Accident Police Officer Killed in Patrol Car Crash Amid Heavy Rain in Chiang Mai

[Georgealbert]

 

Picture courtesy of Khaosod.

 

A senior police officer was found dead inside a crashed patrol vehicle after losing control in wet conditions during a rainstorm in Mae Taeng district, Chiang Mai province.

 

The fatal incident occurred at approximately 17:25 on 18 May, when Chiang Mai’s 191 Emergency Response Centre received a report from the Erawan Rescue Unit of an overturned police pickup truck on Chotana Road. The vehicle had been travelling from Ban Thap Duea towards Ban Pang Kwang in Inthakhin subdistrict.

 

Rescue personnel from Mae Taeng Police Station and emergency responders were immediately dispatched to the scene.

 

Upon arrival, they discovered a police-marked Isuzu pickup truck, registration number 46066, overturned beside the road. Inside the vehicle, they found the lifeless body of Police Lieutenant Colonel Somchai Kanchomphu, Deputy Superintendent of Investigations at Hang Chat Police Station, Lampang province. Emergency crews used hydraulic cutting equipment to retrieve his body from the wreckage.

 

Initial reports suggest Lt Col Somchai had been on duty in Chiang Mai and made a brief visit home to see his wife. He was believed to be returning when the crash occurred. Heavy rainfall at the time and a sharp bend in the road likely contributed to the vehicle losing traction and overturning.

 

Police investigators will conduct a full forensic examination to determine the exact cause of the crash.

 

 

  Adapted by Asean Now from Khaosod 2025-05-19.

 

 

 

 

 

[JoePai]

Strange, thought the cops were taught how to drive

[watchcat]

On 5/19/2025 at 5:07 AM, Georgealbert said:

Heavy rainfall at the time and a sharp bend in the road likely contributed to the vehicle losing traction and overturning.

 

Driving too fast had of course nothing to do with it?

[DeaconJohn]

48 minutes ago, watchcat said:

 

Driving too fast had of course nothing to do with it?

That's the obvious conclusion after reading the story.

What is Khaosod supposed to say... that he had an accident while speeding back to his station in CM after a booty-run to the boons?

[impulse]

One would hope that police vehicles would have dash cams that also record the speed.  I have one in my personal vehicle.  Cheap nowadays.  Holds 20+ hours of 2.7K video, then records over itself as the SD chip fills up.

 

[Quentin Zen]

Scary out there.   First you have the motorbikes, usually no helmet and who knows how many people are hanging off, then the pedestrians that almost never look both ways - pet peeves, crazy - and then you have the fast cars, slow cars, drunk drivers, high drivers, farang drivers, trucks, vans, vans with the driver tired, tuk tuks, animals, and then add the weather on top of it and it gets 10x more dangerous.  pretty hilly there, windy roads, maybe a little oil, who knows, BUT I wouldn't be surprised if there's more to it than simply him driving crazy on a road void of traffic.