Girl In Bangkok Tollway Accident Sued For Bt36M

[Thaddeus]

I just don't agree that the outcry is from folks wanting anything like the good of society. It seems more like folks are just angry about not having a free pass as well.

Let's just say you and I disagree then and leave it at that. The reason I get so upset about this girl is not because I envy her wealth, but because I see the social disintegration that results from her attitude.

What do we know about her attitude other than a host of folks who extrapolate what she must be like from various internet photos and gossip forums?

What do we know about her attitude?

It is not only extrapolated (good word) from photos and gossip, it's extrapolated from the attitude from others of her kith and kin who also think a display of tears and a few bucks will make everything Ok when they are faced with a similar problem, and now things get reported more frequently to show exactly how much disparity there is between the 'haves' and 'have nots' your attitude is doing nothing to dispel this inconvenient little notion.

[Heng]

I just don't agree that the outcry is from folks wanting anything like the good of society. It seems more like folks are just angry about not having a free pass as well.

Let's just say you and I disagree then and leave it at that. The reason I get so upset about this girl is not because I envy her wealth, but because I see the social disintegration that results from her attitude.

What do we know about her attitude other than a host of folks who extrapolate what she must be like from various internet photos and gossip forums?

What do we know about her attitude?

It is not only extrapolated (good word) from photos and gossip, it's extrapolated from the attitude from others of her kith and kin who also think a display of tears and a few bucks will make everything Ok when they are faced with a similar problem, and now things get reported more frequently to show exactly how much disparity there is between the 'haves' and 'have nots' your attitude is doing nothing to dispel this inconvenient little notion.

IME/IMO the 'haves' and the 'have nots' are in general identical on a moral level (granted they of course vary in depth within each group). The only difference is the freedom that 'having' allows in exercising one's morals. The poor typically have to choose to 'run' away from these types of situations. The well-to-do can afford to casually stroll away. It's no different from in places in the world where you see some homie running away from the police on COPS whereas the kid from the good part of town simply calls the family attorney... their motivation and moral level is the same.

Edited April 13, 2011 by Heng

[slapout]

This lawsuit may be a indication of the strides???? that the Thai middle class and the lawyers are/will take to equalize the distribution of wealth in Thailand.

I was asked one time prior to a civil suit for death payment, in a case with a lot of similarities to this one, 'how would you determine what numerical value a human life is worth'? I responded, I would probably calculate their present earning and project that thru a projected life expectancy and then I would ask how much insurance the deceased had on themselves in total. When we are younger, we seem to have an answer for everything. I was informed questioner, that I would never be accepted on a jury by the attorney representing the claimants.

[Thaddeus]

What do we know about her attitude?

It is not only extrapolated (good word) from photos and gossip, it's extrapolated from the attitude from others of her kith and kin who also think a display of tears and a few bucks will make everything Ok when they are faced with a similar problem, and now things get reported more frequently to show exactly how much disparity there is between the 'haves' and 'have nots' your attitude is doing nothing to dispel this inconvenient little notion.

IME/IMO the 'haves' and the 'have nots' are in general identical on a moral level (granted they of course vary in depth within each group). The only difference is the freedom that 'having' allows in exercising one's morals. The poor typically have to choose to 'run' away from these types of situations. The well-to-do can afford to casually stroll away. It's no different from in places in the world where you see some homie running away from the police on COPS whereas the kid from the good part of town simply calls the family attorney... their motivation and moral level is the same.

I agree with you, in fact I was never trying to disagree with you, it just doesn't make it right or fair, as if it ever has. I am just hoping that in this particular case, the victims may not be part of the elite but neither are they dirt poor farmers and if does anything, anything at all to put a dent in those that think they are untouchable, then I'm all for it and hope that it happens more often.

(and everyone please, no bad taste remarks about the 'put a dent in' pun)

[overhaul38]

What are the odds of the families getting anything?

[jfchandler]

What happened with the supposed court proceedings to decide the status of the girl after her juvie evaluation?

What happened with the final findings of the supposed police investigation into the crash itself and who or what caused it?

We're hearing nothing from the Thai authorities who supposedly have jurisdiction over the case... Wonder why...

Is this another one like the Santika case where Thai justice is both blind and MIA???

Ahh.... this was buried in one of the daily news recaps some time back...

Posted 2011-03-23 20:48:20

Tollway Crash Indictment Postponed

The Juvenile Litigation Department approves the request by a 17 year old woman charged in a reckless driving case that left nine people dead last December to delay the indictment to allow further investigation into possible fault by another driver involved in the accident.

