Koh Phangan Vehicle Rentals, Accidents & High Petrol Prices – Part 2

Welcome back to Koh Pha-Ngan, the island of madness and daily increasing insanity! Here’s the second part on Koh Phangan Vehicle Rentals, Accidents & High Petrol Prices. The first part can be found here -> Koh Phangan Vehicle Rentals, Accidents & High Petrol Prices – Part 1

Vehicle Rental Fact Number One:

Intensively check you vehicle BEFORE renting it! Meaning, check really everything! Even the most tiniest scratches! Let those lovely smiling business men note it down in your rental contract. If you don’t do that then they will charge you later for it. An average of 10 times the price is something you should expect. Also remember, arguing later that you didn’t cause the scratch is not a good choice. Thais don’t like to argue with ‘farangs’, they just simply call the police to frighten you off a bit. All they want is to make massive profits with minimum efforts … no matter what!

Vehicle Rental Fact Number Two:

So … finally it happened and you damaged some parts of the vehicle you were renting. What to do next? First of all, don’t bring it back to the shop! Repair the vehicle by yourself and go to the next local repair shop around the corner. There are hundreds of those shops spread around the island. Let the mechanic in the shop change the damaged parts and you’re good to go. Chances are that they are going to charge you double or triple of the original price but that’s still better as to be charged 10 times the price, isn’t it?

Vehicle Rental Fact Number Three:

Finally it happened and you were involved in an accident. Well … that’s awesome 😉 And hereby you finally have this great lifetime opportunity to grasp a look behind the razor sharp ‘Mai Pen Rai’ mentality in the land of the charming smile!

So … first of all some general guidelines about road traffic regulations here on Koh Phangan Island. Driver’s license – most of the local people here just simply don’t have one. If they need a driver’s license for any reason then you can easily purchase one on neighboring Koh Samui Island. Of course, without any driving lessons or whatsoever! Just hand over the money and you’re finally certified and ready to participate in the daily road insanity! Isn’t that amazing?

To be continued -> Koh Phangan Vehicle Rentals, Accidents & High Petrol Prices – Part 3