Motorcycle accident recovery charge?

[DanCarr]

I have a friend (foreigner) that recently had a motorcycle accident in Phuket. Foreigner on one bike, Thai on other bike, completely Thai persons fault. Both parties taken to hospital by ambulance and bikes recovered to Police station by RTP.  My friend is being asked for 4,000 baht recovery fee by the police. Is this normal practice and does anyone else have any experience similar to this in Phuket? It seems a very steep cost and I wonder if Thai nationals are also charged the same? Thanks

[thequietman]

just asked the wife. NO, cops are supposed to take it for you for free. Storage also free.

 

Big surprise ! They are ripping you off.

 

Phone that help line in Bangkok. Can't remember the number, 1555 I think. Someone on here will give it to you.

 

BIB are the scum of this country.

[colinneil]

Police recover the motorbike, take it to the police station, keep it there.

No money involved asking 4000 baht is just another police scam.

[steelepulse]

Dan, let us know how much your friend ended up paying to get his bike back.  Hopefully he can negotiate the price down.

[thailand49]

????

 

Not sure if it is a scam? but wouldn't be surprise if you pay more than a Thai. But on the surface of things, your buddy was taken to the hospital, unless you are leaving something out, he wasn't able or didn't have someone with him to secure the bike himself so they picked it up and place it in storage. Would he had rather they just left in on the road, if that was the case I'm sure, he be buying another bike right now instead of being asked 4,000 baht.

Regardless, of who is at fault, you buddy is alive able to pick up the bike. Call it a day!

[Wazza1]

First of all your friend is at fault, Thai are never in the wrong so he can probably expect a compensation claim.

[Wazza1]

3 hours ago, colinneil said:

Police recover the motorbike, take it to the police station, keep it there.

No money involved asking 4000 baht is just another police scam.

Like every police force in the world will tow your vehicle for free and store it for free, please tell me what country that happens in please.

[stevenl]

9 minutes ago, Wazza1 said:

First of all your friend is at fault, Thai are never in the wrong so he can probably expect a compensation claim.

Same old nonsense again.

[colinneil]

1 hour ago, Wazza1 said:

Like every police force in the world will tow your vehicle for free and store it for free, please tell me what country that happens in please.

Thailand, police recovered my bike and stored it for a while, no charge.

[Fulwell53]

Some of these threads are like the dorothy dixer questions you get in westminster parliaments.

On here a thread is posted with the intention of bagging the locals.

Someone has been asked to pay 50 quid to get his bike back after an accident ...woopy do.

You have an accident in the west and your vehicle gets towed and its all free is it???

Thought not!

[DanCarr]

Thanks very much for the replies. So the main consensus seems to be that the charge should be zero. This is what he suspected and hasn't picked the bike up yet.


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[DanCarr]

Some of these threads are like the dorothy dixer questions you get in westminster parliaments.
On here a thread is posted with the intention of bagging the locals.
Someone has been asked to pay 50 quid to get his bike back after an accident ...woopy do.
You have an accident in the west and your vehicle gets towed and its all free is it???
Thought not!

Not quite sure why you think this is a thread for bagging locals? It's simply a case of trying to find the truth in a very corrupt system. My friend doesn't earn much and just because he's a foreigner doesn't make him rich. It's more like £90 which is lot of money here in Thailand, especially when the accident wasn't his fault in the slightest. If there is any cost for vehicle recovery then the driver at fault should pay, no matter what nationality, but that is seldom the case here when a foreign driver is involved in an accident with a Thai national.


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[janpharma]

Once more an appeal to everyone who suffers these police scams to report / publish these events!

[Sumarianson]

Why dont you contact the government offic for the prevention of corruption? Or does that only apply to Thai's?

[DanCarr]

Why dont you contact the government offic for the prevention of corruption? Or does that only apply to Thai's?

I've told him to do that and he'll be calling Monday morning. Thanks


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[Jimi007]

If the police station is on the southern end of Phuket, that standard operating procedure for them. Ask the farang to pay. 

[KarenBravo]

15 hours ago, stevenl said:

Same old nonsense again.

It's not nonsense.

Years ago I had a crash with another motorbike at the ex-Felix Hotel in Karon on the curve.

