Thailand Road Carnage: One motorcyclist dead, 3 injured as Bangkok cabby goes through red light

[webfact]

Picture: Thai Rath

 

Thai Rath reported on a collision between a yellow and green taxi and two motorcycles at an intersection at Suvarnabhumi Airport just after midnight this morning that left a pillion  passenger dead and three others injured.

 

It happened at the Bus Terminal Intersection of Sai 3 and 2. 

 

Airport police found the taxi with a badly damaged front that was driven by 55 year old Panwat Thanakamonrak.

 

Two motorcycles were on their sides.

 

The first a Yamaha Grand Filano with Naratiwat plates had damage to the rear. Its driver Nihafisa Nimu from Narathiwat, 25, was injured.

 

Pillion passenger Thananya Phuttasupha, 22, from Songkhla was lying dead in a pool of blood with a fractured skull.

 

The second vehicle was a Honda Skoopy also with rear damage.

 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

Along with the other injured motorcyclist, its rider and passenger Bunmee Khunkham, 24, and Busakorn Janthakit, 25, were taken injured to Chularat 9 Airport Hospital. 

 

Another taxi driver, Krissana, Chainuch, 29, said he had been waiting on red at the lights.

 

When he got the green light he proceeded to the center of the intersection before he saw the other taxi coming at speed and hit the motorcycles that were still waiting to go forward.

 

He said the other taxi went through a red light.

 

He suffered only minor damage as he managed to brake in time. 

 

The deceased victim was taken to Ramathibodi Chakri Naruebodindra Hospital for autopsy as police investigations began. 

 

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[Dmaxdan]

So the taxi driver who ran the red light will now be facing the absolutely catastrophic punishment of having a couple of points deducted from his license?

 

 

[spidermike007]

Charge the taxi creep with manslaughter, convict him and ship him off to prison. It would send a message. Killing is not allowed on the road. Stop the killing! 

[Stevemercer]

I must admit my biggest gripe with Thai traffic is the frequency with which drivers go through red lights. I always look carefully before proceeding on green, but sometimes I'm tempted to move out a little to try and scare a driver who is obviously not going to stop before the lights change.

[gerritkaew]

Yes, the driver who killed the jung guy must face charges by sent him to jail for murder.

At least 4 or 5 years...

 

[Wiggy]

Unfortunately this is normal (Thai) operating procedure. 

[4MyEgo]

My daughter's giggle every single day when I drive them to school, me cursing Som Chai and his brothers as I drive along.

 

My youngest one once said to me, wow Dad, Som Chai has a lot f brothers, the girls chuckling amongst themselves.

 

They now say, hey Som Chai when someone does something stupid on the road, they get it.

 

 

[steven100]

so the taxi ran a red light and killed a 22 yr old pillion on a motorcycle .....

I suspect he'll be severely punished .... he'll probably be suspended from driving for 2 weeks and a fine of 2,000 baht. 

 

RIP poor 22yr old guy.

 

 

[Burma Bill]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

a fractured skull

Sadly, no crash helmet?? RIP young pillion passenger.

[biggles45]

Not too sure that a Thai helmet would protect you from a hit from a speeding car. Tho I didn't read that she wasn't wearing one! 

[steven100]

 yes .... very tragic story indeed. The poor boy loses his life because of a <deleted> taxi driver, i sure as hell hope they throw the book at him ....  sadly, I won't hold my breath  !

 

22yrs old and ended in an instant.

RIP.

[richard_smith237]

46 minutes ago, Burma Bill said:

4 hours ago, webfact said:

a fractured skull

Sadly, no crash helmet?? RIP young pillion passenger.

Indeed... not wanting to victim blame here... but those who do not wear helmets are surely complicit in their own demise when the worst happens. 

 

Obviously, the taxi driver should face stiff penalties.... but, as we all know... He didn’t mean to do it, so his failure to drive safely will be penalised with minimal impact...   

 

An abominable state of affairs really.

