Driver Of Sedan In Bangkok Horror Road Accident Was A 16-Year Old Girl

[TAWP]

It was reported she was in the hospital and confirmed several times yesterday. News-caster puppets never get anything wrong? They are reading a teleprompter...not doing investigation work.

[cdnvic]

One flame and one troll removed.

[fnprop]

With 30 to 40 killed on the roads here every day why has this incident turned into such another soap opera?

Because, as was confirmed by several Thai tweeters that themselves was pushing the hate-page, they saw it as a political issue. Include to that several foreigners, as Andrew Spooner etc, pushing the 'political' side of it. Even if there is no merit to it yet.

Right or wrong, the incident did flare into a political issue...and it's not the falang TV posters that pushed it there. It was Thai people. It was a fairly large number of Thai people. It happened very quickly. And the PM being grilled by the media, about a local traffic accident, and responding, validates the characterization.

No, she shouldn't be tried, convicted, and sentenced, or even investigated, on Twitter, Facebook, Hi5, Dek-D, or even TV. Frankly, it's refreshing after all the comments of "it will always be this way because Thai people don't care." Evidently, some of them do.

[TAWP]

With 30 to 40 killed on the roads here every day why has this incident turned into such another soap opera?

Because, as was confirmed by several Thai tweeters that themselves was pushing the hate-page, they saw it as a political issue. Include to that several foreigners, as Andrew Spooner etc, pushing the 'political' side of it. Even if there is no merit to it yet.

Right or wrong, the incident did flare into a political issue...and it's not the falang TV posters that pushed it there. It was Thai people. It was a fairly large number of Thai people. It happened very quickly. And the PM being grilled by the media, about a local traffic accident, and responding, validates the characterization.

No, she shouldn't be tried, convicted, and sentenced, or even investigated, on Twitter, Facebook, Hi5, Dek-D, or even TV. Frankly, it's refreshing after all the comments of "it will always be this way because Thai people don't care." Evidently, some of them do.

I think you will find that a lot of the activity only happened after her last name was revealed. That isn't a care for the victims, it is a witch-hunt after this girl because they know hunting her is not LM but still attacking someone of 'blue blood'.

Need proof? Just follow the vitriol from the usual propaganda-posters on Twitter etc. They are happy to mention it.

[MikeyIdea]

But she should not have been standing the way she did messaging only a few minutes after the accident, instead of showing empathy, helping if she could or just being there ready to help if she couldn't. That was very bad. And fairly typical. I have seen that attitude (mainly from the rich in Thailand) before, nothing strange with it. That is the way she was brought up, then, should we blame her parents maybe?

Respectable opinion and post up until the above comments. The girl is in the hospital now and she was obviously very shaken during the accident ... just look at her car. We don't know who she was calling or what she was doing or thinking in this photo that captures her sometime after the accident for about 1/30th of a second. As for her not "standing the way she did ' that is just silly. Why not condemn the person who took the photo of her? Were they helping people? Were they just involved in a horrific accident in which their car was totaled? The girl is 16 years old and now we want her to behave like a combat veteran after being in a horrific accident when she is likely in some form of shock.

Also not sure how anything can be said yet about the girls guilt beyond driving w/o a DL which carries a max. penalty of a fine. Nobody yet has determined the cause of the accident. And according to many here she should be in jail before that is determined and even if found not responsible should still go to jail because that means the report is a lie.

Apologies for the personal comment Nisa. Re-posting this time only with correction of one fact you got wrong

The girl is not in hospital, watch Thai news on TV and you will hear that she was not admitted, never was, she just had a check-up. I can recommend K. Sarajut on channel 3, he is very good actually.

[Nisa]

I have read all of Nisa's posts and have yet to see a single statement which isn't clearly valid? I completely understand the emotions in play, but people must understand children are children.

**********

Tragic stuff all-round. RIP

Just that a 16 year old is not a child in Thailand, children stop being children when they are 15 in Thailand

Actually she is still a minor under Thai law and cannot be held the same standards as an adult given the circumstances of the accident even if she is found to be at fault.. At 16 she is still a kid/child/minor or whatever term you prefer under Thai law and probably in most countries.

[TAWP]

The girl is not in hospital, watch Thai news on TV and you will hear that she was not admitted, never was, she just had a check-up. I can recommend K. Sarajut on channel 3, he is very good actually.

Again, this has been disproven.