Special prosecutor of the Juvenile and Family Litigation Department, Suphak Sitthiwanich, said his prosecution team will consider the suspect's petition for further investigation into her's lawyer's claim the deadly crash was partly caused by reckless driving by the driver of the van engaged in the accident on the Don Muang Tollway.

The female van driver was killed in the crash.

Suphak said his deparment will consult police investigators on the plausibility of the suspect's claim, but stated he believed they would recommend the late van driver was not responsible for the crash.

He said his agency will decide on the indictment once it receives an opinion from the investigators.

Edited May 6, 2011 by jfchandler

[Heng]

Yes.

[jfchandler]

I notice that a blogger out on the Internet has done a recap of some of Thailand's rich and famous driving hijinks....

Here are three examples:

1. In 2007 Kanpithak Pachimsawas, 20, was driving his Mercedes in Bangkok when a bus cut him off, an argument ensued and Kanpithak hit the bus driver in the face with a rock. A crowd at the bus stop was witness to this and they started shouting abuse at the young man who responded to this by getting back into his Mercedes and driving directly into the crowd. A 42 year old woman was killed and many more injured, when the police arrived on the scene they were accompanied by Kanpithak's father, a well connected business man, who proceeded to threaten the witnesses with the police watching.

When the case eventually came to trial in 2009 (quite a feat in itself to actually bring it to trial) the spoiled child was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to 10 years in jail, then promptly released on 5 million baht bail not having spent one minute in jail!Kanpithak's mother is former Miss Thailand Sawinee Pakaranang and his uncle is retired deputy police chief Ukrit Patchimsawat.

2. On December 27, 2010 nine people associated with Thammasat University were killed and five injured in a car accident in Bangkok when Prae-wa (Orachorn) Thephassadin Na Ayuttaya, a 16 year old girl, slammed the Honda Civic she was driving into the back of a passenger van. Almost immediately afterward, this photo was circulating all over the internet showing the young lady with her smashed vehicle sending a text on her Blackberry to one of the social media web sites.

Orachorn also comes from a rich and well connected family. Her uncle, General Wit Thephassadin Na Ayutthaya, is chief adviser to army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha. Another relative was the leader of one of the paramilitary groups so prominent in another massacre of Thammasat students - October 6, 1976. It appears like mass killing with impunity runs in her family.

Orachorn has never been formally arrested because according to the Thai Police, "Authorities had no grounds to detain the teenager." I guess that having no driver's license, the closed circuit cameras that recorded the entire event, the photos afterward, the girl's own admission that she was speeding, and the nine dead bodies are insufficient grounds to imprison one of the rich and famous in Bangkok.

3. On Mar 25, 2011, 19 year old Peerapol Thaksinthaweesap was driving his father's Porsche at 120 km/hour when he hit a young girl on Pathum Thani-Bang Bua Thong highway in Pathum Thani. The impact from the crash was so severe it cut the girl's body in half. The lower half of her body flew out the back windshield and landed in a ditch in the middle of the road but the upper half of her torso remained in the car which Peerapol abandoned 10 km down the road to take a taxi home.

I won't actually post the video of the recovery of the body parts here but I will provide a link to it below with the warning that is frightfully gruesome. Please don't watch it if you have a weak stomach.

http://img198.images....us/i/6psh.mp4/

When police contacted the owner of the car, Peerapol's father told them that 'the driver' would only surrender to police after he attends the Cheng Meng religious festival, where he would pay homage to his ancestors.After finally reporting to Police in a black hood and sunglasses, Peerapol eventually admitted that he was speeding, and he was charged with careless driving and leaving the scene of an accident.

He was released into his family's custody and it is unlikely that he will ever be held criminally accountable for his actions as well.

Common sentiment is that justice is blind unless it's in Thailand where justice favors the rich, powerful, and influential.

Edited May 6, 2011 by jfchandler

[blabla1]

In the end, i guess she was doing what every other idiot does while driving or riding a motorbike here,hanging on the phone, accidents waiting to happen, because of the laws lack of Authority, to tackle,this issue, as to what a life is worth?

for they who have lost a dear one, a hell of a lot to priceless, for those who have to pay, insurances,civil lawsuit etc...as little as possible.

[BlueTerrace]

36,000,000 baht.

28 years.

1,285,000 per year.

107,000 per month.

From 50,000 per month salary?