I hit a motorbike with a pillion rider cornering fast and was well over into my lane. Totally their fault.

The pillion rider ended up in hospital with a broken leg.

Police took myself and the rider of the other motorbike to Chalong police station for mediation.

The other rider flatly refused to pay anything at all towards the hospital bill of his friend.

Police told me that even though it was not my fault, I was the only one with money and that I should pay the full 20,000 Bt bill.

 

I refused. I said that I would pay 12,000 Bt towards the bill, pointed out that the other driver was at fault and that the injured man was HIS friend.

If the other driver didn't pay the other 8000 Bt, then I would withdraw my offer and was willing to go to jail.

 

The cop strong-armed the other driver to pay, which he did eventually. This was after him screaming at the cop that I should pay all as "I was a farang and could afford it".

 

So you see Steven, you are wrong and I can tell you of many foreigners that have been discriminated against when it comes to accidents.

This doesn't happen all the time but, frequently enough that it is considered "common knowledge" (except by you, of course).

[NamKangMan]

15 minutes ago, KarenBravo said:

It's not nonsense.

Years ago I had a crash with another motorbike at the ex-Felix Hotel in Karon on the curve.

I hit a motorbike with a pillion rider cornering fast and was well over into my lane. Totally their fault.

The pillion rider ended up in hospital with a broken leg.

Police took myself and the rider of the other motorbike to Chalong police station for mediation.

The other rider flatly refused to pay anything at all towards the hospital bill of his friend.

Police told me that even though it was not my fault, I was the only one with money and that I should pay the full 20,000 Bt bill.

 

I refused. I said that I would pay 12,000 Bt towards the bill, pointed out that the other driver was at fault and that the injured man was HIS friend.

If the other driver didn't pay the other 8000 Bt, then I would withdraw my offer and was willing to go to jail.

 

The cop strong-armed the other driver to pay, which he did eventually. This was after him screaming at the cop that I should pay all as "I was a farang and could afford it".

 

So you see Steven, you are wrong and I can tell you of many foreigners that have been discriminated against when it comes to accidents.

This doesn't happen all the time but, frequently enough that it is considered "common knowledge" (except by you, of course).

 

 

So, you still got extorted out of 12,000 baht, right?

[gemguy]

Consider yourself lucky they are not trying to ream you for more than only 4000 baht.

 

In 1988 a new customer of mine, while very drunk one late night and driving his motorcycle, had an accident on Sukumvite road.

He claims the Mercedes Benz pulled out in front of him from a side soi,  which is true and the usual, and he plowed into the passenger side of the Mercedes Benz and he went:  "flying and sailing"  at the same time while the girl ( bar girl ) on the back of the bike slammed into the side of the Benz.

The girl was not hurt badly and she got up and quickly left the scene of the accident and never to be seen again.

The guy was taken to the Police Hospital across the street from the Erawan Shrine and ended up staying in the hospital for about 6 days while they had to operate on his skull as he had fluid build up in the brain from the  "wham",  " bam" and "slam you down"  impact from flying over the Mercedes Benz while airborne eventually turned into hard pavement contact.

Lucky to be alive actually

Anyhow, he finally gets out of the hospital and has to deal with the police who had kept is motor bike.

He comes back to my office and tells me he went to see the police and they want 60,000 baht to have his bike returned to him and telling me the police told him he is lucky the Mercedes Benz driver is not going to make an issue out of the accident ( in other words, implying it was all the motorcycle drivers fault ) and the fact that he was driving while very drunk, as in pissed up drunk and speeding no doubt, down Sukhumvit road at 2 AM in the morning.

He is all angry of course because he feels they are extorting money from him and he says he is going to go back and really have words with those Sons of Bixxches police officers and asks me to come along and help him.

I declined of course and simply advised him to go back and negotiate the lowest price you can and be very polite and smile a lot and Wai them a lot and thank them for all their help and point out that you are still hurting, big time, from the accident and the skull operation and point out a big part of your skull  is missing from the brain fluid drain operation and the nice big scar you will have for the rest of your life....and ...you do not have much money...right?..... hardly any right?? .... and certainly not 60,000 baht ...like that.... and ask for their sympathy and understanding and be merciful and lenient....please.

