Compliments to the Royal Thai Police!

[FolkGuitar]

Yesterday afternoon about 4:30 I stopped to buy some food from a chicken vendor on the side of Santitham Road. I parked (legally) on the side of the street, along with several other motorbikes, crossed over to the vendor's cart, and while standing there, watched a gray government pickup truck pull in front of the bikes, then back into them, knocking several of them over, including my own. The driver looked out the window, then pulled out and drove away headed south. I grabbed photos of the truck and the license plate with my phone. With the help of the Chicken vendor and the owner of the computer shop in front of my bike, I straightened out my bike, noted the damage, and raced after the truck. The driver must have been lost as he made a U-turn around the rotary at the end of the road, headed back north again, and ducked into a side street. I pull up along side, sounding my horn until he slowed down, then pulled in front of him forcing him to stop. The driver and his wife? got out and I explained that he had damaged my bike, showed him the dents, and told him that I wanted to call the police.

He was extremely apologetic. His woman... not even close. She was ranting and raving, demanding proof that they caused any damage, insisting that they weren't even in the area, then dragged the driver back into the truck and they sped away.

I went back to the chicken vendor's cart and called the police. Of course no one at the station could speak any English, and my Thai isn't all that good, so the chicken vendor explained over the phone to the cop what had transpired. The cops showed up on site 5 minutes later, took a statement from the vendor, another from the computer shop owner, and copied the license number and sign from the photos that I took. I followed the policeman to the Cop Shop where I gave a statement and signed it. I was told that the police would get in touch with me after they located the driver of the truck. I figured that I wouldn't hear from them again, or at best, several months down the road.

This morning my phone rang and it was the duty officer at the police station asking me to come in and 'meet' the people who were driving the truck. It seems the police had no difficulty tracking down a minor admin clerk from Fang, here in Chiang Mai for the Flower Festival, and staying at the Grandview Hotel. (Imagine his surprise when the cops showed up telling him to report to the Cop Shop at 10:30...)

I arrived at the police station to see two very embarrassed looking people! The man was extremely apologetic again, and the woman made a last ditch attempt to insist they did nothing wrong. The policeman reminded her that they had the statements of two Thais who witnessed the event, and the photos of the truck and the license plate number. She became real quiet real quick.

The cop asked me what I wanted as a resolve for all this. I said someone needed to pay for the repairs, and it should not be me. He agreed. The woman made an offer, and even the cop told her that was too little. She raised it. They all looked at me. I quadrupled her offer. We went back and forth a bit, and finally settled on what I was comfortable with. The woman looked as if she had been forced to swallow buffalo chips...

All in all, the police were able to resolve this incident in less than 19 hours, including tracking down the dastardly villains and bringing them to justice. My congratulations to the Royal Thai Police for a job well done!

Edited February 7, 2016 by FolkGuitar

[DLock]

Good story and great result.

Always good to see justice done.

[harrry]

Good to hear

[TheAppletons]

Glad to hear it was resolved to your satisfaction.

Regarding "All in all, the police were able to resolve this incident in less than 19 hours, including tracking down the dastardly villains and bringing them to justice." Sounds as if you did most of the "tracking down" though the RTP did roust them in a pretty timely manner.

[Happy Grumpy]

Bad farang.

Rich, And making poor Thai people pay. Bad man.

[FolkGuitar]

Glad to hear it was resolved to your satisfaction.

Regarding "All in all, the police were able to resolve this incident in less than 19 hours, including tracking down the dastardly villains and bringing them to justice." Sounds as if you did most of the "tracking down" though the RTP did roust them in a pretty timely manner.

The only thing I did was chase them on the street and force them to stop. I had no idea who they were or where they were going. I just gave the police the photos of the license plate.

It was the Royal Thai Police who followed that photo to the registration, the registration to the local office in Fang, and the Fang's report that the driver was in Chiang Mai. I certainly wouldn't have been able to track down these people myself.

[worgeordie]

Did the owners of the other motorbikes that were damaged

get compensation too?,

regards Worgeordie

[eyecatcher]

They got off lightly....seems they didnt pay for the damagd to the other 6bikes

[FolkGuitar]

Did the owners of the other motorbikes that were damaged

get compensation too?,

regards Worgeordie

I doubt it. I was the only bike owner who was there. We picked up two bikes at once, then I hurried off to the chase the truck as the chicken vendor and computer shop owner picked up the other bike that went over. Not all the bikes parked there went down.

Edited February 7, 2016 by FolkGuitar

[CNXBKKMAN]

I have had similar good dealings with the local police. A young women rode her motorcycle through the red light on a pedestrian crossing. I was walking my bicycle across, she hit my bike and damaged it. All within an hour the police drove me and my bike to a bike shop for repair quote. The women had no cash until pay day and police told me they would ensure she pays up later. A few weeks later i was paid as promised by the police. I have had other positive encounters with the police. Its amazing how many people just auto slag them off at every opportunity. They do plenty of good work.

