You Become Ill, Injured, Lose Money, Or Someone Dies By Another’S Negligence

[Beetlejuice]

Thinking about the recent unexplained causes of death at the Down town inn in Chiang Mai, I got to wondering, what about in other cases where someone has become Ill, injured, loses money or dies by another’s negligence? Is there any protection against this for us regarding the law in Thailand?

Some examples:

You eat out at a café or restaurant and get food poisoning.

Trip up in the street and gain injuries because a worker has left a pavement unlevelled, a manhole cover open, loose stones or obstacles lying in a walkway.

You receive serious injuries to yourself or damage to your vehicle or both when driving and it is the fault of another party who either has no road tax, no licence, no insurance and no money to pay for damages.

You have repairs carried out, improvements, wiring or decorating completed to your home. The workmen do a botched job and it ends in disaster.

An electrician wires or rehires your home. He makes fatal errors and the property burns down.

You pay a store to repair an electrical item: TV, computer, mobile phone, vacuum cleaner and so on. When you arrive back home with the item it still does not work and the store refuses to do another repair or refund your money. Same goes for a car or motorbike.

A purchased item is apparently under guarantee for a year. It breaks down after only 3 months and the store of purchase or the manufacturer refuse to honour the guarantee.

You purchase 10 metres of electric cable. When the cable is ready to be installed, it is noticed that there are only 8 metres of cable and the store insists it sold you 10 metres. The same goes for any other items where things have been short.

A customer purchases something from a shop or stall for 300 baht and hands over a 1000 baht note expecting 700 baht change. The storekeeper only gives 200 baht change saying; the customer only handed over a 500 baht note.

You suffer an unprovoked attack by someone’s dog and obtain injuries.

These are just a few examples and would be interested to hear of your experiences.

Has anything similar or like this ever happened to you?

And if so, what did you do about it? Did you gain a good result with settlement or left high and dry?

No naming and shaming please, otherwise I am sure the mods will close this thread.

[zydeco]

Are you a personal injury attorney?

[Timthai]

Just sounds like a paranoid pessimist! You can no doubt get personal injury insurance and property/vehicle to cover some of these if you care to pay, other examples are probably just pot luck. There is such a wide variety of examples stated that I go back to my paranoid pessimist theory... Stay in bed today, OK.

[JurgenG]

Caveat emptor

Then you have insurance. Something happen to you, you call them, they sort out the mess, that's why you pay them for at the first place.

But I'm afraid for you the problem is a bit different. Have you recently talked to your doctor about your prescription ?

[Beetlejuice]

Caveat emptor

Then you have insurance. Something happen to you, you call them, they sort out the mess, that's why you pay them for at the first place.

But I'm afraid for you the problem is a bit different. Have you recently talked to your doctor about your prescription ?

You`re a mean bunch.

Ah well, some you win, some you lose - next.

[IanForbes]

Like Jurgen says...Caveat emptor. It is part and parcel of living in Asia. If you think Thailand is bad then try the Philippines, or Cambodia. They are 10 times worse. However, there is the good and the bad of living in a corrupt country. Personally, I kind of like the "Wild West" dangers of living in Thailand. Our western countries haved dumbed down the adventurers and turned our countries into nanny states... which in turn, turns us citizens into marks for the unscrupulous to exploit. Our western corruption is just done by "semi legal" but ethically immoral methods. Big business in the US and Canada bribe the politicians into changing documents into their favour. Even when a judge rules in the defendent's favour, big business drags out the case for years of appeals in hopes that the defendent either dies or gives up.

[Livinginexile]

I believe if you live in a foreign country without health/accident insurance then you are asking for trouble and when it happens you have no right to complain.

Especially a third world South East Asian country.

If your answer is "I can't afford it", then you shouldn't be living here in the first place.

Just my 2 bobs worth.

[geriatrickid]

Consider it the cost of doing business and living in Thailand. those with nothing to lose will be the first to ridicule you. Those with something to lose will understand your point.

[notbritish]

Just this week, i have had the dog and road accident part, both thais are paying for their mistake.. one of them had to give up drunk driving untill he can pay all of it, so they do pay when its their fault.

[NancyL]

Here's how I protect myself from these hazards.

First, I have medical/accident insurance coverage that's valid in Thailand and an existing relationship with some doctors at a local hospital.

Then, (to take these in the order presented), I

Don't eat anything that looks or smells dicey and don't have any commitments I can't cancel at the last minute if I have a case of thong sia.

Watch where I'm walking, because I've fallen over sidewalk hazards before and the medical bill and recovery time were not much fun.

Don't drive a vehicle.

Both Hubby and I have degrees in engineering and have been involved in large construction projects. One of us always watch tradesmen when they do anything around our place. We're politely insistent that they do things like ground electrical wiring.

Buy our appliances at Central Dept store KSK which has stood behind their products. Don't buy the cheapest, Chinese-made stuff, either.

Watch whenever a shop clerk measures out something like wire, fabric, granite, etc.

Carry an adequate supply of 20 and 100 baht notes. Come on, people, you can't expect small merchants to be a bank and change 1000 baht notes for small purchases! (This is a pet peeve, since I've often helped out a shop clerk by providing smaller bills when some other westerner claims to have only 1000 baht notes.)

MY rabies shots are up-to-date, so I just need a little booster if I'm bitten by a stray dog. Have you had YOUR rabies shots?

It's all a matter of thinking about where you live, taking responsibility for your actions and planning ahead.

[jazzbo]

When my late Father was asked "Hi Ed ... How are you?" he would answer with a clipped 'Fine!" regardless of circumstances ... when my Mother was asked a similar "How are you?" you might then receive a 10 minute medical prognosis ... as the OP said: No naming and shaming please.