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Phuket driver yet to be charged for British woman's death
Phuket Gazette


The pick-up truck allegedly slammed into the two women on their motorbike as they exited a small soi onto the main road Photo: VR Patong

PHUKET: -- Police have yet to charge the truck driver who killed a British woman and injured her friend on Phuket’s infamous Patong Hill on Saturday.

Nattaphon Glompan, 26, allegedly slammed into the two women on their motorbike as they exited a small soi onto the main road (story here).

Rebecca Leanne Shaw, 32, who was wearing a helmet at the time, was pronounced dead on arrival at Patong Hospital. Her body was later transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital to determine the cause of death.

Julie Anita Maria Robinson, 55, suffered minor injuries and has since been released from the hospital.

Full story: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Phuket-driver-yet-be-charged-British-womans/62635?desktopversion


-- Phuket Gazette 2015-12-16

[onetime]

She's not Thai, so her death does not matter. Tell it like it is!

[KhunBENQ]

A follow up with no new facts in the report and compared to the original thread.

So what.

Edited December 16, 2015 by KhunBENQ

[IamNoone88]

Today; Phuket driver yet to be charged for British woman's death

Next week?; Phuket driver not to be charged for British woman's death.

[dotpoom]

Why are so many on this forum so cynical.....why would a person be charged for an accident when it is not clear exactly what happened. The motorbike came out of a side street, the driver of the pick up may not have had a chance to avoid hitting them....I don'r know...neither does anybody else....except possibly the driver and the motorbike passenger.

[bdenner]

Firstly my condolences to the lady's family. I agree with the above! How can any of you armchair jurists place blame without knowing ALL the facts.

Over a 15 year period I have had 3 prangs in total, 2 with motor cycles (whilst I was stopped) and one with a Samlore at 10 km/hr. On one of those occasions my vehicle had much more damage than the Toyota (and I've seen photos from the left) and the riders shook em selves and walked away! Poor lady broke her neck in the fall BUT I cannot see any evidence of being "Slammed" into.

Edit: Typo

Edited December 16, 2015 by bdenner

[LivinginKata]

Why are so many on this forum so cynical.....why would a person be charged for an accident when it is not clear exactly what happened. The motorbike came out of a side street, the driver of the pick up may not have had a chance to avoid hitting them....I don'r know...neither does anybody else....except possibly the driver and the motorbike passenger.

Seems to be standard operating procedure when a person dies in a road accident. Does not mean that the driver is guilty, just means that there is an enquiry or even court case.

[BestBitterPhuket]

Do we know that it was the drivers fault? The fact that the accident ended tragically with one party killed, does not mean that it was the surviving party's fault.

Edited December 16, 2015 by BestBitterPhuket

[connda]

...and to the "Well, if she had been wearing a helmet.." crowd that perpetually chimes in without knowing all the facts:

Please do feel free to talk a long walk off a short pier.

If I every get run over like the young lady driving the motorcycle did, I'm sure that the TV headlines would have the emblazon article titled:
"Chiang Mai Man Dies After Being Struck By One Of The Multitude Of Oversized Trucks On The Road Better Suited For Use On A Farm But Used By City Dwellers To Strike Fear Into The Hearts Of Pedestrians and Motorcyclists",

after which some holier than thou TV member will immediately write, "He should have been wearing a helmet!!!!" I freaking always wear a helmet. Many of us farang do. Obvious the lass should have been wearing a neck brace too.

RIP young lady.

[SOTIRIOS]

...same old same old.....

[KamalaRider]

IMO the Thai drivers don't brake when suddenly someone's shows up in their path because they are afraid to be hit from behind, everyone is driving way too close to the vehicle in front.

I have no information about this tragic case but surely suspect the driver of the car didn't even contemplate braking even if he saw the two women coming out from that soi.

Seen that behaviour not braking too many times so it's starting to become the norm.

My sincere condolences to the woman's family and friends.

[Old Croc]

The lady who was riding the bike when her passenger was killed, wrote to a news outet giving her version of events.

She stated she had been riding a scooter since she was 19 and both were wearing helmets. She claimed the vehicle came around a blind bend at 140 kph and made no effort to stop.

[uptheos]

The lady who was riding the bike when her passenger was killed, wrote to a news outet giving her version of events.

She stated she had been riding a scooter since she was 19 and both were wearing helmets. She claimed the vehicle came around a blind bend at 140 kph and made no effort to stop.

How would she know it was doing 140 kph?

So they were doing a U turn on a blind bend??

[gemguy]

Firstly my condolences to the lady's family. I agree with the above! How can any of you armchair jurists place blame without knowing ALL the facts.

