Saw My First Accident Happen This Morning.

[NamKangMan]

I presume these are all well documented cases?

At NamKangMan, you should go into politics Throw out a few oneliners, and see who follows you without thinking. Unfortunately quite a few people seem to do that, both here and in the US and Europe.

Actually, I was thinking of going into optometry, specialising in rose tinted lens. I think I would be able to sell quite a few on Phuket and, no doubt, you would be my best customer.

[barka]

3 more Road Acccidents in the last few days..see..Gazzete news for more details,seems to be getting worse..

[katabeachbum]

<snip> If someone's lying in the middle of the road, the first thing I would think of is to park my car with hazards on in such a way to stop them being hit by another car. I would bet a lot of money that someone doing that has never ever gone on to be convicted of the accident itself.

Ok, let us know how you get on next time you do that, If I were a betting man (which I am not) I would be tempted to take on your bet.

it would be temting to park as HKP suggests as this is how westerners are trained and think, but not only are you likely to be blamed for the accident, you are also likely to be sentenced (by court) for parking illegally and causing another accident if your car is hit.

Bad advice for an unmarked (Police or Rescue) vehicle

No reason for us westerners to try to make a revolution to TH road culture, do as Thais if you feel like stopping, park on the shoulder and find a small tree to place on the road to warn others, if more people in the car, have one placed 200 meters before scene and wave to slow others down.

The Thai way, works great in Thailand

[stevenl]

What about the Expat who parked his car on the street in Chalong only to have a drunk female crash into it at 4am while he was in bed sleeping?

He ended up in court and even jailed.

If he had been Thai, it would have been a non issue.

As a westerner, we are considered atms to some, including police and they will implicate you if they think they can get a drink out of it.

I'm sorry but I fail to see the connection. The guy was convicted in court, and there is no question he was guilty. So this has nothing to do with 'stopping at an accident where you have no involvement and still getting the blame'.

Why do you say there is no question he was guilty? Even at night that part of the road is well lit & anyone but a blind man would fail to see a car parked there.

Whether or not people could see his parked car has nothing to do with the issue. He parked illegally.

[katabeachbum]

I sometimes wonder about staged accidents on dark roads at night for the sole purpose of robbing anyone who stops. The road between the Honda dealer & Kathu strikes me as being a good place for this type of setup.

This has happened in Kata to karon ,on the hill before the football stadium,many times over thel ast 6 years,also the road from Kata viewpoin down towards Naiharn,and many more on the island its a danger we all have to look out for..

I presume these are all well documented cases?

At NamKangMan, you should go into politics Throw out a few oneliners, and see who follows you without thinking. Unfortunately quite a few people seem to do that, both here and in the US and Europe.

There have been waves of these scenes.

Staged motocy accidents, single in the ditch

Rearending, light impact, to have driver come out and then rob him/her.

On occasions there have been warnings issued at local Police stations until they are caught

[stevenl]

I presume these are all well documented cases?

At NamKangMan, you should go into politics Throw out a few oneliners, and see who follows you without thinking. Unfortunately quite a few people seem to do that, both here and in the US and Europe.

Actually, I was thinking of going into optometry, specialising in rose tinted lens. I think I would be able to sell quite a few on Phuket and, no doubt, you would be my best customer.

You should try them, life is much better with rose tinted glasses than with the black's you're wearing. I don't need any glasses BTW, just seeing life as it is without them.

Edited January 16, 2012 by stevenl

[Valentine]

What about the Expat who parked his car on the street in Chalong only to have a drunk female crash into it at 4am while he was in bed sleeping?

He ended up in court and even jailed.

If he had been Thai, it would have been a non issue.

As a westerner, we are considered atms to some, including police and they will implicate you if they think they can get a drink out of it.

I'm sorry but I fail to see the connection. The guy was convicted in court, and there is no question he was guilty. So this has nothing to do with 'stopping at an accident where you have no involvement and still getting the blame'.

Why do you say there is no question he was guilty? Even at night that part of the road is well lit & anyone but a blind man would fail to see a car parked there.

Whether or not people could see his parked car has nothing to do with the issue. He parked illegally.

I agree as the right hand wheels were just slightly over the white line but there has to be some culpability on the part of the deceased. He was made an example of because unfortunately someone died even though in all likelihood the girl was under the influence of alcohol or drugs or just fell asleep. In the mornings I always see female pillion passengers asleep & I assume they are night workers.

