Doing Business in Thailand

Being involved in an accident is not fun when you are living in your own country where you have a grasp of what your legal rights are but it is even worth when you are in a foreign country like in Thailand. Not one day pass without a foreign resident or tourist being involved in a car, bike, trucks, bus or even boat accident. What should you do if you are involved into an accident?

Before the Accident

Do not Drive if you are Drunk

Avoid drinking and driving because Thailand is becoming more and more strict with this matter. You do not want to end up into a Thai jail.  Especially if you drive a bike. I mean alcools and driving a bike is a very bad mix.

Do not to drive a vehicle without insurance and without a driving license.

Indeed, accidents may prove costly as they may involve damages that can be physical, mental, monetary and to property. Furthermore check if you’re insurance includes a bail clause. The bail clause is a clause pursuant to which the insurance will advance the money for your bail in the case where you were responsible for the accident and the police arrested you.

After the Accident

Do not Flee the Scene.

Living the site of an accident is a criminal offence and can get you in trouble. Once, a client had an accident at 04.00 clocks AM with a taxi. The client gave his business card to the taxi and tells him to call his secretary on Monday morning to arrange for the insurance claim then he left the site of the accident and drive back home. The taxi driver followed him home then went to file a complaint at the police station. At 06.00 the police came to arrest him and drive him at the police station where he spent his whole day into a jail until we were able to bail him out and solve the matter.

If a person is wounded call for assistance:

If a person is wounded do not touch him or her but call for assistance. If you try to be a Good Samaritan and tried to assist the victim you may end up later being sued by the family if the victim dies.

If you do not speak Thai call for someone that do

If you do not speak Thai and there is a person that is injured call someone that do to help you with the formalities that will follow.

Call the Insurance and the Police:

Insurance and the police will come on site to check who is responsible for the accident.

Look for Evidence:

If they are witnesses of the accident collect their names and their addresses and contact details and if you have a camera with you try to get as many pictures as possible before the parties involved in the accident start to move the vehicles (which they should not do before the police or insurance arrive)

If you are responsible:

Try to negotiate a settlement with the victim before the police arrive or once the police arrived. The earlier a settlement is reached the best it is. If you have a lawyer calls him as soon as possible in the process. The longer you wait the more difficult it will be for your lawyer to negotiate a settlement with the victim/police.

If you are a victim:  

If you are a victim the situation will always depend of whether the person involved has a good insurance or not. One of our client was victim of an accident with a green bus colliding into the tuck tuck in which our client was sitting. The Tuck Tuck was not insured and the green bus has insurance with a ceiling of 100,000 THB. As to the company owning the bus it was nearly bankrupt. Our client ended up footing the hospital bills himself.

About the Author:

The author Rene-Philippe DUBOUT is a lawyer since 1990 when he was admitted to Geneva bar (Switzerland). He practiced as a litigator there for 10 years until he moved to Thailand in 1999. In 2002 he founded with a group of Thai lawyers Rene Philippe & Partners Ltd a local law firm that specialized in Cross Borders Investments and Real Estate. He has been lecturing in several Thai Universities and a speaker to numerous conferences and seminars. He is the author of a must read book:”How to Purchase Real Estate Offshore Safely: The Case of Thailand”.

http//:www.renephilippe.com

© Copyrights 2009 – Rene Philippe Dubout – This article may be reprinted if information about the author, the websites, and the URLs remain intact

Originally posted 2009-12-22 10:21:42.

No related posts.