[sikishrory]

1 hour ago, Stevemercer said:

I must admit my biggest gripe with Thai traffic is the frequency with which drivers go through red lights. I always look carefully before proceeding on green, but sometimes I'm tempted to move out a little to try and scare a driver who is obviously not going to stop before the lights change.

Apparently if u honk your horn to let others know your running the red it is ok

[bbbbooboo]

hmmm... ride a motorcycle anywhere in Thailand at your peril. Drive a motorcar anywhere in Thailand, also at your peril. Don't believe me, then just watch the DAILY death statistics for Thailand. And watch what the authorities do about it (year after year) .... nothing. TIT

[Mad mick]

Well he's one brave cabby stood up for the innocent told the truth what he saw ???? ????,  this be very interesting case to follow up on ! ???????????? Talks ! B s walks ????‍♂️ 

Edited January 28, 2023 by Mad mick

[Tropposurfer]

Manslaughter a few decades in jail ... but that aint' gunna happen is it?!

[richard_smith237]

26 minutes ago, bbbbooboo said:

hmmm... ride a motorcycle anywhere in Thailand at your peril. Drive a motorcar anywhere in Thailand, also at your peril. Don't believe me, then just watch the DAILY death statistics for Thailand. And watch what the authorities do about it (year after year) .... nothing. TIT

The statistics are damning, but they need to be considered with intelligent balance. 

 

Firstly I’ll deal with 4 wheeled vehicles and up...

Thailand has approx 25,000 road deaths per year, 76% are motorcyclists. 

Thus: 6000 motorists die each year on Thailands roads. 

Thailand’s population: 71.6 million

= 8.37 Motor vehicle deaths per 100,000 of population per year. 

 

According to Wikipedia:

Thailands total is 32.7 road fatalities 100,000 of population per year. (minus 76% for motorcycles)

= 7.85  vehicle deaths per 100,000 of population per year (4 wheels or more)

 

The USA figure:

Thailands total is 12.89 road fatalities 100,000 of population per year. (minus 14% for motorcycles)

= 11.08  vehicle deaths per 100,000 of population per year (4 wheels or more)

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate

 

The US has a higher road fatality rate for 4 wheels or more. 

 

-------------------

 

Dealing only with motorcyclists in Thailand.....

 

76% of road fatalities are motorcycles... 

How many were....

- Not wearing a helmet

- Drunk

- Speeding

- Not riding defensively

- Untrained

- Riding at night

- taking unnecessary risk

 

When we remove many of the above facets to asses our own risk profile with can recognise that the vast proportion of that 76% of road fatalities does not apply to us - the figure is a much much less when the ’stupid stuff’ is taken out of the equation. 

 

Thats not to suggest risk is eliminated, of course motorcycling is more dangerous than driving a car. The point I want to raise here is that Thailands damning statistics are ‘aggregate’ and not representative of the individual risk profile many of us who do ride fall within. 

 

 

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

So the taxi driver who ran the red light will now be facing the absolutely catastrophic punishment of having a couple of points deducted from his license?

 

 

Pitiful country that can't get it's act together.

[hotchilli]

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Charge the taxi creep with manslaughter, convict him and ship him off to prison. It would send a message. Killing is not allowed on the road. Stop the killing! 

Well said.. anyone who goes through a red light and kills should be tried for manslaughter.

[gravity101]

41 minutes ago, Tropposurfer said:

Manslaughter a few decades in jail ... but that aint' gunna happen is it?!

The statute here allows for 3 to 15 for vehicular manslaughter + fines. (Section 290) Accidental or otherwise, drunk or otherwise. The problem in this country is that it can be commuted to probation by the courts (or no charges brought at all) if adequate compensation is paid (to the victims families satisfaction) either at the time of accident or during the court process afterwards if the perp was silly enough not to pay compensation quickly. This is why its so unjust here, money legally solves the problem of a custodial sentence in instances of manslaughter. It's sickening but reality.

