Photo via Facebook/ เรารักด่านตรวจ

 

By Petch Petpailin

 

A Thai motorcyclist struck a South Korean pedestrian at a zebra crossing on a Bangkok road on Thursday, 23 January. The incident occurred at the same location as a case in 2022 when a Thai ophthalmologist was fatally struck by a motorcycle.

 

The Facebook page เรารักด่านตรวจ (translating to “We Love Police Checkpoints”) shared dashcam footage of the accident on Phaya Thai Road to its followers on Sunday, January 26. The caption read, “The same spot where the eye doctor was hit. Red light means nothing.”

 

The video showed other vehicles slowing down and stopping at the red light to allow pedestrians to cross, but the motorcyclist failed to stop and struck one of the pedestrians. The victim was later identified as a South Korean national, but his name has not been disclosed to the public.

 

According to KomChadLuek, the 68 year old South Korean man sustained a head injury and was rushed to Phaya Thai Hospital following the accident. He was reportedly discharged from the hospital on the same day and has since returned to his home country.

 

One of the most widely publicised fatal road accidents occurred at this zebra crossing on January 21, 2022, when a Thai police officer collided with ophthalmologist Dr Waraluck “Kratai” Supawatjariyakul while she was crossing the road.

 

 

A memorial ceremony marking the doctor’s death had just been held at the same location on Tuesday, January 21, only a few days before the recent incident.

 

The motorcyclist, identified as Kwanchai, is set to be summoned for questioning at Phaya Thai Police Station today, January 28. He sustained minor injuries in the accident, and tests confirmed he had no alcohol in his system.

 

Kwanchai has initially been charged under Sections 22 and 43(4) of the Land Transport Act for failing to obey traffic signals and reckless driving causing injury. The penalty for these offences is a fine of up to 1,000 baht.

 

He may also face penalties under Section 390 of the Criminal Law for reckless driving causing injury, which carries a maximum sentence of one month in prison, a fine of up to 10,000 baht, or both.

 

Kwanchai’s wife publicly apologised to the South Korean victim and the public, explaining that her husband was unfamiliar with the route and failed to notice the traffic light. She added that it was his first time riding on Phaya Thai Road, and the motorcycle belonged to a relative. She added that the vehicle was uninsured.

 

 

Source: The Thaiger

-- 2025-01-28

 

 

Uninsured? Confiscate, no excuses. There must be millions of uninsured riders in Thailand.

Crossing the street in Thailand is one of the most dangerous adventures you can have.

Imagine Thai police would enforce existing Thai traffic laws.

But that is obviously one of those crazy farang dreams. Why should this ever happen in Thailand?

The only surprising thing is that they stopped. 

What are these red and white stripes on the roads?? decorations? Nobody gets a proper driving education so nobody will stop. I think 40 years ago in my country they said already that it is safer to cross the road in Thailand not over a zebra crossing but on another part of the road.. In 40 years nothing changed apparently, but if you want change things you have to go forward and Thailand stands still on all fronts although they want to be the hub of everything

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Imagine Thai police would enforce existing Thai traffic laws.

They do...that the rider is being prosecuted means that they are enforcing traffic laws.

MalcomB is going to going to soil is g-string at this one.... 

 

....  Do people not look when crossing the road ?????....... 

 

Really - in a country with such a terrible road safety record as Thailand, but not that, in ANY country, how can people walk out across the road and not look to see if anything is coming so they don't get mowed down by a speeding idiot ?.... (rhetorical)... 

 

This is a terrible testament to the disregard many motorists have for pedestrians across the nation, but also a terrible testament for the disregard many folk have for their own personal safety.... 

 

 

BUT - I do wonder how some Thai apologist fool (mentioned above) will attempt to polish this into a Thai was not wrong, farang always at wrong form of delusional rhetoric..... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Imagine Thai police would enforce existing Thai traffic laws.

They do...that the rider is being prosecuted means that they are enforcing traffic laws.

 

WRONG......  'they' [the police] are not 'enforcing traffic laws'...  they are penalising those unfortunate enough to have been involved in an incident when habitually breaking traffic laws... 

 

....  there's a difference and that difference is one of the reasons Thailands road stats are so damning.

 

 

13 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

They do...that the rider is being prosecuted means that they are enforcing traffic laws.

How often do you see drivers and riders ignoring zebra crossings and red lights in Thailand? I see it every day, often hundreds of times i.e. red lights ignored by 20 or more bikes at a time at Sukhumvit Asoke junction, about every minute. And the police house is directly at that junction. 

21 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

How often do you see drivers and riders ignoring zebra crossings and red lights in Thailand? I see it every day, often hundreds of times i.e. red lights ignored by 20 or more bikes at a time at Sukhumvit Asoke junction, about every minute. And the police house is directly at that junction. 