Its an ambit claim, that will be well and truly diluted by the time any money is paid...if it ever is. Personally I wish her well; it disgusts me when these spoit rich-kids get of scott free, and 36 mllion is chump change to the speeding and unlicenced driver's family.

I hope the mother of the man killed gets a small slice of justice out of the civil court system, but I have little doubt she would rather her son was still alive, than face a long and draining court battle with (possibly) a few scraps thrown to her at the end of it all.

Edited May 6, 2011 by BlueTerrace

[roamer]

I notice that a blogger out on the Internet has done a recap of some of Thailand's rich and famous driving hijinks....

Here are three examples:

1. In 2007 Kanpithak Pachimsawas, 20, was driving his Mercedes in Bangkok when a bus cut him off, an argument ensued and Kanpithak hit the bus driver in the face with a rock. A crowd at the bus stop was witness to this and they started shouting abuse at the young man who responded to this by getting back into his Mercedes and driving directly into the crowd. A 42 year old woman was killed and many more injured, when the police arrived on the scene they were accompanied by Kanpithak's father, a well connected business man, who proceeded to threaten the witnesses with the police watching.

When the case eventually came to trial in 2009 (quite a feat in itself to actually bring it to trial) the spoiled child was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to 10 years in jail, then promptly released on 5 million baht bail not having spent one minute in jail!Kanpithak's mother is former Miss Thailand Sawinee Pakaranang and his uncle is retired deputy police chief Ukrit Patchimsawat.

2. On December 27, 2010 nine people associated with Thammasat University were killed and five injured in a car accident in Bangkok when Prae-wa (Orachorn) Thephassadin Na Ayuttaya, a 16 year old girl, slammed the Honda Civic she was driving into the back of a passenger van. Almost immediately afterward, this photo was circulating all over the internet showing the young lady with her smashed vehicle sending a text on her Blackberry to one of the social media web sites.

Orachorn also comes from a rich and well connected family. Her uncle, General Wit Thephassadin Na Ayutthaya, is chief adviser to army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha. Another relative was the leader of one of the paramilitary groups so prominent in another massacre of Thammasat students - October 6, 1976. It appears like mass killing with impunity runs in her family.

Orachorn has never been formally arrested because according to the Thai Police, "Authorities had no grounds to detain the teenager." I guess that having no driver's license, the closed circuit cameras that recorded the entire event, the photos afterward, the girl's own admission that she was speeding, and the nine dead bodies are insufficient grounds to imprison one of the rich and famous in Bangkok.

3. On Mar 25, 2011, 19 year old Peerapol Thaksinthaweesap was driving his father's Porsche at 120 km/hour when he hit a young girl on Pathum Thani-Bang Bua Thong highway in Pathum Thani. The impact from the crash was so severe it cut the girl's body in half. The lower half of her body flew out the back windshield and landed in a ditch in the middle of the road but the upper half of her torso remained in the car which Peerapol abandoned 10 km down the road to take a taxi home.

I won't actually post the video of the recovery of the body parts here but I will provide a link to it below with the warning that is frightfully gruesome. Please don't watch it if you have a weak stomach.

http://img198.images....us/i/6psh.mp4/

When police contacted the owner of the car, Peerapol's father told them that 'the driver' would only surrender to police after he attends the Cheng Meng religious festival, where he would pay homage to his ancestors.After finally reporting to Police in a black hood and sunglasses, Peerapol eventually admitted that he was speeding, and he was charged with careless driving and leaving the scene of an accident.

He was released into his family's custody and it is unlikely that he will ever be held criminally accountable for his actions as well.

Common sentiment is that justice is blind unless it's in Thailand where justice favors the rich, powerful, and influential.

Jf, for the sake of completeness I think you should have posted the rest of the above article. Here it is.

"Now, I don’t want to appear to be so callous. These are kids and I can’t help but sympathize somewhat over their situation. May they manage to live good lives and at least attempt to redeem themselves and try to make up for the tragic losses they are responsible for – and they are responsible. However, I believe they have gotten off on the wrong foot by having mommy and daddy elite take care of their legal responsibilities.

The truth is that these kids have become lightning rods for the hate that the aristocracy in Thailand has brought upon itself over the years. They symbolize the enemy; rich, uncaring, reckless, and protected. A true democracy in Thailand could ultimately solve this problem. That's why the people want it and the elite/military establishment are so opposed to it."

[jfchandler]

Would that be a "true democracy" where many of its public participants readily sell their vote to the highest bidder, pretty much regardless of whom the bidder is?

