Crash a bike you own, or one a friend lent you, and there is nobody to absorb any of it. No rental desk to ring, no company insurer sending a surveyor on your behalf, and no deposit to argue over — just you, whatever cover is attached to the machine, and a conversation with the owner if the machine was not yours. The immediate steps are the same as any other crash. What changes is everything that happens after the scene clears.
The single most useful thing to know in advance is what insurance the bike actually carries, because on a Thai motorbike the honest answer is often "the compulsory minimum, and nothing else" — and the compulsory minimum pays nothing at all towards a damaged vehicle.
- Ambulance1669
- Tourist Police, English-speaking1155
- Compulsory cover on vehicle damagePays nothing
At the scene
- 1669 if anyone is injured, including you.
- Leave the vehicles in position and photograph them before anything moves.
- If another vehicle is involved, photograph its plate first — compulsory cover attaches to the vehicle, so the registration number is what makes any claim possible.
- 1155 for the Tourist Police if you need an English-speaking officer, which you probably do.
- Call your insurer if you hold a voluntary policy. They send the surveyor. Without that call, nobody is representing you at the scene.
- If the bike is borrowed, ring the owner now rather than later.
- Get the police report reference and any claim number before you leave.
Stopping is a criminal duty. A driver involved in a collision must stop, assist and identify themselves. Failing to do so carries, on the Act's pre-2022 text, up to three months' imprisonment and a fine of 2,000–10,000 baht, and up to six months and 5,000–20,000 baht where serious injury or death results — and it cannot be dealt with by a roadside ticket. It applies to a scruffy 110cc commuter exactly as it applies to a car.
What compulsory cover does, and what it does not
Every registered vehicle in Thailand must carry por ror bor, the compulsory third-party policy. It is bought against the vehicle, it must be in force before annual road tax can be paid, and it covers people, not property. Nothing in it will repair your bike, the other party's bike, or the wall you hit.
| Compulsory cover pays, per person | Amount |
|---|---|
| Preliminary medical expenses, before fault is settled | Up to ฿30,000 |
| Preliminary payment on death or permanent disability | ฿35,000 |
| Medical expenses once liability is established | Up to ฿80,000 |
| Death or total permanent disability | ฿500,000 |
| Inpatient allowance | ฿200 a day, up to 20 days |
| Combined maximum | ฿504,000 |
Those figures are published by licensed Thai insurers. The ฿80,000 medical ceiling — around £1,840, US$2,320 or €2,000 — is the number to be honest about: a serious head injury at a private hospital can pass it in a day. Compulsory cover is a floor, not a safety net. Por ror bor explained covers it in full, and riding with none at all carries a fine of up to ฿10,000 as well as blocking your road tax renewal.
Voluntary cover, and the trap in the "plus" classes
Repairing your own machine depends entirely on a voluntary policy. The classes work like this:
| Class | Your own vehicle | Theft and fire |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Covered, including a single-vehicle accident with no third party | Yes, plus flood and natural disaster |
| 2+ | Only in a collision with another vehicle | Yes |
| 2 | Not covered | Yes |
| 3+ | Only in a collision with another vehicle | No |
| 3 | Not covered | No |
The trap is the "plus" tiers, and it is exactly the accident a visitor is most likely to have. Losing the front wheel on gravel, on a wet corner or on a sandy bend is a single-vehicle accident, with no other vehicle to name — and 2+ and 3+ both exclude it. Only class 1 pays. Which insurance class to buy for a used motorbike works through the decision, and Thai insurance classes explained covers the full picture.
The borrowed bike
Borrowing a friend's or a guesthouse's motorbike is normal in Thailand and creates two problems at once: an insurance question and a social one.
The insurance question
Compulsory cover attaches to the vehicle, so it is in force whoever is riding. Voluntary cover is a contract, and whether it responds when someone other than the owner was riding is a matter for that policy's wording — ask the owner before you take the key, not after. If the owner does not know, assume the machine has compulsory cover only and ride accordingly.
