It started out as a peaceful day on Chaweng beach, Koh Samui island. Later that evening, while walking along a main road, my friend Beth and I heard a crash, followed by shouting. Alarmed, I shouted out, and we began to run to where the incident originated.
On arrival, there was a crowd of about twenty Thai people around two men. Both were cyclists. One cyclist had fallen off his motorcycle, and was sprawled out on the road with his head against the concrete sidewalk curb. He looked unconscious or dead. Meanwhile, the second cyclist seemed fine, and was yelling about the damage to his motorcycle, presumably caused by the guy lying on the road. I think he was yelling at the seemingly unconscious or dead guy lying on the road.
My friend and I were shocked at the situation. We were surprised that the cycle guy who was clearly unhurt was more concerned about the damage to his bike rather than whether the man lying on the road was seriously hurt or dead.
One onlooker was on the phone, presumably calling an ambulance. Two people crouched down, trying to assess how hurt the man lying on the ground was. They began lifting his torso. I was thinking at the time, shouldn’t he not be moved until specialists arrive? He could have internal bleeding or other complications that weren’t visible. After a few minutes, the injured cyclist actually began to stir. I felt relieved. He looked around at the crowd and at his motorcycle lying on the road, and appeared confused.
I began to understand the situation a little better. The man on the ground seemed to be very poor from the look of his clothing and his scrawny motorcycle. The angry man was clearly much better off. He had nice clothing, he was much heavier, and his motorcycle looked new, shiny and wider.
As the crowd looked on, wondering about the condition of the injured cyclist, an ambulance siren blared in the distance. Slowly, the injured man dragged himself off the concrete, and just as the ambulance pulled up to address his injuries, he got on his bike, started the engine, and took off in the same direction that the ambulance approached from. As the paramedics emerged from their vehicle, the angry motorcycle man continued cursing, furious about unpaid damages to his property. The crowd looked on, seemingly unsurprised. I suspected they had seen it all before. My friend and I stood there for a while with our jaws hanging open. We eventually walked off.
Have you experienced anything that surprised you while traveling? Please share and comment below.
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That is horrible. How can someone be more concerned about a bicycle rather than a hurt person?!? That blows my mind. We once traveled to Nevada for a ski trip and while I was out in the town one evening this poor looking man just collapse while standing and banged his head right on the brick ground and unconscious. Have no clue as to what caused it, I think it could have been intoxication. Anyway, we called the ambulance and a day later saw this guy in the casino like nothing happened.
This is horrible. I hope that man didn’t collapse after he rode away. He could have internal injuries or a concussion. Where is the empathy? That guy should have been told to sit down and shut up and wait for the ambulance and not allowed to badger an injured person.
I think it wouldn’t be too surprised. I’ve seen similar scenes in Korea actually. I recently saw a man hit by a car that had sped through a red light here. It was the most horrific thing I’ve ever seen. If the pedestrian didn’t die, he’ll be badly damaged for life. The lack of respect for lights and pedestrians in Korea kills me. So dangerous.
Wow, that is super intense. Sorry that you had to witness that. I saw a car crash while I was living in Australia. Pretty scary moment. Luckily everyone was okay. In a way, I suppose it’s good to witness things like this so we can be grateful for all those days we experience without any major incidents.
That’s quite insensitive of the man who seemed to look financially better than the other guy. Hopefully his injuries, if any, wouldn’t have a life-threatening effect on him physically. But that’s just sad that he can’t face medical care probably intimidated by the possible cost on the bike.
Whoa, to us westerners this scene is shocking and surprising, but it seems that it’s common here in Asia, which is really sad. I have a love/hate relationship with motorbikes because they are so cool but as you witnessed, I’m sure there are so many accidents. It’s kinda crazy. WHen I was in Chengdu a few weeks ago, we were in a cab going to the hostel and the car to our right basically drove into the bridge rail. The driver was either drunk or fell asleep. And while my friend and I were mortified and asking if someone should be calling an ambulance, the local we were with didn’t even bat an eyelash….
Unfortunately there are so many accidents which involve motor bikes in Thailand and other SE Asian countries, its kind of horrifying getting on one. I can see where one guy wanted to bypass the emergency services bill, but like you said, internal injuries are no joke and I know of someone who knows of a guy who fell of a 2nd story balcony on accident, got up and went back home and to bed. Overnight, he fell into a coma and passed on a few months later. So don’t be a hero and drive/walk/get yourself to a hospital for a check up after even a minor accident or fall.
Oh wow, this is really sad. And it saddens me that the guy just left…based on what you said, he probably couldn’t have afforded or wouldn’t want to bother with hospital fees. It’s a horror story, in a sense, but it leaves me with such a sad feeling of inevitability in a society where the poor really don’t have much power because of their financial situations.
You’ll definitely see some interesting, surprising, scary, and crazy things while traveling. I haven’t witnessed anything like that yet though and I hope I never have to!