Car accidents, insurance and dealing with the police

Car accidents, insurance and dealing with the police
By Steve Graham (Magazine Issue 14) http://www.udonmap.com/magazine/download.html

I have always had the worry of that just maybe; maybe I would have an accident whilst driving my car around Udon Thani. The whole idea of insurance is supposed to be peace of mind; however, driving around the Land of Smiles tends to put wrinkles on your face and increase your use of slang in multiple languages rather than the desired peace and tranquillity.

Just recently the inevitable happened and my beloved truck played dodgems with two locals on a motorcycle. In my eagerness to visit McDonald’s I had inadvertently forgotten to open my rear car doors to allow two eager motorcyclists the opportunity to ride their motorcycle through my car as they were travelling on the wrong side of the road.


The result, as you can imagine, was both dramatic and traumatic. Once I had finished driving over their motorcycle I was filled with horror as I realised that my pride and joy had some new go faster stripes down the driver’s side of the vehicle. Boy racers may find it attractive; however, the only benefit the on-looking audience could take from the experience was the colourful language displayed by myself and the embarrassed expressions on the faces of my children, who were more concerned about my possible impending tantrum.


The motorcycle riders were unharmed and after medical attention involving some dettol and a band aid from the emergency response team, who appeared very quickly on the scene, they were ready to do some business.

The first thing I wanted was the police. I was hit by another motorcyclist in Bangkok some years ago and we were able to come to a sensible arrangement without the police before he gave me a two fingered salute once I had returned to Udon Thani, telling my daughter on the telephone that he knew the law in Thailand, “Foreigners always pay.”

The idea of the police being involved was not welcomed at first; however, I stuck to my guns and with the help of another foreigner who was on the scene and the excellent Thai language skills of my children, this was explained to the security guards outside McDonalds. They wanted me to move my vehicle and I wanted the police to get out the spray paint and draw pretty pictures on the road. The other problem was the state of the car. It didn’t take too much explanation that the car wasn’t going anywhere bearing in mind that I had a flat tyre due to a six inch gash caused by my cross country driving skills.

The police arrived and negotiations started. After some discussion the policeman suggested that we should sort out each others vehicles and go our separate ways. I decided against this as even though I had comprehensive insurance, I was convinced that I would be stung on future premiums. This accident wasn’t my fault and by international law, “Foreigners don’t always pay.”

My insurance guy from Chartis arrived and began getting stuck into the conversation, so we decided to have some refreshment. It is times like this that make you glad that you paid those insurance premiums. Also, if you are going to have an accident, try to make sure you are somewhere where you can at least get a drink. I am sure that there will be plenty more accidents near McDonald’s so don’t worry.


As I would not change my mind, we all went off to the police station. I thought that we would be there for at least a week and was making preparations with my wife to cancel the next week of my life; however, we were only there for 30 minutes. I was asked, very politely to come back at noon the following day.


After the shock of being given my life back, I returned with my son the following day and realised that the motorcycle riders had been there some considerable time. I wasn’t sure how this was going to turn out, but was pleasantly surprised at how impartial the policeman was. He sat in the middle of the conversation between my insurance guy and the wife of the driver and didn’t take sides, offering suggestions and advice to both parties.

The process took one hour with the newfound pedestrians accepting blame and writing loads of statements. All I had to do was sign on a couple of dotted lines after my son had translated their statements. They had to pay 400 baht as some kind of fine and after one final attempt by them to ask for some cash to fix their bike, which was politely refused, I made my way out with the insurance guy to sort out the damage.

He made his notes and asked where I wanted it fixed. I thought of Mr Khummorn, the Mitsubishi man as he knows everyone around here and must have dealt with similar situations before. Sure enough, I was taken to some kind of chop-shop on the ring-road and details were discussed whilst I looked at all the other damaged vehicles lying around. On reflection, I had in fact got off quite likely. It could have been much worse.

So what can be learned from lessons such as this? Well, the reason I have insurance is for piece of mind; piece of mind in the knowledge that when there is an unfortunate accident, if you have comprehensive insurance with a reputable company, life is considerably easier. Any questions I was asked by the police or the other party were deflected to the insurance guy. Several times I stated, “Speak to him. He knows more about things like this than me.” (Especially when I was asked how much my premiums are).