Everyday hundreds of cars park illegally on Chao Fa West, one only has to look outside the Supercheap mini marts, the ice shop, garden shops, used car dealers, etc yet nothing is done because as always the police are not proactive. Years ago the authorities declared Chao Fa West a 4 lane road yet there are very few sections which could actually lay claim to that especially when the inner lane becomes a car park. Safety & traffic flow are of no concern to those whose only interest is to turn a profit.

Edited January 16, 2012 by Valentine

[NamKangMan]

I presume these are all well documented cases?

At NamKangMan, you should go into politics Throw out a few oneliners, and see who follows you without thinking. Unfortunately quite a few people seem to do that, both here and in the US and Europe.

Actually, I was thinking of going into optometry, specialising in rose tinted lens. I think I would be able to sell quite a few on Phuket and, no doubt, you would be my best customer.

You should try them, life is much better with rose tinted glasses than with the black's you're wearing. I don't need any glasses BTW, just seeing life as it is without them.

The glasses I wear are "surviving in Phuket" glasses and they help me to see life, AS A FARANG, living in Phuket. You should try a pair, you will see you life on Phuket as a lot riskier, and see more scams, than you think. :)

[katabeachbum]

I'm sorry but I fail to see the connection. The guy was convicted in court, and there is no question he was guilty. So this has nothing to do I agree as the right hand wheels were just slightly over the white line but there has to be some culpability on the part of the deceased. He was made an example of because unfortunately someone died even though in all likelihood the girl was under the influence of alcohol or drugs or just fell asleep. In the mornings I always see female pillion passengers asleep & I assume they are night workers.

Everyday hundreds of cars park illegally on Chao Fa West, one only has to look outside the Supercheap mini marts, the ice shop, garden shops, used car dealers, etc yet nothing is done because as always the police are not proactive. Years ago the authorities declared Chao Fa West a 4 lane road yet there are very few sections which could actually lay claim to that especially when the inner lane becomes a car park. Safety & traffic flow are of no concern to those whose only interest is to turn a profit.

Thai law enforcement in a nut shell

Not much happens when in breach of law, until an accident takes place. A few helmet checks, speed checks, alcohol tests, basicly the checks traffic police gets commision fining, and thats it

Brought to court, law applies

[NamKangMan]

Everybody has said that there is no need to stop if other people are on the scene and there is nothing you could do that isn't already being done. This discussion is about people not stopping if they were the first on the scene, or felt they had something to offer the people already there.

If someone's lying in the middle of the road, the first thing I would think of is to park my car with hazards on in such a way to stop them being hit by another car. I would bet a lot of money that someone doing that has never ever gone on to be convicted of the accident itself.

What about the Expat who parked his car on the street in Chalong only to have a drunk female crash into it at 4am while he was in bed sleeping?

He ended up in court and even jailed.

If he had been Thai, it would have been a non issue.

As a westerner, we are considered atms to some, including police and they will implicate you if they think they can get a drink out of it.

Bottmom line is, if a Thai parked the car there, no police action taken. However, a farang parked the car there, so, now there is a chance to have the bar girl's family in Issan compensated with police and lawyers taking their cut as well. That's how easy it is to come undone here and end up in gaol.

The farang should have been given a parking ticket and the accident report should have shown the deceased as at fault in the accident which took her life. No different to her crashing into a telegraph pole or a brick wall or even a car in front of her stopped in traffic.

[katabeachbum]

Bottmom line is, if a Thai parked the car there, no police action taken. However, a farang parked the car there, so, now there is a chance to have the bar girl's family in Issan compensated with police and lawyers taking their cut as well. That's how easy it is to come undone here and end up in gaol.

The farang should have been given a parking ticket and the accident report should have shown the deceased as at fault in the accident which took her life. No different to her crashing into a telegraph pole or a brick wall or even a car in front of her stopped in traffic.

Guess you havent read the 1979 road traffic act

but I do wonder why car owners Insurance didnt bail him out and paid victim. This usually makes problems go away, solved the Thai way.

He went to jail cause he didnt want to see he was wrong and dint want to provide a fix for it

No scam this time iceman

[stevenl]

Bottmom line is, if a Thai parked the car there, no police action taken. However, a farang parked the car there, so, now there is a chance to have the bar girl's family in Issan compensated with police and lawyers taking their cut as well. That's how easy it is to come undone here and end up in gaol.

