Might Lose My Passport, Help Me With Malicious Bike Renter

[JoePai]

What the hell were you doing giving him your passport , < Snip> , you do not give anybody your passport .

That's a bit harsh sir. Been in Thailand many years, rented all over the country and it is standard practice to surrender the passport for the duration of the rental. At least that's my experience.

Anyway, calling him names isn't really helpful. Do you have any useful suggestions for his current situation?

To the OP - I wish I had some good ideas for you. May I suggest you contact your own embassy, explain the situation and see what they say about your passport. It is likely they've run across this kind of thing before. Just a suggestion. I wish you the best is working this out.

If you give your passport to someone else you are stupid - period

[wantan]

Wow, many insults and stupid comments. Nothing would change if the OP hadn't given his passport. He has caused damage and has to pay it. Running away without paying could be a very bad idea and his embassy sure wouldn't help him out of prison then if he get caught. Sure the rental guy is charging the full price for new parts. And sure he will not spend all the money he gets for the repair. But this is normal and most people would do this.

[JonnyF]

If it was me I'd pay the money, get my passport back and then thank my lucky stars that the incident wasn't more serious. Assuming he isn't trolling of course...

[DLock]

So, let me make sure I understand this.

You readily signed an agreement that stated that you liable for any damage to a rental bike.

You left your passport as a form of guarantee.

The contract stated that if you damaged the bike you could fix it yourself, but you had to pay 10,000 baht.

You crashed the bike.

The bike needs to be repaired and the owner will use factory parts to repair the bike to the same condition it was prior to you crashing it.

Everyday the bike is not rented it costs him more potential money.

You do not have the money to repair the bike to his standards?

And you don't want to pay?

But happy to bitch that he has threatened to sell your passport?

You are the kind of chump that makes things difficult for people in Thailand. You knew the rules. You busted the bike. Pay up.

Regardless of what anyone thinks, the bike owner holds all the cards. You hold a couple of Jokers.

[Plucky]

Has the OP jumped off a balcony? Where is he?

[transam]

Has the OP jumped off a balcony? Where is he?

He bought a set of wrenches and filler.

[n00b]

The bike owner probably has the bike insured and is just looking to squeeze an extra buck. Unfortunately there are no customer's rights in Thailand, or most of the world for that matter.

[necronx99]

The bike owner probably has the bike insured and is just looking to squeeze an extra buck. Unfortunately there are no customer's rights in Thailand, or most of the world for that matter.

Yeh, I'm sure insurance companies are falling all over themselves to get the tourist rental bike business.

[transam]

The bike owner probably has the bike insured and is just looking to squeeze an extra buck. Unfortunately there are no customer's rights in Thailand, or most of the world for that matter.

, &lt;deleted&gt; is insurance in LOS. ?

[BSJ]

Something fishy bout this!

He has friend's but chooses to rent off a stranger.

As we all know, you have to have your passport on you at all times.

And everywhere I go, everything I rent, they usually happy with a photocopy of the first page.....not the whole passport.

Edited August 23, 2012 by BSJ

[DLock]

Regardless...the bill goes up by the rental price per day for everyday its not paid.

...I recommend you pay it and put this down to youthful stupidity.

[karlos]

He's obviously not too keen or desperate for our advice.... Or he's crashed another bike.

[Nebula]

May be he tried to escape and got caught at the pier as Laser suggested may happen or some other unpleasant event. He said he has friends with shop but may be he meant only for repair not rent.

I remember I read somewhere here before someone said he was charged 70 000 baht for accident or something small , I Dont remember. He paid it buy card and then flew back home and called his credit card company and told them it wasnt something he paid so they fixed it for him

Edited August 23, 2012 by Nebula

[karlos]

I dread to think what would happen if he was caught trying to scarper.... :S

[yankee99]

Something fishy bout this!

He has friend's but chooses to rent off a stranger.

As we all know, you have to have your passport on you at all times.

And everywhere I go, everything I rent, they usually happy with a photocopy of the first page.....not the whole passport.

With small bikes they dont normally ask for your passport. With big bike at least in pattaya it is normal for.them in lieu of a large deposit.

[Phatcharanan]

He's probably trying to suss things out on behalf of friends 'shops', setting up one for himself or probably just freeking delusional.

I hope he fell of the pier.

[GoSoon]

Thank you all for your posts, I am not trolling here. I weighed the input and realized that the moral thing to do is to pay up. The bike was also a red license plate since it was new (which I didn't know until I read after, you aren't allowed to ride in the nighttime, which is when this happened) I had a local police friend with me who managed to get them to lower the price for me, but even when I told him the bike owner was threatening to sell my passport, he didn't bat an eyelash.