[Nisa]

But she should not have been standing the way she did messaging only a few minutes after the accident, instead of showing empathy, helping if she could or just being there ready to help if she couldn't. That was very bad. And fairly typical. I have seen that attitude (mainly from the rich in Thailand) before, nothing strange with it. That is the way she was brought up, then, should we blame her parents maybe?

Respectable opinion and post up until the above comments. The girl is in the hospital now and she was obviously very shaken during the accident ... just look at her car. We don't know who she was calling or what she was doing or thinking in this photo that captures her sometime after the accident for about 1/30th of a second. As for her not "standing the way she did ' that is just silly. Why not condemn the person who took the photo of her? Were they helping people? Were they just involved in a horrific accident in which their car was totaled? The girl is 16 years old and now we want her to behave like a combat veteran after being in a horrific accident when she is likely in some form of shock.

Also not sure how anything can be said yet about the girls guilt beyond driving w/o a DL which carries a max. penalty of a fine. Nobody yet has determined the cause of the accident. And according to many here she should be in jail before that is determined and even if found not responsible should still go to jail because that means the report is a lie.

Apologies for the personal comment Nisa. Re-posting this time only with correction of one fact you got wrong

The girl is not in hospital, watch Thai news on TV and you will hear that she was not admitted, never was, she just had a check-up. I can recommend K. Sarajut on channel 3, he is very good actually.

I think you will find that neither you nor I know for sure where she is right now. I was basing my comment on what the family stated and what was supposedly reported by a hospital staff in that she was treated at one hospital for injuries and that the family has moved her to another undisclosed hospital because of death threats.

[MikeyIdea]

I have read all of Nisa's posts and have yet to see a single statement which isn't clearly valid? I completely understand the emotions in play, but people must understand children are children.

**********

Tragic stuff all-round. RIP

Just that a 16 year old is not a child in Thailand, children stop being children when they are 15 in Thailand

Actually she is still a minor under Thai law and cannot be held the same standards as an adult given the circumstances of the accident even if she is found to be at fault.. At 16 she is still a kid/child/minor or whatever term you prefer under Thai law and probably in most countries.

Yepp, she's a minor but she is not a child. She cannot and should not be held to the same standards as an adult, agree.

[MikeyIdea]

The girl is not in hospital, watch Thai news on TV and you will hear that she was not admitted, never was, she just had a check-up. I can recommend K. Sarajut on channel 3, he is very good actually.

Again, this has been disproven.

Channel 3 reported what I wrote above this morning. I guess we will never know the truth for sure

[cmsally]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver%27s_license_in_the_United_States . . . . "In states, the minimum age to obtain a driver's license varies from 14 years, three months in South Dakota to as high as 17 in New Jersey." Age is not an issue. She is capable of driving. Not sure if driving plus blogging at the same time though.

Hello.. anyone home? And in Thailand what is the legal age? If she wants to drive at 16 maybe send her to S Dakota.

Wow how long does it take for the simple facts to sink in!

[transam]

http://en.wikipedia....e_United_States . . . . "In states, the minimum age to obtain a driver's license varies from 14 years, three months in South Dakota to as high as 17 in New Jersey." Age is not an issue. She is capable of driving. Not sure if driving plus blogging at the same time though.

Hello.. anyone home? And in Thailand what is the legal age? If she wants to drive at 16 maybe send her to S Dakota.

Wow how long does it take for the simple facts to sink in!

In the UK it's 17 and the insurance premiums for them are incredibly high cos of the risk factor. A car is more dangerous than a loaded gun in untrained hands..

[MikeyIdea]

How about this?

The legal age to be allowed to get a driving licence should be aligned with the age the same person can face full criminal charges.

With this I mean driving licence to drive on public roads, some countries have driving licence for farming vehicles but they are not allowed to drive on public roads

[webfact]

Police to summons 16-yr-old in van accident on Jan 5; to ask immigration police to make sure she does not flee the country /TAN_Network

[mojaco]

Lots of posts, and some good points... I thought I would add my 2 Satangs worth...

* Having a licence doesn't mean this accident/collision wouldn't have happened... If Pear was a year older and had a licence, would all of the 'Lock Her Up' cries be the same??? Having a licence only means that she has passed a test, and has a piece of paper to say she passed a test... doesn't mean she is more or less able to drive... Not saying it is OK for her to drive without a licence, but that isn't the reason the accident happened...

* In Australia, you can drive, as a learner, at 16... supervised by an adult... would we still lock her up???