So he did and he negotiated the price down to 20,000 baht with no further drama from the police while he realised that he got off cheap and hassle free as compared to if the Mercedes Benz driver and or the police wanted to press the issue further.

 

He came back to my office about 2 weeks later and told me what had happened and showed me how he had his bike fixed up by a Thai friend of his for about 9000 baht ( new front forks and wheel and brake assembly and handle bars and headlight gear and the frame aligned ) as he was so proud of that 250 cc Yamaha that he claimed was his "Baby" and  traveling companion as he claimed he had driven all over Thailand on that motorcycle

I remember how he claimed and adamantly argued that you HAVE to drive fast on the roads and highways in Thailand, when driving a motorcycle, or you will be run off the road by all the crazy Thai style driving, so he drove fast and drove faster than "them" all the time and told me when he did drive slow is when he had all the more near misses and had been run off the road several times when driving slowly and more safely.

He knew more than I did but his driving conduct on that particular night did not work out for him and I would say it was his fault for been thoroughly drunk......and speeding....... and not paying attention.

 

Cheers

Edited May 7, 2017 by gemguy

[LivinginKata]

2 hours ago, KarenBravo said:

It's not nonsense.

Years ago I had a crash with another motorbike at the ex-Felix Hotel in Karon on the curve.

I hit a motorbike with a pillion rider cornering fast and was well over into my lane. Totally their fault.

The pillion rider ended up in hospital with a broken leg.

Police took myself and the rider of the other motorbike to Chalong police station for mediation.

The other rider flatly refused to pay anything at all towards the hospital bill of his friend.

Police told me that even though it was not my fault, I was the only one with money and that I should pay the full 20,000 Bt bill.

 

I refused. I said that I would pay 12,000 Bt towards the bill, pointed out that the other driver was at fault and that the injured man was HIS friend.

If the other driver didn't pay the other 8000 Bt, then I would withdraw my offer and was willing to go to jail.

 

The cop strong-armed the other driver to pay, which he did eventually. This was after him screaming at the cop that I should pay all as "I was a farang and could afford it".

 

So you see Steven, you are wrong and I can tell you of many foreigners that have been discriminated against when it comes to accidents.

This doesn't happen all the time but, frequently enough that it is considered "common knowledge" (except by you, of course).

 

Years ago I had a mobike accident with anothe bike on the karon beach road. We all landed up in hospital for the night. A couple of days later we all went to Chalong police station for mediation.  My  then Thai girlfriend strongly argued the case it was the Thai driver's fault. He had to pay for my bikes repairs, we each had to pay for our own hospital bills (we had insurance cover). The guy had no money, we could have put him in jail, but police said how coud he pay if cannot work. We agreed he could pay off monthly. He paid 2 months and disappeared .....

[DanCarr]

just asked the wife. NO, cops are supposed to take it for you for free. Storage also free.
 
Big surprise ! They are ripping you off.
 
Phone that help line in Bangkok. Can't remember the number, 1555 I think. Someone on here will give it to you.
 
BIB are the scum of this country.

Anyone know the number for anti corruption hotline?


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[colinneil]

2 minutes ago, DanCarr said:

Anyone know the number for anti corruption hotline?


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 Try 1111 it worked for me.

[DanCarr]

 Try 1111 it worked for me.

Thanks a lot


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[colinchaffers]

I had an accident in my truck which was toed to the police station by the emergency services for 1700THB, I was able to claim from the insurance.


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[colinchaffers]

Rather than escalate this issue which is likely to have results, I would talk to the police to see if the charge can be reduced.

[tootall]

On 5/6/2017 at 1:42 PM, colinneil said:

Police recover the motorbike, take it to the police station, keep it there.

No money inlved asking 4000 baht is just another police scam.

