The crash early in the morning , claimed the lives of two 14-year-old girls when a drunk driver in a pickup truck, driving the wrong way, collided head-on with their motorcycle. The incident took place on Bang Kruai-Sai Noi Road near Nakorn Thong Park View Village, Nonthaburi. The girls, both second-year students at a local high school, were pronounced dead at the scene.

 

Police from Bang Bua Thong Station were called to the scene around 05.00 on October 5. Accompanying them were emergency responders from the Poh Teck Tung Foundation and doctors from the Institute of Forensic Science.

 

 

The victims, identified as Miss A and Miss B, were thrown from their motorcycle upon impact. The motorcycle, a Honda Wave, was found about 30 metres away, heavily damaged. The pickup truck involved, a Toyota Vigo, was discovered nearby, its front damaged. It had been driving against traffic at high speed.

 

Mr. Noppadol (surname withheld), 18, a friend of the victims, stated that the girls had run out of fuel and had called him to help push their motorcycle home. On the way, they found a fuel vending machine and refueled, riding alongside each other afterward. As they neared the scene, they encountered the pickup truck heading toward them in the wrong direction.

 

“I shouted for them to watch out,” Noppadol recalled. “I managed to swerve, but the truck hit them head-on before they could react.”

 

Adding to the tragedy, Noppadol reported hearing the driver of the truck, Mr. Sitthichai (surname withheld), 35, say, “Serves them right for driving the wrong way,” shortly after the crash.

 

Sitthichai later claimed he did not remember the details of the crash, stating he had just finished working at a beer event in the Ratchapruek area and had not slept for two days. He admitted to drinking two bottles of beer but was unsure whether he had fallen asleep while driving.

 

A breathalyser test revealed Sitthichai’s blood alcohol level was 119 milligrams per cent, well above the legal limit. He was immediately taken into custody.

 

Police confirmed that Sitthichai will face charges in connection with the incident, while the bodies of the victims have been sent for forensic examination.

 

Picture from responders.

 

-- 2024-10-06

 

 

I can not understand Thai parents who allow their children to ride unlicenced and (usually) without helmets when this country has such a high road toll.  So many drivers here have no understanding of the road laws or a total disregard for them.

 

Two 14 year old girls dead and I blame the parents as much as the drunk driver that hit them.

3 hours ago, dyertribe said:

I can not understand Thai parents who allow their children to ride unlicenced and (usually) without helmets when this country has such a high road toll.  So many drivers here have no understanding of the road laws or a total disregard for them.

 

Two 14 year old girls dead and I blame the parents as much as the drunk driver that hit them.

Why the victim blaming?

Maybe the parents did not know?

The fault here is 100% the drunk driver.

6 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

3 hours ago, dyertribe said:

I can not understand Thai parents who allow their children to ride unlicenced and (usually) without helmets when this country has such a high road toll.  So many drivers here have no understanding of the road laws or a total disregard for them.

 

Two 14 year old girls dead and I blame the parents as much as the drunk driver that hit them.

Why the victim blaming?

Maybe the parents did not know?

The fault here is 100% the drunk driver.

 

Two 14 year old girls, under the legal age to ride a motorcycle. 

 

I won't let my son on the back of my motorcycle, let alone ride one himself - and that unwavering rule will exist for as long as I can impact his decisions. 

 

As you point out the drunk driver is 100% at fault legally, but there are also 'buts'... 

 

To explain the parental responsibility angle I would us the following analogy:

It is ok to allow my 10 year old to use a pedestrian crossing on his own ??...

... the difference is, I'd not be allowing him to do anything illegal, these girls were riding under the legal age to ride a motorcycle. 

 

Thus, as pointed out, I'd consider that the parents are also complicit ?  - thats not victim blaming, thats simply highlighting how poor parenting also contributed to the incident. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why don't they teach road safety and how to ride bikes for the older kids in schools? Far more use than a lot of the nonsense their heads get filled with.

2 minutes ago, proton said:

Why don't they teach road safety and how to ride bikes for the older kids in schools? Far more use than a lot of the nonsense their heads get filled with.

 

 

You would have thought they would have sussed that one out by now, wouldn't you?

3 hours ago, dyertribe said:

I can not understand Thai parents who allow their children to ride unlicenced and (usually) without helmets when this country has such a high road toll.  So many drivers here have no understanding of the road laws or a total disregard for them.

 

Two 14 year old girls dead and I blame the parents as much as the drunk driver that hit them.

