French Tourist Killed, Another Comatose In Phuket Motorbike Crash

[webfact]

French tourist killed, another comatose in Phuket motorbike crash

Phuket Gazette

Scrape marks on the road show the direction the bike traveled after hitting the curb and projecting the two riders toward the retaining wall.

Mr Heras struck the wall and dropped into a dry pool, while Mr Donny struck the low wall in the foreground, bounced over and fell down into a concrete drainage ditch.

PHUKET: -- One French tourist is dead and another remains in coma after the motorbike they were riding crashed on the beach road in Karon before dawn yesterday.

Chalong duty officer Boonlert Onklang said that police were informed of the accident, at a curved section of the beach road near the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort, at 3.40am.

Arriving at the scene, police were told by one of the resort’s security guards that he heard what sounded like a large motorbike heading toward Karon Circle, followed by a loud crash.

The guard ran to the scene to find two men lying off to one side of the road, their Yamaha 400 Majesty motorbike lying in the middle of the road.

Police found the body of Ludovic Didier Donny, 36, in a canal on the other side of a stone retaining wall, and the severely injured Jerome Sebastien Heras, 35, in a small concrete pond beside the wall.

Mr Heras, from Perpignan in France, was rushed to Vachira Phuket Hospital with multiple injuries. He has yet to regain consciousness.

Mr Donny, from Noisy-le-Sec, a suburb of Paris, died at the scene. His body was transported to the Vachira Phuket Hospital morgue.

The two tourists had arrived in Phuket the previous day, Col Boonlert said.

“Mr Donny received fatal injuries to his head. Mr Heras survived, but has cuts all over his body. His chances of survival are about 50-50,” he said.

“After examining the crash area, it appears that motorbike struck the curb before hitting the wall. We don’t know who was operating the motorbike.”

Police at the scene noted that neither man was wearing a helmet.

Mr Hera’s blood contained more than 200 parts per million of alcohol. Due to coagulation of the blood after death, the blood alcohol level of the late Mr Donny could not be checked, Col Boonlert said.

“The French Embassy has been informed of the incident,” he added.

Source: http://www.phuketgaz...ticle16830.html

-- Phuket Gazette 2012-09-05

[chiang mai]

Second day of vacation, 3.40am, a skin full of booze and a big bike, what a lethal combination.

[LivinginKata]

RIP to the dead man and let's hope the other man recovers. Every day I see these new tourists driving bikes over the hills between Patong & Karon. Many have no idea how to ride a m/bike, See plenty in the side ditch. Often wondered how they did that, then one day I was driving way behind a couple of bikes going down the hill near the Meridien road end. One goes too close to the tarmac edge, slides on the grass, and into the ditch. His mate looks back and looses control of his bike. Neither hurt other than their pride.

[NamKangMan]

How ironic there is a tuk-tuk in the background of the photo of the wrecked motorbike and this death and serious injury comes at the start of the Mayor's fifth term in office.

Of the many tourist, expats and locals, who have died on this island in a motor vehicle accident, how many of them may have taken the option of using proper and affordable public transport, should it ever exist here???? Just like they would in their home country, when going on a night out.

How many more will die until Phuket has an affordable public transport system????

RIP Mr. Donny and a speedy recover for Mr. Heras.

[JohanBKK]

Foolish to drive on a motorbike without a helmet, at 3.40 am, drunk, in Thailand and on the mountain. They forgot their brain in France. I'm also french and i can tell you nobody drives arround without a helmet in France, even the brainless badass teenagers wear helmets all the time.

[Dararasmi]

No helmets? Alcohol? This was no accident. Sounds more like a combination suicide/attempted vehicular manslaughter to me.

Edited September 5, 2012 by Dararasmi

[atsiii]

I suppose it is just bad reporting, but the article says the first on the scene found the two boddies lying next to the road. But when police arrived, one body was in a pond and the other body was in the canal??

Mr. Donny was pronounced dead at the scene, but then the article quotes the police as saying" Mr Donny received fatal injuries to his head. Mr Heras survived, but has cuts all over his body. His chances of survival are about 50-50,”

Is this just bad reporting??? Or is there more to this story than meets the eye?

[action]

"One French tourist is dead and another remains in coma after the motorbike they were riding crashed on the beach road in Karon before dawn yesterday."

Motorbikes don't crash motorbikes, people crash motorbikes.

[gohmer]

Natural selection comes to mind.

[Mr Brown]

Every day another flight arrives at Phuket International Airport and out come all of the Valentine Rossi and Casey Stoners, the majority that have never ridden a motorbike in their own country never less in a country like Thailand where driving/riding is calculated in centimetres and sometime millimetres.

Every day I watch a large percentage of tourist act in an irresponsible/disrespective manner hurtling along the beach road from Karon to Kata. I gasp when I see Dad in control of the bike, with mom riding pillion and the little one holding on to the handlebars a lot of the time NOT wearing stack hats.

Yes! The situation is very tragic, indeed

[bobobo]

You need good skills to drive a bike like that when You sober..a new environment,tired,drunk no helmets it could go either way and sadly it did. R.I.P. and good recovery for the injured.

[pointoffew]

"Mr Hera’s blood contained more than 200 parts per million of alcohol."

Why didn't we read anything about the blood of Red Bull / Black Horse Worrayuth Yoovidhya?!

[terryp]

"Mr Hera’s blood contained more than 200 parts per million of alcohol."

Why didn't we read anything about the blood of Red Bull / Black Horse Worrayuth Yoovidhya?!

Because there was none , the gate log of the security Guard show he left his home 13 minutes before the accident...unless that was falsified too?

