if you don't have experience riding big bikes in any western country you still have a high risk of death

hospital wont help

I am just guessing, a helicopter costs what- a thousand or two thousand an hour? I am just surprised that the local helicopter companies dont offer the service, surely travel insurance would cover it?

willyhilly wrote:Poor buggers, a horrendous accident in a country with no health care. Do people riding Ducatis ever consider this? A serious accident will result in the injured dying unless one can be medivacced by helicopter to Bangkok. I have always thought that people should carry the telephone numbers of helicopter companies that could whisk them away to Thailand and save their lives. How much to fly by chopper from a rural Cambodia roadside to Bangkok-$5000?
Cheap for a life.

Big motorbikes in third world countries. Seems a novel enough way to commit suicide - full stop

willyhilly wrote:I am just guessing, a helicopter costs what- a thousand or two thousand an hour? I am just surprised that the local helicopter companies dont offer the service, surely travel insurance would cover it?

Not necessarily. Travel insurance is no different to any other type of insurance in that the insurer doesn't give a fuck about what kind of shit the policy holder is in due to some unpleasant event. They don't have a social conscience and don't make charitable gestures to individuals who find themselves in distressed circumstances. They are only interested in making lots of money and are very successful at doing just that. They make sure there are a raft of exclusions in policies to mitigate against potential high payouts - like air Medevac - and often people don't read those exclusions. For example, the last policy I had was considered to be pretty good but still this was an exclusion...

(ii) Travelling by quadbike or motorcycle (except in respect of motorcycles only up to 125 cc which are hired or borrowed during the Period of Insurance, and the Insured Persons are wearing crash helmets)

An exclusion like that is pretty standard so getting creamed on a bike is a doubly bad event for many. Even if they have got a policy there is a high probability they will hear or read the words, "We are sorry to learn about your very unfortunate accident and life-changing injuries but we are sorry to inform you..."

Considering the amount of motorcycle accidents that occur on a daily basis throughout 'Cambodia and our western neighbour' in general; any insurance company (not being government backed) that didn't have an exclusion clause to that effect would probably go bankrupt within 12 months perhaps.... unless the premiums were so outlandish that only a select few could afford it. Those kind of premiums would be out of the range of the general public in any event.

If you ride a 'big bike' and take unnecessary risks, it is pretty inevitable over time, you will have an accident, even if it is only minor.

Anyone who has walked through the over populated hospital wards and seen the amount of injured foreigners (as well as locals) would most likely see that.....

It is a shame, but that is the reality of it......