Austrian hotel GM killed in car crash

[Thaivisa News]

Kamphaeng Phet:- An Austrian man, who was the general manager of a hotel in Chiang Mai, was killed in a car crash in Kamphaeng Phet’s Muang dstrict Wednesday morning.

Pol Capt Samarn Songkhoom, an officer on duty at Muang Kamphaeng Phet police station, said the man was identified by his business card as Christoph Hlebayna, 51. His business card showed that he was the general manger of Grand View Hotel and Convenient Center in Chiang Mai.

Samarn said his police station was alerted about the accident at 7:20 am. There were no eyewitnesses but passers-by spotted Hlebayna’s Toyota Fortuner on the side of the Bangkok-bound Phaholyothin Road in Tambon Nakhon Chum in Muang district. His international driving license identified him as an Austrian, now a resident of Pattaya.

Bt10,000 in cash was found on his body and a tablet and notebook computers were found in the vehicle.

Police and rescuers found the wreckage of the Fortuner with Bangkok license plate on the roadside. The vehicle was almost reduced to a heap of wreckage with torn-off roof and torn-off part of the driver’s side.

Helbayna’s body was found lying on the roadside, apparently hurled out by the impact. His right arm was torn off by the impact.

Police checked the tyres’ traces and saw that car headed into the ditch in the middle of the road for about 30 meters before it hit into a tree in the middle of the ditch, causing the right part of the vehicle to be torn off.

The vehicle then changed its direction and came back on the road before it stopped on the left side of the road.

Brochures of his hotel were found scattered at the scene.

Police believe the man was driving to Bangkok but dozed off because of tiredness.

His body was sent for the Kamphaeng Phet Hospital for an auptosy.

[ChaangNoi]

How sad. RIP.

[ratcatcher]

R.I.P. Mr Hlebayna

[Wildliferescue]

He was from Austria, not Australia. RIP.

Edited March 4, 2015 by Wildliferescue

[Andrew65]

Very sad. RIP

[Marcel1]

That must have been a hell of a crash, there is nothing left of the car..

Sad thing to happen to the man. r.i.p.

[SOTIRIOS]

....I hope they check to see that it was not something...or someone else that killed him before the crash...

...7:20 am is not so early to justify 'falling asleep'....nor are the travel distances....

...and as for the 'Fortuner'....it seems to have no frame integrity......it looks cut in half.....

.....and....were there even air bags deployed....????

[muffy]

That is what speed does to a car . .

[Twin Bay]

I worked with Chris for 4 years when i managed the Panviman Resort on Koh Phangan back in 2005 to 2009. He was Director of Sales and a true gentleman. This is a sad day for all who knew him. A larger than life character with a larger heart. Rest in peace Chris, you will not be forgotten

[hanno]

....I hope they check to see that it was not something...or someone else that killed him before the crash...

...7:20 am is not so early to justify 'falling asleep'....nor are the travel distances....

...and as for the 'Fortuner'....it seems to have no frame integrity......it looks cut in half.....

.....and....were there even air bags deployed....????

[torpedo1970]

....I hope they check to see that it was not something...or someone else that killed him before the crash...

...7:20 am is not so early to justify 'falling asleep'....nor are the travel distances....

...and as for the 'Fortuner'....it seems to have no frame integrity......it looks cut in half.....

.....and....were there even air bags deployed....????

Start to question cars made in Thailand.....

Looking at this mangled pile of junk...

Look like no frame at all on this car... After all that was a SUV and is supposedly the best of the best from Toyota in Thailand.....

for sure there is a lot more to this story than a simple accident

[BB24]

Hopefully this was just an accident and no one else caused it.

By the sounds of it a nice guy - RIP.

[dawsonuk]

RIP Chris. I think you will find that the Fortuner is derived from the humble mini van

[96tehtarp]

What a horrible tragedy. RIP

[Twin Bay]

Torepedo1970

What are you trying to say ? someone murdered him, cut his car in half, took out the air bags, dismembered his arm and and and... whilst villagers looked on ? Geez get a life in the real world. An accident is an accident.