[sharktooth]

This could very easily have ended up so much differently... peep peep, bang bang.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

And then you woke up.

[CMKiwi]

I can only but imagine a different outcome if you did not have the photo of vehicle and plate numbers. Although it did help that the chicken vendor and computer shop owner.

Good outcome for you but I sometimes wish these people that do a 'runner' get a stronger punishment or there is no incentive in the future for them to do the right thing.

As for the tart (I use that in the most respectful way...NOT) whom mouthed off with every excuse under the sun...well I hope her partner/husband/whatever tells her to "Shut the fork up" in future. Good to see she lost face in the end, unfortunately he would have been tarred with the same brush. At least he was apologetic, even if it was after the was stopped and then aprehended by the police.

This aint NZ, and the penalties for leaving an accident site without first accessing damage and/or offering 1st aid are quite severe. All accidents are supposed to be reported to the Police.

If someone is hurt it must be reported to Police asap and no later than 24hrs.

If it is a non injury accident, you must provide you details and registration plate details to the owner(s) of damaged property asap but no later than 48hrs. If you cannot locate said owner then you must inform the Police asap but no later than 60 hours after the accident.

I imagine it would be impossible to try and instil that into the Thai way of thinking.

That aside, glad you werent on the bike when numb nuts reversed.

[taotoo]

unfortunately he would have been tarred with the same brush.

It was presumably HIM that drove off.

[FolkGuitar]

unfortunately he would have been tarred with the same brush.

It was presumably HIM that drove off.

I'll stress once again, this man (who was the driver) was extremely apologetic, both at the initial on-street meeting and at the police station. From the very beginning he acknowledged the fact that he screwed up. It was the woman who insisted that I was mistaken, insisted that they did not knock over any motorbikes, and it was she who quite literally took the man by the arm and pushed him back into the truck at our first meeting. At the police station, the man was again very humble and apologetic, while the woman loudly insisted that I was mistaken. Insisted, that is, until the cop reminded her that there were two Thai witnesses and photographs of the trucks license plate.

He was the one who drove off. But it's a good bet that this woman maintains a firm grip on his cajones and was twisting hard at that time.

Edited February 7, 2016 by FolkGuitar

[Kilowatt]

I have a similar situation and wish to complement the police.

Driving my Nissan truck through may rim a driver of another truck hit mine.He ran I chased and got his plate number.We went to the police there and reported on what happened. The next day I was face to face with the culprit who denied it all.Both trucks were brought to accident forcenic division where it was determined his truck did hit mine.

He finally admited he did it but did not want to pay the estimate I had gotten.I cut two pieces of paper out wrote two amounts down.He picked the hi one off the table.The police chief smiled at my solution and he paid in full.All within 20 hours.

[cyberfarang]

Glad to hear it was resolved to your satisfaction.

Regarding "All in all, the police were able to resolve this incident in less than 19 hours, including tracking down the dastardly villains and bringing them to justice." Sounds as if you did most of the "tracking down" though the RTP did roust them in a pretty timely manner.

The only thing I did was chase them on the street and force them to stop. I had no idea who they were or where they were going. I just gave the police the photos of the license plate.

It was the Royal Thai Police who followed that photo to the registration, the registration to the local office in Fang, and the Fang's report that the driver was in Chiang Mai. I certainly wouldn't have been able to track down these people myself.

Giving chase and stopping in front of the truck was a dump thing to do. You put your life at risk doing that.

In this country people have tried the same and ended up being stabbed or shot or the driver could have mowed you down in his truck when it came to motorbike vs truck. I commend you for seeing this through but the sensible thing to have done was stopping at the photo evidence you had. Think yourself lucky you came out of this unscathed, otherwise it could have had a very different outcome.

[northernjohn]

Glad to hear it was resolved to your satisfaction.

Regarding "All in all, the police were able to resolve this incident in less than 19 hours, including tracking down the dastardly villains and bringing them to justice." Sounds as if you did most of the "tracking down" though the RTP did roust them in a pretty timely manner.

The only thing I did was chase them on the street and force them to stop. I had no idea who they were or where they were going. I just gave the police the photos of the license plate.

It was the Royal Thai Police who followed that photo to the registration, the registration to the local office in Fang, and the Fang's report that the driver was in Chiang Mai. I certainly wouldn't have been able to track down these people myself.

Well stated.

To often Farongs will go out of their way to take cheap shots at the BIB. Give credit where credit is due. I see there is one OOOS make that two so far other serious poster here with another story like yours. To often Farongs just think of the BIB in relation to traffic incidents. I am quite sure there are many other people with similar experiences.

