Motorbike accidents in Thailand: what to do at the scene
The first ten minutes, what to photograph, what not to sign, who may hold your passport, and the point at which a crash becomes a criminal case.
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A motorbike crash is the most common serious problem visitors face here. The difficulty usually starts twenty minutes after the collision, when the police, the other party and their insurer are all present and you are on your own without the language.
The first ten minutes
- Check for injuries and call an ambulance. That comes before any paperwork.
- Do not leave the scene, even where you are plainly not at fault.
- Photograph everything before anything is moved: vehicle positions, damage, the road, signs, skid marks, plates.
- Find witnesses and take their contact details before they disperse.
What not to sign, and what not to hand over
Do not accept fault verbally and do not sign what you cannot read. Fault is frequently settled at the roadside between the parties and the insurers, and a resigned "well, probably me" goes straight into that conversation.
Hand your passport to the police only, and record that you did. A demand that you leave it with the other party or with the rental shop is leverage, not procedure.
How compensation is discussed
The figure named on the first evening rarely resembles what a court would award. Compensation covers treatment, property damage, lost earnings and non-pecuniary loss, and in fatal cases funeral costs and support for dependants.
Paying cash at the scene without documentation settles nothing, and the next demand arrives the following week.
When it becomes a criminal case
Where somebody is injured, the police open a case of negligent injury; where somebody dies, a case is always opened.
In those cases settlement with the injured party and payment of compensation genuinely change the outcome, up to a suspended sentence instead of a custodial one. Which is why the money conversation and the criminal defence are run as one piece of work rather than two.
Insurance and licences
Compulsory motor insurance covers a limited part of the injured party's medical costs. Travel insurance often excludes riding a motorcycle without the corresponding licence category — a fact that surfaces at exactly the moment the money is needed.
Riding without the right licence is also a breach in its own right, and a strong argument against you on fault.