Good Samaritans Or Thais?

[clifric]

Today I drove my wife's brother-in-law's pickup through a semi-rural area. Glancing in my rear view mirror as I tend to do regularly I noticed a motor scooter rider 'over-egging' the sharp turn about 100 meteres behind me, resulting in the bike sliding off the road.

As I stopped wiht the intentionm of reversing to help my Thai wife said 'don't stop - you are driving *****'s car and he willl be blamed, and if they see a Farang driving they will say you caused the accident'

As another pick-up was now trailing me down the road I heeded her advice and 'hot-footed' it out of the area.

I've heard of this approach before but has anyone experienced a similar situation where they have ended up being charged with causing an accident when they have stopped to render assistance?

If this is the norm I am not sure I want to live here - or at least drive here anymore.

[chrisinth]

It is probably good advice as you had nothing to do with the accident and were a foreigner driving someone elses car.

However, if you are first aid trained and consider you could help save lives, it is a very difficult call to just walk away.

Welcome to Thailand!

[clifric]

Thanks for that you old pessimistic optimist - does that mean you ae a ditherer? No offence meant! I am sure my wife was giving me sound advice - I just cannot come to terms with it. She watches the Red Shirt TV channel so I suppose they are OK with watching fellow Thais lying in the street dying!!

[payak]

Thanks for that you old pessimistic optimist - does that mean you ae a ditherer? No offence meant! I am sure my wife was giving me sound advice - I just cannot come to terms with it. She watches the Red Shirt TV channel so I suppose they are OK with watching fellow Thais lying in the street dying!!

talk to her, what do you and her have a communication problem.

if you cant talk to her about things, thats a bigger concern

[uptheos]

Yeah it's a myth that comes up on these forums time and again. I've been here over 20 years and stopped a few times to help someone during that time. Each time I got a big thank you and went away with a good feeling.

Now wait for the stories that will scare the <deleted> out of you.

[JurgenG]

What your wife says is absolutely true. Remember she is a smart woman, she chosed to marry you !

[clifric]

Thanks Jurgen - you are most pereceptive; and no Payak we have no communication problems - I think you misinterpeted my post. She was offering me what amounts to sound advice.

[payak]

Thanks Jurgen - you are most pereceptive; and no Payak we have no communication problems - I think you misinterpeted my post. She was offering me what amounts to sound advice.

sorry i misunderstood,my mistake

[robblok]

I am not sure its sound advice, it might well be.Not helping means no risk nothing can happen. Helping means there is a risk you get blamed. Now its up to you to decide if someone dying because you did not help them weighs heavier or not.

I heard about this myth too, thank god i got a dash cam. So i could help and would not worry about it. But guys.. i mean even without a dash cam.. no marks on your car... will be hard to blame you.

[Songhua]

I was in the back of a minibus on a Chiang Rai tour some years ago and saw a young girl ride her motorbike into the gutter and somersault into a tree.

I called anxiously for the driver to stop and his reply was 'no stop no stop we trouble'.

We were at least fifty metres away when it happened!

[tinfoilhat]

the title suggests no middle ground--either you are good or you are thai.

i have been helped while in dire straits (by thais), and i have offered help to others.

i would suggest that had your wife been willing to help the individual you could have stopped without issue.

but only you know what kind of woman she is, and only you know if she is right.

only you have to live with her.

Edited October 7, 2012 by tinfoilhat

[barefoot1988]

i posted my experience awhile back but anyway . . .

i stopped to assist a fallen rider during a bend during my chiangmai pai trip. he accused me for hitting him and words like ehia ehia was coming out. mrs was all red and some other riders stopped as well making the situation extremely embarrassing, i became the bad guy. he demanded 2000 baht from me and when i was about to call police he was willing to settle at 500 baht. eventually i gave in to avoid trouble.

it was so jaws dropping that i went back in my vehicle all stunned instead of feeling ripped or angry. of course i didnt have sex that night despite the stay in montis. it wasnt even my fault