Edited February 7, 2016 by northernjohn

[evenstevens]

without being seen too prudent

buy yourself a lottery ticket, you certainly deseve it

a lovely late arvo to all

[JaseTheBass]

I saw a pickup reverse into a car in the car park next to my office a few weeks ago. I thought about recording the number plate but decided to not get involved.

An ex of mine scraped a car in our condo's car park a decade or so ago. She left a note on the victim's car and got it sorted out. She also got to meet a famous actor (the victim) so was quite happy at the end of the day.

[FolkGuitar]

Giving chase and stopping in front of the truck was a dump thing to do. You put your life at risk doing that.

In this country people have tried the same and ended up being stabbed or shot or the driver could have mowed you down in his truck when it came to motorbike vs truck. I commend you for seeing this through but the sensible thing to have done was stopping at the photo evidence you had. Think yourself lucky you came out of this unscathed, otherwise it could have had a very different outcome.

I don't live my life in fear of what others may do to me. It's not how I was brought up.

I refuse to be bullied by the possibility of 'what might happen.' I'm not frightened off by 'what if...'

I do (and say) what I believe to be the right course of action... for me. I don't recommend it for everyone.

I put my life at risk every time I go exploring W.W.II shipwrecks 30 meters under water, white-water kayaking, paragliding, ice climbing, caving, or just turn the key on my motorcycle. I do it for fun. Why wouldn't I do it for something serious? It's how I choose to live.

Giving chase to someone who caused you harm or caused you damage may not be something you'd do.

You might wish to choose a different course of action. And that's OK.

It IS something that I'd do. And did. And I'd do it again if the situation arises.

I don't live my life in fear. It's not how I was brought up.

Edited February 7, 2016 by FolkGuitar

[FolkGuitar]

I saw a pickup reverse into a car in the car park next to my office a few weeks ago. I thought about recording the number plate but decided to not get involved.

An ex of mine scraped a car in our condo's car park a decade or so ago. She left a note on the victim's car and got it sorted out. She also got to meet a famous actor (the victim) so was quite happy at the end of the day.

If it was your car that was hit, wouldn't you have wished someone that saw it happen leave a note on your windshield?

[Mousehound]

Lucky you weren't in Perth. Police would just say "civil matter, your problem". As happened to me when a pickup truck ran down the side of my car and took off - two weeks without a acar and $500 excess as well as loss of no claims bonus. Rather be in CM it seems.

[MESmith]

I saw a pickup reverse into a car in the car park next to my office a few weeks ago. I thought about recording the number plate but decided to not get involved.

An ex of mine scraped a car in our condo's car park a decade or so ago. She left a note on the victim's car and got it sorted out. She also got to meet a famous actor (the victim) so was quite happy at the end of the day.

If it was your car that was hit, wouldn't you have wished someone that saw it happen leave a note on your windshield?

Did you leave a note on the other motorbikes that got knocked over?

[cyberfarang]

Giving chase and stopping in front of the truck was a dump thing to do. You put your life at risk doing that.

In this country people have tried the same and ended up being stabbed or shot or the driver could have mowed you down in his truck when it came to motorbike vs truck. I commend you for seeing this through but the sensible thing to have done was stopping at the photo evidence you had. Think yourself lucky you came out of this unscathed, otherwise it could have had a very different outcome.

I don't live my life in fear of what others may do to me. It's not how I was brought up.

I refuse to be bullied by the possibility of 'what might happen.' I'm not frightened off by 'what if...'

I do (and say) what I believe to be the right course of action... for me. I don't recommend it for everyone.

I put my life at risk every time I go exploring W.W.II shipwrecks 30 meters under water, white-water kayaking, paragliding, ice climbing, caving, or just turn the key on my motorcycle. I do it for fun. Why wouldn't I do it for something serious? It's how I choose to live.

Giving chase to someone who caused you harm or caused you damage may not be something you'd do.

You might wish to choose a different course of action. And that's OK.

It IS something that I'd do. And did. And I'd do it again if the situation arises.

I don't live my life in fear. It's not how I was brought up.

You got a result from your photographic evidence not by chasing and confronting the couple in the truck. The man was apologetic not forgetting not everyone plays by the rules of the league of gentlemen.

Seems you like to live life dangerously and agree what you say, I don't recommend it for everyone or no one in fact.

[FolkGuitar]

I saw a pickup reverse into a car in the car park next to my office a few weeks ago. I thought about recording the number plate but decided to not get involved.

An ex of mine scraped a car in our condo's car park a decade or so ago. She left a note on the victim's car and got it sorted out. She also got to meet a famous actor (the victim) so was quite happy at the end of the day.

If it was your car that was hit, wouldn't you have wished someone that saw it happen leave a note on your windshield?

Did you leave a note on the other motorbikes that got knocked over?

All the other two bikes in front of the computer shop were gone when I got back to the Chicken stand, not just the two that were knocked down. This is right in front of a Lotus Express, and people are pulling in and out every 3-4 minutes.

