chevy, keng maak!

last month i spent a few days in bangkok running errands and visiting my friends. one sunday we were driving around in joe's truck and were stopped at an intersection waiting to turn right. i was writing an sms to a friend in shanghai when joe suddenly shouted, "oh... oh... ohhh.. aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"

i looked in the side mirror just in time to see a taxi quickly bearing down on us with brakes fully locked up. there was a momentary pause and then *crash*, a big impact which pushed us foward.

we pulled off to one side and the taxi followed. took a quick damage assessment and found no one had been hurt so the police didn't need to be involved. the taxi driver admitted that he hadn't been watching the road and couldn't brake in time after he saw us. in typical thai style everyone remained calm and the experience was very casual and friendly. i can only imagine the shouting match that would have taken place back in shanghai.

we called both insurance companies and checked the damage to the cars while waiting for them to arrive.


the toyota was definitely in bad shape. it was braking heavily and turning at the time of the impact so its bumper absorbed the impact at an angle.


the bumper was hanging down, light cluster broken, hood crumpled, side panel bent, radiator cracked and leaking, and so on. wasn't going to be a cheap repair. we never did find the toyota emblem.

fortunately, unlike a lot of bangkok taxis, this driver was fully insured so he wouldn't bear the burden of the repairs directly.


by contrast it was hard to see any damage at all on joe's truck. at first it looked bad but after we brushed off the toyota's paint and plastic chips and whatnot there was barely anything to see.


upon closer inspection we found that the left side of the bumper had been pushed into the body, scratching and denting it. aside from that there was little other damage. joe pointed to the condensation dripping down from the aircon unit and suggested that a shockwave had passed through the truck breaking something in the engine in front, causing the leak. joe isn't a mechanic.

the insurance company reps both arrived on motorbike. they each commented, 'chevy, keng maak!' (chevy, very strong) as they took their notes and photos. the whole process took probably an hour, from accident to finishing up with the insurance reps- quite efficient, though it was incredibly hot in the sun so it felt longer.

i've definitely got a new appreciation of the safety benefits of driving a truck or suv in thailand. chevy, keng maak!