[Nemesis7]

OMG...thats was a damn huge crash.

RIP.

[Mobi]

RIP to the poor guy who died and my sympathies to his family and friends.

I had a pretty horrific accident in a Fortuner a few years ago and the airbags did not deploy. I have no idea why. It took 4 months and over 800K to repair and as soon as I got it back I sold it.

Not sure about later models but my model had the worst brakes I have ever experienced since my Pre-war Standard 8 back in the early 60's.

Many told me to complain to Toyota, but I just wanted to move on and forget it. The last thing I needed was a big fight with a Japanese automaker.

The fact remains that Fortuners do not meet EU safety standards and are not exported to Europe. Their big markets, apart from Thailand, used to be the Philippines and South Africa - not sure these days, I have lost track.

[mango66]

He was driving from CM to BKK,

so he was driving most all night,

the dangeres time for exidents are when day start,

not in the night !

RIP

( NOt really a Austrian name ?)

[bobbin]

RIP

It's shocking how much damage that Fortuner sustained!

[hanno]

...7:20 am is not so early to justify 'falling asleep'....nor are the travel distances....

Why not? He was a hotel GM and, as a fellow hotel GM, I can say that at the end of the tourist season everybody working in hotels is beat, even at 7:20 am.

[wabothai]

RIP colleque.

[ratcatcher]

He was driving from CM to BKK,

so he was driving most all night,

the dangeres time for exidents are when day start,

not in the night !

RIP

( NOt really a Austrian name ?)

Congratulations on spotting the name as not being "really" Austrian.

Would you settle for a little Hungarian or Czech or maybe Belarus interbreeding in the distant past?

[ratcatcher]

RIP

It's shocking how much damage that Fortuner sustained!

It was obviously proceeding at a vigorous speed to end up in that condition. Fortuners are fast vehicles and are usually driven in the fast (outside or overtaking) lane.

[bangon04]

That must have been a hell of a crash, there is nothing left of the car..

Sad thing to happen to the man. r.i.p.

The car is not sold in many western countries..... wonder why..

take a look at the crash test result (aka Toyota 4Runner)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q70jNH-FnVY

[Bignose]

Absolute tragedy, the risks involved when driving tired are there for all to see.

Commiserations and condolences to his family and friends.

[rotary]

....I hope they check to see that it was not something...or someone else that killed him before the crash...

...7:20 am is not so early to justify 'falling asleep'....nor are the travel distances....

...and as for the 'Fortuner'....it seems to have no frame integrity......it looks cut in half.....

.....and....were there even air bags deployed....????

Start to question cars made in Thailand.....

Looking at this mangled pile of junk...

Look like no frame at all on this car... After all that was a SUV and is supposedly the best of the best from Toyota in Thailand.....

for sure there is a lot more to this story than a simple accident

Fortuna's have a fairly poor accident record but mostly from rolling over. My mate was killed in one that rolled.

[SGD]

RIP poor fellow.

Fortuner looks the business but seriously isn't. It is derived from the Vigo pick up truck and is about as good at protecting the occupants. but it is (relatively) cheap.

[NeverSure]

I know of two instances (where proper autopsies are done) where the cause was a heart attack. It doesn't have to be this guy's fault.

RIP and condolences to friends and family.

[Don Mega]

That must have been a hell of a crash, there is nothing left of the car..

Sad thing to happen to the man. r.i.p.

The car is not sold in many western countries..... wonder why..

take a look at the crash test result (aka Toyota 4Runner)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q70jNH-FnVY

Yeah that 4runner is based on the Landcruiser Prado platform, The Fortuner is not.

Not saying the Fortuner performs any better in a crash test but to my knowledge it has never actually been put to one.

[EyesWideOpen]

Wow that Fortuner came apart like a cheap motorhome. Not going to buy one

of those in the future. That clearly is crap construction to have the body come

apart like that.

Edited March 4, 2015 by EyesWideOpen