IMHO, any action against her should be because of her driving, not her licence status, or age, or Family Influence... It should also be measured by how she was driving compared to every other driver in Thailand, not compared to drivers in Australia, Pomgolia, or the US...

For the most part, drivers in Thailand either don't understand the possible consequence of their driving, or don't care.... It doesn't have to be an over regulated nanny state, but I would like to see some sort of law and order on the roads...

I hope a lot of posters went back to the other thread about this collision and retracted their statement attacking "All Public Transport Drivers" and minivan drivers, in the wake of revelations since...

Cheers,

Daewoo

Good post. Here is a statistic from the USA (http://www.car-accidents.com/teen-car-accidents.html) "Risks. The risk of being involved in a car accident the highest for drivers aged 16- to 19-year-olds than it is for any other age group. For each mile driven, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are about four times (emphasis mine) more likely than other drivers to crash."

So, drivers license or no, drivers education or no, young drivers are a risk. I had three accidents the first year when I legally began to drive in the USA, and none since (but blessedly no one was hurt in them, although one could have been that serious.)

Perhaps there needs to be some education showing videos of serious accidents and how they happen to put some caution in young people? Just a thought.

[bangon04]

Go back and read post #202. The Nation states that the driver was indeed the 16 year-old and the police state that this person is facing charges.

Then go and make some coffee.

Then read the entire thread.

PS. Skinny legs. She's 16.

Skinny legs - could be fashion victim

Fake driver's ID - 3000 baht or less.

Fake national ID card showing 18 years old - 30000 (easy for the rich)

Fake police report showing third car was red and disappeared - how much???

Hope the victims families have access to very smart lawyers.

[TAWP]

The statistics are incorrect. It is NOT 4 times as likely for a teen of 16-19 to crash for every mile traveled. The statistics does however show that teens in the 16-19 range are involved in accidents at a rate of 4 times as much as other drivers.

There is an important distinction.

[Nisa]

Interesting this girl is undergoing such a lynching because of her last name and before the facts are in people are already convinced their is a cover-up and justice will not be served and the rich can get away with anything.

Just curious if anybody has heard of a working class family being held criminally accountable for their kid dying or causing a death while riding the family motorcycle here in Thailand. Or how about mom and dad crashing a motorcycle with their baby and resulting in the babies death. I've asked a number of Thais if they have ever heard of these "adults" being prosecuted and none can recall reading or hearing of anybody going to jail under these circumstances but they all can recall incidents of such nature.

I am not condoning this girls actions but am condemning those who are screaming for her blood with little to know real facts about what happened, the circumstances or what kind of girl she is or family she comes from. No 16-year old girl should be receiving death threats (if true) in such circumstances or having people make up and latch onto what appear to be false stories such as she tweeted 555 about the deaths of others.

The only facts that seem apparent right now are that everyone should wear seat belts and that we all need to question what we are hearing at this point and wait for officials to release information. At this point we don't even know if the girl was at fault beyond driving underage. Nor do we know for sure if she hit the van or if another car hit her's starting the accident.

Edited December 30, 2010 by Nisa

[apetley]

The was no evident to collision. Go read the "Bangkok Tollway Tragedy: What Went Wrong?". Please don't blame me. The government said that.

Have you seen the CCTV footage?

I would say that was pretty compelling evidence of a substantial collision.

[MikeyIdea]

Interesting this girl is undergoing such a lynching because of her last name and before the facts are in people are already convinced their is a cover-up and justice will not be served and the rich can get away with anything.

********

The Thai forums have all gone wild now and its mainly rubbish and wild speculation posted but the early posts showed a clear trend. Lot's of Thais commented on the lack of empathy displayed by the girl.

Edited December 30, 2010 by MikeyIdea

[MikeyIdea]

The statistics are incorrect. It is NOT 4 times as likely for a teen of 16-19 to crash for every mile traveled. The statistics does however show that teens in the 16-19 range are involved in accidents at a rate of 4 times as much as other drivers.

There is an important distinction.

I totally agree with the mathematical distinction but doesn't the accident statistics still show that 16-year-olds shouldn't be allowed to drive cars?

[TheyCallmeScooter]

How about this?

The legal age to be allowed to get a driving licence should be aligned with the age the same person can face full criminal charges.

As a bare minimum, I agree 100%.

...car crashes are the leading cause of death among teenagers.