One where the vast majority of the public, according to surveys, condone official corruption as a way of life in Thailand?

Or one where the notion of "justice" is more rooted in how much money can be extracted or paid vs. ensuring that those responsible for crimes are punished for them as a sign to everyone else that lawlessness won't be excused or bought.

I could go on, but..I think you can get my drift...

[rubl]

Jf, for the sake of completeness I think you should have posted the rest of the above article. Here it is.

"Now, I don’t want to appear to be so callous. These are kids and I can’t help but sympathize somewhat over their situation. May they manage to live good lives and at least attempt to redeem themselves and try to make up for the tragic losses they are responsible for – and they are responsible. However, I believe they have gotten off on the wrong foot by having mommy and daddy elite take care of their legal responsibilities.

The truth is that these kids have become lightning rods for the hate that the aristocracy in Thailand has brought upon itself over the years. They symbolize the enemy; rich, uncaring, reckless, and protected. A true democracy in Thailand could ultimately solve this problem. That's why the people want it and the elite/military establishment are so opposed to it."

Now where I agree with elite getting away with too much, I do not see the 'automatic' inclusion of the army.

The elite includes a few famous names, including k. Chalerm's sons (not shooting anyone) and k. Thaksin's daughter caught cheating at a Chula exam. No double standards, please

[philw]

I notice that a blogger out on the Internet has done a recap of some of Thailand's rich and famous driving hijinks....

Here are three examples:

1. In 2007 Kanpithak Pachimsawas, 20, was driving his Mercedes in Bangkok when a bus cut him off, an argument ensued and Kanpithak hit the bus driver in the face with a rock. A crowd at the bus stop was witness to this and they started shouting abuse at the young man who responded to this by getting back into his Mercedes and driving directly into the crowd. A 42 year old woman was killed and many more injured, when the police arrived on the scene they were accompanied by Kanpithak's father, a well connected business man, who proceeded to threaten the witnesses with the police watching.

When the case eventually came to trial in 2009 (quite a feat in itself to actually bring it to trial) the spoiled child was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to 10 years in jail, then promptly released on 5 million baht bail not having spent one minute in jail!Kanpithak's mother is former Miss Thailand Sawinee Pakaranang and his uncle is retired deputy police chief Ukrit Patchimsawat.

2. On December 27, 2010 nine people associated with Thammasat University were killed and five injured in a car accident in Bangkok when Prae-wa (Orachorn) Thephassadin Na Ayuttaya, a 16 year old girl, slammed the Honda Civic she was driving into the back of a passenger van. Almost immediately afterward, this photo was circulating all over the internet showing the young lady with her smashed vehicle sending a text on her Blackberry to one of the social media web sites.

Orachorn also comes from a rich and well connected family. Her uncle, General Wit Thephassadin Na Ayutthaya, is chief adviser to army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha. Another relative was the leader of one of the paramilitary groups so prominent in another massacre of Thammasat students - October 6, 1976. It appears like mass killing with impunity runs in her family.

Orachorn has never been formally arrested because according to the Thai Police, "Authorities had no grounds to detain the teenager." I guess that having no driver's license, the closed circuit cameras that recorded the entire event, the photos afterward, the girl's own admission that she was speeding, and the nine dead bodies are insufficient grounds to imprison one of the rich and famous in Bangkok.

3. On Mar 25, 2011, 19 year old Peerapol Thaksinthaweesap was driving his father's Porsche at 120 km/hour when he hit a young girl on Pathum Thani-Bang Bua Thong highway in Pathum Thani. The impact from the crash was so severe it cut the girl's body in half. The lower half of her body flew out the back windshield and landed in a ditch in the middle of the road but the upper half of her torso remained in the car which Peerapol abandoned 10 km down the road to take a taxi home.

I won't actually post the video of the recovery of the body parts here but I will provide a link to it below with the warning that is frightfully gruesome. Please don't watch it if you have a weak stomach.

http://img198.images....us/i/6psh.mp4/

When police contacted the owner of the car, Peerapol's father told them that 'the driver' would only surrender to police after he attends the Cheng Meng religious festival, where he would pay homage to his ancestors.After finally reporting to Police in a black hood and sunglasses, Peerapol eventually admitted that he was speeding, and he was charged with careless driving and leaving the scene of an accident.

He was released into his family's custody and it is unlikely that he will ever be held criminally accountable for his actions as well.

Common sentiment is that justice is blind unless it's in Thailand where justice favors the rich, powerful, and influential.

