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Phuket Policeman, Father of Two, Killed Near Airport By 'Drunk' Minivan Driver
By Chutima Sidasathian and Prasit Tarnsirisin Monday, November 9, 2015
PHUKET: A traffic policeman preparing for a royal visit was struck and killed by a tourist minivan close to Phuket International Airport today.
The minivan hit the policeman as he made a u-turn on his motorcycle in route 4031, the road that leads to the airport.
Police allege the minivan driver had been drinking.
Preparations were underway for a royal visit to Phuket this afternoon when the policeman, father of two young girls aged five and three, was struck about 10.40am.
Sergeant Sudhat Songmuang, of Tachatchai Police Station, was felled in a stretch of road with shops on either side, leading to the airport entrance.
Aged 30, he was chief of the traffic division at the station and had been in that role for close to 10 years.
The minivan driver, Pichitpol Pakkaew, aged 25, is reported to have blown a reading of .076, well over the legal limit of .05.
The seriously injured policeman was taken to Thalang Hospital, where he died.
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Comments
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A tragic loss caused again by a useless minivan driver. I hope they throw the book at him and the owners of the van
Posted by
seht1912
on
November 9, 2015 13:21
I witnessed this sad accident, as I waited to turn into the main airport road from the side road. The minivan driver was driving too fast for the road busy road conditions, hit the motorcycle and rider, and then dragged the policeman for 20 metres or so.
Immediately after the accident, I could see that the victim was still conscious and not visibly injured in a major way. But perhaps some internal injuries caused him to succumb at the hospital.
RIP, a sad day for his wife and kids.
On a general note, the junction in question, (just by the Supercheap store), has seen many accidents in recent years, due to the general increase in traffic. There are no traffic-calming measures and many drivers heading towards the airport simply drive too fast, often unaware of motorbikes and cars trying to pull out of the side roads or to cross over the central reservation.
Posted by
Simon Luttrell
on
November 9, 2015 14:35
Mini bus drivers are highly over represented in veh collisions and the culprit is usually the driver speeding yet speeding or drink driving seems unenforced, when a person goes to work and never returns its just not good enough, time overdue that Phuket addresses it road toll with serious speeding enforcement its a strange twist of fate one man whom had the power to do that is a road toll victim
sad regrettable and avoidable from stupid driver negligent behavior.
Posted by
slickmelb
on
November 9, 2015 16:37
At least other media outlets pixillated out the poor guy's body. How about a bit of respect for the deceased Mr Ed.
Posted by
Mister ree
on
November 9, 2015 17:45
Editor Comment:
What we find disturbing, Mister ree, is the cinematic video of his death, screened for family and friends and school children on another site. We made a conscious decision about the non-graphic still photograph. We rejected the opportunity to show the video. Your concerns, as usual, appear to be inappropriate and misdirected. RIP.
After seeing the video of that horrific act they desperately need to change there tact on road rule enforcement, they must follow western style policing of road rules, on average 39 people die every day in Thailand and they are doing nothing about it. RIP, I hope the van driver is charged and gets some serious jail time.
Posted by
coxo
on
November 9, 2015 17:55
Editor Comment:
The video is appalling and not something we needed to see or to screen to know that it's inappropriate for many in the audience. We've used graphic still photographs in the past but the video is not for all-age consumption. We rejected the idea of screening it. I think we did the right thing.
Yesterday a drunk tourist sitting on the floor after coming off his mbike drunk, today a Policeman dies allegedly partially for a drunk driver hitting him. When are there going to be more proper random check for drunk driving! Clearly there needs to be? Too many drunks on the roads in Phuket.
Posted by
Poor Phuket
on
November 9, 2015 18:05
Editor Comment:
The surprise is that in both cases, the drunks were around in the morning. The minivan driver had driven from Phang Nga.
Mr Editor, we should not be surprised that people can be drunk during morning hours ( or still have to much alcohol in their blood).At Patak Road Chalong, bars and disco's are open till after 5 AM. And all over Phuket are locations like that.
Posted by
Kurt
on
November 9, 2015 20:49
The video is appalling and not for children or his family, however how do you wake people up and get them to change there methods, sometimes it takes horrific pictures to show people reality and bring change.
Posted by
coxo
on
November 10, 2015 07:32
Editor Comment:
Videos like that need at the least to carry a ''graphic content warning.'' It's shocking that the footage comes straight up and plays, whether the viewer is eight or 80. Graphic campaigning works. But this is a real policeman, and he is really being killed. RIP. We opted not to publish.
[quote]
At least other media outlets pixillated out the poor guy's body.
[/quote]
I was at the scene of this accident. At the time of that photo, the policeman was conscious and still able to speak.
Ed, one question about this accident: Because the victim did not die at the scene, am I right in thinking that his subsequent death will not appear in the stats for road traffic fatalities? I think Thailand only counts 'died-at-scene' stats.
Posted by
Simon Luttrell
on
November 10, 2015 07:48
Editor Comment:
Indeed, Simon. We took that into consideration in deciding to publish the photo. The video? Too shocking. At PW we are not inured to violence.
All deaths from traffic injuries are reported at Phuket's public hospitals. Problems may arise, though, with deaths that occur weeks or months later.
Will the Drunk Mini Van driver please explain to the Victim's wife & family & work associates how you are going to pay compensation to cover at least 35 years total loss of earnings ?
Posted by
Capt Durkin
on
November 10, 2015 08:03
(moderated)
Posted by
gee
on
November 11, 2015 07:53
Editor Comment:
Criticism we can take. Vindictive, deceitful liars? No thanks.
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A tragic loss caused again by a useless minivan driver. I hope they throw the book at him and the owners of the van
Posted by seht1912 on November 9, 2015 13:21