In a car accident

Today I fly to Phuket for over a week of hopefully doing very little.  It all started with an online promo for a 4-star hotel going at NZD99 for 2 pax, 1 week including breakfast and dinners.  The catch is that we need to attend a timeshare presentation for 90 minutes (and it is low/wet season).  We’ve had experience handling these pesky sales pitches.

Kim, coming from New Zealand arrived in the morning whereas I had a leisurely departure after lunchtime from Singapore.  I left for the airport from aunt’s at 0930.  The kiosk for AirAsia was a bit crowded but it was actually quite quick giving me plenty of time in the lounge.

The short flight went quickly and immigration was swift.  I turned right exiting to take a metered taxi into Patong. Then a minor hiccup struck.  The driver made a noise and then a loud thud accompanied a shunting forward motion.  Then I swung back and my head struck the headrest, which was very fortunately properly adjusted for my height.

Stepping out, I realised that the car behind had run into ours, and the car behind it had gone into it as well.  Due to the distance between the third car and the second, I guessed the third car ran into the second which propelled it into ours.

We waited in the traffic island while the ambulance and cops came.  The passenger in the third car had an ankle bandage put on and was taken away.  Not sure how that an ankle injury could happen from such an accident.  The cops came and did their report.  The drivers wai’ed the cop and the cops wai’ed back.  It was all very civil between the three drivers and also with the cops.

All in all, there was a hold-up of about an hour.  Soon after the crash, my driver called for a second taxi to pick me up. Due to the congestion we had created, it took quite a while.  They boot of my car wouldn’t open, trapping my luggage in it.  The driver tried levering it and eventually dismantled the rear seats to access it, achieving it only after my second taxi had arrived.

I got to my hotel thankful that I was safe and also happy to see Kim after a month.  The lesson from today is to ensure that the headrest is always properly adjusted.

We had dinner at our hotel, the Absolute Bangla Suites.  We had bought a voucher which entitled us to 7n including breakfast and dinner for 2 pax, all up for NZD99 (not pp).  It was an awesome deal that came with a catch of having to attend a 90 minute timeshare presentation. The included dinner was 4 courses but a little on the light side, so we wouldn’t feel overfed after all the courses.