Thailand's Supreme Court has ordered a bus driver to serve two years in prison without suspension over the death of a second-year Khon Kaen University medical student in a 2022 collision on campus.
The ruling was read at Khon Kaen Provincial Court on 6 August. The court initially imposed a four-year prison term on the defendant, before reducing it to two years.
Arunnapa Wattapanich, known as Eye, died after a Faculty of Nursing bus struck her motorcycle inside Khon Kaen University in August 2022.
Her mother, Nitaya Rungsathit, and the family's lawyer, Rujiwat Sirawongwichan, attended the hearing. Reading of the Supreme Court judgment took about 40 minutes.
Family calls for road-safety lesson
Nitaya said that, four years after losing her daughter in what she described as an accident caused by negligence, her family had sought more than a court verdict.
She said they wanted the case to serve as a lesson for society, encouraging all road users to understand the consequences of carelessness before another loss occurs.
"The sorrow has been there since the day of the incident," she said. "But throughout the case, what we intended was for society to see that accidents caused by negligence do not create losses only for victims. They also affect those responsible and every family's relatives."
She added: "If people are afraid before an incident happens, accidents will decrease. If Eye's life can help reduce injuries and deaths for others, that would be worthwhile."
Civil claim has not yet concluded
A separate civil case is still pending. Eye's parents sued Khon Kaen University, the defendant and the defendant’s employer, seeking 50 million baht in damages.
The Appeal Court ruled that the university must pay compensation of 9 million baht to each parent.
That defendant is now seeking permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. If permission is refused, the civil judgment will become final.
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7 August 2026
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