Drunk minivan driver kills Phuket police officer
Phuket Gazette - November 9, 2015 | 03:35 PM

Sen Sgt Maj Suthat Songmuang of the Tah Chat Chai Police died of the injuries he sustained during the accident. Video: PGTV/Tah Chat Chai Police

PHUKET: -- A drunk minivan driver killed a Phuket police officer after jumping the curb and running him over at a u-turn near Phuket International Airport this morning.

Sen Sgt Maj Suthat Songmuang of the Tah Chat Chai Police was on duty at the time and preparing for his role as part of the security team for the visit of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, who is on the island to officially open the medical education center at Vachira Phuket Hospital, as well as the ‘Baan Khun Poom Building’ for children.

Sen Sgt Maj Suthat was rushed to Thalang Hospital, but died of his injuries while being treated, confirmed Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Saman Chainarong, who was present at the time of the accident.

The 25-year-old minivan driver, Pichitpol Pakkaew had a blood alcohol content level of .067 per cent. The legal limit is .05 per cent, explained Col Saman.

Full story: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Drunk-minivan-driver-kills-Phuket-police-officer/62321?desktopversion#ad-image-0


-- Phuket Gazette 2015-11-09

RIP. Forking hell that old boy never had a chance. That van driver should be given a long drop with a shot rope.

This happened at 10 am!!

Dead policeman has 2 daughters aged 3 and 5.

Poor guy didn't stand a chance! <deleted> were his intentions? Was he about to ride up the road in the wrong direction?

Poor guy didn't stand a chance! <deleted> were his intentions? Was he about to ride up the road in the wrong direction?

It looked to me like the police motorcyclist was correctly waiting at a U-turn. So, I don't follow your post.

Perhaps the question needs to be asked is where was the minivan driver going? Was he heading to the airport to pick up some arriving tourists as the accident was near there and the timing is right for a morning pickup. Could have been a lot worse if he crashed on the way back rather than going. But who knows, maybe he was heading home.

What was the minivan driver doing - well up on/over the grass median. I would like to see any video of the minute before to see why the minibus was up on the grass.

Jeez - the policeman had no chance at all.

The minivan driver probably up all night drinking , no sleep and fell asleep behind the wheel. RIP.

Awful. But unfortunately not surprising at all. Perhaps this might become a catalyst for some action against the recklessness on the roads here every minute of every day? I hope so, but have my doubts.

RIP and condolences to friends and family.

Condolences to the family of the Police Officer. I can’t imagine the grief his wife and two young girls must be going through. It’s heartbreaking.

I hope some good can come from this tragedy. Now that one of their own has been murdered my a drunk driver, perhaps Phuket Police will start taking drunk driving serious with consequences similar to many western countries.

RIP. Forking hell that old boy never had a chance. That van driver should be given a long drop with a shot rope.

He probably will. Simply because he was driving a van and not a Ferrari.

I think this may have happened just before HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn arrived.

Condolences to the family of the Police Officer. I can’t imagine the grief his wife and two young girls must be going through. It’s heartbreaking.

I hope some good can come from this tragedy. Now that one of their own has been murdered my a drunk driver, perhaps Phuket Police will start taking drunk driving serious with consequences similar to many western countries.

"Now that one of their own ..."

The Thai police are not a fraternity. Nor are they inspired by the desire to uphold the law. Agree with your sentiment, but ... reality calls, and it's back to the job of scamming money for the average PC Plod.

That proves again that U-turns are very dangerous and there are to many of them.

I was waiting to come out of the side road at this junction when the accident happened about 5 metres away from me. (It is the U turn junction close to the Supercheap store).

The traffic was slow-moving and busy at the time. The minivan was heading fast towards the airport in the outside lane, whilst the traffic was slow-moving in the inside lane. It is possible that one of the cars on the inside lane started to pull out and the minivan driver had no choice but to drive onto the median strip. (In any case, he was driving too fast for the road/traffic conditions).

The minivan hit the policeman and motorbike, knocking the bike aside, but then running over the policeman and dragging him about 15 metres down the road, whilst the front bumber of the minivan was disintegrating.

When the minivan finally cleared the policeman, the latter was amazingly, still in one piece, with no immediate signs of serious injury or loss of blood. He was still conscious and his police colleagues were right there to call for an ambulance.

However, as is often the situation in these accidents, everyone just stood around and waited for the ambulance to arrive. It is likely that the policeman had serious, internal injuries, and no doubt an autopsy will maybe confirm this.

As for me, there was nothing that I could do to help. One would need to be an experienced paramedic with equipment on hand to help.

No real need to show the video !

RIP to the dead officer.