More than 5,000 U.S. teens die each year in car crashes. The rate of crashes, fatal and nonfatal, per mile driven for 16-year-old drivers is almost 10 times the rate for drivers ages 30 to 59, according to the National Highway Safety Administration.

"Do we really want our kids dependent upon parents for virtually everything until they go to college, can vote and serve their country?" asked Margaret Menotti, a mother in Uxbridge, Mass.

Ms Menotti represents the problem, sheer laziness which results in a willingness to simply accept the carnage and suffering exacted by largely innocent / forgivably immature teenagers who should not be given such a level of responsibility at such a young age.

[petedk]

Police to summons 16-yr-old in van accident on Jan 5; to ask immigration police to make sure she does not flee the country /TAN_Network

Joke of the day.

How many people wanted by the police have fled the country?

[Nisa]

The statistics are incorrect. It is NOT 4 times as likely for a teen of 16-19 to crash for every mile traveled. The statistics does however show that teens in the 16-19 range are involved in accidents at a rate of 4 times as much as other drivers.

There is an important distinction.

I totally agree with the mathematical distinction but doesn't the accident statistics still show that 16-year-olds shouldn't be allowed to drive cars?

Yes and no. Once you get rid of those driving under 18 then the statistics will show the incredibly higher rate for 18 to 21 year olds and so on until you get to around the above 30 mark where things level off. Also if you just look at statistics then males should get their DL's long after females.

Keep in mind too that I bet a good portion of these accidents are caused by unlicensed drivers. Kids in the US don't automatically get a DL at 16 for numerous reasons including not having a car, can't afford insurance, parents don't want them driving yet, they didn't pass a drivers education class (which statistics show does reduce accidents), they are poor or live in a city such as NY where most people don't have cars.

[Nisa]

Police to summons 16-yr-old in van accident on Jan 5; to ask immigration police to make sure she does not flee the country /TAN_Network

Joke of the day.

How many people wanted by the police have fled the country?

Probably the same percentage or lower than most other countries.

[MikeyIdea]

The statistics are incorrect. It is NOT 4 times as likely for a teen of 16-19 to crash for every mile traveled. The statistics does however show that teens in the 16-19 range are involved in accidents at a rate of 4 times as much as other drivers.

There is an important distinction.

I totally agree with the mathematical distinction but doesn't the accident statistics still show that 16-year-olds shouldn't be allowed to drive cars?

Yes and no. Once you get rid of those driving under 18 then the statistics will show the incredibly higher rate for 18 to 21 year olds and so on until you get to around the above 30 mark where things level off. Also if you just look at statistics then males should get their DL's long after females.

Keep in mind too that I bet a good portion of these accidents are caused by unlicensed drivers. Kids in the US don't automatically get a DL at 16 for numerous reasons including not having a car, can't afford insurance, parents don't want them driving yet, they didn't pass a drivers education class (which statistics show does reduce accidents), they are poor or live in a city such as NY where most people don't have cars.

Yes and No

Moving up the age and A higher rate will be shown for the entry year, yes, I would not use "the" though (indicating the same rate). The rate will go down with every year age is increased and that is a good trend

[Nisa]

The statistics are incorrect. It is NOT 4 times as likely for a teen of 16-19 to crash for every mile traveled. The statistics does however show that teens in the 16-19 range are involved in accidents at a rate of 4 times as much as other drivers.

There is an important distinction.

I totally agree with the mathematical distinction but doesn't the accident statistics still show that 16-year-olds shouldn't be allowed to drive cars?

Yes and no. Once you get rid of those driving under 18 then the statistics will show the incredibly higher rate for 18 to 21 year olds and so on until you get to around the above 30 mark where things level off. Also if you just look at statistics then males should get their DL's long after females.

Keep in mind too that I bet a good portion of these accidents are caused by unlicensed drivers. Kids in the US don't automatically get a DL at 16 for numerous reasons including not having a car, can't afford insurance, parents don't want them driving yet, they didn't pass a drivers education class (which statistics show does reduce accidents), they are poor or live in a city such as NY where most people don't have cars.

Yes and No

Moving up the age and A higher rate will be shown for the entry year, yes, I would not use "the" though (indicating the same rate). The rate will go down with every year age is increased and that is a good trend

Point was the rate is still going to be extremely higher until you hit at least the mid twenties to thirties (i never said the same) and at what point do you draw the line? I personally think 18 but also believe kids should be able to drive with parents (responsible adult) in the car for 2-year prior. Another statistic not mentioned here is that most of the accidents by these young drivers happen at night and this is why some states in the US have adopted restricted DL's for those younger drivers which doesn't permit them to drive at night.

