Hit by a car in Thailand

Last Updated on June 7, 2023 by Ellen

Here’s a blog post nobody ever wants to write.

This morning, my wife, Ellie, was hit by a car while bicycling and sent to the hospital.

Thankfully, it appears her only serious injury is a broken right wrist.

She is home resting now – at our rental apartment in Hua Hin, Thailand.

The incident occurred at about 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 2. Ironically, it happened right in front of The Bangkok Hospital (Hua Hin campus) on the four-lane main road through this beach town about three hours south of Bangkok.

She had left our place just a few minutes earlier. When she messaged me, I rushed to the scene. We walked slowly from the roadside right into the ER.

Another irony: Ellen had been to this same hospital emergency room back in early 2019. That visit came after we were in a motor scooter crash (also not our fault) and Ellen was diagnosed with broken ribs.

She says today’s fractured wrist was more painful (when it happened) but now has pain meds and a cast on her lower arm. In the ER, I watched as the area was numbed then tugged and twisted into proper ‘setting’ position. Uhhhggg!!!

We will visit the orthopedic doctor next week for a follow up before we depart Thailand. Complete healing will take six weeks.

Thus far, the unplanned medical expense is 14,250 Thai Baht ($413). That amount covered everything: ER, doctor, ortho-specialist, xrays, medications. As we often find while traveling, the medical facility and personnel were top notch — and obviously inexpensive compared to American ER prices.

There were witnesses to the accident. They stopped to help. Police and EMS responded. The driver of the black Toyota station wagon talked to the motorcycle cop. Ambulance medics stabilized Ellen’s injured arm.

El says she was just riding along normally on the edge of the road when she was bumped by a car – sending her flying to the pavement. She has a few other small scrapes and a bruise on her hip.

A while later, the driver courteously came to the hospital to offer Ellen a ride home. She accepted — but during the short ride, he ran out of gas. Seriously. He did apologize for messing up her day/weeks/travel/life. El continued in a songthaew/taxi.

I went to the nearby Hua Hin police station as Ellen went home. Communication was difficult. The reporting officer was out. We have his cell number. We don’t know what statements are in the report. It seems doubtful anything more will come of the matter.

Of course, we are mostly just grateful Ellen wasn’t more seriously hurt. We often buy/rent bikes during our travels. I guess we’ll give consideration to a helmet in the future.

In our view, the driver just got too close as he moved to pass her. Was the guy distracted? Cell phone? Texting? Radio? Unknown. As seen in the photos here, the road is plenty wide and in excellent condition. It shouldn’t have happened. 

As always, be thankful (WE ARE!) and generous, happy trails & more beer.

Life is NOW!