The farang should have been given a parking ticket and the accident report should have shown the deceased as at fault in the accident which took her life. No different to her crashing into a telegraph pole or a brick wall or even a car in front of her stopped in traffic.

Maybe it is the same to you, but according to the law in Thailand there is a big difference.

[NamKangMan]

Guess you havent read the 1979 road traffic act

but I do wonder why car owners Insurance didnt bail him out and paid victim. This usually makes problems go away, solved the Thai way.

He went to jail cause he didnt want to see he was wrong and dint want to provide a fix for it

No scam this time iceman

"He went to jail cause he didn't want to see he was wrong and didn't want to provide a fix for it."

Don't you mean, he didn't want to get extorted????

Fair enough - I haven't read the Thai 1979 Road Traffic Act.

I have two questions for you. Why didn't the insurance company take care of it, as they would do if he was Thai?

What would you have done (other than not park there in the first place) if you were in his position? Would you give every cent you have worked for over your entire life, which is invested and earning an income that you live on in Phuket, to the Issan family of a bar girl that gets drunk and kills herself on her motorbike?

[katabeachbum]

"He went to jail cause he didn't want to see he was wrong and didn't want to provide a fix for it."

Don't you mean, he didn't want to get extorted????

Fair enough - I haven't read the Thai 1979 Road Traffic Act.

I have two questions for you. Why didn't the insurance company take care of it, as they would do if he was Thai?

What would you have done (other than not park there in the first place) if you were in his position? Would you give every cent you have worked for over your entire life, which is invested and earning an income that you live on in Phuket, to the Issan family of a bar girl that gets drunk and kills herself on her motorbike?

We all park like this on occasions, as a westerner I find it a silly law but it does exist

I would have said to the victim and to the Police I am very sorry to be involved in an accident, keep on smiling, sway to Police, call my Insurancecompany and shut up until they arrived. If in breach of law and found at guilt, Insurance accepts responsibility. If not, walk out still smiling and swaying bye bye to copper

If I had no Insurance over the compulsory Insurance not covering this scene, I would quickly realise how deep shit I was in. I would try an initial 50k baht to victims family if victim dead, possibly ending at 100k baht pluss bikes value. Or victim still alive, declare I want to cover all medical costs, lack of income and a further compensation without putting any numbers on the 2 latter, all limited by law to one million baht.

Would probably keep me out of jail, thus not needing 200k baht to bail out, and hopefully avoid court

The Thai way

[stevenl]

"He went to jail cause he didn't want to see he was wrong and didn't want to provide a fix for it."

Don't you mean, he didn't want to get extorted????

Fair enough - I haven't read the Thai 1979 Road Traffic Act.

I have two questions for you. Why didn't the insurance company take care of it, as they would do if he was Thai?

Nothing to do with extrotion, just let the insurance company work this out.

I'm sure only the involved person can answer your question, but it saounds to me he did not want to admit guilt, and therefor the insruance company could not take care of it. That has nothing to do with being Thai or not.

[barka]

We all park like this on occasions, as a westerner I find it a silly law but it does exist

I would have said to the victim and to the Police I am very sorry to be involved in an accident, keep on smiling, sway to Police, call my Insurancecompany and shut up until they arrived. If in breach of law and found at guilt, Insurance accepts responsibility. If not, walk out still smiling and swaying bye bye to copper

If I had no Insurance over the compulsory Insurance not covering this scene, I would quickly realise how deep shit I was in. I would try an initial 50k baht to victims family if victim dead, possibly ending at 100k baht pluss bikes value. Or victim still alive, declare I want to cover all medical costs, lack of income and a further compensation without putting any numbers on the 2 latter, all limited by law to one million baht.

Would probably keep me out of jail, thus not needing 200k baht to bail out, and hopefully avoid court

The Thai way

I Agree ,but that did not happen and thats why iy escalated out of control,and i dont think we will ever know the ..FACTS and the..TRUTH...mostly speculation..

[NamKangMan]

We all park like this on occasions, as a westerner I find it a silly law but it does exist

I would have said to the victim and to the Police I am very sorry to be involved in an accident, keep on smiling, sway to Police, call my Insurancecompany and shut up until they arrived. If in breach of law and found at guilt, Insurance accepts responsibility. If not, walk out still smiling and swaying bye bye to copper

If I had no Insurance over the compulsory Insurance not covering this scene, I would quickly realise how deep shit I was in. I would try an initial 50k baht to victims family if victim dead, possibly ending at 100k baht pluss bikes value. Or victim still alive, declare I want to cover all medical costs, lack of income and a further compensation without putting any numbers on the 2 latter, all limited by law to one million baht.

