Sam Moo-un

Some of you may know that myself, wife and son were involved in a collision a while back. It was quite bad, a motorcycle pulled out in front of my car whilst he was doing a U turn (we were doing around 90km in the middle lane of 3 lane highway, 4 lanes if you count the U turn lane). He was in his sixties and wearing no helmet. He swears the whole thing was my fault, although I'm pretty confident all he can really remember is waking up a week or so later..

He was badly hurt. My family nor I were, thank god (...no thanks to him).

After several visits to the police station, and despite the advice of some, it was clear that to end the matter it was best to pay over some money to the injured party.

The amount was the key to the whole thing, they initially wanted 80k, I told them I'd pay 10k (insert holy grail quote - 10 sheckles for that, you must be mad etc).

Long story short, we agreed some while back to pay 'sam moo-un' (30k).

I'm not a rich man, to me, 30k is 30k (around 600 quid) and it's more difficult to swallow when you come from the UK, where this matter would be open and shut (mate, you weren't wearing a helmet, you drove across me, on a motorway, end of, goodbye).

But, when in Rome, and having to sit opposite his wife in the final meeting (who was always OK with me, despite clearly difficult circumstances) I said no problem to 30k let it be an end to the whole damn thing (which had dragged on, albeit in the background, for too long).

Some may think I should pay more... some may think I should not have paid at all.

To be frank, the father and son involved were difficult people. I was threatened by the son in front of the cops, and called alot of names by the father (he refused any responsibility). I'm aware some of it is 'heat of the moment' stuff, but it left a bad taste, and a reluctance on my part to give anything, especially as I was the only one down on hands and knees in the road trying to keep the bugger alive, whilst all the other onlookers ignored any pleas to lend a hand..

(If somebody can offer any explanation why all the bystanders were so reluctant to help out, please let me know, because I am still having trouble understanding this part of thai culture).

Anyways, it's over now, thank Christ.

(side note: even though we settled, I hear from the law guy they are still unhappy, refusing to pay the cops 3k admin fee, stomping their feet saying I should pay it). Some people are just never satisfied, after all, it's a miracle this guy is still breathing....

Is there any sort of moral to the story?

Not really. It was horrible. In hindsight I feel better for paying some money, not sure how I'd feel now if I just walked away and ignored it all.

I'm very glad he survived, and wish him all the best... I suppose if he'd of been more passive 'post-accident', he may have got less money, so I guess that makes some sense?

The REAL moral of the story? Watch those ROADS in THAILAND folks. Accidents are very much dealt with between the parties involved, 'mediated' over by the police.

By all means, if you are involved in an accident and feel like it wasn't your fault say so and stand your ground... depending on the circumstances it may possibly blow over... At some points during this mess, I was up for seeing it through to court, looking back the thought seems absurd now, and it would probably have never happened... I could have probably dug my heels in, but in hindsight I'm glad I didn't.

Sometimes it better to pay up and move on... Mai pen arai and all that... Watch out for those motorcyclists, especially the ones without helmets, or 'Sam Moo-un's', as I now call them.

Comments

[Mike]

Ben thanks for sharing all that, which concludes(I hope) a very difficult period for you and your family.

I have already gone on record saying I would not pay so I won't rant about that or the right and wrongs of blood money.

To answer your question regarding First Aid:

1. Most Thais have no basic first aid training-even some of the "medics" don't. So they haven't a clue e.g. removing crash helmets and pulling bodies around before assessing injuries (no spinal boards etc). Thankfully the sensible ones stand around and rubber neck until some professional help arrives.... if you are lucky.

[Ben Shingleton]

Yeah I've been told a few explanations.. But seriously, this was weird. I mean, I didn't want people coming over and pulling him about, i was literally asking for them to come over and speak to him in Thai... But they wouldn't even come anywhere near us... Maybe they were scared they'd be run over..? Maybe they were scared of bad luck / spirits? But to not try to help at all, is something I dont understand.

[Ben Shingleton]

....(not that I blame anyone for not wanting to get involved, and actually, I'm sure if my thai were sharper, that would have helped)....

[Lloyd]

Ben, under Thai law any person who becomes "involved" in an accident through assisting an injured person(s) and who is not covered under one of the relevant laws covering persons and companies who provide services to accident victims, like doctors, medics, the police, ambulance and emergency crews could be held liable should that person ultimately die.

Its drummed into most villagers minds from an early age, don't get involved in anything or you could end up paying.

I believe almost all educated Thais with some compassions would have assisted yoou.

[Ben Shingleton]

Thanks Lloyd, interesting... there was very little that could be done anyway I suppose.. very lucky he survived.

[Talen]

Ben, as Lloyd said I have been read the riot act by my teelac about assisting in an accident.

She told me in no uncertain terms to not help as it would get turned around on me ( especially if you are a flalang ).

Can't say I wouldn't render assistance if needed but that will definitely be in the back of my mind.

The situation you were in sucks but you and your family were unharmed so at least you have that.

[Ben Shingleton]

Thanks Talen, absolutely, we are all unharmed and so very lucky ourselves.

Gotta say, the Thai's ways of dealing with these things is world's apart from the UK (and prob US). In the UK, I wouldn't have had any real dealings with the injured party, probably would have only heard how he / she was at a later stage, and let insurance people deal with it all... So I guess, a 'plus' in the Thai system is you do have to get up close and personal with all involved... which can be behaviour altering I would suggest.

A minus of course is sometimes you end up paying for accidents that were not necessarily your own fault, which surely encourages reckless driving (as we see all the time, no helmets for example!) this can only lead to more death and misery on the thai roads, which is bloody awful, and the thai's really need to look at drastically improving the whole damn road situation once and for all.

[Catherine]

What a horrible situation to find yourself in Ben. I'm not sure what I'd do as I have a stubborn, go to hades streak in me.

[Ben Shingleton]

Hiya Cat, yeah me too... ;)

It was (and got) pretty nasty, all too common out here, as I'm sure you're aware ..

Most of the time all I could do was ride with the tide...My own fault, should be better at speaking Thai! ;)

[Michael LaRocca]

Show me the money

[Erich]

It's good to be reminded from a story like this that it is better to go with the local flow and in this case, pay up a little cash. In the end it's all so much easier. Having said that, could I have resisted digging in my heels?