[NoDisplayName]

6 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

So the taxi driver who ran the red light will now be facing the absolutely catastrophic punishment of having a couple of points deducted from his license?

 

 

It could be worse.

Much worse.

If he'd been caught smoking in public, he'd face a 5000 baht fine.

That's so much more than 500 baht and a fruit basket.

[KhaoYai]

Having been knocked off a motorbike taxi in Bangkok 12 years ago, hospitalised with injuries that necessitated 6 weeks off work, I am very aware of the dangers on Thai roads.

 

In my case it was a taxi pulling out of a side road, not running lights but its the same - total disregard for both the law and any form of sensible driving.

 

I've listened to 21 years of announcements, promises of increased penalties and all the other <deleted> that comes out of the Thai authorities each time a serious incident happens and come to the conclusion that nothing will ever change. Life doesn't seem to matter.

 

There's a set of lights near my home in Thailand where accidents used to be a regularly occurrence because of traffic on a major road running red lights at high speed. The authorities answer has been to remove the traffic lights and install a u-turn!

 

The junction is a T where a minor but busy road meets a main road.  Most traffic coming out of the minor road was turning right towqrds a nearby town - now we have to turn left and u-turn.  Traffic wishing to enter the minor road also have to go past and u-turn. So a set of 'dangerous' lights has been replaced by 2 u-turns - which of course are totally safe.........not!!

 

Yes, I've seen drivers run red lights in the UK but I can honestly say I've never seen anyone run them 10 - 20 seconds after they've changed.

 

Just get off your fat ars*&%s, catch the offenders and punish them - punish them properly. Far too much work for the Thai police - especially after 5pm! Nothing will ever change.

 

Nothing will ever change, no matter how many people die.

Edited January 28, 2023 by KhaoYai

[Reigntax]

3 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Indeed... not wanting to victim blame here... but those who do not wear helmets are surely complicit in their own demise when the worst happens. 

 

Obviously, the taxi driver should face stiff penalties.... but, as we all know... He didn’t mean to do it, so his failure to drive safely will be penalised with minimal impact...   

 

An abominable state of affairs really.

If you go through a red light the only result is that sometimes you are going to hit another vehicle and in this case kill someone.

Im sure, just like many other Thai drivers that run red lights every time they can. In that case it’s intentional. It’s no accident.

Edited January 28, 2023 by Reigntax

[Sig]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

The statistics are damning, but they need to be considered with intelligent balance. 

 

Firstly I’ll deal with 4 wheeled vehicles and up...

Thailand has approx 25,000 road deaths per year, 76% are motorcyclists. 

Thus: 6000 motorists die each year on Thailands roads. 

Thailand’s population: 71.6 million

= 8.37 Motor vehicle deaths per 100,000 of population per year. 

 

According to Wikipedia:

Thailands total is 32.7 road fatalities 100,000 of population per year. (minus 76% for motorcycles)

= 7.85  vehicle deaths per 100,000 of population per year (4 wheels or more)

 

The USA figure:

Thailands total is 12.89 road fatalities 100,000 of population per year. (minus 14% for motorcycles)

= 11.08  vehicle deaths per 100,000 of population per year (4 wheels or more)

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate

 

The US has a higher road fatality rate for 4 wheels or more. 

 

-------------------

 

Dealing only with motorcyclists in Thailand.....

 

76% of road fatalities are motorcycles... 

How many were....

- Not wearing a helmet

- Drunk

- Speeding

- Not riding defensively

- Untrained

- Riding at night

- taking unnecessary risk

 

When we remove many of the above facets to asses our own risk profile with can recognise that the vast proportion of that 76% of road fatalities does not apply to us - the figure is a much much less when the ’stupid stuff’ is taken out of the equation. 

 

Thats not to suggest risk is eliminated, of course motorcycling is more dangerous than driving a car. The point I want to raise here is that Thailands damning statistics are ‘aggregate’ and not representative of the individual risk profile many of us who do ride fall within. 

