Russian revived from coma, faces charge for Phuket motorbike crash that killed fiancé

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Russian revived from coma, faces charge for Phuket motorbike crash that killed fiancé
The Phuket News


Sergey Koltsov, 24, and Marina Smirnova, 19, were engaged to be married, said police. Photo: VK.com

PHUKET: -- A Russian man has regained consciousness after two weeks in a coma after the motorbike he was riding slammed into a Phuket police patrol car and killed his 19-year-old fiancé .

Sergey Koltsov, 24, and Marina Smirnova, 19, both sustained serious head injuries when they fell from the rented motorbike they were riding on Patak Rd in Karon on July 4.

“The accident happened at 1:45am,” said case officer Lt Santichai Srimai. “The motorbike they were on skidded on the wet road and crashed.

“Both victims fell off and the motorbike slammed into a parked patrol car in front of Mae Somjit Market.”

Miss Smirnova died on July 10, while Mr Koltsov remained comatose at Vachira hospital.

Friends and family of Mr Kolstov and Miss Smirnova rallied an online fundraising drive on the Russian-language web portal VK.com to help pay the spiralling medical bills.

The Russian Embassy was notified of Miss Smirnova’s death and her family arrived to claim her body on July 14, Lt Santichai said.

“They paid for the damages to the rented motorbike and the patrol car while they were here,” he added.

“Miss Smirnova’s sister said that her family will not press charges against Mr Kolstov as they understand it was accident.”

Mr Kolstov was released from hospital on Tuesday (July 21).

“He has been charged with reckless driving causing death,” Lt Santichai said.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/russian-revived-from-coma-faces-charge-for-phuket-motorbike-crash-that-killed-fianc%C3%A9e-53371.php


-- Phuket News 2015-07-27

[soihok]

How sad.

RIP

[DLang]

No doubt they can squeeze some more money out of him.

[Sviss Geez]

Neither the rented bike nor the police vehicle had insurance? Odd that the victim's family should have paid for the damages.

[charlee27]

Oh my god. What an awful story. Imagine coming round to the news of his fiancee passing away. Thats going to be with him forever, he's suffered enough. I hope he makes a speedy recovery.

[soihok]

Thing is that if he has committed an offence, he is still liable for prosecution.

Sad affair all round.

[stevenl]

Neither the rented bike nor the police vehicle had insurance? Odd that the victim's family should have paid for the damages.

Motorbike will very likely have had the very limited injury insurance that is compulsory. In many countries police vehicles are not insured. I'm not sure about Thailand, but even if it was insured, the insurance company would still be entitled to recoup the damages from the guilty party, in this case Sergey Koltsov.

[watcharacters]

“The accident happened at 1:45am,”

Not a good time to be driving a motorbike or even a car really.

[Jimlove]

No Insurance - hospital for 2 weeks = massiv bill from the most expensive hospitals in 3rd World ...

Police will try to get their cut too to let him go or put him behind bars and raise their bribe to let him go - no matter what this quality tourist is not gonna come back ..

[oldsailor35]

Motorbike company have no insurance, nothing said, no charges laid. But the foreign rider had an accident on wet road is being charged. At the same time a bungee jump owner, obviously well off, operating unsafe equipment with customer killed by the use of that unsafe equipment....Guess what ... No charges laid.

Talk about double standards.

[DLang]

Neither the rented bike nor the police vehicle had insurance? Odd that the victim's family should have paid for the damages.

That's the only things farangs are good for.

Paying.

[realenglish1]

A very bad tragedy.

Just send him hone He will be haunted by this the rest of his life. Sorry Fella

[dpeti73]

Everyone talking about motorbike and car insurance, but these guys haven't any personal or travel insurance for cover medical bill. This is more reckless thinking. But what i see most of young Russians no have any insurance. They play Russian roulette and sometimes loose....

[dotpoom]

Oh my god. What an awful story. Imagine coming round to the news of his fiancee passing away. Thats going to be with him forever, he's suffered enough. I hope he makes a speedy recovery.

Amen to that...what a dreadfully sad sad story..

.For some reason (possibly because I see far more coverage of it here than I did back home)...I find my mind is very occupied nowadays with all the destruction going on around the world. A lone survivor telling the story of how all his family has been wiped out in one fell swoop...the stories are horrific, one man lost his 5 daughters, his Mother and Father and all his relatives, imagine trying to cope with that....and of course his house went up in smoke too. Countless stories like this daily all over the world and it's as if we have all come to accept it as the norm. What is wrong with this Human Race?...sometimes I feel it would be better if it had to start all over again from the beginning...but I suppose the same result would come about. Greed, Ego and Self Centeredness would rear it's ugly head once again. The agony in the world of today is unimaginable and sometimes when I find myself moaning about something so small that I blush when I realize how fortunate I have been compared to many of my fellow man.....(The Innocent Victims).

