Lucky or Unlucky: Thailand Moped Accident

13 Oct, 2024

Within seconds of hopping on a moped alone for the first time, I found myself wobbling down a one-way street. After dodging all the moms and young kids, I swerved left onto the main road in Koh Lanta, Thailand.

Before arriving in Koh Lanta, I lived in Chiang Mai for three months and in Koh Phangan for one month. Both have lots of mopeds in the streets. I was scared shitless to drive one myself. I rode as a passenger a few times, always with fear. Accidents are too common. Koh Lanta is different: flat and calm with a wide main road.

After speeding down the thoroughfare into the rush of roaring air for a few minutes, I turned left into a gas station and pulled up to the first pump on the right side of the second lane. Each lane had six pumps. Sawyer and Juliet, two Austinite friends I met in Chiang Mai, pulled up to the first two pumps on the left side of the first lane. The space between each lane was vast.

Sawyer waved and called me over.

I walked four steps with my moped. For reasons unbeknownst to me—perhaps I wanted to test my driving skills in a fuel island—I hopped on and throttled too much. I slammed on the brakes while still throttling, dodged the gas pump in front of Sawyer, smashed the front tire into the curb, flew off the moped, and crashed chin-first onto the curb—two inches from grass.

Sawyer and Juliet rushed over, finding me in shock. Pieces of my two front teeth were on the pavement. I tasted blood. I sat up. I tried to stand but only made it halfway.

Twenty minutes later, I stood up on my own. Sawyer studied my wound and stated, “You’re going to need stitches.” I frowned inside but remained calm. My chin had a bone-deep gash that required 24 stitches. I had chest pain for the next two years. I had a concussion that lasted two weeks; it felt like my brain was bouncing inside my head with each step I walked.

Lucky or unlucky?

Everything comes down to luck. Whether you are lucky or unlucky is determined by perspective. Within five minutes of driving a moped for the first time, I crashed. Was I lucky or unlucky?

I’m lucky I didn’t crash into pedestrians while wobbling down the first street. What if I had even lightly hit a young kid and caused severe injuries or worse?

I’m lucky I crashed in a parking lot and avoided hitting anyone. What if I crashed into Sawyer? What if I walked my moped over, filled up the gas tank, started driving down the road, and then collided with a moped, tuk-tuk, car, or human?

I’m unlucky my chin crashed onto the curb, only two inches from the grass. Would I have needed a single stitch if my chin landed on grass? Would I have walked away with mere scrapes? But if so, would I have hopped back on the moped, risking a more severe crash?

So maybe I’m lucky my chin crashed onto the curb.

I’m lucky my two friends were with me. Juliet rushed inside the gas station to get napkins and water. After I found my bearings and stood up on my own, Sawyer rushed me to the closest emergency clinic, Andaman International Clinic. For the next three weeks, Sawyer drove us around the island.

I’m unlucky my friends traveled to Koh Lanta with me. They learned about my trip while we were on Koh Phangan with a group of friends we met in Chiang Mai. If they didn’t travel to Koh Lanta, I likely wouldn’t have rented a moped. But this means my time on Koh Lanta would have been drastically different, opening the door to something worse.

So maybe I’m lucky they traveled with me.

I’m unlucky that Sawyer, who had twenty years of experience driving mopeds and motorbikes, taught Juliet and me always to rest at least two fingers on the brakes. In this video and this video, both drivers have their fingers off the brakes when throttling. Throttling while braking caused me to crash. If I hadn’t rested my fingers on the brakes, I might have lifted my fingers off the throttle to pull on the brake and avoid the crash.

I’m lucky the doctor spoke fluent English and decided to operate on me. Initially, due to the infection risk from the wound inside my mouth (which required 6 of the 24 stitches), he recommended they drive me an hour away to a larger hospital in Krabi. It never got infected. The only complication was more blood pooling from the bottom of my chin after they pulled stitches out too early, which required four more stitches.

In the end, I’m lucky. I’m here. I’m breathing. I’m thinking.

And so are you.

Just be.

Below are more pictures from Koh Lanta taken by me. Click to make them bigger.

#Lucky #Travel