rent car locally to drive outside of Phuket

[andreww]

We're thinking of renting a car in Phuket to go to Khao Sok NP, but all local renters' insurance won't cover such trip because it's outside of Phuket.

Is there any way to rent a car that is insured no matter where you drive (in Thailand of course)?

Cheers.

[NomadJoe]

Try Avis or Budget. They will cover all of Thailand. Many others too. Pure Car Rent should. Many have a limit on total distance driven.

[LivinginKata]

Use one if the bigger rental companies like Avis. or that airport rentals company. That no insurance outside Phuket sounds unlikely to me. Insurance is not usually area limited. Just displays how dodgy the insurance is with these local hirers.

[keestha]

Insurance is always valid in all of Thailand. They just don't want to go through the hassle of having to go somewhere outside Phuket to deal with the consequences of an accident or mechanical failure. International companies like Avis are expensive, try one of the rental outlets close to the airport.

[macahoom]

This probably won't help, but my girlfriend regularly rents a car from a local company to drive back to her village in Nakhon Si Thammarat.

They say the reason they don't normally allow cars to go out of Phuket is because of the risk of theft.

The only reason they hire to her is because we have a long history of sending our friends to them to rent. They also know where we live. In short, they trust us.

[siam2007]

these must be "dodgy" local rent-companies indeed (located at Patong beach road maybe? and maybe even asking u to surrender your passport?)

AVIS is not only a very reputable company, they offer in many cases the cheapest rates as well.

try their website (avisthailand.com) to find out, it could be as little as 700 THB a day (if u want full coverage without the usual 8.000 THB lumpsum, the rate will usually increase 160 THB or so per day, but u still can decide about that when u r actually at their office to pick up the car).

plus: you can make a booking on their website WITHOUT having to unveil your credit card data..... you just make a reservation, then pick up the car at the desired date and location, and make the payment there...... cannot get easier than that.....

and their cars were always 100% okay, they have a slight advantage over Budget and Hertz from my own experience.

I rented more than 10 times from Avis around Thailand and never had any bad experience....

[LivinginKata]

I agree, flew up to Udon Thani, planned to rent a car for 5 days from an 'independent' who assured us that the car was fully insured. my wife cafefully read the Thai contract and we decided to walk away as it was clear that we would be responsible for all damages/loss. Ended up renting from Avis for 999 baht/day including all the insurance options. Sure they needed a credit card and a deposit was taken on the card. During our trip i hit a large stone on the road and shredded the tyre, completely ruined. i expected to have to pay, but no, called into the nearest Avis place, they gave me another car, nothing to pay.

[hkt83100]

[...] called into the nearest Avis place, they gave me another car, nothing to pay.

Which is what you normally expect from a rental company. It just pays off to go with the real ones...

[andreww]

Thanks for your input, guys.

Let me clarify some misinformed statements in this topic though. I've been renting cars for last 3+ years (since we started hopping from country to country), and be assured, know most large and small renters' policies too well. Speaking of locals, two reasons to rent from them:

- they're literally next door from my house (and not in HKT or Patong, which is 30-40 mins drive one way + 1 more hour for formalities).

- full sized SUV's (e.g. Fortuner) would cost from locals just as cheap as from Avis or Budget etc. Hertz is even cheaper option, but you have too book well in advance to get a desired car, while locals seem to be better stocked/less busy, I can book today and drive tomorrow.

How I learned about geo-limited insurance policies? Thru one very publicized case of insurance-related rip-off initiated by... AVIS. Didn't happen to me, but the story was: car rented from AVIS @ HKT, dude drove to Khao Lak, got into an accident, had to pay $8000 for bail out because the car wasn’t insured outside of Phuket according to AVIS' policy. Go figure.

And yes, these scary dodgy local renters will issue a proper rental agreement, which can be used for claims and disputes. And yes, just checked today: their agreement explicitly states no driving outside of Phuket/Phang Nga/Krabi (that means driving outside of those areas makes my own insurance invalid, as I'd be breaking the agreement). And no, they dont take passports as hostages, unless you give one to them. Just a copy and your contact details suffice.

Regardless of case, platinum CC with good insurance cover and a willful Thai wife solve most of problems you'd even encounter with renters, big or small.

To cut long story short: gotta ride myself to HKT or Phuket Town and book well in advance to get a 7-seater from Hertz to be able to drive it anywhere. I guess, it's time to become a car owner again.

Edited March 21, 2014 by andreww

[LivinginKata]

<snip>

How I learned about geo-limited insurance policies? Thru one very publicized case of insurance-related rip-off initiated by... AVIS. Didn't happen to me, but the story was: car rented from AVIS @ HKT, dude drove to Khao Lak, got into an accident, had to pay $8000 for bail out because the car wasnt insured outside of Phuket according to AVIS' policy. Go figure.

Sorry, as far as I know Avis insurance covers all Thailand. I don't know the specifics of the case you cite. For sure Avis allow off island travel as far as I know.