Cabbie admits fatal hit-and-run

BANGKOK: -- A taxi driver wanted for a fatal hit-and-run in Bangkok's Soi Sathorn 3 (Soi Suan Phlu), which killed a British woman and seriously injured her friend at 4am yesterday, turned himself in to Thung Mahamek police. He was later released on bail of Bt100,000.

British woman Joanna Helen McKiddie, 29, was killed instantly, while her friend from Scotland Lauren Tobiasen Hughes, 26, suffered a broken hip and bruises.

Cabbie Rungreuthai Phosri, 31, who surrendered at 6.30am, was charged with driving recklessly leading to others' death and injury and fleeing the scene.

He claimed he was driving at 70-80kmh in the rain with a passenger when the two women suddenly crossed in front of him, so he couldn't brake and had to swerve to the left, hence the taxi's right side hit them. He said he stopped 50 metres from the spot, while his passenger jumped out to take another cab.

He fled the scene because he was shocked.

-- The Nation 2012-09-16

Firstly, my condolences and sympathy to the families of the two women. I sincerely hope Ms Hughes makes a good recovery.

Soi Suan Phlu is an average soi with 2 lane traffic and doing 70 -80km/h (45-50 mph) in the rain, IMHO, is irresponsible. He stopped 50 metres away, and his passenger "jumped out and took another cab".

I asked myself "What would I have done"? and I honestly think I would have attempted to render some assistance. Once again, the driver fled the scene.

Perhaps he had been drinking Krating Daeng. At least he turned himself in later, better than the weasel with the Ferrari a while back.

We shall now see how the justice system works once again.

Edited September 15, 201213 yr by ratcatcher

Ohh no , not again!!!!

That is very sad.

R.I P Joanna and my sincere condolences to your family and friends, and a full and speedy recovery to Lauren

What a nutter doing that speed in the rain and the usual customary run away from the scene rather than tend to the injured another shocking accident that could have been avoided with a bit of care and driving to the road conditions

Sad news.

Very sad indeed & the passenger who jumped out and didn't stick around shame on them.

Firstly, my condolences and sympathy to the families of the two women. I sincerely hope Ms Hughes makes a good recovery.

Soi Suan Phlu is an average soi with 2 lane traffic and doing 70 -80km/h (45-50 mph) in the rain, IMHO, is irresponsible. He stopped 50 metres away, and his passenger "jumped out and took another cab".

I asked myself "What would I have done"? and I honestly think I would have attempted to render some assistance. Once again, the driver fled the scene.

Perhaps he had been drinking Krating Daeng. At least he turned himself in later, better than the weasel with the Ferrari a while back.

We shall now see how the justice system works once again.

Will interesting to see the differences in the sentences b/w the taxi driver and the red bull guy. I personally hate hit and run drivers and place them below pig droppings the the pecking order.

Very sad indeed & the passenger who jumped out and didn't stick around shame on them.

That is if indeed there was a passenger. If there was I hope he/she comes forward with thier version of events which may or may not support the drivers version.

A tragic death, and a totally unnecessary death caused by the admitted speed and driving conditions. It goes partly back to the lack of driver training discussed on another thread but at the end of the day it was culpable and reckless driving on the part of the taxi driver. At least this man had the conscience to put his hands up and admit to the accident after fleeing the scene.

I'm so sorry that this young lady has lost her life so needlessly, and I hope that Lauren, ( a fellow Scot ) gets the best medical care and makes a full recovery. It will be a long recovery for this young lady and I hope that she has friends in Bangkok to assist her, over and above the embassy staff.

We should limit the inquest and speculation as it's very likely that friends and family will come across this thread, such a tragic and needless loss.

So sorry Joanna,

How very sad, I hope the injured lady can make a full recovery. I don't know how I'd behave if I were in the position of the either the driver or the passenger - it's easy to judge others and I'd like to think that I'd do the right thing, but you do behave irrationally when shocked and scared.

Disgusting, another hit and run. People run down a human being and just leave them on the side of the road like an animal to die. Sickening. A quick wai, throw a couple of hundred baht to the family and all the pain will be forgotten and all will go away.