Jf, for the sake of completeness I think you should have posted the rest of the above article. Here it is.

"Now, I don’t want to appear to be so callous. These are kids and I can’t help but sympathize somewhat over their situation. May they manage to live good lives and at least attempt to redeem themselves and try to make up for the tragic losses they are responsible for – and they are responsible. However, I believe they have gotten off on the wrong foot by having mommy and daddy elite take care of their legal responsibilities.

The truth is that these kids have become lightning rods for the hate that the aristocracy in Thailand has brought upon itself over the years. They symbolize the enemy; rich, uncaring, reckless, and protected. A true democracy in Thailand could ultimately solve this problem. That's why the people want it and the elite/military establishment are so opposed to it."

Very well put.

Thanks.

[phiphidon]

Jf, for the sake of completeness I think you should have posted the rest of the above article. Here it is.

"Now, I don't want to appear to be so callous. These are kids and I can't help but sympathize somewhat over their situation. May they manage to live good lives and at least attempt to redeem themselves and try to make up for the tragic losses they are responsible for – and they are responsible. However, I believe they have gotten off on the wrong foot by having mommy and daddy elite take care of their legal responsibilities.

The truth is that these kids have become lightning rods for the hate that the aristocracy in Thailand has brought upon itself over the years. They symbolize the enemy; rich, uncaring, reckless, and protected. A true democracy in Thailand could ultimately solve this problem. That's why the people want it and the elite/military establishment are so opposed to it."

Now where I agree with elite getting away with too much, I do not see the 'automatic' inclusion of the army.

The elite includes a few famous names, including k. Chalerm's sons (not shooting anyone) and k. Thaksin's daughter caught cheating at a Chula exam. No double standards, please

Why do you feel it necessary to highlight 2/3 people associated with the PTP (albeit through family ties) and no one else, and where does the double standards statement relate to this ? Democracy doesn't include coups as a requisite part of it's makeup as far as I am aware so I think the inclusion of the army is relevant (18? coups and counting). You've been spending too much time listening to your peers I think. All we need now is Bucholz to come up with a couple of relevant (or not) jpgs to complete the usual MO.

[jfchandler]

I notice that a blogger out on the Internet has done a recap of some of Thailand's rich and famous driving hijinks....

Here are three examples:

1. In 2007 Kanpithak Pachimsawas, 20, was driving his Mercedes in Bangkok when a bus cut him off, an argument ensued and Kanpithak hit the bus driver in the face with a rock. A crowd at the bus stop was witness to this and they started shouting abuse at the young man who responded to this by getting back into his Mercedes and driving directly into the crowd. A 42 year old woman was killed and many more injured, when the police arrived on the scene they were accompanied by Kanpithak's father, a well connected business man, who proceeded to threaten the witnesses with the police watching.

When the case eventually came to trial in 2009 (quite a feat in itself to actually bring it to trial) the spoiled child was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to 10 years in jail, then promptly released on 5 million baht bail not having spent one minute in jail!Kanpithak's mother is former Miss Thailand Sawinee Pakaranang and his uncle is retired deputy police chief Ukrit Patchimsawat.

Was just reading the forum thread on this guy's case in the other newspaper's web site.... The last entry by a poster dated Jan 2011 says the guy is still driving around BKK is his Mercedes... Apparently never served his sentence, unless anyone knows otherwise?

There also was an interesting, well-written commentary there by another poster on how for a member of Thailand's elite, having a family member actually go to jail is the SECOND worst thing that can happen...

The worst thing that can happen is losing your money and influence. The writer said having a family member go to jail is the second worst thing because it shows the other elites in their social circle that the family either didn't or couldn't use its influence to get the offending party freed from the sentence...

The part about actually being sentenced to jail, the author said, wasn't particularly considered to be a big deal at all...

Edited May 7, 2011 by jfchandler

[Fookhaht]

Good, if the police don't do their job properly lets hope the civil court does.

We surely should all understand, that if this case involved the everyday Somchai.....he would have been imprisoned for some time. That's where she belongs. I say, proceed with the civil suit and criminal charges.

"unfortunately" for the girl, people killed in the bus come from not too dissimilar backgrounds: generally well educated and likely to be inclined to stand up for their rights. Probably a few strings that they can pull as well.

This issue won't be swept under the carpet as easily as say, the Lao girl who was killed.

Just a few years back, a pick-up truck loaded with day laborers, on an elevated highway near Swampy airport, hit a highway abutment and tossed all the inhabitants onto the highway below, killing most of them. Strange, haven't heard a thing about it since....

