A 23-year-old woman has died after her motorcycle left the road and plunged into a deep roadside drainage ditch at a traffic-light junction in Krabi town during heavy rain.
Police said CCTV footage showed no other vehicle collided with or forced the rider off the road. Her body was found in the ditch on Friday morning, 24 July, several hours after the crash.
The incident occurred at the Kongthun traffic-light three-way junction on Uttarakit Road, in front of the Krabi Pitak Pracha Foundation rescue centre in Pak Nam, Mueang Krabi district.
Police from Mueang Krabi Police Station, a duty doctor from Krabi Hospital and rescue workers attended after members of the public reported finding a body in the roadside drainage channel.
Motorcycle found at bottom of two-metre ditch
The concrete drain was about two metres deep. At its base, officers found a black Honda Wave motorcycle with Krabi registration plates lying on its side.
The woman was found face down against the motorcycle. Identity documents in her shoulder bag identified her as Kannika, 23, from Moo 5, Koh Lanta Noi subdistrict, Koh Lanta district, Krabi province.
She had a serious wound to the left side of her forehead. A preliminary examination indicated that she had been dead for at least four to five hours.
A nearby shop owner said they spotted the motorcycle in the ditch while arriving to open the shop in the morning. On approaching it, they saw the body and alerted rescue workers and police.
CCTV records crash at 3.53am
A rescue worker based at the centre opposite the scene said he heard a loud crash from the roadside shortly after 3am and went out to look. However, poor lighting, the depth of the ditch and heavy rain meant he could not see that a vehicle and rider had fallen in.
CCTV at the junction later recorded Kannika's motorcycle travelling straight out of the traffic-light intersection at 3.53am before she lost control and went directly into the roadside drain.
Police said the footage confirmed that no other vehicle struck or crowded the motorcycle off the road.
Investigators believe Kannika may have been returning to her accommodation after work at a nightlife venue or other late-night business in Krabi town. They believe rain, a slippery road surface and very poor visibility may have caused her to lose control, crash in the drain, strike her head, lose consciousness and drown.
Rescue workers took the body to Krabi Hospital for a detailed examination. Police will contact her relatives so they can collect her body for funeral rites.
Picture courtesy of Naewna
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25 July 2026
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