Imagine if there had been a serious injury or the police were drawing human silhouettes on the tarmac and I had been driving with no license or insurance. Visions of the “Bangkok Hilton” spring to mind, with visits from my wife just like the ones in “Midnight Express.” It doesn’t bear thinking about, especially with the World Cup taking place this year.

One thing I found reassuring was the involvement of the police. At no time did I feel threatened or intimidated. They seemed to want to get the matter over and done with, with minimal fuss. As far as I was concerned they were completely impartial which I think needs a mention as people are always ready to complain and a bit slow to publicise when something goes according to plan. Throughout the whole drama, they acted as an arbitrator and remained neutral at all times.


Just before publication of this article, my insurance company wasn’t sure whether to pay for the tyre. In order to solve this problem I went to their offices and dumped the offending tyre in front of them. They decided to pay me 80% of the replacement value, which I think is fair. I let them keep the old tyre because I’m good like that.

I have been inconvenienced but I am not too much out of pocket. I have always had bull bars on my truck, front and back. Now I am going to save up to see if I can have them on the sides as well. You can never be too careful.

Re-assuring article that confirms that if you've not broken the law, stick to your principles, and you hopefully will be dealt with fairly.

On a separate note. My wife recently had to go to the Police station to get an insurance claim notification form after someone put a brick through her car window. Policeman told her to watch her back as someone doesn't like her.
Perhaps it was the coach driver I pissed off.

I had a similar experience about a year ago going south near St Mary's. A bus on my left beeped his horn and immediately tried to effect a lane change hitting my lf bumper with the rr corner of his. He failed to stop until I managed to get directly in front of the bus and stop. Of course the bus owner was called, our insurance agent and the police. The driver told the police I tried to cut him off (interesting how I could do that considering the location of the damage) at which point I said some uncomplimentary things to the driver. As the incident above we were asked to come to the police station the next day and did. Keeping this short as possible, the driver told the police officer if I had been a Thai I would have backed off and let him make the lane change. The police officer informed the driver that I had no obligation and the driver was wrong fining him 400 TB (it appears to be the standard fine). The owner of the bus told my wife he knew his driver was at fault as soon as he arrived at the scene and saw the damage. The insurance company had my vehicle repaired and collected from the bus company. The police officer was as fair and objective as anyone could have expected.
I know we joke about the BIB but frankly, aside from collecting tea money, I believe they are, overall, as fair with foreigners as they are with Thais. Only one incident where I was going 110 kph n of Khon Kaen and the guy said I was doing 128 where upon my wife informed him we had the cruise control on at 110 and 128 was impossible. The guy sent us on our way, possibly he had us confused with another since our vehicle was new and didn't have plates.

I find it interesting that in the above posted experiences,the police did no investigating to determine fault,only mediated!Makes me wonder ,why the chalk marking?

I have had the same experiences,the police show no interest in looking at damage that proves impact ang ,skid marks etc.,just want you and the other driver to ''negotiate''

I made the mistake of accepting an insurance agents negotiated result to equally claim responsibilty,when all the evidence showed the other driver was wrong.The other driver had no money,no insurance,so,obviously the insurance company would not be able to collect.It wound up costing 2000 baht claim fee,plus 6000 baht increase in the next year premium

Somebody driving a motorcycle down the WRONG side of the road smashes into your truck -- and you're happy letting your insurance company pay for your damaged truck? You think it's fair because you got out of having to pay for the broken motorcycle?

Bizarre. The accident was clearly the motorcyclists' fault. Surely he should pay. I can imagine the motorcyclist relaying the incident to his friends thusly:
"Yeah, I was on the wrong side of the street. I flattened his tire and put massive scratches down the side of his truck both doors all the way back to the rear wheel well."
"Really? geez, how much did the repairs to the truck set you back?"
"Nothin' Ha ha! It was a farang!"

Indeed, the farang paid ... again.

Did you ask to see the motorcyclist's driver's license?

The purpose of having insurance is not to pay for damages caused by others. That's what their insurance is for.

