Rescue Worker Killed in Head-on Collision, 7 Other Injured

Police have reported a rescue worker was killed and 7 other injured in a head-on collision involving two pickups in northeastern Thailand on Tuesday morning. The head-on collision happened around 9.20 a.m in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.

A Toyota pickup with the driver and five passengers was in route to Bangkok when the driver veered across the road median strip and collided head-on with the oncoming Nissan pickup truck carrying the Por Teck Tung Foundation on its way to Nakhon Ratchasima.

Both vehicles were severely damaged and upended as a result of the collision, with the Toyota pickup was in the middle of the road and the Nissan pickup in found in roadside undergrowth by rescue workers.

Mr. Sakchai Saleemon, 44, the driver of the Por Teck Tung Foundation rescue truck, was killed, and his male passenger was injured.

The driver of the Toyota pickup Mr. Somsak Phanlong, 61 and his 64-year-old passenger were both critically injured. Four other people were treated for minor injuries. The injured were taken to Si Khiu Hospital for treatment.  The accident was being investigated by highway police.

Meanwhile, a bus driver in Bangkok was fined 5,000 baht and his license was suspended after running a red light, causing a crash and injuring 14 people.

According to the Land Transport Department, bus driver Mr. Samran Khamma was fined the maximum amount for reckless driving and his license was suspended for 30 days. He would also be required to attend a three-hour training session on safe driving, and his employer would be required to train his 23 coworkers to be safe drivers.

Mr. Samran was driving the bus from Bang Kapi around 5.30 a.m. on Monday. He did not slow down and then ran a red light at the Ratchada-Lat Phrao intersection. The driver admitted that he did not slow down as he approached the stop sign.

A pickup truck crossing the intersection struck his bus. Four passengers in the pickup were seriously injured. Rescuers had to use a hydraulic jack to pry the vehicle open and free the passengers. The bus’s driver and nine passengers were among those injured.

The bus driver was expected to face police charges as well. Route 8 drivers are notorious for being reckless and prone to accidents.

This has been attributed to their drivers having to compete for passengers on their Happy Land-Memorial Bridge route, which connects Bangkok’s eastern outskirts to the city centre. Over several years, buses on the route received the lowest service quality ratings.

Collision Statistics Thailand

As deaths from road accidents in Thailand continue to rise the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) has urged Thai authorities to explore appropriate measures to create better road safety.

WHO’s report on global road safety has found that in Thailand, the number of road fatalities reached about 22, 000 persons per year, or an average of 60 deaths a day, which has now stood first in Asia, surpassing Vietnam and Malaysia.

The majority of the death was youngsters aged between 15-29 and most of them were motorcyclists.

WHO suggested that the Thai authorities concentrate more on building more road safety measures for young motorcyclists. A “lead agency” responsible for resolving the problem should be established urgently.