Travelling to Thailand? Check your travel insurance.
A cautionary tale…
30 year old Australian Stacey Liddle is still holed up at Vachira Hospital after a traumatic road accident in Chalong caused a lot of damage to her leg which doctors are now trying to save. Whilst she had travel insurance her insurance didn’t cover this accident due to fine print in the contract.
Speaking to news.com.au from Thailand, Ms Liddle’s friend, Sinead Markham, said the pair were riding scooters in Chalong in Phuket when the accident happened.
(NB: Most insurers will require you to have a valid motorbike licence in Thailand you’re visiting for the insurance to be valid in the case of a motorbike accident when you are driving the motorbike – check your fine print!)
“She finally made a moaning sound and then we both started screaming because we saw how bad her leg was. It was completely torn apart, her knee and shin bone was fully exposed and her flesh and calf muscle [were] lying on the road and [she] lost a tremendous amount of blood.”
Stacey’s family are trying to raise 35,000 Australian dollars to repatriate her to a hospital in Brisbane.
Statistically Australians are 6.5 times more likely to be killed in a road accident in Thailand than on their roads in Australia.
Many younger, and older, tourists would never consider driving a motorbike in their home country and, in many cases, may have only limited experience on a motorbike, let alone having any understanding of the hazards of Thai traffic.
This is a cautionary tale from Australia’s Murdoch writer Lauren McMah.
Read the full article HERE.
PHOTOS: news.com.au
