Sanya Janson, 61, ran to beat the steady stream of oncoming vehicles. But he wasn't fast enough to cross the road about a kilometre north of the Heroines Monument.
Driver Prayud Chatchaloton, heading for Phuket City along Thepkasattri Road, felt the thud as his Honda Civic collided with Khun Sanya.
It was an uneven contest. Khun Sanya was heading for the entrance to a villa across the busy highway about 9.30pm, said Captain Patiwat Yodkhan of Thalang Police Station.
He was a military veteran from Phitsanulok province, the officer said. Police took the 54-year-old driver to Thalang Police Station for questioning.
The release of road toll figures for 2012 is being anxiously awaited because no updates have been made available since April last year.
For several years until April, Phuket's Public Health department provided regular monthly updates so Phuket residents could gauge whether safety campaigns and improved road conditions were having a positive effect.
Without updates, Phuket's residents are basically unaware of whether the road toll is being reduced or increasing dramatically.
The total death toll of 119 for Phuket in 2011 was down on the 137 total for 2010 which in turn was an improvement on the 153 tally of 2009.
Injuries remain alarming, largely because of the dangers of riding motorcycles. In 2011, a total of 15,282 people on Phuket required hospital treatment.
The drownings figures for Phuket were also updated with the Phuket road toll up until April last year. In 2011, there were 40 drownings on Phuket, a setback on the 37 in 2010 but an improvement on the 57 in 2009.
In coincidence I had just posted on my FB yesterday about tourists leaving behing their commonsense in their home country when they come to Thailand.
Pedestrian crossing are not great here but oblivious tourists blight my day by crossing dangerously.
I had one guy (tourist at a guess) yesterday walk straight out in front of my motorbike and then had the cheek to shout at me. A friend noted that he believes people leave about half of their IQ on the plane and consider Thailand as one big Walking Street...
For this Thai military veteran he unfortunately took a chance that didn't pay off RIP.
Posted by Jamie on January 16, 2013 12:34