You may read all over the Internet that if a foreigner (Farang) gets into an accident with a Thai, it will ALWAYS be the  Farang’s fault.

Well, I am here to tell you, that this is not always the case. An Accident in Thailand is not always the Farang’s fault.

Motorcycle Accident

I was on a 4-day road trip with Tom from Isaan-Live, and we were heading for Ubon Ratchathani for the first day of our little excursion.  We headed out of Khon Kaen at about 0600 and all was going well.  We made a couple of short pit stops along the way including a coffee stop in Bon Tong. We had no idea that an accident was waiting for us.

Shortly after the coffee stop, we came to a small town/village.  We were moving along slowly as we had just passed a Thai Police box.  Suddenly, a teen on a motorcycle, with an elderly lady on the back, made an abrupt, quick U-turn on a small soi and slammed into Tom’s truck.  Shouting “watch out” and Tom slamming on the brakes wasn’t enough as the teen hit us.

Tom and I got out and checked on the motorcycle riders to make sure they were OK.  Both appeared alright, but the ever growing crowd seemed to smell money as we heard the word “Farang” (foreigner) being muttered by all behind us.  The whole crowd was anticipating a big payoff from the walking ATM machines – but they were in for a surprise.

We ignored the murmuring and within a minute or so, a Thai Police Officer from the Police box we had passed, reluctantly walked over to investigate.  Tom explained what happened, as did the crowd, and the Thai Police Officer seemed more concerned with directing traffic around the accident and calling for reinforcements.

The first Thai Police Officer spoke no English and really didn’t want to get in between Tom and the crowd.  Fortunately for him, help arrived – to a degree.

The “translator” guy spoke a little English, asked if he could help, listened a bit to our side of the story, took a couple photos, departed.  Neither Tom nor I have any idea who this guy was.

Then, more Thai Police arrived.  They were carrying a notebook to record the events and first got the story from Thai Police Officer #1.  Thai Police Officer #2 and #3 then got Tom’s side of the story, and the teen’s side of the story.

The crowd was trying to apply their influence, even with one lady rubbing tiger balm on the teen’s legs.  We were waiting for the claim of whiplash, but it never came.  What did come, was “time for negotiations”.

There were a couple of ladies, again, we don’t know who, that offered thier limited English services.  Basically, they were testing the waters to see about the negotiations.  When they would ask Tom if he had insurance, Tom would fire back to see a copy of the teen’s insurance and driver’s license.

There was a guy on a motorcycle that came and talked to Police Officer #2, and all I can guess, is that he witnessed the accident, and told what he saw.  This was away from me and Tom, so we don’t know what he said.

Police Officer #2 and Police Officer #3 both agreed with Tom that the motorcycle caused the accident and asked Tom how much he wanted in compensation.  Tom told them 5,000 baht.  Of course, the teen and the elderly lady both claimed to be poor and they don’t have that kind of money, so Tom generously knocked the price down to 3,000 baht.  This was still too high.  Tom also told the Thai Police that he was a Veteran wounded in Vietnam and not made of money.

The matter of insurance came up again and Tom told the Thai Police that he indeed did have insurance so the Thai Police said the insurance would cover it.  Tom wanted to make sure that the Police report reflected that, so he called a good friend in Kalasin, Khun Prasit, to make sure that the Thai Police understood.

The folks on the motorcycle did not need to come to the Police Station, but Tom and I suspect that they will have to deal with the Thai Police separately as Police Officer #3 acquired the motorcycle owner’s book and hung on to it.

We followed the Thai Police the 7 Km. of potholes and visited what looked like a temporary facility.  I hung around outside and Tom sat while Thai Police #3 enlisted the aid of Thai Police #4 – we guess this one is a junior cop as Police #3 dictated what happened and Police #4 filled out the report.

Tom got the report, all in the Thai language, and hoped it was OK.  We both tried to listen to what was being dictated, but neither of us was 100% sure that the report said what actually happened.

Fortunately, when we met up with Khun Prasit a couple days later, he informed us that it was mostly as Tom related it to the Thai Police.  Except for one minor detail, the “he” driving the motorcycle became a “she”.  All we can do is guess is that the kid was without a license and insurance and a relative’s name (and gender) was used instead.  Regardless, Tom got what he wanted – a Thai Police report that stated that the motorcycle was at fault.

The key to Tom’s success, along with being absolutely right, was patience and not losing his cool.  Tom did not raise his voice, argue with the teen or the elderly lady or anyone in the crowd, was polite to all, and stood his ground that the teen caused the accident.

Tom did all of this while remaining calm even though he was most certainly agitated.  But, this is part of the Thai “waiting game” strategy – wear you down by prolonging anything and everything.  When the Thai Police and the folks at fault saw that Tom was insistent that he be reimbursed and the Thai Police determined that Tom was not at fault, the strategy changed to “negotiating to get rid of Tom” instead of “negotiating to get money from Tom”.

Did Tom “win”?  Well, he certainly did not lose.  Tom didn’t get the money from the teen, but he did get the Thai Police Report so his insurance will cover it.  Neither of us will ever find out what happened to the teen that caused the accident.  So, Tom won in that he did not have to pay the “Farangs are ALWAYS at fault” penalty, no tips were required for the Thai Police, and Tom got the Police Report.

So, if you do get into an accident in Thailand, whether you are right or wrong, be patient and don’t lose your cool.

Tags: accident motorcycle thai police truck Ubon Ratchathani