Would probably keep me out of jail, thus not needing 200k baht to bail out, and hopefully avoid court

The Thai way

Are you telling me that your insurance company will cover you for your ciminal act (parking illegally) that has killed someone????

What if someone got in the family's ear and they wanted 1 million or even 5 million baht? Remember, you're going to gaol unless you pay what they want, so why wouldn't they go for "the max" out of you?

Riding a motorbike on Phuket is not only physically dangerous to your health, but also financially dangerous to you. IFor example, a drunk bar girl crashes into you. She's not wearing a helmet and hits her head on the ground and is dead, or paraplegic, or another debilitating injury. You MAY get blamed for the accident and find yourself paying a lot of money in compensation to an Issan family to avoid going to gaol and the accident wasn't even your fault. Scary stuff.

[stevenl]

Are you telling me that your insurance company will cover you for your ciminal act (parking illegally) that has killed someone????

What if someone got in the family's ear and they wanted 1 million or even 5 million baht? Remember, you're going to gaol unless you pay what they want, so why wouldn't they go for "the max" out of you?

Riding a motorbike on Phuket is not only physically dangerous to your health, but also financially dangerous to you. IFor example, a drunk bar girl crashes into you. She's not wearing a helmet and hits her head on the ground and is dead, or paraplegic, or another debilitating injury. You MAY get blamed for the accident and find yourself paying a lot of money in compensation to an Issan family to avoid going to gaol and the accident wasn't even your fault. Scary stuff.

Regarding the motorbike riding: you're right, dangerous and also financially risky (provided you don't have adequate insurance, which most don't).

Regarding the insurance cover for illegal parked car: yes, covered on a good comprehensive cover. Just make sure the bail bond amount is up to scratch. And most importantly: don't get involved yourself, let the insurance company handle it, and let them make clear there is nothing more to get.

[NamKangMan]

Regarding the motorbike riding: you're right, dangerous (provided you don't have insurance, which most don't).

Regarding the insurance cover for illegal parked car: yes, covered on a good comprehensive cover. Just make sure the bail bond amount is up to scratch. And most importantly: don't get involved yourself, let the insurance company handle it, and let them make clear there is nothing more to get.

I don't own a car here, so, happy to learn. Are you saying there is "public liability" built into the policy? If so, where does that "liability" start and end? Surely, if you are driving whilst drunk, or parked illegally, or speeding etc etc they will not cover you.

How much is the insurance per year? Can a farang get it in their name?

[katabeachbum]

Regarding the motorbike riding: you're right, dangerous (provided you don't have insurance, which most don't).

Regarding the insurance cover for illegal parked car: yes, covered on a good comprehensive cover. Just make sure the bail bond amount is up to scratch. And most importantly: don't get involved yourself, let the insurance company handle it, and let them make clear there is nothing more to get.

I don't own a car here, so, happy to learn. Are you saying there is "public liability" built into the policy? If so, where does that "liability" start and end? Surely, if you are driving whilst drunk, or parked illegally, or speeding etc etc they will not cover you.

How much is the insurance per year? Can a farang get it in their name?

Riding a motorbike without Insurance, as most are in TH, is at risk in any country in the world. Where I come from limit is 12mill baht a head you injure, so risk at 1 million baht is smaller here. Getting proper 3rd party Insurance is a huge advantage in any country.

Insurance covers human errors and faulty vehicles, exceptions are driving drunk or without valid DL. So in this case, why should a proper 3rd party or better Insurance not cover your faulty parking? If speeding, speeding in TH is above 120kmh in 90kmh area, speeding must be proved by police to reduce payout, payout cant be canselled due to minor breach of rules like speeding. 200meters skidmarks would be proof of speeding

Just like we farang can purchase any vehicle we desire and can afford, we can of course purchase the Insurance we desire

My 2011 kwaker Ninja650R is approx 10k baht/year 1st class

My car is 19k baht, my pickup in the 26k baht range.