[JurgenG]

i posted my experience awhile back but anyway . . .

i stopped to assist a fallen rider during a bend during my chiangmai pai trip. he accused me for hitting him and words like ehia ehia was coming out. mrs was all red and some other riders stopped as well making the situation extremely embarrassing, i became the bad guy. he demanded 2000 baht from me and when i was about to call police he was willing to settle at 500 baht. eventually i gave in to avoid trouble.

it was so jaws dropping that i went back in my vehicle all stunned instead of feeling ripped or angry. of course i didnt have sex that night despite the stay in montis. it wasnt even my fault

We had an accident with a motorcycle a while ago. We didn't try to help a guy who felt, we hit him but it was because he cut right in front of us. So of course he asked for a lot of money. It was right in front of a motorcycle taxi station so you can imagine the situation was not very comfortable. We said we will pay for whatever we are responsible of but we need to call our insurance. The insurance guy came and also the police. As we refused to settle on the spot, the policeman said we will all need to go to the police station to make a report. That was when the motorcycle guy realized he forgot his documents home so he said he will joined us later at the station. He never showed up, he was declared responsible for everything and that was it.

Now if it is a big accident with people badly injured or even dead, that won't be so easy. But anyway the best way is always to call your insurance and let them negotiate on your behalf. After all, that's why you pay them at the first place.

[giddyup]

From what I can tell it's pretty much the norm for Thais to do a runner after an accident, unless they are badly injured themselves or there is a chance of extracting money from a falang. How many times do I see on the news of fatal (or non-fatal) hit and runs with drivers running away from the scene of the accident. In Australia you would be looking at some serious jail time for running away from a serious accident, it doesn't seem like the penalties here can be severe enough to act as a deterrent.

[ThailandBert]

I have stopped to help at several accidents and have never been more than thanked. What if your wife was the one who had an unfortunate accident ? Would you want people to simply ignore her and just drive past or try to help her ? It takes a hard person to simply ignore the distress of others on a What if basis.

[yoslim]

I would never stop to help, too much risk getting into loads of trouble and I know the Thais would be more than happy to drive over my body if I was lying in the middle of the road

Edited October 8, 2012 by yoslim

[robblok]

I would never stop to help, too much risk getting into loads of trouble and I know the Thais would be more than happy to drive over my body if I was lying in the middle of the road

Stupid post about the Thais wanting to drive over your body. Nobody wants an accident nobody wants to kill someone. Not even here.

[Semper]

Ever heard of people faking accidents in the west, to make a lawsuit against you?

[mauGR1]

I have stopped to help at several accidents and have never been more than thanked. What if your wife was the one who had an unfortunate accident ? Would you want people to simply ignore her and just drive past or try to help her ? It takes a hard person to simply ignore the distress of others on a What if basis.

Yep, despite hearing bad stories, it would be hard for me not to stop to help..

So far, the worst experience i've ever had, was being verbally abused by a fat Swedish lady which had comically fallen down from the motorbike

[ThailandBert]

I would never stop to help, too much risk getting into loads of trouble and I know the Thais would be more than happy to drive over my body if I was lying in the middle of the road

Having read some of your postings here on TV I think most people would willingly do so with a smile !

A more negative person would be hard to find !

[jacktrip]

Ever heard of people faking accidents in the west, to make a lawsuit against you?

but we have rights in the west!

[Rob8891]

I would never stop to help, too much risk getting into loads of trouble and I know the Thais would be more than happy to drive over my body if I was lying in the middle of the road

Having read some of your postings here on TV I think most people would willingly do so with a smile !

A more negative person would be hard to find !

You posted too soon.... Mr Happy (jacktrip) posted after you, thus negating that comment

[Dancealot]

What matters is the OP stopped. If there was not another truck coming i believe he would help. It could be someone life at stake. Also you could always say that his GF was driving. Trust your own instincts while driving in the country. At first it was scary for me too. We farang just have to keep being alert and keep driving VERY carefully.