I must have hit someone's car in the Central Festival parking lot. This was recorded by a security camera. The owner reported the incident to the police and I was invited to the police station, together with the owner and the insurance company. Up until that moment everything was normal.
But then things got out of hand. When I wanted to leave the office, the woman refused to let me through and demanded money. I refused categorically. Then she became physical and the police had to intervene. She called my wife a whore and many other ugly things. The police stood by and did nothing.
Incomprehensible that something like this can happen at a police station. The woman is fully compensated for the damage to her car, but apparently that was not enough. She wanted money.
Submitted by Gery
About this blogger
Read the latest articles here
Reader questionMay 16, 2025Why is it so difficult to integrate in Thailand?
Reader questionMay 16, 2025Scattering the ashes of a deceased person in Thailand
Reader questionMay 14, 2025Would you move to Thailand now?
Reader SubmissionMay 13, 2025Digital Botch: The Thai IT Landscape Through the Eyes of a Dutch Programmer (Reader Submission)
It doesn't surprise me, I don't think the police do much in terms of enforcement anyway, except when there is a protest against the government.
Money! Money! Ngun! Bpatjai! An obsession for many Thais. Have. Get. Take. Spend, lend, borrow. Lend for borrow is also common. And always misery. Farang? Walking ATM! Honey? Never free! “You’re doing something to me?” Then you compensate me! Gery encountered the latter. The Thai are so used to being compensated for hassle/fuss or moaning/emotional or material damage and for life and death in money (read: Thai banknotes that can be obtained), that the Thai lady in question now wanted that too. And therefore frustrated that this did not happen. That she became physical and insulting: consider a lawyer and file a complaint via Facebook. There is a greater chance that the complaint will be taken seriously. If you are a tourist, report both incidents via multiple social media. Tourism is money, and bad reviews cost money. As said: the Thai want to have, get, take. Even from the dead: https://thethaiger.com/news/national/thai-undertaker-earns-nearly-60000-baht-from-gold-collected-from-burials#google_vignette
I also think you should seriously consider what Willem recommends. File a complaint supported by social media. A limitation or failure to meet their extreme greed is always hard in the land of smiles. But there are limits. Although many of course think (and are often facilitated or encouraged in this) that such a thing can and even should (by alleged class differences, programmed greed).
That doesn't surprise me. Some people can be really greedy and the police don't do anything? Well... they do watch out hahaha... this is Thailand and they don't get paid for it...
She will also want to see compensation for the lost day of work and other issues, dear Gery.
A convincing Solly solly [sorry] and a small financial contribution directly often does wonders for the mutual understanding. TIT
I can understand the sorry, but a small financial contribution? She is compensated correctly. In this way you only stimulate the corrupt system. If you are at fault and she is compensated correctly, then it stops for me.
First of all, I think Gery's story sounds VERY bad about the prince.
And if the trump cards are to be placed on its side, it is not the Netherlands, compensating many secondary matters in Thailand is quite normal by the perpetrator.
The car needs to be repaired, often many days in the garage, renting another car which is not free, after all you don't do much by bike in Thailand.
Insurance on our car has a 500 baht per day reimbursement, max. ten days for example in case of repair.
Time to take care of business……………..police station, garage, repairs, delivery and collection, all costs time and money.
I really don't see it as corrupt, it's like buying off a police officer at a traffic light, this is secondary compensation which is not at all unusual in Thailand.
Of course, the police do not get involved in such a squabble on the sidewalk in front of the building as long as there is no physical dispute.
especially go along with the Thai greed Willem Korat, that's where you score. What an absurdity. I hate this kind of behavior. I fit in and will not adapt to this disgusting phenomenon. Rudy puts it well.
How likely is it that you drive out of a parking space and don't notice that you hit another car?
Many have no insurance and arrange it among themselves at a police station.
In addition, it can sometimes also yield something for the police.
The woman probably thought she could get some financial (farang) advantage from the police officer.
But because there were insurance people present, the police officer adhered to protocol.
The woman must have cancelled the order for the new moped 🙂
Of course there are two sides to this story, the fact remains that you caused damage and, consciously or unconsciously, you escaped without reporting it. Fortunately for the woman, it was on camera and she was able to get her rights. I experienced the same thing: my car was damaged and it was not reported and it was not on camera and I had to pay for the damage myself.
I don't quite understand:
Quote: “Then she became physical and the police had to intervene. She called my wife a whore and many other ugly things. The police stood by and did nothing.”
So you are saying that the police “had to intervene”. That means something like “the woman was so aggressive that the police intervened”.
Then you say that the police “did nothing.”
Or did you mean to say that “the police should have intervened, but didn't”.
If that woman called your wife a whore... that's insulting her in public. Punishable? Civil action? Scare her and send a registered letter demanding 5000 baht 'damages for insult'.
Dear Gery: 1- you caused damage to someone else's car without noticing it, seen by the camera. You were called and everything was settled amicably according to insurance procedures
2- But you are in Thailand. Have you apologized with a proper sincere wai, have you asked the victim if there is any other damage besides material damage?
