Pictures courtesy of Khaosod.

 

A road crash in Surat Thani has claimed the lives of a mother and two of her young children after a motorcycle carrying the family was struck from behind by a Mercedes-Benz while attempting a U-turn on Highway 401 in the Kanchanadit district.

 

The crash occurred at around 07:45 on 21 July, near Moo 5 in the Tha Uthae subdistrict, a known crash blackspot. Ms Orauma, aged 38, was reportedly taking her three children to school on a red Suzuki motorcycle when a silver Mercedes-Benz C200 coupe collided with the rear of the bike at high speed.

 

Ms Orauma and her eldest daughter, aged 7, were pronounced dead at the scene. Two younger children, a boy aged 1 and a girl aged 2, sustained critical injuries and were rushed to Kanchanadit Hospital before being transferred to Surat Thani Hospital for urgent treatment.

 

Despite efforts by the medical team, the one-year-old boy succumbed to his injuries at approximately 15:00. The two-year-old girl remains in intensive care with life-threatening injuries.

 

Police confirmed that the driver of the Mercedes, a 34-year-old female lawyer from Surat Thani, remained at the scene and is cooperating with investigators. Preliminary testing showed no trace of alcohol and she has since been taken in for further questioning. Her vehicle sustained front-end damage  to the right side, including a smashed windscreen.

 

Initial findings suggest the family were struck while Ms Orauma was making a legal U-turn to drop her eldest daughter off at school, located not far from the crash site. Officers noted that the turning point where the collision occurred has been the site of multiple previous collisions.

 

Authorities are now examining CCTV footage and forensic evidence from both vehicles to determine the precise cause of the crash. Police have not yet confirmed whether charges will be brought, but investigations are ongoing.

 

 

  Adapted by Asean Now from Khoasod 2025-07-22

 

 

 

Such a terrible tragedy!

A lot of Thais rely on motorcycle to carry children to school, yes it is dangerous, but they dont have other means to do it. Car drivers should always be careful with poor motorcycles. 

This C200 must have been going fast, and could have avoided it. 

I see many driver drive to avoid motorcycle, while others dont really care and just drive their cars in their high horses. 

17 minutes ago, brfsa2 said:

This C200 must have been going fast, and could have avoided it. 

I see many driver drive to avoid motorcycle, while others dont really care and just drive their cars in their high horses. 

 

This appears to be a relatively straightforward stretch of road... of course, we don’t yet know exactly what transpired.

 

However, if the Mercedes was maintaining the same speed as surrounding traffic and the motorcyclist pulled out in front of it, the driver may have had very little opportunity to react.

 

We’ve all seen countless clips of motorcyclists – and drivers – darting into oncoming traffic as if completely unaware of it. It makes you wonder if this was just another tragic lapse in attention.

 

This is precisely why I use dash cams. Drive here long enough, and it’s almost inevitable that a motorcyclist will pull out on you with no chance of avoiding a collision. On a near-daily basis, I find myself having to make subtle but deliberate evasive manoeuvres to avoid bikers cutting into non-existent gaps, failing to look properly, or overtaking head-on with no hope of clearing the space unless I brake to let them through.

 

 

This is another tragic example of a completely unnecessary loss of life - but I can't imagine how a car 'driving along' the road is at fault for impacting a motorcycle performing an illegal u-turn.... that said, even the legal U-Turns on such roads are utterly lethal... 

 

 

 

 

30 minutes ago, brfsa2 said:

A lot of Thais rely on motorcycle to carry children to school, yes it is dangerous, but they dont have other means to do it.

 

News flash.

 

Thais went to school before they had motorcycles. 

 

There are always other means. Take your head out of the sand. 

 

 

Those bloody U turns are death traps.