, before the 5th March. If they issue the visa, there's a fair chance nothing has flagged up on the computer system. If they don't issue the visa, they might tell you why and you will have to send 20,000 baht before you are ever allowed in again, but, I doubt they are chasing the 20,000 baht. This is just an idea for you.

Either way, I bet that bike you hired is back out the front of the shop ready to hire to the next victim of the scam.

You can not get a new bike for 30.000 baht.

A new honda click 48.000 baht, used 1 year old 30.000 baht.

Don't think it's a scam.

You must own a rental motorbike shop. It has been, and still is, one of the biggest scams in Thailand. When I said "new bike" I meant "like for like." So, if the rental was 1 year old - he would have to pay the equivalent of a 1 year old bike.

[NamKangMan]

There's every chance your rental bike was not actually stolen, just hidden by the shop owner for a while in an attempt to extort money out of you for a new bike. They may be happy with the 10,000 baht and you will hear nothing more about it, or, they could put the pressure on for the extra 20,000 baht.

An idea may be to apply for a visa in the Thai Embassy of your country. You will get it for free, before the 5th March. If they issue the visa, there's a fair chance nothing has flagged up on the computer system. If they don't issue the visa, they might tell you why and you will have to send 20,000 baht before you are ever allowed in again, but, I doubt they are chasing the 20,000 baht. This is just an idea for you.

Either way, I bet that bike you hired is back out the front of the shop ready to hire to the next victim of the scam.

Visa does not mean anything.

Been reports about blacklisted people that gets visa but been refused to enter.

Other cases also where had visa and end up arrested at immigrations because of an outstanding warrant.

Like I said, it was just an idea, something to look into, but, as per your reply, Osama bin Laden could rock up to a Thai Embassy and be granted a Thai visa, is that right? What about the "blacklist" you mentioned. On what computer is the "blacklist" stored, and, if they just give out visas to everyone, why have a blacklist? How do they know which boarder you will be entering? The immigration computer at all boarders must have the same info on everyone, including the Embassies abroard. I wonder what would come up if we typed the name Thaksin into a Thai immigration computer. From what you are saying, nothing will flag up. This Is Thailand (TIT) so, I don't doubt the cases you have mentioned are true, however, probably more due to lazy or incompetant Embassy staff.

[astral]

I doubt you will have any problem getting a visa or entering the country.

As long as you stay away from the area where the events occurred, Phuket,

you should have no problems either.