I had the Fortuner hit (when parked up) and managed to get paid out from the other driver ok ( and so I should!! )
Flattened 2 Honda waves with said Fortuner ( Both times I was in the right and neither of the other parties wanted the police invloved ) I think they were under age/no insurance etc. etc. and looked at the Farang who's bound to be 110% legal

Wifey gets hit by a drunk driver ( alone at the time ) .... Police involved ... phonecalls made and it comes out 50/50

The drunk driver knew someone higher up in the Police than wifey did

It's who you know .... not how much money you have sometimes

Years back, I had a police motocyclist crash into my rear. I don't think there could be any argument as to who was at fault, but without entering into all the details, the insurance company, police at the station were efficient and fair. Repairs completed, I paid nothing and did not lose any no claims bonus on my insurance (Viriyah).

Texpat wrote:...

Indeed, the farang paid ... again.

Did you ask to see the motorcyclist's driver's license?

The purpose of having insurance is not to pay for damages caused by others. That's what their insurance is for.

I can imagine that these stories seem to be unreal for somebody who spends his life in front of the screen, sitting in his wheel chair and being just captured in his own limited mind. But nether the less these stories happen every day. Just be grateful that unreal events like this will never ever happen to you, my friend!

Don't you find it troubling that the guy doing nothing wrong, obeying the traffic laws, getting struck by a moto going the wrong way has to use his own insurance to pay for his truck?

I do.

Why does this incident sound fair to anybody? The driver at fault should pay for the repairs (or use his insurance to pay).

Maybe the OP's insurance rates will rise next year due to this claim, maybe they won't. But the dumbass moto driver got away with damaging someone else's vehicle.

And yes, the farang pays again.

I feel there is another element at work here, which may come into play. I suppose one might call it making good ‘spiritually’. Less likely to feature where only damage to vehicles is involved, but certainly where death, personal injury, hospital costs are involved. It may have nothing to do with who was at fault in the accident and applies to Thais, not just to farangs. Personally, I find it all rather bizarre, when insurances are there for this sort of thing, but then I’m not Buddhist or Thai!
Two examples. Some time back, a farang friend tells me his wife was involved in an accident, in which there was a death. According to him, his partner was completely innocent, but he paid 100,000 as a goodwill gesture to the victim’s family, NOT admitting liability.
And another sad story. In a nearby village, a toddler ran straight into the road and under the wheels of a doy-sahn. My understanding was the doy-sahn driver was not speeding, not at fault in any way, just couldn’t brake in time. Yet he paid compensation, which would have gone, at least partly, to funeral expenses. In the eyes of the Thai, he would be deemed generous and having done the correct thing.

Following a accident I had some years back, in which what appeared to be a slightly drunk Thai on a motorcycle with no lights, no insurance, no tax and no crash-helmet, decided to turn right on a U turn on the ring road, what he did not do was to look at all and was attempting to move into the outside-lane in order to turn right, unfortunately for him his total disregard of a nearly 2 ton Mitsu made life interesting as, I was moving ever more to the right, eventually I had to stop doing that or else I would have gone into the central ditch.
He caught the front of my car and then proceeded to fly off into the centre of the dual carriageway, this may sound as if I should have stopped, however as one does I was doing about 80kph and he just started to move with no warning so for about 30 seconds life was interesting, had I stopped suddenly, I have no doubt I would have smashed into him.

BUT the story continues further, he was of course injured, large hole in head, bike was a mess, ( well it was before, now even more ) me I was shaken but alive, I did have my wife with me. First I was verbally attacked by his family which managed to attend in short shrift, but then Plod turned up and asked me to take a breath test, from a police inspector who had been drinking, so I politely told him to go to hell. Then my insurance guy turned up and I informed him not only of the accident but also the polices request.
To apllaud his actions he weighed into the police,demanding to know why I was being asked that question and also asking if they intended to check on the m/cycle rider for drinking, the police said he was injured, so ? That is another tale I can tell you.
The upshot of this was few days later I attended the Police station where again I was being pilloried until I asked the question which I should remind you all to remember. Did the other driver have a Driving licence....NO came the reply. Did the other person have any insurance .....NO came the reply.
Did he other vehicle have any Road tax....No came the reply.
Then Why was it on the road, as Thai law is similar to UK law, if you have nothing you shouldn't be on the road.
The police said he was injured, I said only his head, and that's his fault for NOIT wearing a helmet.
Eventually a senior police officer admitted that I was right and his underling was incorrect.
Then it turned out that the Thai side, were worried about how much money I wanted, this is in line with their expectations after every accident someone has to pay.
Well I stated I did not want any money only admission of guilt, my Insurance would repair the car with no loss of no claims or raising of premiums.