No they do not. You can't even park in the police station to  park to make a complaint, report or pay a fine in Pattaya. You have to park on the street if you can find one. So with all the traffic accidents daily in Pattaya, you think the will take your bike to the police station and store it for you for free? Get real nothing in Thailand is free. Everyone has to get money off you. If they took it to the police station the police could not park their vehicles, which is more important to have than a falong vehicle or bike. They take your bike to a storage lot, then you pay the police to get your vehicle out, pay the storage lot more money to get it out. Good luck trying to find the correct storage lot as there are so many. Nothing about the police is free. You want them to do their job after making a report they want money to do th job they are paid to do. I miss civilization   

[KarenBravo]

10 hours ago, tootall said:

No they do not. You can't even park in the police station to  park to make a complaint, report or pay a fine in Pattaya. You have to park on the street if you can find one. So with all the traffic accidents daily in Pattaya, you think the will take your bike to the police station and store it for you for free? Get real nothing in Thailand is free. Everyone has to get money off you. If they took it to the police station the police could not park their vehicles, which is more important to have than a falong vehicle or bike. They take your bike to a storage lot, then you pay the police to get your vehicle out, pay the storage lot more money to get it out. Good luck trying to find the correct storage lot as there are so many. Nothing about the police is free. You want them to do their job after making a report they want money to do th job they are paid to do. I miss civilization   

You live in Pattaya. This is the Phuket forum and I can tell you that at my local police station (Chalong) you CAN park your bike at the police station to make a complaint. Bikes that are stored there are released once the traffic fine has been paid, with no extra charge.

 

It's foolish to extrapolate what your police do to other police stations. As an example, witness the different requirements at different immigration offices for the same thing.

Get real. This is Thailand.

Edited May 9, 2017 by KarenBravo

[Psimbo]

14 hours ago, tootall said:

No they do not. You can't even park in the police station to  park to make a complaint, report or pay a fine in Pattaya. You have to park on the street if you can find one. So with all the traffic accidents daily in Pattaya, you think the will take your bike to the police station and store it for you for free? Get real nothing in Thailand is free. Everyone has to get money off you. If they took it to the police station the police could not park their vehicles, which is more important to have than a falong vehicle or bike. They take your bike to a storage lot, then you pay the police to get your vehicle out, pay the storage lot more money to get it out. Good luck trying to find the correct storage lot as there are so many. Nothing about the police is free. You want them to do their job after making a report they want money to do th job they are paid to do. I miss civilization   

Fascinating but this is a thread about PHUKET!

[tomwct]

Amazing RTP! These guys must go to school to learn how to rip people off. We have a Police school down the street and these new recruits with their ties on and carrying briefcases. They look smart, but now we know why. They learn how to extort monies from everyone. The problem your friend had was he told them he had insurance on his bike. That lights up the face of any RTP officer. Okay buddy, you pay for everything including the Thai who is to blame. This is what we call Thainess at it's best. 4000 baht, no problem man, your insurance will take care of it. Okay, I'll pay! Now everyone is happy! Amazing Thailand.

Edited May 9, 2017 by tomwct

[stevenl]

On 5/7/2017 at 9:26 AM, KarenBravo said:

It's not nonsense.

Years ago I had a crash with another motorbike at the ex-Felix Hotel in Karon on the curve.

I hit a motorbike with a pillion rider cornering fast and was well over into my lane. Totally their fault.

The pillion rider ended up in hospital with a broken leg.

Police took myself and the rider of the other motorbike to Chalong police station for mediation.

The other rider flatly refused to pay anything at all towards the hospital bill of his friend.

Police told me that even though it was not my fault, I was the only one with money and that I should pay the full 20,000 Bt bill.

 

I refused. I said that I would pay 12,000 Bt towards the bill, pointed out that the other driver was at fault and that the injured man was HIS friend.

If the other driver didn't pay the other 8000 Bt, then I would withdraw my offer and was willing to go to jail.

 

The cop strong-armed the other driver to pay, which he did eventually. This was after him screaming at the cop that I should pay all as "I was a farang and could afford it".

 

So you see Steven, you are wrong and I can tell you of many foreigners that have been discriminated against when it comes to accidents.

This doesn't happen all the time but, frequently enough that it is considered "common knowledge" (except by you, of course).

As you said, years ago. Plus even the police admitted you were not at fault, you bent over yourself. I may have done the same in your situation, but that is not the point.

 

Did you or the other rider have the (compulsory) motorbike insurance? That is there for situations like these,(limited)  medical cover.