The social one
You are going to have to tell someone you have damaged their property, and in Thailand that conversation goes better if you have already done the right things: stayed, reported it, photographed it, and got a police reference. Go to them with the paperwork, not with an explanation. Offer to pay for the repair rather than negotiating whether you should, and get the quote from a shop the owner chooses.
Ask three questions before you borrow any bike. Is it registered and taxed? Does it have current por ror bor? Is there any voluntary policy, and does it cover other riders? Thirty seconds of asking saves a very unpleasant week. The registration book — green for motorbikes, blue for cars — and the tax sticker are where the first two are answered; see the registration book explained.
If the bike is registered to somebody else
A great many bikes ridden by long-stay foreigners are still registered in a previous owner's name, or a Thai partner's, because the transfer was never done. That matters after a crash: the registration book records both a title holder and a possessor, and the person the registrar recognises is the person the paperwork will follow. Camera tickets, insurance correspondence and any liability that runs against the vehicle land on the registered keeper. If that is not you, you are relying on someone else's goodwill to sort out your accident. Registering a vehicle in someone else's name covers why this is worth fixing before it matters, and transferring vehicle ownership at the DLT is the process.
Your own injuries
Compulsory cover on the vehicle pays the preliminary medical amounts regardless of fault, which helps with the first hospital bill and no further. Beyond that you are looking at your own health or travel policy — and, for a foreign resident, at whatever Thai health cover you hold. Thai hospitals after a crash and what it costs covers the government-versus-private question, and road rash and exhaust burns explains why the graze you are dismissing needs looking at.
If you were riding without a licence valid for a motorcycle, expect that to be the first thing any insurer asks about. It also puts you on the lower 0.02% blood-alcohol limit rather than the general 0.05%, regardless of your age — a legal fact that surprises almost everyone. Riding without a licence in Thailand sets out the consequences.
Getting the bike home
A bike that will not ride is usually moved by pickup rather than by a recovery truck — every province has someone with a pickup and a plank who will do it for a modest sum, and repair shops frequently arrange it themselves. If the machine is rideable but damaged, check the front wheel, the forks, the brakes and the lights before you get back on it; a bent fork is not always visible and is not something to discover at speed. Roadside assistance in Thailand: who to call covers the recovery options.
Frequently asked questions
My bike only has compulsory insurance. What does that actually get me?
Medical payments for injured people, on the limits above, and nothing at all towards any vehicle. If you want your own machine repaired, that is a voluntary policy, and if you want a single-vehicle spill covered, it has to be class 1.
I crashed a friend's bike. Am I liable for the repair?
As a practical matter, yes — you are the one who damaged it, and unless a voluntary policy responds there is nobody else to pay. Handle it directly and early; going quiet is what turns a repair bill into a lost friendship.
Does the owner's insurance cover me as a rider?
Compulsory cover is attached to the vehicle and is in force whoever rides. Whether a voluntary policy responds when someone other than the owner is riding depends on the policy wording — ask before you borrow.
Do I still need a police report if I came off on my own?
With no third party there is nothing to report between two parties, and often no need. But if you intend to claim on a class 1 policy, or on a travel policy for injuries, get one — insurers ask, and a report obtained on the day is worth far more than an account given a fortnight later.
What happens to the compulsory insurance if the road tax has lapsed?
They are linked in one direction: the compulsory policy must be in force before annual tax can be paid, and three consecutive years of unpaid tax suspends the registration. A bike with lapsed paperwork is a bike whose position after a crash is much weaker, so check the tax sticker and the policy date periodically rather than at the roadside.
Can I sell a damaged bike rather than repairing it?
You can, but the transfer must be done properly at the DLT with the registration book — the deadline is 15 days from transfer and the fine for missing it is up to ฿2,000. A "sold with the book, do the transfer yourself later" arrangement leaves you as the registered keeper, and with the liability that goes with it.