[sylver]

36,000,000 baht.

28 years.

1,285,000 per year.

107,000 per month.

From 50,000 per month salary?

If he was a cop, that would make sense.

However there is also the issue of the other people killed, so I guess they also figure in the equation somewhere.

Personally, I find this pretty disgusting. It was an accident. Sure the driver at fault should take responsibility, but this is just greedy.

[Ricci]

36,000,000 baht.

28 years.

1,285,000 per year.

107,000 per month.

From 50,000 per month salary?

Maybe annual pay rises are factored in.

Do you still get paid the same salary as you were 28 years ago?

lawyer's fees included...

[jfchandler]

The total is that being sought in the lawsuit... Who knows if the family will ever get anywhere close to that...

And then from whatever they do end up getting, figure the lawyers and who knows who all else will take their cuts....

Even if they sought and won the full amount, the 36 million baht amount works out to about $1.2 million total without subtracting the lawyers fees and everything else.

Maybe they'd be lucky to end up with half that amount $500,000 to $600,000... maybe.... although I suspect they'll end up setting for something before a final verdict in the lawsuit.

How much would the life of your son be worth to you, if he was the breadwinner in your family, and killed by a speeding, unlicensed 16 or 17-year-old girl from a wealthy family driving alone at night?

If he was a cop, that would make sense.

However there is also the issue of the other people killed, so I guess they also figure in the equation somewhere.

Personally, I find this pretty disgusting. It was an accident. Sure the driver at fault should take responsibility, but this is just greedy.

Edited May 7, 2011 by jfchandler

[ginjag]

The total is that being sought in the lawsuit... Who knows if the family will ever get anywhere close to that...

And then from whatever they do end up getting, figure the lawyers and who knows who all else will take their cuts....

Even if they sought and won the full amount, the 36 million baht amount works out to about $1.2 million total without subtracting the lawyers fees and everything else.

Maybe they'd be lucky to end up with half that amount $500,000 to $600,000... maybe.... although I suspect they'll end up setting for something before a final verdict in the lawsuit.

How much would the life of your son be worth to you, if he was the breadwinner in your family, and killed by a speeding, unlicensed 16 or 17-year-old girl from a wealthy family driving alone at night?

If he was a cop, that would make sense.

However there is also the issue of the other people killed, so I guess they also figure in the equation somewhere.

Personally, I find this pretty disgusting. It was an accident. Sure the driver at fault should take responsibility, but this is just greedy.

I think this was a lousy preventable INCIDENT. Sorry is not good enough, walking away from it while daddy pays is not good enough. All the innocent people involved should have to be compensated, The little under aged kid should have known the penalties that she would have to face. This young lady should do some hard unpaid community service, apart from the parents big out of court settlement.

[Ricci]

I think this was a lousy preventable INCIDENT. Sorry is not good enough, walking away from it while daddy pays is not good enough. All the innocent people involved should have to be compensated, The little under aged kid should have known the penalties that she would have to face. This young lady should do some hard unpaid community service, apart from the parents big out of court settlement.

100% agreed

[jimbeam1]

Good to see that someone is making a stand. I hope that the relatives of this girls other 8 victims follow with lawsuits. Should make rather a large hole in this families bank account. Might even bring them back into the real world?

jb1

[jfchandler]

Now we wait to see what the Thai legal/law enforcement (the latter term used advisedly) system does with the efforts by the girl's family and lawyers to blame the crash on the female van driver who was killed in the crash, among all the others...

Does anyone else here think the Thai police have had enough time by now to have completed their accident investigation findings??? Wonder what they are? Sure that info hasn't been made public, as yet.

[dominique355]

That's not her side of the story, she never said she was driving like a maniac..no one said that..they are not sure exactly what happened.. I have been driving since I was 16 years old and when I was 16 I drove fine, if anything I was a little bit more careful because I was new..

This girl said that it was the minivan driver that was driving wrecklessly, that he cut her off twice and the second time she couldn't stop in time and thats when the collision occured..and you know what.. I believe HER I have been in a thai minibus and just the other day in the bangkok post there was a letter about how wreckless these minibus drivers are.. thankgod I have my own car now and I don't have to take a minibus to the border every three months and roll the dice that the minibus driver doesn't get into a headon collision while he has his foot to the floor the whole time on a 2 lane road overtaking cars even though the road is curving and the solid line on the road means don't pass..the minibus driver was always some middleaged Thai man that is likly poorly paid so he just wants to get the tedius task done that he has to do everyday.. i thought minibus drivers were wreckless when they were driving foreigners--and you know they will drive a little slower because foreigners like me get scarred and we complain and tell him to cool it so we can make it home in one peice, but he still dives like it's the daytona 500..