[FolkGuitar]

Giving chase and stopping in front of the truck was a dump thing to do. You put your life at risk doing that.

In this country people have tried the same and ended up being stabbed or shot or the driver could have mowed you down in his truck when it came to motorbike vs truck. I commend you for seeing this through but the sensible thing to have done was stopping at the photo evidence you had. Think yourself lucky you came out of this unscathed, otherwise it could have had a very different outcome.

I don't live my life in fear of what others may do to me. It's not how I was brought up.

I refuse to be bullied by the possibility of 'what might happen.' I'm not frightened off by 'what if...'

I do (and say) what I believe to be the right course of action... for me. I don't recommend it for everyone.

I put my life at risk every time I go exploring W.W.II shipwrecks 30 meters under water, white-water kayaking, paragliding, ice climbing, caving, or just turn the key on my motorcycle. I do it for fun. Why wouldn't I do it for something serious? It's how I choose to live.

Giving chase to someone who caused you harm or caused you damage may not be something you'd do.

You might wish to choose a different course of action. And that's OK.

It IS something that I'd do. And did. And I'd do it again if the situation arises.

I don't live my life in fear. It's not how I was brought up.

You got a result from your photographic evidence not by chasing and confronting the couple in the truck. The man was apologetic not forgetting not everyone plays by the rules of the league of gentlemen.

Seems you like to live life dangerously and agree what you say, I don't recommend it for everyone or no one in fact.

I got financial result from the photographic evidence. I got police involvement from the statements given by the two shop keepers.

Yes, I do like to live life dangerously, and don't recommend it to anyone... except those who wish to live life fully.

In the words of Helen Keller, a woman who could not see nor hear, growing up at a time in history when people with handicaps were hidden away, yet went on to live a full and useful life as an author, political activist, educator, and lecturer;

"Security is mostly a superstition. Security does

not exist in nature, nor do the children of men

as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no

safer in the long run than outright exposure.

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."

If a blind, deaf, frail woman can espouse this philosophy, I feel pretty safe as a sighted, healthy man doing the same. It's worked well for me for the past 70 years. No one is suggesting that you do the same.

But let's keep this thread going where it was intended... as a compliment to the Royal Thai Police. You may feel free to slag me in your own thread.

Edited February 7, 2016 by FolkGuitar

[taotoo]

unfortunately he would have been tarred with the same brush.

It was presumably HIM that drove off.

I'll stress once again, this man (who was the driver) was extremely apologetic, both at the initial on-street meeting and at the police station.

From the very beginning he acknowledged the fact that he screwed up.

He was only apologetic once caught - at the very beginning he ran away.

He was the one who drove off. But it's a good bet that this woman maintains a firm grip on his cajones and was twisting hard at that time.

The woman's irrelevant. The man caused an accident then committed an offence by running away. Doubt the police saw her as a mitigating circumstance.

It seems the dislike for angry lying women is such that we're even willing to cast the villain as a victim.

[JaseTheBass]

I saw a pickup reverse into a car in the car park next to my office a few weeks ago. I thought about recording the number plate but decided to not get involved.

An ex of mine scraped a car in our condo's car park a decade or so ago. She left a note on the victim's car and got it sorted out. She also got to meet a famous actor (the victim) so was quite happy at the end of the day.

If it was your car that was hit, wouldn't you have wished someone that saw it happen leave a note on your windshield?

Definitely.

[FolkGuitar]

It was presumably HIM that drove off.

I'll stress once again, this man (who was the driver) was extremely apologetic, both at the initial on-street meeting and at the police station.

From the very beginning he acknowledged the fact that he screwed up.

He was only apologetic once caught - at the very beginning he ran away.

He was the one who drove off. But it's a good bet that this woman maintains a firm grip on his cajones and was twisting hard at that time.

The woman's irrelevant. The man caused an accident then committed an offence by running away. Doubt the police saw her as a mitigating circumstance.

It seems the dislike for angry lying women is such that we're even willing to cast the villain as a victim.

I didn't get that feeling. It seemed to me, judging by the way he left the scene (almost hesitantly, rather than speeding off) that he wanted to stop but perhaps the woman urged him to leave. Just a feeling, and I certainly have no real proof of this, but I sincerely feel that he wanted to do the right thing but was coerced into acting improperly. This feeling comes from seeing the way he left the accident scene, his behavior when I stopped the truck (you could see that he was genuinely contrite,) and only returned to his truck as the woman pulled on his arm.

Yes, he was the one driving the car, but she was driving him. At the police station, she was the one who did almost all the talking. The man just stood there with his head hanging down looking 'beaten,' and repeating "I'm sorry."

I honestly believe that if the woman had not been in the car, the man would not have driven away in the first place.

Edited February 7, 2016 by FolkGuitar