Personal injury and accidents
A road crash or workplace accident triggers several separate compensation routes at once — insurance, workmen’s compensation and, where someone was at fault, a civil claim — and it helps to know which applies before you need any of them.
Where injury claims come from
- Road accidents — by far the most common source. See traffic & driving law.
- Workplace accidents, covered first through the no-fault Workmen’s Compensation Fund. See employment & labour law.
- Medical negligence, product defects, and dog bites or other private negligence.
- Assault or other crime, which can support both a criminal case and a separate or joined compensation claim. See the criminal process.
Road accidents in detail
Every registered vehicle must carry compulsory motor insurance (commonly called Por Ror Bor), which pays a baseline amount for medical costs, disability or death regardless of fault — it exists precisely so an injured party is not left with nothing while liability is argued over. Most vehicles also carry voluntary insurance covering vehicle damage and higher liability limits. A police report is the practical foundation of every claim: without it, insurers and the compulsory scheme have little to pay against. For minor collisions, traffic police routinely mediate liability and paperwork on the spot; for anything involving real injury, get the report even if the other side wants to “settle privately” at the roadside.
Civil claims for negligence
Where insurance does not cover the full loss, Thai tort law — the “wrongful act” provisions of the Civil and Commercial Code — lets an injured person sue whoever caused the harm through fault, for the actual proven loss: medical bills, lost income, and, in serious cases, damages for the family. Thai courts generally calculate compensation from documented, actual loss rather than the large non-economic awards seen in some other countries, so keeping receipts, medical records and proof of lost income from day one matters more than it might elsewhere. Claims must be brought promptly — Thai law sets a short prescription period for wrongful-act claims, commonly measured from when you knew of the injury and who caused it — so do not sit on a claim while you wait to see how you recover. See courts & procedure for how a civil claim actually proceeds.
Workplace injuries
An employee hurt on the job is covered first by the Workmen’s Compensation Fund through the Social Security system — a claim there does not require proving the employer was at fault. Where the injury also involved genuine employer negligence, a further civil claim can sometimes sit alongside the no-fault payout; see employment & labour law.
Medical negligence
Claims against hospitals or doctors follow the same wrongful-act framework as other negligence claims, but medical cases add the practical difficulty of proving what the standard of care should have been and where it was not met — independent medical opinion is usually essential. The Medical Council of Thailand has its own separate disciplinary process for complaints against doctors, which can run alongside, rather than instead of, a civil claim. Many hospitals also have their own internal complaint and mediation processes worth trying first for lower-stakes disputes.
Insurance disputes
Where an insurer denies or underpays a claim — motor, health or otherwise — the Office of Insurance Commission takes complaints and can mediate before a dispute becomes a lawsuit; see consumer protection for how that regulator fits alongside other consumer channels.
If someone was killed or seriously hurt
Compensation typically covers proven medical and funeral costs, lost income (past and, for serious permanent injury, future), and — where the law allows — an amount for the family’s loss. Criminal proceedings against a negligent driver or other wrongdoer run in parallel with any compensation claim and can result in restitution being ordered as part of sentencing; victims can also apply to the Justice Fund for state compensation in qualifying cases — see free legal help.