KAMPHAENG PHET – A catastrophic multi-vehicle crash claimed two lives and left ten passengers injured along a northern provincial highway. Emergency services rushed to the scene after a passenger van violently clipped an Isuzu ten-wheel truck and slammed into a stationary agricultural vehicle.
The tragic incident unfolded near the Tha Sao Kradong U-turn point located in the Ang Thong sub-district of Kamphaeng Phet. Local authorities suspect the passenger van driver fell asleep behind the wheel after enduring an exhausting overnight cross-country journey.
Key Takeaways
- Tragic Toll: Two men died instantly at the scene, while ten passengers suffered injuries, with six requiring urgent hospital care.
- Fatal Sequence: The passenger van clipped a turning ten-wheel lorry before plowing head-on into a local farm vehicle waiting at the U-turn.
- Suspected Cause: Fatigue from a long overnight trip likely caused driver microsleep, despite a brief roadside nap taken minutes before the impact.
Local police investigator Police Captain Aphisek Jinawong from Mueang Kamphaeng Phet Police Station coordinated the initial response alongside forensics teams. Medical responders from Kamphaeng Phet Hospital and rescue volunteers from the Sawang Kamphaeng Phet Thammasathan Foundation quickly deployed hydraulic cutting tools.
Upon arrival, rescuers found the bronze Toyota passenger van completely crushed across its front and right cabin panels. The wreckage remained heavily wedged against an open-air blue farm truck, commonly known across rural Thailand as an ‘E-Taen’ utility vehicle.
Emergency personnel confirmed that the 40-year-old van driver, identified as Theerasak Meesaen from Surat Thani, died pinned behind the steering wheel. A male passenger from Myanmar seated directly behind the driver also suffered fatal injuries and died instantly inside the wreckage.
Survivor Recalls Final Stops Before Impact
A surviving passenger from Myanmar stated that thirteen travelers departed southern Thailand together around noon on the preceding day. The group made regular rest stops, including dropping off one passenger along the route in Ratchaburi province before proceeding north.
Shortly before the crash occurred, the exhausted driver informed passengers that he desperately needed five minutes of sleep along the roadway shoulder. However, shortly after restarting the vehicle and returning to the highway, the van drifted fatally off course without braking.
Eyewitnesses Recount Passenger Van Crash
The 51-year-old farm truck driver, Phaitoon Taengthong, explained that he was waiting patiently in the median U-turn slot. He observed the ten-wheel commercial truck clear the turn, but watched the approaching van drift steadily into the rear corner of the lorry.
The high-speed deflection propelled the van directly into Phaitoon’s vehicle, throwing him against the windshield before thick smoke poured from the mangled engine. Despite minor personal injuries, Phaitoon immediately jumped down to pry open the passenger doors and rescue trapped survivors.
Meanwhile, the 37-year-old lorry driver, Thatthinai Waithi, affirmed that his vehicle had already completed the turning maneuver toward a local sugar mill. Highway investigators continue reviewing road camera footage to finalize the inquiry, highlighting driver fatigue as an urgent public safety concern.