3- Have you felt threatened by her physical assault, have you been physically attacked, or has your wife been treated with insults and hateful language: have you considered filing a complaint?
@Kees2: What I read from the story is that the victim became physically aggressive and the police intervened. The police did not respond to the subsequent insults towards Gery's wife.
@Jan: I don't read that Gery was squeezed out. He unknowingly caused damage to the victim's car. That's possible.
@william-Korat: if the injured party wanted compensation for a lost working day and other matters, she could have made this known, either directly, through the police or through the insurance agent.
Do what Kees 2 says. Without a doubt.
Yes, a farang kee nok and a traffic accident. Expectations must have been high financially. The police are not popular there but in those cases of course they are. The other way around you would not have stood a chance.
Also if your wife is Thai then according to their perception of class differences she is considered a lower person which they think about as she expressed it. Unfortunately this incident is not that striking.
1. 'Vigilant and helpful' is the slogan of the Dutch police. 'What's in it (bahts)' is the slogan of the Thai police.
2. Pffff, don't pay 'extra', you don't have insurance for nothing! If the roles were reversed, the Thai wouldn't pay an extra satang either.
That woman clearly felt wronged. You could have asked her how much extra compensation she had in mind. Perhaps the amount would have been very reasonable and in that case you could have given her that. She is happy and your wife is not hurt by the insults. Problem solved.
You have caused much more damage than just the damage to the car. Let's call it: secondary damage.
1. The lady loses time because she has to file a tax return.
2. Madam has to go back to the police a second time to settle the collision damage with you.
3. The car must then be taken to the garage for repairs.
4. This costs the lady quite a bit of time and most likely income. In addition, she certainly does not live around the corner, that could easily be 3 villages away. If she is an employee, she will have to take time off and I doubt that her boss will pay for the hours taken off. If she is a saleswoman, she will also miss out on income for those hours.
5. She may have to pay for alternative transportation while the car is being repaired.
6. Apart from all those points: the irritation and headache it causes her.
You can't foresee what those secondary costs are. Imagine her being a stockbroker!
I believe that we should also introduce in the Netherlands that perpetrators also pay for the secondary costs. And not just for the damage to the bodywork. I have experienced it several times that I had to go to court as a victim, it costs me my days off. So I am on the side of the lady.
My idea completely Mr.Bojangles but many in this discussion don't seem to understand that.
I wonder what people think if it is the other way around and the Thai states, you have to sort that out, but that is up to you with the insurance. [Most insurance companies do not agree with that]
The only mistake this woman made was not mentioning it right away to the agent and insurance clerk in Gery's contradictory subject.
Probably so, because Gery was quite 'pertinent'.
She could have taken official action immediately [PV] which would probably state that there is NO mutual satisfaction.
Still possible of course.
Using violence to get your rights is reprehensible. There is no need for discussion. Mr. Bojangles and William Korat use quite a bit of argumentation to justify the physical behavior of the lady in question. The use of violence, also by means of physical assaults that seem to be light violence, but which can nevertheless get out of hand, is never (read: never) to be approved. The Thai are not averse to violence, and easily use violence to reinforce misunderstandings, up to and including using it as the ultimate solution to conflicts. In the morning, TV shows the consequences in a plastically exaggerated way: every day again. And also every day: the newspapers are full of it. Young and old in TH: A study by professors for the “Journal for Social Work and Social Administration” in 2023 found: “The causes of violence in Thai society include issues related to broken families, the portrayal of violence by the media, the prevalence of alcohol, drugs, and firearms, economic problems, and the acceptance of the use of violence as a norm.” The acceptance of violence as a norm. Please! Wrap it up! Don’t put a ribbon around it, because it’s not that pretty.
A certain Jozef says in his reaction to earlier remarks by william-Korat that the lady in question could have made it perfectly known that she suffered collateral damage. That they can report Gey, she could have discussed that in advance with the insurance man, she could have asked for support from the police officer present. No, none of that. She chooses to wait and see whether 'farang' will come up with the money, and disappointed she starts a fight. Exactly as I have argued before: for Thai, (some of them excluded,) using violence is using unhealthy coping! Not knowing how to deal with stress and negative emotions.
Of course Gery should have been more forthcoming, after all: did he cause the damage, was he only held accountable in the second instance via camera images, and did he have the matter resolved via the insurers. But his lack of assessment of a Thai situation does not justify the behavior of the lady in question. It is also strange that his wife did not coach him. But he does not report all that, so it is speculation.
Rijck, I never mentioned violence, only the financial side of things. YOU are making it sound like we are condoning violence. Stick to the point please.
Rijck is right. The lady could have discussed her grievances in advance with both the insurance agent and the police officer, and how she would have liked to see the damage settled. What Willem says is also correct: Thais make everything a financial matter. But perhaps all that was discussed, and Gery only followed the insurance procedures, which is why the lady got angry. Even then, she cannot be justified.