Driver Records For Thai Drivers?

[USAKathy]

Hello!

I am an insurance agent here in the US, in Colorado, and have a very nice Thai lady who would like to have insurance on her car here in the States while she is here. She has a new drivers license, but my company needs her driving history from Thailand to insure her. Is there anyone who can help me get this information- I have all her pertinent information and her Thai driver license number.

Thank you very much!

Kathy Schimack

Fort Collins Colorado USA

[ScubaBuddha]

Hi Kathy,

It is doubtful the DMV here (called Land Transport Department) keeps those records. And FYI there is very little traffic enforcement in Thailand, and virtually no adherence to speed limits or other rules of the road. Most traffic tickets that are issued are usually paid in the form of a bribe to the police officer issuing the ticket anyway. (The police are wholly corrupt in Thailand, and not at all public servants in the sense we think of police. They are purely a revenue generating machine for themselves. Usually you have to pay for their services)

And as for accidents, a lot of them don't get officially documented and are handled privately between the people involved. Thai's do not like to involve the police for the reason I mentioned.

I think the only option you have for getting a history is to find out if your customer had 3rd party insurance through a private carrier, then try to get the history from them.

Good luck.

[USAKathy]

Hey- thank you for that input- actually if they keep ANY record it would be helpfull. (I guess especially if they don't have accidents or tickets on there it is even better for my Thai lady!) I do need to try- perhaps I can find out what her previous insurance was that would be something useful. I am willing to try for her- not really fair she should have to pay high rates here in the States.

Hi Kathy,

It is doubtful the DMV here (called Land Transport Department) keeps those records. And FYI there is very little traffic enforcement in Thailand, and virtually no adherence to speed limits or other rules of the road. Most traffic tickets that are issued are usually paid in the form of a bribe to the police officer issuing the ticket anyway. (The police are wholly corrupt in Thailand, and not at all public servants in the sense we think of police. They are purely a revenue generating machine for themselves. Usually you have to pay for their services)

And as for accidents, a lot of them don't get officially documented and are handled privately between the people involved. Thai's do not like to involve the police for the reason I mentioned.

I think the only option you have for getting a history is to find out if your customer had 3rd party insurance through a private carrier, then try to get the history from them.

Good luck.

[CosmicSurfer]

Whatever Info you can get will probably be in Thai, and therefore useless to you in the USA anyway!

TIT

CS

[jdinasia]

She will have to be treated as a 'first-time driver' in the US.

[chiang mai]

Unless the applicant can obtain a letter from her previous insurers stating that she has held insurance for X years and this has not been subject to any claims.

[slapout]

Kathy; you say 'its not really fair that she have to pay high rates in USA' Have you ever been to Thailand, watched the drivers here or driven here yourself? Do not know what company you work with but insurance for a Thai driver will probably not be your highest profit maker. If the lady has a US driving license ask her how many attempts she made to pass? The good part is she will have a few months of snow free driving in Ft Collins, then she can play bumper car. Treat her like the Thai like to treat foreigners, charge the high rate and add some to it. Good luck

[DrDave]

Probably not what you want to hear, but it might be in your customer's best interest to get a quote from another company.

My Thai wife is a new driver in the US (licensed less than 6 months here), and we recently changed insurance companies. The rate that we're paying for her coverage is not excessive at all, and the company did not request any additional information or history, other than what was on the online application. You might suggest to your customer that she get a quote from one or more of the large providers that primarily take applications on the internet.

[stingray]

Probably not what you want to hear, but it might be in your customer's best interest to get a quote from another company.

My Thai wife is a new driver in the US (licensed less than 6 months here), and we recently changed insurance companies. The rate that we're paying for her coverage is not excessive at all, and the company did not request any additional information or history, other than what was on the online application. You might suggest to your customer that she get a quote from one or more of the large providers that primarily take applications on the internet.

Why the US allways think the whole world works in their way? I'm from Switzerland and there is not even possible to check my driving record. Only Criminal record would be possible. When i living in hawaii the insurance refused to cover my on my Swiss International Drive License (Local Hawaiian DL, they wouldn't issue for me as i have no SS Number there). So i insured and registered my Buick in my friends name and was beable to drive anyway. Sometime have to find the way to go arround the system.

[torrenova]

Quite simply the lady's insurance broker or insurance company would have given her a renewal notice for her last insurance and on that it would state, as mine does, the discount given. Now if this lady does not have such a document, it likely tells me that she has not had insurance in her name, in which case she would be a first time insurer or that she has had insurance and claimed, a history she wishes to forget about.

The final option would be if she has coverage with an international company, such as Axa, who have a local office in the USA. You could then approach them.

[ScubaBuddha]

Probably not what you want to hear, but it might be in your customer's best interest to get a quote from another company.

My Thai wife is a new driver in the US (licensed less than 6 months here), and we recently changed insurance companies. The rate that we're paying for her coverage is not excessive at all, and the company did not request any additional information or history, other than what was on the online application. You might suggest to your customer that she get a quote from one or more of the large providers that primarily take applications on the internet.

Why the US allways think the whole world works in their way? I'm from Switzerland and there is not even possible to check my driving record. Only Criminal record would be possible. When i living in hawaii the insurance refused to cover my on my Swiss International Drive License (Local Hawaiian DL, they wouldn't issue for me as i have no SS Number there). So i insured and registered my Buick in my friends name and was beable to drive anyway. Sometime have to find the way to go arround the system.

