bust Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 Like I said before. People who believe in re-incarnation should be allowed on the roads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardinalblue Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 Com'mon guys, this is a Sanuk country not a serious one..so accidents are justified! It's collateral damage to have fun and party! Laugh 'em off.. If they were serious, then they would look like the West and we would be looking to escape, right? We do we live here in LOS? They track the numbers somewhat but will they do anything about? No way b/c it would run counter-culture.. So things like pollution, traffic deaths, disco/hotal fires will continue..It is part of living in a country that doesn't take it seriously... Sanuk... CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khun_Kong Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 I've seen three accidents in BKK between 10 AM and noon! One was a taxi cutting across traffic and smacking into a motorbike! WTF!!!The drivers seem to have forgotten how to safely drive over the long holidays...or something! My girl and I were one of those accidents over the week of carnage. We were cruising down the road and a Thai guy going in the opposite direction decided he would make a right turn right in front of us.Happened in an instant. I was riding pillion and thanks to my girl's most excellent driving,it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Basically, we hit the back corner of his car. We both flew through the air. I was wearing a backpack and carrying a new computer, but neither one was damaged. I got some minor scrapes. Unfortunately, my girl had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance. She had damage to her left side: her face, arm, wrist, shoulder and mainly her leg, which ended up with a hairline fracture in one of the bones. The police impounded our bike and told us to come to the station after the hospital. We got there about 2 hours later, where the Thai guy was waiting, already with his attorney. I had told my girl not to speak Thai to me, but to stop them every couple of sentences and translate as if I couldn't speak any Thai. The police took us all into a back room and then 1 cop sat there rather passively while we "negotiated". Thai guy wanted us to pay for his car, we wanted Thai guy to pay for medical and to repair our motorbike. His attorney asked for my girl's ID, the hospital bill and my passport. I refused to even show him my ID, since I wasn't driving. The Thai monkey tried every trick in the book to pin the blame on us. My girl was VERY firm that he was at fault and we were not paying 1 satang! He said he was a taxi driver with 10 years of experience, no accidents, so it must be my fault! We explained again that I wasn't driving!. That seemed to disappoint everybody. Next, he claimed we were speeding. My girl asked him if he had radar installed in his car! , at which point the police went back to the scene to take photos. This added another hour to the ordeal, but, when they came back, the Thai guy saw that this excuse wasn't going to fly. He then tried a weird tactic, insisting that we needed to go to where we bought the motorbike, show them the hospital bill and that THEIR insurance would pay for everything, including repairs. WTF! He and his hitman tried to shout down my girl as she explained this ludicrous bullshit to me. She explained it to me and I just turned my chair so my back was to the attorney guy and kind of waved him off with the back of my hand. Next he said that he had no money. My girl pointed out his attorney to borrow money from. He said he could get the money, but had to go to Bangkok (we were in Jomtien) and that we should give him our address so he could drop the money at my apartment. What a swell guy! My girl said Jomtien has ATMs too and nixed his suggestion. At this point, the cop, who had just been quiet and taking notes, told the 2 baboons to leave the office with him. There were some muted hysterics in another room for a few minutes and they returned and asked how much! We gave them a figure of about 7K baht and they actually offered us 365 baht less. "OK" we said. His attorney then asked for a copy of the hospital bill, WHICH HE STILL HAD ON HIS CLIPBOARD!! We told him he still had it. He said he didn't, smiled and said sorry, but without the bill, they couldn't pay. Scummer! After my girl "translated" for me, I said wait right here, I'm not injured so I'll just go back to the hospital and get another copy, but now it would cost him the full amount. I returned about 40 minutes later, I handed them the bill, my girl signed all the police reports, we took the full amount in cash and left. All in all, not a terrible experience, considering what could have been. The police were entirely supportive, the ambulance crew and first responders were professional and polite and even the monkey waied us when it was over. A funny incident in the emergency room: a Russkie came with his girl, who came in with 1 of those surgical masks over her face. She took it off and her mouth was wide open, as if she was getting ready to suck the big one. He explained in poor English to the doctor "She can't shut her mouth". I almost died laughing, thinking that she's not the only woman with that problem, but we usually don't bring them to the hospital, we just go out and get drunk again! On a side note, this was the 1st of 2 pleasant surprises this past week about dealing with Thai officials. The other was, my friend went to immigration to get the stamp in his passport showing that he'd applied for Thai residency and the officials were EXTREMELY polite and helpful. I admit that I frequently speak very badly about Thais, but it is mostly because the bad ones just stand out soooo much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted January 6, 2010 Report Share Posted January 6, 2010 Hi, Good to hear both of you came out of the accident without major harm. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 6, 2010 Report Share Posted January 6, 2010 365 baht less? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelgianBoy Posted January 6, 2010 Report Share Posted January 6, 2010 Indeed, good to hear all is ok. Well written as well.... He said he was a taxi driver with 10 years of experience, no accidents, so it must be my fault! Where is the logic in that ? So, previous past experience is a foolproof garantee for the future ? Tell that to the equity market BB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TroyinEwa/Perv Posted January 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2010 New Years 2010 after 7 days (final numbers) 347 deaths and 3,827 injuries in 3,534 road accidents nationwide Their goal was to reduce the numbers by 5%. According to the Bangkok Post, the deaths and injuries from last year are down 7%. I hope they're all high-fiving each other reaching their goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expat Posted January 6, 2010 Report Share Posted January 6, 2010 "Thailand has the highest rate of road fatalities..snip..2.9 people dying an hour" "Each year, there are more than 13,000 traffic-related deaths or an average of 35 deaths per day,.." I hate to be pedantic here, but isn't 2.9 times 24 hours a lot more than 35? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted January 6, 2010 Report Share Posted January 6, 2010 Hi, Interesting. Hadn't noticed that. Two different sources, so who knows which one (if any) is correct. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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