Assuming the general selfishness arround here, the 100k bail, and the 2 hours later "turning in".

70km/h + rain = 100% Guilty (and the driver did know that hopefully)

All this is already a big step in the right direction.

My best wishes to the familes and injured in the time of need. The driver driving too fast and pedestrians not watching before they step into traffic. You see that6 numed all of the time here red light right of way means nothing here stop and look both ways before crossing.

A British woman and her friend from Scotland? Isn't Scotland part of Britain?

Sad, tragic and unnecessary. This taxi driver should be made an example of so the message gets across.

Did anybody see any details of whether the taxi driver is being held being bars or was released on bail (how much), etc?

Would be interesting to compare these details with the ferrari case and the 16 yr old who crashed into the uni minivan.

The accused:

Thai Rath news (article in Thai)

http://www.thairath.co.th/content/region/291299

===========================================================

Heavily pixelated photos of the victim and the crash scene:

Ban Muang (article in Thai)

http://www.banmuang.co.th/2012/09/%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%97%E0%B9%87%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%8B%E0%B8%B5%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%8B%E0%B8%B4%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%8A%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%8D%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%95%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%8A/

=========================================================

Drawing of the crash scene:

Daily News (article in Thai)

http://www.dailynews.co.th/crime/155289

The Hit and Run bit is normal here, mostly because far to often the crowds will beat or kill the drivers of car pedestrian accidents, and the Thais all know this, and never know if they will stop and wait for police, or find themselves in a losing life or death struggle from something done accidentally.

The fact that most turn themselves into police a short time later, shows they understand what to do,

but want to survive doing the right thing.

In this case accident at 4am, and he turns himself in and tells his side at 6:30 am.

The Ferrari Red Bull heir not at all, just a weasel trying to blame his servent.

RIP to the poor lady and quick recovery to her Scots friend.

Edited September 16, 201213 yr by animatic

A tragic death, and a totally unnecessary death caused by the admitted speed and driving conditions. It goes partly back to the lack of driver training discussed on another thread but at the end of the day it was culpable and reckless driving on the part of the taxi driver. At least this man had the conscience to put his hands up and admit to the accident after fleeing the scene.

I'm so sorry that this young lady has lost her life so needlessly, and I hope that Lauren, ( a fellow Scot ) gets the best medical care and makes a full recovery. It will be a long recovery for this young lady and I hope that she has friends in Bangkok to assist her, over and above the embassy staff.

We should limit the inquest and speculation as it's very likely that friends and family will come across this thread, such a tragic and needless loss.

So sorry Joanna,

"At least this man had the conscience to put his hands up and admit to the accident after fleeing the scene". Most likely not the case. Taxi was a rental so had to be returned to depot. discussions were had to see if there may have been a way to hide the crime and for money to change hands. owner of taxi said no, so guy had to own up or the owner would give his names and details anyway. took over 2 hours for him to get over his 'shock' and come forward. how long were these young ladies lying in the street before assistance came.

Sorry for the negativity on my part but living here makes you a suspicious person about some thais and their motives whether well intentioned or not.

Condolences to the deceased and her family and a speedy recovery to the other young lady.

The picture in the OP and the map of the scene do not appear to be showing the same bit of road. RIP to the deceased, As for the passenger doing a runner. When I 1st visited Thailand, the advice given to me was that, if the taxi has a prang do not be found near the scene by the police. They'll hold you in part responsible for the accident.

Assuming the general selfishness arround here, the 100k bail, and the 2 hours later "turning in".

70km/h + rain = 100% Guilty (and the driver did know that hopefully)

All this is already a big step in the right direction.

70k is only 43 mph, not knowing how bad the rain was, hards to say,

but 43mph doesn't sound excessive normally.

At 4am don't imagine the ladies were 100% sobre and aware.

Not saying blame the vicim here, just saying hang em high doesn't always ring true.

2 hours later is not too long a wait for here, just long enough not to be killed by an enraged mob.