 

Partly this stupid belief in karma, when it's your time to go it will be, so what you do has no bearing on it. Basic common sense like helmets and using seat belts is too much for a lot of them to grasp. In all the years I have been here never once seen anyone using seat belts in the rear of cars.

2 minutes ago, proton said:

 

Partly this stupid belief in karma, when it's your time to go it will be, so what you do has no bearing on it. Basic common sense like helmets and using seat belts is too much for a lot of them to grasp. In all the years I have been here never once seen anyone using seat belts in the rear of cars.

True. I had to explain to my thai wife that in usa you buckle your seatbelt to avoid a ticket. In thailand you do it to save your life

41 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Thus, as pointed out, I'd consider that the parents are also complicit ?  - thats not victim blaming, thats simply highlighting how poor parenting also contributed to the incident. 

Not at all. 
The accident was not caused by the girls, they could have been 40 years old and they still would have been ploughed down by the speeding driver going the wrong way.

It could have been you, it could have been me. 
 

Many 14 year old girls are sensible and responsible, unlike the speeding 66 year old Brit who killed himself on the bike in Pattaya last night.

Are you going to blame his parents?

32 minutes ago, mdr224 said:

had to explain to my thai wife that in usa you buckle your seatbelt to avoid a ticket. In thailand you do it to save your life

Right, so you don’t have high speed accidents where a seat belt would have saved lives over in the USA?

 

42,000 road deaths per year there. Not surprising with that attitude. 

1 minute ago, MalcolmB said:

Right, so you don’t have high speed accidents where a seat belt would have saved lives over in the USA?

 

42,000 road deaths per year there. Not surprising with that attitude. 

Comparing thailands road safety with any western country, youre just reaching for something to disagree with

Fine him 1 million Baht (500K each death) and take away his house/farm/truck and anything else he owns - then sentence him to jail for 20 years each death (40 years in total).  THAT is what will stop these arrogant ignorant ar***le male Thais drinking cheap rum and then driving home drunk.  One harsh punishment will save many lives. 

 

I believe about 50% of all vehicles here are bikes/scooter, but they make up 80+% of the deaths. Removing most drunk drivers off the roads would make a huge difference - as would making them all wear helmets.  

1 hour ago, proton said:

Why don't they teach road safety and how to ride bikes for the older kids in schools? Far more use than a lot of the nonsense their heads get filled with.

 

Back in the day in the UK, a lot of effort went into teaching kids and adults the basics of road safety.

At schools and by using public service adverts on TV.

If only for the basics - they were drummed into us time and time again.

Stop, look and listen before you cross.

Look right, look left and look right again.

Keep on looking as you walk across the road.

Rules at zebra and pelican crossings.

Wear something light (white) at night etc etc

The public service adverts even advised about parking, dipped headlights and so on.

But of course, we cannot teach the Thai government anything.

 

Slightly off topic -

1 hour ago, Tropicalevo said:

Why the victim blaming?

Maybe the parents did not know?

The fault here is 100% the drunk driver.

Probably because they were breaking the law driving a m/c while underage and driving the wrong way.

42 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:

Not at all. 
The accident was not caused by the girls, they could have been 40 years old and they still would have been ploughed down by the speeding driver going the wrong way.

It could have been you, it could have been me. 
 

Many 14 year old girls are sensible and responsible, unlike the speeding 66 year old Brit who killed himself on the bike in Pattaya last night.

Are you going to blame his parents?

You have admitted before that you also drive while under the influence.

Don't accidents like this make you think about that?

again we see a drunk driver killing 2 girls, when will Thailand make the police actually get out on the roads 24 hours a day to stop the carnage, the thai police force is totally pathetic at best, they are only interested in scabbing money in fake stops.  You also have to ask what two 14 year old girls were doing out in the early hours of the morning riding around illegally on a motor cycle, way too common in Thailand, parents dont care what their kids do as long as they stay out of their way, just maybe decent parenting in Thailand would stop a lot of the young deaths but police action would certainly be the best thing that could happen, in this case they would have stopped the drunk driver as well as the under age riders

 

8 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Probably because they were breaking the law driving a m/c while underage and driving the wrong way.

They were not driving the wrong way, the pickup was.

 

Maybe you read it the wrong way?

 

Bit rich coming from you. You don’t have the best record riding in Thailand.

8 minutes ago, jvs said:

You have admitted before that you also drive while under the influence.

Don't accidents like this make you think about that?

For sure.

That is why after having a couple you NEVER speed, and you carefully follow all road laws.

 

This driver was speeding and going down the wrong way. Would have caused these deaths even if he had of been sober.