The cops here are not as close as they are in the west. Remember the redbull guy. Probably blame it on the brakes and life goes on.

Condolences to the family of the Police Officer. I can’t imagine the grief his wife and two young girls must be going through. It’s heartbreaking.

I hope some good can come from this tragedy. Now that one of their own has been murdered my a drunk driver, perhaps Phuket Police will start taking drunk driving serious with consequences similar to many western countries.

"Now that one of their own ..."

The Thai police are not a fraternity. Nor are they inspired by the desire to uphold the law. Agree with your sentiment, but ... reality calls, and it's back to the job of scamming money for the average PC Plod.

I’m an optimist and hope and work for a better future for my children. You see things more black than white. Good luck to you.

Even something as tragic as this wont bring change to the horrible standards on the roads.

I guess im just desensitized due to the frequency of sensless road deaths in Phuket.

Only reason this incident is highlighted is because it was caught on tape.

We can only hope that this results in a massive crack-down against mini-van drivers.

This makes me shudder to think how many other drivers there are on the road so obviously intoxicated, mini bus drivers in particular, seeing how fast they nearly all seem to drive. Another point, i cannot remember the times that i have been stationary in the middle of the road, indicators blinking away waiting to turn right when some muppet decides to overtake me , not on the left but on my right. The time has come for random alcohol and drug testing.

Condolences to the family of the Police Officer. I can’t imagine the grief his wife and two young girls must be going through. It’s heartbreaking.

I hope some good can come from this tragedy. Now that one of their own has been murdered my a drunk driver, perhaps Phuket Police will start taking drunk driving serious with consequences similar to many western countries.

"Now that one of their own ..."

The Thai police are not a fraternity. Nor are they inspired by the desire to uphold the law. Agree with your sentiment, but ... reality calls, and it's back to the job of scamming money for the average PC Plod.

I’m an optimist and hope and work for a better future for my children. You see things more black than white. Good luck to you.

I understand where you are coming from, and believe me, I would like to share your positivity, especially when hoping for a better world for children (I have a grown up daughter). But I have been here for more than a quarter of a century and have had dealings with the police on many occasions (personal and work related), and try as I might, I can't squeeze the tiniest bit of empathy out of myself for the Thai police, nor do I see them as being in any way a force for social good. Sorry. I wish it were otherwise.

One among thousands!

Dead policeman has 2 daughters aged 3 and 5.

how sad is that, how do you tell two wee kids, that there dad wont be coming home...

so so sad..

but this is ''Thailand'' so its a daily event...

I was waiting to come out of the side road at this junction when the accident happened about 5 metres away from me. (It is the U turn junction close to the Supercheap store).

The traffic was slow-moving and busy at the time. The minivan was heading fast towards the airport in the outside lane, whilst the traffic was slow-moving in the inside lane. It is possible that one of the cars on the inside lane started to pull out and the minivan driver had no choice but to drive onto the median strip. (In any case, he was driving too fast for the road/traffic conditions).

The minivan hit the policeman and motorbike, knocking the bike aside, but then running over the policeman and dragging him about 15 metres down the road, whilst the front bumber of the minivan was disintegrating.

When the minivan finally cleared the policeman, the latter was amazingly, still in one piece, with no immediate signs of serious injury or loss of blood. He was still conscious and his police colleagues were right there to call for an ambulance.

However, as is often the situation in these accidents, everyone just stood around and waited for the ambulance to arrive. It is likely that the policeman had serious, internal injuries, and no doubt an autopsy will maybe confirm this.

As for me, there was nothing that I could do to help. One would need to be an experienced paramedic with equipment on hand to help.

horrible to witness that....

Just to comment that with Thailand placed second in the world for the highest number of road accident deaths - the death of this policeman will not add to that number.

Why? Because the man did not die at the scene of the accident, but in the hospital. AFAIK, Thailand only considers road accident deaths as actual deaths, if the death occurred at the site of the accident.

Poor guy didn't stand a chance! <deleted> were his intentions? Was he about to ride up the road in the wrong direction?

It looked to me like the police motorcyclist was correctly waiting at a U-turn. So, I don't follow your post.

Your right. On a closer study of the video he is pointing away from the camera. My tied olde eyes told me he was pointing toward the camera.

I've been in Thailand several years and the only time I've been stopped was by a Thai motorcycle cop who wanted to know if I needed a ride to the bus station. It was in one of the villages on the northern loop that goes through Pye.

They have a difficult job and I wouldn't want it. RIP.

Bigger headline coz a cop got killed. How many other get killed by this idiot mini van drivers every single day and nobody really care and even worse, many of the drives buy themselves free with peanuts.