 

Yup....  They're there 'enforcing the law'....   Watching them jump the red lights... thinking thats it... I saw you do that, I'm enforcing things here...  see, another one just jumped the light... I'm enforcing things again, I saw him to that....    

 

 

43 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

49 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

4 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Imagine Thai police would enforce existing Thai traffic laws.

They do...that the rider is being prosecuted means that they are enforcing traffic laws.

 

WRONG......  'they' [the police] are not 'enforcing traffic laws'...  they are penalising those unfortunate enough to have been involved in an incident when habitually breaking traffic laws... 

That is called enforcing the law!

"Kwanchai’s wife publicly apologised to the South Korean victim and the public, explaining that her husband was unfamiliar with the route and failed to notice the traffic light."

 

Of course that's how it happened, and he also failed to notice the other traffic stopped at the crossing.

12 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

That is called enforcing the law!

 

Only after it's too late, and someone is hurt, killed, or maimed.

15 minutes ago, lordgrinz said:

12 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

That is called enforcing the law!

 

Only after it's too late, and someone is hurt, killed, or maimed.

What other way can the law be enforced?   Until there is an offence there can be no enforcement of that law unless the police have crystal balls and can see future events happening.   

1 minute ago, Liverpool Lou said:

What other way can the law be enforced?   Until there is an offence there can be no enforcement of that law unless the police have crystal balls and can see future events happening.   

 

I don't know, maybe active enforcement, that way we don't see illegal stop-sign/redlight runners happening every few minutes. They do it because nobody is stopping them, then it becomes normal behavior, then people get hurt, killed, or maimed. Everything, including the blood of the innocent is on the RTP.

3 minutes ago, lordgrinz said:

7 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

What other way can the law be enforced?   Until there is an offence there can be no enforcement of that law unless the police have crystal balls and can see future events happening.   

 

I don't know, maybe active enforcement, that way we don't see illegal stop-sign/redlight runners happening every few minutes.

The charging of the rider in the OP-reported incident by was active law enforcement.  He was charged while thousands of road users who did not commit that offence were, obviously, not charged.

2 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

The charging of the rider in the OP-reported incident by was active law enforcement.  He was charged while thousands of road users who did not commit that offence were, obviously, not charged.

 

Thousands are flying through red lights at RTP actively-monitored intersections, never have I ever seen them pulled over, let alone charged, only happens after the inevitable accident. Again, they need active enforcement, not simply wait for someone to get hurt or killed before they do something.

18 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Kwanchai has initially been charged under Sections 22 and 43(4) of the Land Transport Act for failing to obey traffic signals and reckless driving causing injury. The penalty for these offences is a fine of up to 1,000 baht.

 

What a joke of a penalty 😔

Just another bowling pin down.  I am surprised he even stopped.

Question ...why do Thai motorsy rush through zebra crossings ,sometimes even when people are still crossing ?

19 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

A Thai motorcyclist struck a South Korean pedestrian at a zebra crossing on a Bangkok road on Thursday, 23 January. The incident occurred at the same location as a case in 2022 when a Thai ophthalmologist was fatally struck by a motorcycle.

Nothings changed then, no lessons learnt

6 minutes ago, Jim Blue said:

Question ...why do Thai motorsy rush through zebra crossings ,sometimes even when people are still crossing ?

Ignorance

7 minutes ago, Jim Blue said:

Question ...why do Thai motorsy rush through zebra crossings ,sometimes even when people are still crossing ?

Thai's believe in the Caste System, and people in Zebra crossings are on the lowest level

Not stopping for red, you see it every day, beasts they are.

15 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

What are these red and white stripes on the roads?? decorations? Nobody gets a proper driving education so nobody will stop. I think 40 years ago in my country they said already that it is safer to cross the road in Thailand not over a zebra crossing but on another part of the road.. In 40 years nothing changed apparently, but if you want change things you have to go forward and Thailand stands still on all fronts although they want to be the hub of everything

They think that if they stand still long enough they have a better chance of being a 'Hub', or they may even get painted !

15 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

They do...that the rider is being prosecuted means that they are enforcing traffic laws.

..Police should also charge the following rider with contravening the red light; he had to lock up as he was about to collide with the woman...geez!

2 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

What other way can the law be enforced?   Until there is an offence there can be no enforcement of that law unless the police have crystal balls and can see future events happening.   

Proactively….

 

You’re being deliberately obtuse with this.

 

Thai road policing is solely reactive after an incident - they don’t enforce the laws until an accident happens 

12 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Proactively….

 

You’re being deliberately obtuse with this.

 

Thai road policing is solely reactive after an incident - they don’t enforce the laws until an accident happens 

Of course he's being obtuse, he's an argumentative Scouser, I pity Mrs Liverpool Lou, if there is actually one, poor women, probably she's deaf!

26 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

 

You’re being deliberately obtuse with this.

 

 

Isn't he with most comments?