Trying to go 100% legal on my bike (a first!) - a question or two.

[marcusmarsh]

After riding around for 8 years here in Chiang Mai with no bike registered in my name, no valid tax, insurance, license etc Im gonna go straight ! I recently was fined for no license as all I have is a 4 years out of date UK license. Plus what with having a brand new bike for the first time in my life it will be nice to relax approaching road blocks and whatnot.

I think Im nearly there. But just wanna make sure and this forum has always been rather helpful for me so here goes...

Tomorrow Im off to take my bike 'test'. I have checked everything and I have all necessary paperwork for that so no advice needed there thanks.

Ive just looked at my green book and that is in my name already. I assume the Honda people did that when I purchased the bike and picked up the number plate a few months later.

What I need to know is tomorrow, once I have my Thai License (if indeed they give that out on the same day), and now that I have a green book in my name plus the fact I have a tax disc (if thats what it is - the 2557 dated piece of paper)

Am I 100% legal ?

OR

Is there something else I still need to do ? I do not need to register the bike right as I assume, though admit I do not know for sure, that thats what happened when the green book was put into my name ?

Appreciated.

[JesseFrank]

Get at least a number 2 insurance ( third party ) if not a full coverage insurance .

[manarak]

Get at least a number 2 insurance ( third party ) if not a full coverage insurance .

this and make sure you have coverage of extreme costs on yourself

[marcusmarsh]

is having insurance for a bike here in Thailand a legal necessity ?

(by the way I am insured for a year - got it when I purchased the bike)

[JesseFrank]

is having insurance for a bike here in Thailand a legal necessity ?

(by the way I am insured for a year - got it when I purchased the bike)

No it's optional, as are driver license, tax id, helmet and a few other boring things.

NEXT

[macknife]

Yes you will be legal.

[marcusmarsh]

cheers macknife. A man that knows how to answer precisely.

[casualbiker]

The insurance you got with the bike will probably be the basic government insurance, No bail bond, no personal damage and fairly low coverage for damage to others.. It would be extremely wise to get 1st or at bare minimum 3rd class insurance usually has bail bond)

What bike is it that you have?

ps. Don't forget the Thai licence will initially be for 1 year then you after the year you extend to a 5 year licence

[Tywais]

is having insurance for a bike here in Thailand a legal necessity ?

(by the way I am insured for a year - got it when I purchased the bike)

No it's optional, as are driver license, tax id, helmet and a few other boring things.

NEXT

Just to clarify this. There is compulsory insurance, Por Ror Bor, and is required by law and needed even to get your tax sticker. It is minimum medical coverage and no equipment coverage in it. Optional would be getting 1st, 2nd or 3rd class insurance to cover damage, fire and theft.

[JesseFrank]

is having insurance for a bike here in Thailand a legal necessity ?

(by the way I am insured for a year - got it when I purchased the bike)

No it's optional, as are driver license, tax id, helmet and a few other boring things.

NEXT

Just to clarify this. There is compulsory insurance, Por Ror Bor, and is required by law and needed even to get your tax sticker. It is minimum medical coverage and no equipment coverage in it. Optional would be getting 1st, 2nd or 3rd class insurance to cover damage, fire and theft.

I guess you missed the sarcasm in my post.

The OP starts a thread that he want to go 100% legal, after deliberately putting other road users at risk for the past 8 years, then continues to ask if an insurance is actually a necessity.

Hence that I don't believe him for a minute that he has the intention to go legal.

And yes the government insurance is compulsory to to get you vehicle taxed each year, and covers next to nothing in case of an accident

[robblok]

is having insurance for a bike here in Thailand a legal necessity ?

(by the way I am insured for a year - got it when I purchased the bike)

It is indeed optional, personally I would pay for it (and have especially on bigger bikes). The mandatory insurance does not cover much.

[paz]

So there is in fact 4 classes of insurance, from gov.t mandatory to 1st class.

But I've never seen spelled clearly the coverage difference among the 4 types.

[ll2]

yep. but get a good insurance with nice coverage too just in case.

[Tywais]

So there is in fact 4 classes of insurance, from gov.t mandatory to 1st class.

But I've never seen spelled clearly the coverage difference among the 4 types.

Some info on the differences:

http://www.aainsure.net/car_insurance_thailand.html

http://www.siam-info.com/english/car-insurance.html

[macknife]

is having insurance for a bike here in Thailand a legal necessity ?

(by the way I am insured for a year - got it when I purchased the bike)

No it's optional, as are driver license, tax id, helmet and a few other boring things.

NEXT

Just to clarify this. There is compulsory insurance, Por Ror Bor, and is required by law and needed even to get your tax sticker. It is minimum medical coverage and no equipment coverage in it. Optional would be getting 1st, 2nd or 3rd class insurance to cover damage, fire and theft.