Now..imagine a minibus driver at night, with all Thai pasangers, and you know that Thai people don't bitch like us foreigners because they beleive you should always be polite and Buddah will give you good luck as long as your a decent person..so I'm guessing this particular minibus driver was driving like bat out of hell on steroids and high on yaba(even though he wasn't on yaba he was probably driving like it..

lemme say again, I believe HER, or atleast I would get into a car with a thai 16 year old rich girl before i get into one of those minivans with the frustrated middleaged thai male.. i take taxis in bangkok all the time and i never worry about them, they seem calm and professional, but minivan drivers on longer distance runs..NOTSAFE.

Well said.

Any parents that truly care about their kids would ask for real compensation from a maniac on the wheels. This was not an ACCIDENT this was a crazy kid with no knowledge of the road, uninsured, driving like a maniac. An accident is driving at around the speedlimit in your own lane without changing every 10meters then having a tire explode and losing control of the car, thus smashing the car next to you. And for that to be a real accident, you would need to not be talking on the phone which is close to imposible for the average thai.

36mil might be a little too much for this country, but the family is rich, they can pay long term, the death were useful to society AND the more you ask, the more you will get after the judges decides to cut the amount. No matter how much you ask, you won't get the full amount so better just go big

Ah, finally a word of reason. Thank you, pkspeaker.

Indeed, we should separate two things: Driving under age and without a driver's license on the one side; and causing an accident with casualties on the other side.

Sure, the girl was under age and had no driver's license and she is guilty of breaking this law. But that does not make her automatically guilty of causing he accident and killing people.

In jurisprudence there is a thing called "adequate causality". It means that there must be a direct cause - effect relationship between the wrong doing of the person and the damage. This is clearly missing here between driving without a driver's license and the killing of people.

As far as my information goes, the true causes of the accident have not yet been established by the police or even a court. And until this has been established, we should all give the girl the benefit of the doubt. Or you may say, she is innocent until proven guilty.

[jfchandler]

Dominique, let's not conveniently forget that the girl also did admit she was speeding at the time of the accident...in addition to being un-licensed.

And, although the various reports thus far have been somewhat contradictory on this point, most of the reports citing video evidence and other such things SEEM to point to the girl as having caused the accident...

Also, the most recent news report posted here from The Nation (the one talking about the girl's lawyers seeking a delay) I believe quoted the prosecutor's office guy as saying he thought it unlikely that the official findings of authorities would end up blaming the van driver.

But I do agree, even if the Thai legal system doesn't always operate that way, with the western notion of "innocent until proven guilty." Let's hope that both the girl and the families of the crash victims all have their days in court, and that verdicts are rendered based on the evidence and official findings in the case. And that the cases aren't instead silently swept away via payment of hush money.

[dominique355]

Agreed, jfchandler, but you know as well as I do, "speeding" alone is not causing accidents. I would even venture to say that most cars (including these white vans) on Thang Duan or Motorways are speeding (except of course those in the right most lane in front of me ).

Some speed limits are down right stupid. Recently the police (or whoever) has installed a great number of speed limits on ordinary streets, and impose a speed limit of 30 kmh at bends and corners, which naturally nobody in his right mind respects. In fact it would be dangerous to reduce the speed to 30 kmh at these points because it would cause a huge traffic jam and collisions.

It seems to me that many poster here seem equally prejudiced against wealthy people as the Thai system seems to be prejudiced in favor of these very same people.

So let's hope facts and the law will prevail.

[ableguy]

Greedy bastards. Even on death of their own son they just think how to make money and put another person into trouble.

Do not agree the dead guy supported his mother now that support is gone the youg girl should cover that loss. of course am sure she does not have 36 million and probably not her family too, however the family in my opinion are as guilty as the driver they know what she was doing but beinh Hi So figure they can do as they please.