[moe666]

I suppose it is just bad reporting, but the article says the first on the scene found the two boddies lying next to the road. But when police arrived, one body was in a pond and the other body was in the canal??

Mr. Donny was pronounced dead at the scene, but then the article quotes the police as saying" Mr Donny received fatal injuries to his head. Mr Heras survived, but has cuts all over his body. His chances of survival are about 50-50,”

Is this just bad reporting??? Or is there more to this story than meets the eye?

It seems you have found your niche here worring about the quality of the reporting. Remember there is a translation issue as well as you point out bad reporting. To bad there is no pay for pointing these out as you will be very busy. Best wishes to the family of the deceased and full recovery to the injured

[R10wota]

"We don’t know who was operating the motorbike."

Well to start with... Check the Fingerprints on the Handles of the Bike....

[pagallim]

"Mr Hera’s blood contained more than 200 parts per million of alcohol."

Why didn't we read anything about the blood of Red Bull / Black Horse Worrayuth Yoovidhya?!

Because there was none , the gate log of the security Guard show he left his home 13 minutes before the accident...unless that was falsified too?

How is that relative to whether he had alcohol/drugs in his system or not?

[russianrobert]

How ironic there is a tuk-tuk in the background of the photo of the wrecked motorbike and this death and serious injury comes at the start of the Mayor's fifth term in office.

Of the many tourist, expats and locals, who have died on this island in a motor vehicle accident, how many of them may have taken the option of using proper and affordable public transport, should it ever exist here???? Just like they would in their home country, when going on a night out.

How many more will die until Phuket has an affordable public transport system????

RIP Mr. Donny and a speedy recover for Mr. Heras.

I dare say Phuket needs an affordable public transport system but at 3.40am? A lot of countries/islands around the world have this same problem. Tourists arrive and hire bikes and end up with road rash or worse.

RIP

[steelepulse]

RIP,,above posters make good points. If you don't know how to ride, you shouldn't be riding.....period.

Reason many people choose to rent a bike is the extortionate fares charged by the tuk tuk drivers as per what their associations demand and the lack of a comprehensive and affordable public transport system thanks to the thuggery of the tuk tuks and their associations. beating up any driver that dares ply their routes.

[pointoffew]

"Mr Hera’s blood contained more than 200 parts per million of alcohol."

Why didn't we read anything about the blood of Red Bull / Black Horse Worrayuth Yoovidhya?!

Because there was none , the gate log of the security Guard show he left his home 13 minutes before the accident...unless that was falsified too?

You never drink @ home?!

Edited September 5, 2012 by pointoffew

[pointoffew]

Second day of vacation, 3.40am, a skin full of booze and a big bike, what a lethal combination.

Call it modern day Russian (certainly not typically French) roulette - the adrenaline boost is the incentive.

[russianrobert]

RIP,,above posters make good points. If you don't know how to ride, you shouldn't be riding.....period.

Reason many people choose to rent a bike is the extortionate fares charged by the tuk tuk drivers as per what their associations demand and the lack of a comprehensive and affordable public transport system thanks to the thuggery of the tuk tuks and their associations. beating up any driver that dares ply their routes.

Tourists will always hire bikes in a place like Phuket. It gives them complete freedom to travel where they like on the island, when and where they like.

As i said, Phuket could use better public transport but it wont cut out the demand for scooters and bikes by tourists.

[sirchai]

Wish him a speedy recovery.......

[Chads]

Foolish to drive on a motorbike without a helmet, at 3.40 am, drunk, in Thailand and on the mountain. They forgot their brain in France. I'm also french and i can tell you nobody drives arround without a helmet in France, even the brainless badass teenagers wear helmets all the time.

When in Rome...

[sirchai]

Sorry, but i haven't met too many foreigners here who don't drink and drive.

Alcohol does people make to advanced motorcycle drivers, as it's changing men's view regarding not so good looking girls....

Even "Superman" died after falling off a horseback many moons ago.-----

Edited September 5, 2012 by sirchai

[pacovl46]

No helmets? Alcohol? This was no accident. Sounds more like a combination suicide/attempted vehicular manslaughter to me.

Riiiiight. Let's fly to Thailand, rent a motorbike, get drunk and then crash it on purpose to commit suicide!!! Ridiculous!!!

[BabyJebus]

Only the thai govt is to blame. Anyone who isnt part of the lower tier of the human brain scale knows that humans need to be babysat for their own safety. Knowing they wont get into trouble for not wearing a helmet means that 85%+ of the tourists won't wear one. If they had heard that policiemen do their jobs it would drop to around 15%

[o2eZy]

I am a motorcycle tech and this bike looks like a big CC scooter that could reach high speeds

people do not realise how fast they go when alcohol is consumed

remember the saying ...the older I am the faster I was.....

look at how many older people are killed on bikes these days because

bikes were different in the 60s to the 80s as far as power to weight ratio

look at the old CB750 Honda with the big hinge in the centre of the frame and the kawasaki Z900 from the early days

that had to have the frame braced so it would not highside the rider and

they reached the magic100mph but it took a while to get there and wobbled all over the road

but these days the 600cc bikes can reach the 100mph in 2nd gear

I think tourists in Thailand should only be able to hire cars or trikes and then maybe they will

stay alive to come back another day

RIP to the 2 guys involved in this accident

[ishan14]

Another example of DRINK AND DRIVE mishap. These kind of incidents are getting too common with the tourists who get druk and srive big bikes instead of spending their night with a beautiful thai girl. Very irresponsible of the guys but anways R.I.P. to the guy who died.

[Travelman868]

Nobody without a full bike licence should be able to hire any bike over 125cc.

[nikkoid66]

No helmet? Drunk? 3:40 in the night, probably driving too fast? Somnana.