Some people should never drink drive, many are capable and do it nearly daily without causing any problems. 
you have to know your limits. When blind drunk I don’t drink drive, that would be dangerous 

3 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:

They were not driving the wrong way, the pickup was.

 

Maybe you read it the wrong way?

Thai story says girls driving wrong way, translation into English says pickup driving wrong way, take your pick.

Take a look at the photo.

Pick up clearly on the wrong side of the road.

No wonder you struggle.

1 hour ago, MalcolmB said:

Not at all. 
The accident was not caused by the girls, they could have been 40 years old and they still would have been ploughed down by the speeding driver going the wrong way.

It could have been you, it could have been me. 
 

Many 14 year old girls are sensible and responsible, unlike the speeding 66 year old Brit who killed himself on the bike in Pattaya last night.

Are you going to blame his parents?

 

The idiocy of the the response really should not warrant a reply.....

 

You are comparing adults to children - so, no... of course I wouldn't hold a 66 year olds parents responsible for their crash.

 

If my 10 year old son were to get the keys of my motorcycle or car and take it for spin, causing an accident - both my Wife and I are complicit in the wrong doing as we are the legal guardians of the child. The same can be said when he is 14 year old.

 

The same can be said of any parent allowing their children to undertake dangerous activities.

 

 

It also needs to be repeated, before you run away with further dumb comments - the driver is clearly 100% at fault, but the parents are also 'complicit' having failed in their duty of care.

28 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:

They were not driving the wrong way, the pickup was.

 

Maybe you read it the wrong way?

 

Bit rich coming from you. You don’t have the best record riding in Thailand.

 

Another daft comment - BritMans accident was 100% not his fault... 

 

1 hour ago, TroubleandGrumpy said:

Fine him 1 million Baht (500K each death) and take away his house/farm/truck and anything else he owns - then sentence him to jail for 20 years each death (40 years in total).  THAT is what will stop these arrogant ignorant ar***le male Thais drinking cheap rum and then driving home drunk.  One harsh punishment will save many lives.

This is exactly what should happen and made public to deter others. But in reality, he will just bribe his way out of trouble like they all do and then return to his life like nothing ever happened.

48 minutes ago, jvs said:

You have admitted before that you also drive while under the influence.

Don't accidents like this make you think about that?

 

He's delusional, insisting that despite mountains of scientific proof exposing his stupidity, he's somehow special and magically "drives more carefully when drunk." As if the laws and basic human decency don’t apply to him - he's recklessly indifferent to the lives he’s endangering.

 

And in this thread he is also reckless indifferent to parental responsibility. 

Welcome to slaughter the kids week 🤔

1 hour ago, TroubleandGrumpy said:

Fine him 1 million Baht (500K each death) and take away his house/farm/truck and anything else he owns - then sentence him to jail for 20 years each death (40 years in total).  THAT is what will stop these arrogant ignorant ar***le male Thais drinking cheap rum and then driving home drunk.  One harsh punishment will save many lives. 

 

I believe about 50% of all vehicles here are bikes/scooter, but they make up 80+% of the deaths. Removing most drunk drivers off the roads would make a huge difference - as would making them all wear helmets.  

 

Just curious - how did you arrive at the 500,000 baht value of a life ?

 

I do agree with your sentiment - make the penalties for such behavior so severe that it serves as a deterrent, as for now, I see the lack of severity of penalties and ineffective policing actually enabling such reckless driving standards and road behavior. 

1 hour ago, seajae said:

when will Thailand make the police actually get out on the roads 24 hours a day to stop the carnage

When the government provides the police service and individual stations with sufficient budget and equipment only then will the officers be able to get out and do the job so many posters complain about them not doing.

1 hour ago, MalcolmB said:

Would have caused these deaths even if he had of been sober.

That is not factual, you have no way of knowing that.

6 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

When the government provides the police service and individual stations with sufficient budget and equipment only then will the officers be able to get out and do the job so many posters complain about them not doing.

 

Valid point - and it leads to the deeper discussion of taxation and public funds.

 

But, as graft is so systemic, even if police offers receive competetive salaries, will graft ever disappear ?...   

 

I have friends in the Thaii policeforce who make a lot of money from their positions, no 'normal salary' (even to western police salary amounts) could ever achieve that.

1 hour ago, MalcolmB said:

Take a look at the photo.

Pick up clearly on the wrong side of the road.

No wonder you struggle.

The position of the pickup in the photo is likely irrelevant, it could well have been parked there at the side of the road after, and away from, the impact, not to mention the results of kinetic energy -  vehicles rarely stop dead, pointing the same way as before the impact, after an impact at speed.