A 17-year-old girl was seriously injured after a large pack of stray dogs chased her motorcycle in Nakhon Ratchasima, causing her to crash. She needed about 40 stitches and treatment costs have approached 50,000 baht, her father said on 8 September 2026. The crash happened at about 11pm on 5 September on the road behind Baan Ua-Athorn housing estate, heading towards Methapattana School in Nong Bua Sala subdistrict, Mueang Nakhon Ratchasima district. The girl's father has appealed for authorities to tackle what residents say is a stray-dog population of several hundred animals in the area. Motorcycle crash after late-night chase The teenager, identified only as Pompaem, had been riding home after taking a mobile phone to a friend at Baan Ua-Athorn. Her father, Wutthiphon, 53, said a large group of dogs ran after her motorcycle. She accelerated in an attempt to get away, but the dogs continued following her and she lost control. She suffered injuries to her face, eyebrow, shoulder and legs. She was taken to hospital, where she stayed overnight before being discharged on the evening of 6 September. "She has wounds in several places and required around 40 stitches in total," Wutthiphon said. He said she still had pain in her right eyebrow, face, legs and shoulder, as well as general bruising. Medical costs were about 48,000 baht, with a further 1,300 baht expected for wound dressing, bringing the total to nearly 50,000 baht. Residents call for a lasting response Wutthiphon said dogs regularly chase people using the route and urged relevant agencies to act quickly before somebody suffers a more serious accident. "People need to use this road and should not have to live in fear of being chased by dogs," he said. Pictures courtesy of ThaiRath For foreigners living in or travelling through Thailand, the case is a reminder that stray dogs can present a road-safety risk, particularly to motorcyclists using quieter local streets after dark. The main danger in this case was the crash caused by the chase, rather than a dog bite. Thammakorn, 59, a resident of Hua Thale subdistrict, said the problem had existed for a long time in both Nong Bua Sala and Hua Thale, but numbers had increased steadily. Some dogs were aggressive and regularly chased motorcycles, she said. She stressed that the matter should not become a conflict between residents, dogs and people who feed them. Instead, she called for a systematic solution focused on reducing the stray population. Proposed sterilisation and vaccination programme Residents want livestock officials, local authorities and other agencies to deploy teams to catch dogs that local people cannot handle. They proposed health checks, sterilisation, rabies vaccinations, flea and tick treatment, and proper recovery care before dogs are returned to the same area or rehomed. They also called for efforts to find homes for puppies and control breeding, particularly by sterilising female dogs when they reach a suitable age. AQPafpipdjlFhvlAtHiR8Fs-QcqJZqV1gm-DEnR-wM6yXDhEwxhVKT3GmmAEMe57nG2GdCho6xgYK4UEGeQ2HlYHSJ-s2zL2D04BPV4IpQ.mp4 Join the discussion? 9 September 2026
View full article
Create an account or sign in to comment