Big Boy wrote:I know that is the myth of living in Thailand, but is it reality?
I wrote this on another thread last May (
viewtopic.php?f=44&t=15962&p=261348#p261348)
"I was unfortunate enough to be involved in a minor accident yesterday.
Was driving south out of Hua Hin in the rain and, as I approached the zebra crossing opposite Market Village, 2 tourists started walking over the crossing, so I stopped and was immediately rear ended by a Honda Wave, driven by a Thai woman without a helmet and with her 5 year-old granddaughter, also with no helmet.
I got out and the woman immediately started shouting at me that I was wrong for stopping.
I checked that nobody was injured, especially the child, and tried to find a policeman but none in sight (well, it was raining).
Some Thai people had seen the accident and asked me if I would like them to call the police and I agreed.
I then phoned AA Insurance and spoke to Matt, who gave me the insurance company's call-centre number.
There was about 10k of damage to my car.
Police soon arrived, were very polite, checked that I had insurance and a licence and asked me to go to the police station. It turned out the Thai woman didn't have a licence.
Got to the station and the insurance representative arrived and I explained the situation.
The police immediately found the woman at fault, fined her on the spot for careless driving and gave me a copy of their report saying I was not at fault.
The insurance agent gave me the name, address and phone number of a contract spray shop where I could get my car repaired.
He also gave me his report, saying I was not at fault.
He told me to get the car repaired at the insurance company's expense and they would then reclaim the money from the Thai woman.
The time from the actual accident to leaving the police station was 90 minutes.
The police and the insurance rep were every polite and objective and the whole thing was handled very professionally.
When I left the police station, Matt from AA was even there to ask me if everything had gone ok - now that's what I call customer care!
So if you do have an accident and you know you're in the right, don't worry or panic.
Stay calm, go through the procedure and hopefully, as in my case, fairness will prevail."
In my 12 years in Thailand, I've been involved in 4 minor accidents, all involving uninsured 'motorsai' - never once have I had to pay, even where the police were involved on 3 occasions - and it was me who called them.
On the 4th occasion the Thai guy paid me out of his own pocket for minor damage so as to get everything over quickly.