[moe666]

Does such detailed video exist? this is a cam at the tollbooth and there's noway you could get any detail as the cars were approaching from a distance, or lets see this video..

http://www.thailandn...-year-old-girl/

"Police have not yet charged the unidentified girl, and are compiling more evidence in the case. Footage from traffic cameras shows a brief moment in the accident – a burst at the point of impact from the white Honda Civic she was driving for about 70 metres to standstill – before the van veered off the lane, and out of camera view."

http://motoring.asia...230-255533.html

"Vibhavadi police, meanwhile, have questioned the girl's mother and called on witnesses to volunteer information. "

Why were the police asking for "witnesses to volunteer information" if there is such detailed video proving it was the girl driving reckless and not the minivan driver?

http://www.asiaone.c...0-255533/2.html

"hings remained quite inconclusive as experts appeared to contradict one another yesterday over the Monday night smash-up on the elevated tollway section of Vibhavadi-Rangsit Highway, which killed eight people and injured six others."

The fact is that the girl claims the minivan cut her off-and that's why she was trailing so close and why she slammed into it.. the ONLY reason everyone is blaming this girl is because she is rich and a young girl, people keep saying she was only 16, I was driving when I was 16, you only need to be 16 in most countries to drive, i never had any problems driving a car when I was sixteen.. i'll say this again-i'll get into a car with this girl before i ever get into another budget thai minivan, been there, done that-was dam_n glad the trip was over..i think there must be quite a few visa runners that feel the same way

I'm driving in this country now, I know I drive safer than 90% of the other cars on the road, but I also know that if I get into an accident they're going to blame me and say because I am a foreigner than I must have been the cause of the accident..

lets make sure this girl was really driving so crazy before we assume she should spend 7 years in a thai prison for manslaughter..

she won't spend anytime in prison because her rich family will pay off the families of the victims, that's just the way it works here, if it's ok with the victims families to take monetary compensation then so be it. the media and internet blogs should stop berating this young girl.

That's not her side of the story, she never said she was driving like a maniac..no one said that..they are not sure exactly what happened.. I have been driving since I was 16 years old and when I was 16 I drove fine, if anything I was a little bit more careful because I was new..

This girl said that it was the minivan driver that was driving wrecklessly, that he cut her off twice and the second time she couldn't stop in time and thats when the collision occured..and you know what.. I believe HER I have been in a thai minibus and just the other day in the bangkok post there was a letter about how wreckless these minibus drivers are.. thankgod I have my own car now and I don't have to take a minibus to the border every three months and roll the dice that the minibus driver doesn't get into a headon collision while he has his foot to the floor the whole time on a 2 lane road overtaking cars even though the road is curving and the solid line on the road means don't pass..the minibus driver was always some middleaged Thai man that is likly poorly paid so he just wants to get the tedius task done that he has to do everyday.. i thought minibus drivers were wreckless when they were driving foreigners--and you know they will drive a little slower because foreigners like me get scarred and we complain and tell him to cool it so we can make it home in one peice, but he still dives like it's the daytona 500..

Now..imagine a minibus driver at night, with all Thai pasangers, and you know that Thai people don't bitch like us foreigners because they beleive you should always be polite and Buddah will give you good luck as long as your a decent person..so I'm guessing this particular minibus driver was driving like bat out of hell on steroids and high on yaba(even though he wasn't on yaba he was probably driving like it..

lemme say again, I believe HER, or atleast I would get into a car with a thai 16 year old rich girl before i get into one of those minivans with the frustrated middleaged thai male.. i take taxis in bangkok all the time and i never worry about them, they seem calm and professional, but minivan drivers on longer distance runs..NOTSAFE.

Well said.

Any parents that truly care about their kids would ask for real compensation from a maniac on the wheels. This was not an ACCIDENT this was a crazy kid with no knowledge of the road, uninsured, driving like a maniac. An accident is driving at around the speedlimit in your own lane without changing every 10meters then having a tire explode and losing control of the car, thus smashing the car next to you. And for that to be a real accident, you would need to not be talking on the phone which is close to imposible for the average thai.

36mil might be a little too much for this country, but the family is rich, they can pay long term, the death were useful to society AND the more you ask, the more you will get after the judges decides to cut the amount. No matter how much you ask, you won't get the full amount so better just go big

There's videos proving that the girl was at fault, AT WORSE she was an inexperienced driver with no insurance that was scared shitless and still kept close to the minibus supposedly taunting her(why would she still be in front of him if he had passed her twice?)

The slow scared drivers are some of the worse, they are the ones that u-turn in the fast lane at 10kph and hide on the side of the road(the 30cm of space between the fast lane and the ditch), thinking there's enough space for the fast oncoming cars to pass by them.

You keep saying budget minivan which this wasn't. It was a van furnished by the university with a experienced female driver.

[moe666]

I cannot believe some of the commits here, unbelieveable, uninformed, biased, and down right stupid.