When you say "not possible to check your driving record" what do you mean? You must mean accidents only because traffic citations are part of a criminal record. Do the cops in Switzerland cite the driver at an accident scene when it is obvious that they broke a traffic law and caused the accident like they do in the states? And what happens when you need to make a claim in your Buick which is insured in your friends name but owned, and rather obviously driven, by you? Insurance in the US is not like Thailand where it is the vehicle that is insured. The insured person needs to be the primary diver. Other drivers may be covered if they are listed as secondary drivers, and most policies will cover a driver not on the policy provided they are not a primary user, IE someone you loaned your car to once. Insurance companies in the US investigate this kind of thing if a claim is made, and even have investigators which check on you especially if it is a big claim.

[stingray]

Probably not what you want to hear, but it might be in your customer's best interest to get a quote from another company.

My Thai wife is a new driver in the US (licensed less than 6 months here), and we recently changed insurance companies. The rate that we're paying for her coverage is not excessive at all, and the company did not request any additional information or history, other than what was on the online application. You might suggest to your customer that she get a quote from one or more of the large providers that primarily take applications on the internet.

Why the US allways think the whole world works in their way? I'm from Switzerland and there is not even possible to check my driving record. Only Criminal record would be possible. When i living in hawaii the insurance refused to cover my on my Swiss International Drive License (Local Hawaiian DL, they wouldn't issue for me as i have no SS Number there). So i insured and registered my Buick in my friends name and was beable to drive anyway. Sometime have to find the way to go arround the system.

When you say "not possible to check your driving record" what do you mean? You must mean accidents only because traffic citations are part of a criminal record. Do the cops in Switzerland cite the driver at an accident scene when it is obvious that they broke a traffic law and caused the accident like they do in the states? And what happens when you need to make a claim in your Buick which is insured in your friends name but owned, and rather obviously driven, by you? Insurance in the US is not like Thailand where it is the vehicle that is insured. The insured person needs to be the primary diver. Other drivers may be covered if they are listed as secondary drivers, and most policies will cover a driver not on the policy provided they are not a primary user, IE someone you loaned your car to once. Insurance companies in the US investigate this kind of thing if a claim is made, and even have investigators which check on you especially if it is a big claim.

I'm very happy to not be a US Citizen. Never had any accidents in Switzerland, so no claims to the insurance. In Switzerland we learn how to drive (perfectly and no coruption) and we don't have accidents. In Thailand is possible, because the high traffic. I had several parking and speeding tickets. back in switzerland, but they aren't recorded in a criminal record.

BTW, funny about what happen: My Buick, i let with my friend after i left Hawaii. He is the one who crashed into another car (not me, he he) so he made finally the accident (he felt in sleep during driving), Good that noone got heart, but it was my loss (my car i paid for), but i had to laughing, because the insurance agent (lady) was so arrogant to me and not wan't insure the car in my name. So finally they got their "accident" and they had to pay for it, funny isn't it, how things woking out sometime?

Edited April 7, 2010 by stingray

[ballbreaker]

[quote name='stingray' date='2010-04-07 21:23:59' post='3481329'

I'm very happy to not be a US Citizen. Never had any accidents in Switzerland, so no claims to the insurance. In Switzerland we learn how to drive (perfectly and no coruption) and we don't have accidents.

Last year 384 people died on Swiss roads and 5,235 others were seriously injured. These stats were for year 2007.

Sorry but I could not resist.

[stevenl]

When you say "not possible to check your driving record" what do you mean? You must mean accidents only because traffic citations are part of a criminal record.

Maybe in the USA, but in many countries they are not. They are violations, not criminal acts and NOT part of a criminal record.

Do the cops in Switzerland cite the driver at an accident scene when it is obvious that they broke a traffic law and caused the accident like they do in the states?

Don't know what happens in Switzerland, but in many countries the driver will be fined for tha traffic violation, and if it caused the accident the driver will be responsible for the damages (or the driver's insurance), but only in extreme cases will it mean a criminal case.

And what happens when you need to make a claim in your Buick which is insured in your friends name but owned, and rather obviously driven, by you?

In most countries that I know of: violation of underwriting conditions, so no cover. Quite often the insurance will pay the other party, but go to the driver to collect for that.

[losworld]

Definitely make sure she takes the drivers course as Thai driving is pretty unregulated and most will have developed habits that won't adapt well in American driving.

[richard_smith237]

The Dept. Of Land transport does keep records of peoples license and address.

If a Thai wishes to have their driving license replaced (if lost), all the need to do is turn up at a (any) Dept. of Land transport office and give their address and ID, they can easily get a replacement as their details are on record (my wife did this).

whether or not these records are accessible from outside of Thailand is another matter entirely.

Regarding insurance. If the lady in question has driven in Thailand before she should have an insurance history. Although in Thailand, the car is insured and the lady in question may well not have been a named driver and have no personal record.

If the lady in question has a Thai license - surely that gives sufficient history (i.e. she's been driving x years) ???

For those who say just because she is Thai she needs to take a US test - Get real and grow up, people drive that way in Thailand because everyone else does and I've read on this forum enough times of people complaining of the way foreigners drive the 'local' way.

[neverdie]

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Edited April 10, 2010 by neverdie