Over a 15 year period I have had 3 prangs in total, 2 with motor cycles (whilst I was stopped) and one with a Samlore at 10 km/hr. On one of those occasions my vehicle had much more damage than the Toyota (and I've seen photos from the left) and the riders shook em selves and walked away! Poor lady broke her neck in the fall BUT I cannot see any evidence of being "Slammed" into.

Edit: Typo

Because....we all know how Thai drivers commonly drive so recklessly..... so if anything it would be 50% the truck drivers fault and 50 % the motorcycle drivers fault.

Had the truck driver been careful about what he was doing and paying attention ( better known as defensive driving ) there is a very high probability that there would not have been a collision.......Ditto for the motorcycle driver.

Meantime, I am going to hypothesize here:

I am confident the truck driver was going much faster than he should have been going ( the standard speeding scenario for 90 % of the Thai drivers ) and that factor would be a large part of how and why the accident did happen.

Cheers

[bearpolar]

140kph eh?

Most thais cars take 10km to get that fast, no space on that road to get that much speed.

[LivinginKata]

140kph eh?

Most thais cars take 10km to get that fast, no space on that road to get that much speed.

Impossible to reach anything near that speed on Patong Hill, even in light traffic.

[StatlerandWaldorf]

Why are so many on this forum so cynical.....why would a person be charged for an accident when it is not clear exactly what happened. The motorbike came out of a side street, the driver of the pick up may not have had a chance to avoid hitting them....I don'r know...neither does anybody else....except possibly the driver and the motorbike passenger.

Agreed, there is a reason that most people here do not use the inside lane. I think 9 out of 10 vehicles just pull out of side roads without bothering to look, if you almost hit them and honk your horn then they look at you like you are to blame.

I try to tell myself that it is actually not their fault, they don't know any better, it is down to ignorance plain and simple. Don't get angry with them for endangering your life, they literally do not know any better.

As for the motorcyclists doing it, you would think that after a number of near misses they would learn, but apparently not.

[Old Croc]

The lady who was riding the bike when her passenger was killed, wrote to a news outet giving her version of events.

She stated she had been riding a scooter since she was 19 and both were wearing helmets. She claimed the vehicle came around a blind bend at 140 kph and made no effort to stop.

How would she know it was doing 140 kph?

So they were doing a U turn on a blind bend??

I was quoting the lady's words.

Obviously 140 is not very likely at that spot and, from her prospective, it would have been impossible to accurately estimate the speed.

The lady made the decision to enter the road there, and the collision cost her friend's life. She would naturally explain/exaggerate events in her favour.

[KamalaRider]

140kph eh?

Most thais cars take 10km to get that fast, no space on that road to get that much speed.

Impossible to reach anything near that speed on Patong Hill, even in light traffic.

I'm sorry you are both wrong, from the temple on top and down to where the crash occurred is VERY steep, in the daytime with little traffic one can easily get up to speed.

I guess with a Thai leadfoot, a car could get up to 140. I haven't tried myself but it's not uncommon for me to reach at least 90 on that stretch whenever the traffic is light.

The spot where it cools down is after where the accident was and after the hill climb, a long stretch, is a 45 degree right turn and next left is almost a 340.

Try it for yourself if you live in Phuket. Direction from Kathu to Patong.

[Pomthai]

The lady who was riding the bike when her passenger was killed, wrote to a news outet giving her version of events.

She stated she had been riding a scooter since she was 19 and both were wearing helmets. She claimed the vehicle came around a blind bend at 140 kph and made no effort to stop.

Obviously she bending the truth in her version of events. Clearly he did stop as the pictures and relatively intact car an bike prove. Also even if you could (which you couldn't) reach 140kph on Patong Hill an impact at that speed would have the front of the Vigo and the Bike both smashed to pieces. The bike would more than likely be launched several hundred metres with debris scattered between it and the vehicle.

[lostinisaan]

Rebecca.I hope that you will rest in peace.

Any Thai bashing won't bring you back to your beloved ones. You're at the wrong place at the wrong time. And accidents happen all over the world.

We risk our lives when we enter an aircraft, we risk our lives when we go swimming, we risk our lives when we go hiking. Ans so on....

And we risk our lives when we rent a motorbike in a third world country. The news are full with daily, often deadly accidents occurring in Thailand.

No risk, no fun.

Edited December 17, 2015 by lostinisaan

[LivinginKata]

140kph eh?

Most thais cars take 10km to get that fast, no space on that road to get that much speed.

Impossible to reach anything near that speed on Patong Hill, even in light traffic.

I'm sorry you are both wrong, from the temple on top and down to where the crash occurred is VERY steep, in the daytime with little traffic one can easily get up to speed.

I guess with a Thai leadfoot, a car could get up to 140. I haven't tried myself but it's not uncommon for me to reach at least 90 on that stretch whenever the traffic is light.