They cover vehicles 80% value if stolen or wrecked

3rd part covers

10 x 1million baht liability

5-10 million baht property

200k baht bail bond

driver and legal number of passengers

The liability value of a victim is calculated on education, income, age, number of kids etc, and limit in TH is 1 million baht. Speculation, but a nightworker riding bike at 3am is not likely to be valued more than 100k baht

[NamKangMan]

Riding a motorbike without Insurance, as most are in TH, is at risk in any country in the world. Where I come from limit is 12mill baht a head you injure, so risk at 1 million baht is smaller here. Getting proper 3rd party Insurance is a huge advantage in any country.

Insurance covers human errors and faulty vehicles, exceptions are driving drunk or without valid DL. So in this case, why should a proper 3rd party or better Insurance not cover your faulty parking? If speeding, speeding in TH is above 120kmh in 90kmh area, speeding must be proved by police to reduce payout, payout cant be canselled due to minor breach of rules like speeding. 200meters skidmarks would be proof of speeding

Just like we farang can purchase any vehicle we desire and can afford, we can of course purchase the Insurance we desire

My 2011 kwaker Ninja650R is approx 10k baht/year 1st class

My car is 19k baht, my pickup in the 26k baht range.

They cover vehicles 80% value if stolen or wrecked

3rd part covers

10 x 1million baht liability

5-10 million baht property

200k baht bail bond

driver and legal number of passengers

The liability value of a victim is calculated on education, income, age, number of kids etc, and limit in TH is 1 million baht. Speculation, but a nightworker riding bike at 3am is not likely to be valued more than 100k baht

Thanks for the info. Always something to learn in Thailand.

So, in a scenario of a Thai crashing into you, and you getting the blame, will the insurance company "fight" the other Thai's claim, or just pay them out, considering you tell your insurance company that they hit you.

Also, if you do stuff up one day and, say, hit someone on a motorbike and kill them, if you admit the accident is your fault, which it is, and you are insured, are you still going to gaol, or does it all come down to your insurance company handing over the almighty baht to the victim's family?

[katabeachbum]

Thanks for the info. Always something to learn in Thailand.

So, in a scenario of a Thai crashing into you, and you getting the blame, will the insurance company "fight" the other Thai's claim, or just pay them out, considering you tell your insurance company that they hit you.

Also, if you do stuff up one day and, say, hit someone on a motorbike and kill them, if you admit the accident is your fault, which it is, and you are insured, are you still going to gaol, or does it all come down to your insurance company handing over the almighty baht to the victim's family?

anyone involved in mortal accident is supposed to be jailed, but then the insurance bailbond kicks in and keep you out until investigation completed or court hearing. bail is max 200k baht

In general your Insurance company will try to clear you, as they do not like to pay out.

And every Insurance policy state, "do not accept blame". Its their job to consider if you have to accept blame and they must pay.

So be polite, smile, sway the hotshots (cops) and arriving supporting mairs, lawyers, Insurance reps and sheriffs for both parties, keep smiling but shut up. Thais do it be being busy on the phone until Insurance rep arrives

[kenny999]

Sitting in my house today I heard a big noise, went outside a young Thai lad smashed into the back of a pick up with 6 Thai's, I went outside and asked everyone okay etc, now how strange is this, no one asked me you pay it's your fault, another good experience!!

[Old Croc]

Sitting in my house today I heard a big noise, went outside a young Thai lad smashed into the back of a pick up with 6 Thai's, I went outside and asked everyone okay etc, now how strange is this, no one asked me you pay it's your fault, another good experience!!

You found an accident scene to be a good experience? Was there lots of blood?

Did you have a vehicle parked at the scene?

[LivinginKata]

Sitting in my house today I heard a big noise, went outside a young Thai lad smashed into the back of a pick up with 6 Thai's, I went outside and asked everyone okay etc, now how strange is this, no one asked me you pay it's your fault, another good experience!!

Did you walk to the accident scene or drive a vehicle ..... big difference.

[NamKangMan]

Sitting in my house today I heard a big noise, went outside a young Thai lad smashed into the back of a pick up with 6 Thai's, I went outside and asked everyone okay etc, now how strange is this, no one asked me you pay it's your fault, another good experience!!

I bet if the "young Thai lad" crashed into the back of your pick-up it would have been your fault. Then maybe not such a good experience. :) :)

[katabeachbum]

Sitting in my house today I heard a big noise, went outside a young Thai lad smashed into the back of a pick up with 6 Thai's, I went outside and asked everyone okay etc, now how strange is this, no one asked me you pay it's your fault, another good experience!!

5555

sitting poolside and having a few beer and will probably get drunk and it will be my fault