 

 

Statistics can be a funny thing, showing things that reflect differently than one might think. I don't know well enough to know how it all works out, but I have a feeling that even though the vehicle deaths per 100k population apparently show higher in the USA than Thailand (when limited for only automobiles), if statistics were calculated with different parameters, it may reveal why Thailand regularly is counted among the top 10 most dangerous places in the world to be on the roads. The USA isn't in the top 10 safest, as far as I know, but I highly doubt it is very near being in the top 10 most dangerous, even though from what you showed, it would appear that it should be (Although limiting the stat to only automobiles throws a curve into things. I guess you could also throw into the mix comparing fatalities on city streets and rural highways. Rural highways are where over 50% of fatal accidents occur in the USA.). And among the different States, the statistics vary dramatically. With similar numbers of millions of miles driven compared between States, some States have anywhere from double to quadruple! the number of fatalities per 100k people than other States. On the other hand, from what I understand, Scandinavian countries and the UK are comparatively very safe places to drive.
I don't know how all of that would work out statistically or what place one would have a higher probability of being in a fatal accident with all variants taken into account (which is pretty much impossible as far as I can tell), but from my subjective viewpoint, it seems quite clearly more dangerous on the roads in Thailand than the USA or European countries. I so very frequently feel like I've dodged a bullet on Thai streets, but have rarely felt that in most other countries I've driven in.
 

[gamb00ler]

According to Global Road Safety organization the split between motorcycle and car deaths in Thailand is quite close to 60% and 40%.

 

https://www.roadsafetyfacility.org/country/thailand

 

That would mean the rate of death in car related accidents for Thailand would be .4 X 32.7 = 13.08 per 100,000.

But there are 89,000 cars per US 100,000 of population vs 54,000 in Thailand.

I would think that the average speed of US drivers is much higher than in Thailand which would make the percentage of fatal accidents higher as well.

[spidermike007]

15 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

Sadly, no crash helmet?? RIP young pillion passenger.

Helmets help, if they are good quality. No doubt about that. But when you are standing still, and some maniac rams into you at high speed, all bets are off. Remember Sonny Bono? He ran into a tree skiing with a good ski helmet on. Died of a broken neck. 

 

We should do what we can to protect ourselves and our heads, with the best helmet we can afford. The skull is quite fragile. I for one, have enough problems without an injury to my head, which if survived, could change the course of our remaining years. 

Edited January 28, 2023 by spidermike007

[digger70]

RIP young people. 

I am afraid that's nothing new ,this happens at every traffic light no matter were you go. 

this isn't going to stop unless the big kahuna grows a pair and get serious about  the lives of people and make the cops do their jobs 24/7 no Excuses.

There's no excuse for this, other countries can make people obey the laws.

[The Old Bull]

19 hours ago, Stevemercer said:

I must admit my biggest gripe with Thai traffic is the frequency with which drivers go through red lights. I always look carefully before proceeding on green, but sometimes I'm tempted to move out a little to try and scare a driver who is obviously not going to stop before the lights change.

You know you are in Thailand if you run a red light and look in the mirror and see three cars come through behind you.

[Henryford]

I am always anxious when i approach a set of lights and they change to yellow. I start to slow and prepare to stop but wary that a car behind will just speed up and rear end me. Quite often i will stop at the lights and a car will zoom by me on the left on red.

[BananaStrong]

BEFORE you comment....

 

1.  Do you own a motorbike/scooter/etc....?  YES?   

2.  Have you even been on a motorbike in Thailand?  YES?

 

If everyone had cars, these deaths would be much less.

 

Ban motorcycles in Thailand!!!  Charge farangs 100,000 more and buy Thais cars!!!!

 

A motorbike is a coffin.    YES, you might die and it's not your "fault," but you are way more 

safe in a car.

 

a good helmet is only a slight help........

 

even in super poor places in Mexico, everyone has a car.  

 

It's no wonder that Thailand is known as “the land of 100 million scooters.”