Edited December 30, 2010 by Nisa

[MikeyIdea]

<quote name='TAWP' timestamp='1293687390' post='4118114'>

The statistics are incorrect. It is NOT 4 times as likely for a teen of 16-19 to crash for every mile traveled. The statistics does however show that teens in the 16-19 range are involved in accidents at a rate of 4 times as much as other drivers.

There is an important distinction.

</quote>

I totally agree with the mathematical distinction but doesn't the accident statistics still show that 16-year-olds shouldn't be allowed to drive cars?

Yes and no. Once you get rid of those driving under 18 then the statistics will show the incredibly higher rate for 18 to 21 year olds and so on until you get to around the above 30 mark where things level off. Also if you just look at statistics then males should get their DL's long after females.

Keep in mind too that I bet a good portion of these accidents are caused by unlicensed drivers. Kids in the US don't automatically get a DL at 16 for numerous reasons including not having a car, can't afford insurance, parents don't want them driving yet, they didn't pass a drivers education class (which statistics show does reduce accidents), they are poor or live in a city such as NY where most people don't have cars.

Yes and No

Moving up the age and A higher rate will be shown for the entry year, yes, I would not use "the" though (indicating the same rate). The rate will go down with every year age is increased and that is a good trend

Point was the rate is still going to be extremely higher until you hit at least the mid twenties to thirties (i never said the same) and at what point do you draw the line? I personally think 18 but also believe kids should be able to drive with parents in the car for 2-year prior. Another statistic not mentioned here is that most of the accidents by these young drivers happen at night and this is why some states in the US have adopted restricted DL's for those younger drivers which doesn't permit them to drive at night.

Agree about trend, still think the use of "the incredibly higher rate " is understood as same rate, which we both agree it will not be so never mind

18 is a good compromise, kids can be allowed to drive for either one or 2 years with qualified trainer, I think one year is enough, I see no safety benefit in making it 2 years. I do not think that parents are qualified to do this only because they have a driving licence. The one sitting beside should be a trainer for the driver so additional skills are needed and an additional test should be passed before driving with underage or person without driving license.

[Nisa]

Agree about trend, still think the use of "the incredibly higher rate " is understood as same rate, which we both agree it will not be so never mind

18 is a good compromise, kids can be allowed to drive for either one or 2 years with qualified trainer, I think one year is enough, I see no safety benefit in making it 2 years. I do not think that parents are qualified to do this only because they have a driving licence. The one sitting beside should be a trainer for the driver so additional skills are needed and an additional test should be passed before driving with underage or person without driving license.

Clearly we are of the same mind set but everything is not so simple as 16-year olds can legally work (at least in the US) and most of America requires a car to get around. No doubt they should have training by an instructor but my thoughts of driving with the parents would be to get additional instruction and practice in the real world. At least in the states I am familiar with, they require drivers Education to be taught in high school.

A couple of other things come to mind that also add complications ... the first being is if you do give kids the taste of driving, I think they are more likely to take the car without permission. The other thing is that in rural areas there are considerably less accidents. So, maybe limiting a younger driver to things like not driving at night and on freeways as well as having different laws for cities/populated areas. It is funny because we are talking about US laws when there are few places in the world where that can prepare you for driving in BKK and most experienced adults that visit here don't attempt this.

No solution is easy and I am sure I am missing a number of other factors because the insurance companies would have got the ages raised by now if things were so clear cut ... unless they are make huge profits with the rates they charge for young drivers on a policy.

[TAWP]

Interesting this girl is undergoing such a lynching because of her last name and before the facts are in people are already convinced their is a cover-up and justice will not be served and the rich can get away with anything.

********

The Thai forums have all gone wild now and its mainly rubbish and wild speculation posted but the early posts showed a clear trend. Lot's of Thais commented on the lack of empathy displayed by the girl.

Yes, there has been a lot of complaints about something they have no idea about.

Lack of empathy? Something neither you nor any of the other posters have any clue about. But rant and post threats is something they all can.

Ps. Talk to Tulip Naksompop of TAN Network if you want to have all the details about the girl still being in hospital, despite what you, Channel 3 news-anchors or headless chickens proclaim. You will also be informed that the '16 year old' girls phone-number was posted very early on on the hate-page and she received lots of death-threats on the first day, as soon as info about her name got out.