Two drunks in a truck, four metres up

PRA PRADAENG: -- Two men escaped with minor injuries early yesterday in a bizarre accident that left their truck perched on electrical wires metres above the roadway in Phra Pradaeng district.

At 3am, police found Damrong Khamthiam, an electrician foreman, and co-worker Chadjen Pongroen, intoxicated and slightly injured in a wrecked truck, said Lt-Colonel Ome Antrasen of Samrong Tai police station. The men had somehow escaped injury, despite seriously damaging the pickup owned by their employer, Bangkok Steel Industry.

Damrong, 36, told police he and Chadjen, 25, had been drinking at a karaoke bar before they drove on Phuchao Samingprai Road. While driving on a bridge, Damrong said he lost control of the speeding truck and crashed into a phone booth.

“I tried to control the truck to avoid hitting the parked 10-wheeled truck on the roadside, so I drove on the pavement and crashed into a pole. From the impact, the truck flew into the air and got stuck on the electric wires and a nearby treetop,” Damrong told police.

When police arrived they found the pickup still resting on electrical wires in a treetop four metres above the ground. Fifty metres away, police found a demolished, uprooted phone booth and a utility pole that had been snapped in half by the careening pickup.

Damrong was charged with drunk and reckless driving and causing damage to public and other people’s property.

--The Nation 2005-03-23

Damrong was charged with drunk and reckless driving and causing damage to public and other people’s property.

Another "amazing" tale of Thailand...

It's a pity the police make charges only after something has happened... a reactionary role rather than acting in a preventative role.

I've never seen police patrols on the roads during the "danger hours" of 2am to 5am.

a photo of the accident scene would be priceless....

a photo of the accident scene would be priceless.... 

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Agreed!