Ok they said, he was fined 400 baht and left to his own devices. My insurance coy paid for the repair everything was ok. A few weeks later the son the man came to my house to ask for 10000 baht, why I asked, well he said MY insurance company had demanded that sum for repair to my car, and if they didn't pay the man would go to prison, you can understand that my answer was in the negative.
I personally did not want anything, but what MY THAI insurance company wanted was their problem, that was not under instructions from me, but just good ins coy tactics.

That family learnt a lesson I am sure , I did, always have a good No 1 insurance and never admit guilt unless you are. AND NEVER NEVER pay anything to anyone.

One has insurance,there are laws on the books covering situations,but never the less,a falang has to dread dealing with the police,even though there is no doubt he was not in the wrong!TiT

It was 1am. Visibility was good. There was little traffic on the roads. I was on a main road in Udon. After midnight it is the usual procedure to Revise the traffic lights at several junctions in the town. The main road shows an orange flashing light and the 'minor' road shows a red flashing light. I approached the cross roads where the orange light was flashing. To me this indicates I should slow down and proceed with caution. This I did and had almost left the junction when 2 young men 14 and 16 drove their motor cycle through the red flashing light from the left into the front of my car. Fortunately neither suffered serious injury. Much to the annoyance of the 2 lads I insisted that police should attend the scene. 'Big mistake' it later transpired. A tuk-tuk driver arrived after about 2 minutes and at my request he called the police. They arrived a few minutes later. The officer did not speak English but I explained as best as I could the circumstances of the accident. He took my driving licence and ordered me to attend the police station the following Monday. Apart from the inconvenience I wasn't too bothered as I clearly was not at fault.
The next day the family of the 2 boys started phoning me and my wife indicating I should pay some money. I dismissed their request and told them I would be attending the police station as arranged.
That morning I presented myself with a Thai lady who acted as an interpreter. She was good and put my case to the officer who had attended the scene of the accident. Unfortunately the cyclists family could not attend and were told to return in the afternoon. I returned and was interviewed in their presence. To start with they were polite but soon turned nasty when they realized I was not going to compensate them.
They were accompanied by other people who appeared out of the woodwork.
After over 2 hours of discussion the police officer who then decided that he had witnessed the accident decided to pass judgment.
He fined the motor cyclist 400 baht much to the disgust of his family.
They had no licence, no documents and were not wearing crash helmets. No fines were imposed for these offences.
OK I accepted his findings until I was informed that I would have to pay 400 baht apparently cause I was not careful enough. The police officer insisted that both the main and minor roads had orange flashing lights. I started to argue this point but was advised by my Thai friend not to,I took her advice. An hour later my insurance man arrived. They immediately asked that my company pay for the pain and suffering to their boys. He was not interested and referred them to write in and try to make a claim. According to my Thai friend they started to verbally abuse me when I had left the room. My car has been repaired.
Reluctantly I paid the 400 baht just to get out of the place. Some people say I shouldn't have paid it some say i should be grateful it was only 400 baht. I signed a form at the police station but did also state on the form that I had no idea what it said.
I feel justice was not served but when is it in LOS.
I would be very reluctant to call police in the future should I have an accident. In fact it makes me feel that just stopping after an accident causes more aggravation than driving off.

Stopping is not the problem it ios getting out of your car to help, even if you were not involved at all.
Word of warning here, you can always ask to see a senior police officer if the one dealing with you is being anti-foreigner, but I do feel over the last few years the local plod do actually realise that we in the main, not only drive to the law but we are probably better drivers than most including the police.

First this:

Khun Paul wrote:a slightly drunk Thai on a motorcycle with no lights, no insurance, no tax and no crash-helmet

Then this:

Ok they said, he was fined 400 baht and left to his own devices.

Does anyone find something seriously wrong with this picture or is it just me? At a minimum, the motorcycle should be impounded and the offender made to appear in court.

I'm certainly not of the mind that anything I will ever do or say will change how things work here ... but I'm not so blind as to call it what it is. These aren't fair and reasonable cops, this isn't a level playing field and farangs are generally seen as little more than sources of revenue.

How might this accident have been treated differently if the roles were reversed?