[stevenl]

No Insurance - hospital for 2 weeks = massiv bill from the most expensive hospitals in 3rd World ...

Police will try to get their cut too to let him go or put him behind bars and raise their bribe to let him go - no matter what this quality tourist is not gonna come back ..

You have clearly never seen or been to vachira.

[SOTIRIOS]

...my condolences to the family

...but.....what bs...

...it was a wet road...and the motorcycle slipped...

...and what about insurance....

...and where was the vehicle stopped......

...he lost his fiance and has to be charges......for what ???

[steveyinasia]

So he is charged with reckless driving causing death yet the Red Bull brat, Honda killer and now the HiSO mixed race actress get away with it. Whats wrong with this picture folks?

[Emster23]

Hope they throw the book at him like they did with government officials reckless driving (pulling out in T intersection without stopping) on a sunny day that led to death of friends wife and 8 month old fetus. He was fined 1,500 baht.

[PoorSucker]

Neither the rented bike nor the police vehicle had insurance? Odd that the victim's family should have paid for the damages.

Mandatory motorbike insurance covers 15.000 baht in hospital costs.

Maybe you should ask why they did not have travel insurance, or maybe if it was void because the driver did not have driving license.

Also be aware that normal western travel insurance only cover motorbikes up to 50cc

[stevenl]

So he is charged with reckless driving causing death yet the Red Bull brat, Honda killer and now the HiSO mixed race actress get away with it. Whats wrong with this picture folks?

All three you mention got charged.

[Colabamumbai]

Now if these were two Thai people I doubt very much there would be any charges at all. The survivor would pay the womans family a few Baht and that would be the end of it.

[oneday]

R.I.P young lady.

The real sad part is if this had been a Thai driver on the bike, he would have been fined 1000 baht and sent on his way and that includes Thais who drive recklessly and kill innocent falang walking on a sidewalk.

This poor young man wakes from a coma to huge medical bills and to the news his fiance was killed in the accident. The family of the young lady pays for all damages, but Thailand still wants to prosecute him.

That is heartless vengeance in it's purest form.

[soalbundy]

Neither the rented bike nor the police vehicle had insurance? Odd that the victim's family should have paid for the damages.

double stitched holds better

[stevenl]

Now if these were two Thai people I doubt very much there would be any charges at all. The survivor would pay the womans family a few Baht and that would be the end of it.

Plus there would be a police charge for dangerous driving. They do that here for virtually every accident, quite often 500 baht.

[stevenl]

R.I.P young lady.

The real sad part is if this had been a Thai driver on the bike, he would have been fined 1000 baht and sent on his way and that includes Thais who drive recklessly and kill innocent falang walking on a sidewalk.

This poor young man wakes from a coma to huge medical bills and to the news his fiance was killed in the accident. The family of the young lady pays for all damages, but Thailand still wants to prosecute him.

That is heartless vengeance in it's purest form.

As you said, Thais get fined and so does he

[Alwyn]

Everyone talking about motorbike and car insurance, but these guys haven't any personal or travel insurance for cover medical bill. This is more reckless thinking. But what i see most of young Russians no have any insurance. They play Russian roulette and sometimes loose....

It's almost impossible to get travel insurance cover for Thailand because of the political situation (article 44). There again one might ask, why come to Thailand if you cannot get travel insurance? aAnd so the Russian roulette begins for everybody!

[Alwyn]

Tragic story, such a young handsome couple, one no longer with us and the other with his life in tatters and now facing the full wrath of Thai justice corruption/vengeance/heartlessness... The soppy bint who killed two police officers while they sat in their car gets not even a reprimand and this poor bloke's bike slides away on a wet road..... Have the police checked the tyres on the rental bike? Silly question. Stories like this make me glad I'm back in the UK to be honest

[Equalizer]

It seems to me that the Thai police initially go through a training program, they then go out into the big wide word and practice what they have learned on Farang.

[mango66]

...my condolences to the family

...but.....what bs...

...it was a wet road...and the motorcycle slipped...

...and what about insurance....

...and where was the vehicle stopped......

...he lost his fiance and has to be charges......for what ???

so the street were wet !!

So, did the street have no insurance ?

They should court the road service company,

that they not dried up the street after the rain !!

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

No doubt they can squeeze some more money out of him.

Sorry but I don't understand you. If this guy broke the law and in the process caused the death of his fiance, are you saying they must let him go? If he was DUI or was going to fast or was in any way reckless as claimed by the police should he walk free ? Next time its a guy driving reckless and going into another vehicle killing somebody elses fiance, must this person also walk free ? I know its tuff on him but unfortunately that is the law. Is it not time for the rule of law in Thailand.