The spot where it cools down is after where the accident was and after the hill climb, a long stretch, is a 45 degree right turn and next left is almost a 340.

Try it for yourself if you live in Phuket. Direction from Kathu to Patong.

The road narrows after the temple, a bend left, then bend right to left, after that straightens out into 2 lanes as far as the eye can see rising up the hill. Yes sure 90 kph is possible, but no way 140 kph. Anyway it's a moot point as how can anyone on the sidelines know exactly how fast the pickup was travelling, average person would not be able to visually assess if 90 or 140 kph.

And where the soi from FamilyMart exits the so-called blind bend is quite a long way from that soi.

Edited December 17, 2015 by LivinginKata

[KamalaRider]

140kph eh?

Most thais cars take 10km to get that fast, no space on that road to get that much speed.

Impossible to reach anything near that speed on Patong Hill, even in light traffic.

I'm sorry you are both wrong, from the temple on top and down to where the crash occurred is VERY steep, in the daytime with little traffic one can easily get up to speed.

I guess with a Thai leadfoot, a car could get up to 140. I haven't tried myself but it's not uncommon for me to reach at least 90 on that stretch whenever the traffic is light.

The spot where it cools down is after where the accident was and after the hill climb, a long stretch, is a 45 degree right turn and next left is almost a 340.

Try it for yourself if you live in Phuket. Direction from Kathu to Patong.

The road narrows after the temple, a bend left, then bend right to left, after that straightens out into 2 lanes as far as the eye can see rising up the hill. Yes sure 90 kph is possible, but no way 140 kph. Anyway it's a moot point as how can anyone on the sidelines know exactly how fast the pickup was travelling, average person would not be able to visually assess if 90 or 140 kph.

And where the soi from FamilyMart exits the so-called blind bend is quite a long way from that soi.

A lot of drivers don't follow the bends at that point you mentioned, they more or less drive straight, the last stretch before Familymart is the lowest point on that stretch and I think a car could be hidden by the hill directly after.

I will check it next time soon and if not too much traffic which will be soon.

But I agree with you, it's close to impossible to assess the speed of vehicle. I only reach 140 km/h when going on my way to BKK, I wouldn't dare to try here in Phuket as too much traffic with motorbikes, saleng and cars would probably give my chances to avoid an accident to 5% or less driving that speed.

Edited December 17, 2015 by KamalaRider

[LeungKen]

Several off topic posts & replies have been removed.

Please stay on topic regarding the opening post.

Arguing about theories is also nonsense.

[gemguy]

Why are so many on this forum so cynical.....why would a person be charged for an accident when it is not clear exactly what happened. The motorbike came out of a side street, the driver of the pick up may not have had a chance to avoid hitting them....I don'r know...neither does anybody else....except possibly the driver and the motorbike passenger.

Agreed, there is a reason that most people here do not use the inside lane. I think 9 out of 10 vehicles just pull out of side roads without bothering to look, if you almost hit them and honk your horn then they look at you like you are to blame.

I try to tell myself that it is actually not their fault, they don't know any better, it is down to ignorance plain and simple. Don't get angry with them for endangering your life, they literally do not know any better.

As for the motorcyclists doing it, you would think that after a number of near misses they would learn, but apparently not.

I have said this time and time again:

It has a lot to do with their me first mentality when driving.

Why do they suddenly pull out rather than practice defensive driving and think before they make their me first abrupt maneuvers and or not wait until it is obviously safer to pull out into traffic by anyone's judgment or standard.

Because they rely on the other driver(s) seeing the quick but reckless maneuver they have just made while the other driver(s ) have to politely accommodate the other persons reckless and abrupt maneuver or....... they are suddenly forced to accommodate what is suddenly happening in front of them.

99.9 times it all works out in the end while the other driver had to react quickly to avoid a collision and they did not collide....but narrowly missed on another.

Their mentality is such that they are more or less fearless when driving while not worrying that their sudden or reckless or dangerous maneuver is such that the other drivers may not be watching closely enough or the other drivers reaction time is a little slow or there is physically not enough room to avoid the collision even though the other driver is being forced to abruptly slow down and hitting the brakes while slowing down significantly..but ....not enough or fast enough ...and still colliding.

The later is more common as suddenly a motorcycle or other car comes out of the side road and does not even stop but just pulls into traffic flow assuming everyone will see that crazy move and give way or accommodate that moronic move...as if the person making the move is immune to anything bad happening or death for that matter.

Any collision at speeds as slow as 15 kilometers per hour is considered deadly.......especially on a motor bike.

In other words they just go for it..... when you and I would cautiously asses the situation as compared to most of the Thais who see the opportunity and go for it relying on the other driver to see them going for it....and see them doing what they are doing with an "Out of my way"....."I am doing what I am doing" regardless of how dangerous it is.

Theses are my observations over the last 28 years