I ended up paying the reduced price, and got my Passport back. I was actually going to return the bike the day after this happened and get one from my friend. I can't find a place in Koh Phangan that doesn't require passports, some even require it for you to test drive the bike, and just look at you like it's as good as not having any money if you can't give your passport. If anybody knows about one, I would be curious to know, even if it's just to tell tourists I meet about it to save them the hassle.

[KRS1]

Still curious about the model of bike

[wantan]

And the "reduced price" was...

600?

6k?

60k?

curious too

[GoSoon]

It was a Click Helmet-In 125cc with 5k KM. Reduced to 20k, half price. There were things that didn't even need fixing he marked as needed, and wouldnt change. It was a very shady experience in terms of dealing with them. Once I bargained down the price, it was worth it just to clear this from my life.

Edited August 23, 2012 by GoSoon

[Boyce]

I have a new click 125cc helmet in with black wheels , it cost me 47.000 Baht.

I'm glad that its all sorted out, ot must have been a worry.

Boyce

[snowflake]

Ha, for that price it would have been cheaper to just buy a second hand bike... 20k plus rental fees???

Let that be a warning... buy a shitty bike and then you don't have to worry any more!!!

[wantan]

Good that its sorted now. Hope GoSoon gets OK soon too.

And GoSoon, please GoSlow in future, especially with two up on the bike at night. Roads are dangerous here. Happy weekend for all. Have fun

[jcw]

Transam: Why does he have your passport that belongs to your countries government, not to you ?

Who owns your countries Government? Any Gov employee is a Public servant by the way. I see the point taken here that you are trying to make, but really, you should think about that point further and deeper for future applications.

Cheers

[mic6ard]

major oopsies there. how/why the heck did you give him your passport!!!. Totally set yourself up there buddy. Sorry about your fall and the 'mobster' rental, but seriously...

Get your embassy/consulate involve pronto, they might be able to cancel your passport, and issue a new one instead. That way the rental guy is stuck with dead paper.

as with other comments, there's a couple of things for you to do.

1: get your passport back

2: pay for the repair

[crazykopite]

Report your passport stolen or lost either to the tourist police on Koh samui or to the British embassey , the embassey should issue you with a new one so that you can get back home, it is against the law to hand over your passport or just go to the shop and tell him you are going to bring in the tourist police if you crashed the bike common sense tells you that you will be billed every penny + as these renters do not have insurance cover !!!

see it all the time with bikes and jet ski's !!!!

[simple1]

It was a Click Helmet-In 125cc with 5k KM. Reduced to 20k, half price. There were things that didn't even need fixing he marked as needed, and wouldnt change. It was a very shady experience in terms of dealing with them. Once I bargained down the price, it was worth it just to clear this from my life.

Sorry, but your police friend would have got a commission from the rental guy. Lesson for the future, in Thailand police are very rarely your friend

[crazykopite]

20 K is a fair price just because it has a red plate does not mean it is new My Honda Phantom has only 10,000 and it is 6 years old The red plate should only be on for the 1st 6 months but I know people who are still riding on a red after a year plate. Toyota Samui were at one time very good at delaying there number plates because as long as they can issue a red plate they do not have to pay the sales tax to the government it is only of late that the Samui police have cracked down. My friend who purchased a Toyota was stopped and as his red plate was over 6 months old I think he had to pay a fine of 2,000 bht He took his receipt to the Toyato dealer and got his money re-embursed, two weeks later he was issued his proper plates by Toyota !!!!!

[JoePai]

Transam: Why does he have your passport that belongs to your countries government, not to you ?

Who owns your countries Government? Any Gov employee is a Public servant by the way. I see the point taken here that you are trying to make, but really, you should think about that point further and deeper for future applications.

Cheers

The only one who needs to think further is yourself - what Transam posted is correct !

[loserlazer]

it is funny to see people here stating like " why did you give them your passport?"

In Koh Phangan, no one give you a bike without a passport man. in many other areas of Thailand as well.

If you are so worried on handing your passport, then you do not rent a bike, that easy. Please stop bitching about it.

Many shitty farang crashed the bikes and run away before so of course they will ask the passports to protect their business. I can understand them. if they are doing so it is because of us shitty farang before, i am sorry but do not blame the renters. think about it. We created this monster

They cannot rent the bike for god knows how many days due to repairs besides just drink responsibly and drive nice and do not do accident with someone else's bike man.

If they try to get more money for repairs, that is fine. Think about what will happen to you if you crash a bike in UK without a license? they screw you out man with fines, right?

I left my passport in Koh Phangan for months for rental and i do not have any trouble. Besides, my passport is much more secure in their safes than my room:) haha.

and 'gosoon', 20,00 thb is a good price for a fix on a new bike. congrats but still be careful and do not be around that shop or change your accom or leave Koh Phangan as if you get it reduced too much, they might still wanna find you

Edited August 24, 2012 by loserlazer