I guess you missed the sarcasm in my post.

The OP starts a thread that he want to go 100% legal, after deliberately putting other road users at risk for the past 8 years, then continues to ask if an insurance is actually a necessity.

Hence that I don't believe him for a minute that he has the intention to go legal.

And yes the government insurance is compulsory to to get you vehicle taxed each year, and covers next to nothing in case of an accident

Yes because most people would start a thread stating they want to go legal but having no intention to do so.

The guy is trying to do the right thing so don't knock it. Some people are never happy.

How did he put other people at risk? Is he now somehow a better rider because he passed the Thai license test? or is it because he now has insurance that covers nothing anyway (15,000B injury?) and would have paid out whether he had a license or not?

[JesseFrank]

I guess you missed the sarcasm in my post.

The OP starts a thread that he want to go 100% legal, after deliberately putting other road users at risk for the past 8 years, then continues to ask if an insurance is actually a necessity.

Hence that I don't believe him for a minute that he has the intention to go legal.

And yes the government insurance is compulsory to to get you vehicle taxed each year, and covers next to nothing in case of an accident

Yes because most people would start a thread stating they want to go legal but having no intention to do so.

The guy is trying to do the right thing so don't knock it. Some people are never happy.

How did he put other people at risk? Is he now somehow a better rider because he passed the Thai license test? or is it because he now has insurance that covers nothing anyway (15,000B injury?) and would have paid out whether he had a license or not?

To answer your question, even with a government insurance you put other people at risk, because it covers only 15.000 Baht medical costs, and anything that is more you are responsible for.

They will put you straight in jail, unless you cuff up the bail bond, until you have paid all the costs you are responsible for. That is of course if you survive the accident yourself.

Now try to imagine that you have a serious accident with a foreigner without an insurance and who dies on the scene. I don't want to think about .

[macknife]

I guess you missed the sarcasm in my post.

The OP starts a thread that he want to go 100% legal, after deliberately putting other road users at risk for the past 8 years, then continues to ask if an insurance is actually a necessity.

Hence that I don't believe him for a minute that he has the intention to go legal.

And yes the government insurance is compulsory to to get you vehicle taxed each year, and covers next to nothing in case of an accident

Yes because most people would start a thread stating they want to go legal but having no intention to do so.

The guy is trying to do the right thing so don't knock it. Some people are never happy.

How did he put other people at risk? Is he now somehow a better rider because he passed the Thai license test? or is it because he now has insurance that covers nothing anyway (15,000B injury?) and would have paid out whether he had a license or not?

To answer your question, even with a government insurance you put other people at risk, because it covers only 15.000 Baht medical costs, and anything that is more you are responsible for.

They will put you straight in jail, unless you cuff up the bail bond, until you have paid all the costs you are responsible for. That is of course if you survive the accident yourself.

Now try to imagine that you have a serious accident with a foreigner without an insurance and who dies on the scene. I don't want to think about .

So therefore it's no different being legal or illegal?

[JesseFrank]

I guess you missed the sarcasm in my post.

The OP starts a thread that he want to go 100% legal, after deliberately putting other road users at risk for the past 8 years, then continues to ask if an insurance is actually a necessity.

Hence that I don't believe him for a minute that he has the intention to go legal.

And yes the government insurance is compulsory to to get you vehicle taxed each year, and covers next to nothing in case of an accident

Yes because most people would start a thread stating they want to go legal but having no intention to do so.

The guy is trying to do the right thing so don't knock it. Some people are never happy.

How did he put other people at risk? Is he now somehow a better rider because he passed the Thai license test? or is it because he now has insurance that covers nothing anyway (15,000B injury?) and would have paid out whether he had a license or not?

To answer your question, even with a government insurance you put other people at risk, because it covers only 15.000 Baht medical costs, and anything that is more you are responsible for.

They will put you straight in jail, unless you cuff up the bail bond, until you have paid all the costs you are responsible for. That is of course if you survive the accident yourself.

Now try to imagine that you have a serious accident with a foreigner without an insurance and who dies on the scene. I don't want to think about .

So therefore it's no different being legal or illegal?

It is different, if you get the proper insurance, and the government insurance only doesn't fit that picture.

Keep in mind that the OP purchased a big bike, not a moped to travel around the church tower.

By the way, the OP asked the question, is insurance a necessity to be legal. Do you know any country in the world where insurance isn't compulsory ?

The fact that Thailand is 50 years behind with it's system is no excuse to not get yourself decent cover.

Edit : A third party insurance for a large bike cost about 2000 Baht. I pay 1280 Baht because I have a no claim bonus .

Edited February 12, 2014 by JesseFrank