We can't think in terms of our culture since it certainly isn't.

Guilty, most likely.Showing contrition, most likely, more lenient sentence because of this, most likely too.

But he will never forget he's killed a young lady like this.

Assuming the general selfishness arround here, the 100k bail, and the 2 hours later "turning in".

70km/h + rain = 100% Guilty (and the driver did know that hopefully)

All this is already a big step in the right direction.

70k is only 43 mph, not knowing how bad the rain was, hards to say,

but 43mph doesn't sound excessive normally.

At 4am don't imagine the ladies were 100% sobre and aware.

Not saying blame the vicim here, just saying hang em high doesn't always ring true.

2 hours later is not too long a wait for here, just long enough not to be killed by an enraged mob.

We can't think in terms of our culture since it certainly isn't.

Guilty, most likely.Showing contrition, most likely, more lenient sentence because of this, most likely too.

But he will never forget he's killed a young lady like this.

I admire your thinking but to suggest that an angry mob of thai or foreigner will descend upon an accident at 4 a.m. in the heavy rain is nonsense. to also suggest that a mob would beat a driver on behalf of people they don't know or met before is also silly. this is not India.

he left the scene to get his story straight or maybe for the effects of something to wear off. nothing more. accountability is sadly lacking here. from the top to the bottom.

RIP the poor deceased lady, I hope the other lady makes a speedy recovery, at least the cabbie turned himself in in short time instead of staying in hiding.

It would also be good if the passengers of the taxi got sent to jail. I can't imagine seeing two people get knocked down and then just jumping in another taxi and leaving them seriously injured on the road.

The picture in the OP and the map of the scene do not appear to be showing the same bit of road. RIP to the deceased, As for the passenger doing a runner. When I 1st visited Thailand, the advice given to me was that, if the taxi has a prang do not be found near the scene by the police. They'll hold you in part responsible for the accident.

That is complete nonsense.

Begs the question under these circumstances why is he out on bail ??

As for the question in post #15 NangrongJ " Isn't Scotland part of Britain "

it depends on which side of the border you are he he

The Hit and Run bit is normal here, mostly because far to often the crowds will beat or kill the drivers of car pedestrian accidents, and the Thais all know this, and never know if they will stop and wait for police, or find themselves in a losing life or death struggle from something done accidentally.

The fact that most turn themselves into police a short time later, shows they understand what to do,

but want to survive doing the right thing.

In this case accident at 4am, and he turns himself in and tells his side at 6:30 am.

The Ferrari Red Bull heir not at all, just a weasel trying to blame his servent.

RIP to the poor lady and quick recovery to her Scots friend.

If it was the case that he left because he wanted to avoid a possible angry mob, then he would have driven straight to the nearest police station and handed himself in at 4.05am. There is no need to wait 2.5 hours to avoid an angry mob.

Also, this angry mob thing is a bit of a myth. I have witnessed accidents and the drivers stayed until the police arrived. No-one ran away and there were no angry mobs.

While I think the driver should be jailed for felling the scene, the actual accident may not have been his fault. It is possible the women stepped into the path of the taxi and there was nothing he could do. It's not always the fault of the driver. He may have been driving a little fast, but it seems to be a fact that the women were hit while on the road and not the pavement. So you have to wonder what they were doing in the road. We will have to wait to see what the woman who survived had to say. In a hit and run like this in the UK, the drive would also be out on bail.

A hit & run where a women is killed & another with serious injuries.. out on bail.. I don't think so !!

While I think the driver should be jailed for felling the scene, the actual accident may not have been his fault. It is possible the women stepped into the path of the taxi and there was nothing he could do. It's not always the fault of the driver. He may have been driving a little fast, but it seems to be a fact that the women were hit while on the road and not the pavement. So you have to wonder what they were doing in the road. We will have to wait to see what the woman who survived had to say. In a hit and run like this in the UK, the drive would also be out on bail.

Maybe they were naive enough to try and use a pedestrian crossing, should be hazard warnings for tourists coming into LOS stapled to the 'how to put on your life jacket' card on the flights.