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Phuket Schoolgirl Aged 16 Killed, Friend Injured; Truck Driver Flees
By Sert Tongdee Tuesday, November 15, 2011
PHUKET: A 16-year-old schoolgirl who had just finished packing meals for Bangkok floods victim was killed instantly when an ice truck crshed into her motorcycle on Phuket this afternoon.
The driver fled on foot as the girls' classmates arrived at the spot where their friend lay dead. Her pillion passenger, another 16-year-old schoolgirl, suffered head injuries and broke both arms and legs.
Phuket City police have been told the six-wheel ice truck went through a red light at the main Saphan Hin intersection as the girls turned right to head for the large public park to relax after packing meals for Bangkok victims.
Witnesses told police that they yelled at the truck driver to stop, but he did not answer, leading them to think he could be Burmese. The ice was destined for popular traditional restaurants closer to the seafront in Saphan Hin.
The girls, both domestic science students in the same class, had been regulars in cooking and preparing thousands of meals each day for delivery to Bangkok to alleviate the suffering of floods victims.
Killed instantly was Wiparat Ketkaew, 16. Her friend, Pantha Panumas, also 16, is in Vachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket City.
Earlier in the day, a French tourist was killed instantly when his motorcycle ran off the road and hit a wall in southern Phuket.
Phuketwan supports Mothers or Motorcycles (MoM) an action group on Phuket aimed at encouraging road safety and especially the wearing of helmets on motorcycles.
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Comments
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FFFFFFFF . . . ! How sad, yet again, to read of these accidents. R I P and condolences to all family and friends.
Posted by
Robin
on
November 15, 2011 16:03
Are you able to list the number of tourists killed in Phuket whilst on holiday in the last five years? People should know this.
Posted by
patong bloke
on
November 15, 2011 16:10
Editor Comment:
patong bloke, we carry the road toll figures regularly and also publish the quarterly lists of expat deaths, as recorded by Phuket police. Police and embassies do not distinguish between tourists and resident expats. You are either a Thai or a passport-holding non-Thai.
So very sad, RIP young girl and i hope you're friend recovers. No more needs to be said about this tragedy.
Posted by
phuket madness
on
November 15, 2011 16:13
Condolences to the family. Very phuketwan however. No evidence so accuse the Burmese, maybe the noise of the truck or a radio could be more viable reasons why the truck didnt stop? As an aside are 16 year olds allowed to ride motorbikes and were they wearing helmets which the Ed constantly argues the majority in Phuket now do?
Posted by
jimmy
on
November 15, 2011 16:18
Editor Comment:
You need to reread the article, and perhaps for the first time, comprehend what you read, jimmy. Witnesses at the scene say the man may be Burmese. Comprehend, jimmy? We've never said the majority on Phuket now wear helmets, only that more now wear helmets in some parts of Phuket where the 100 percent campaign is continuing.
..or maybe he didn't answer because he was Thai and he was scared and panicked....
Posted by
sky
on
November 15, 2011 16:21
Government agencies should sue in court all tuktuk cartels for blocking illegally all initiatives to have decent public transport in Phuket to transport pupils to school and local workers to different areas of Phuket province.
Shame on tuktuks and those who protect them.
Posted by
Whistle-Blower
on
November 15, 2011 16:54
This, like so many other senseless traffic deaths, is just so tragic. My heart goes out to the families of both children and my prays for the recovery of the one that was injured.
Posted by
Arthur
on
November 15, 2011 17:07
How very very sad, my deepest sympathies to this young girl's family and i do hope her friend manages to makes a full recovery.
The rat who done this should be charged with murder and locked up, he ran a red light. No excuses.
Posted by
Scunner
on
November 15, 2011 18:49
That's so sad, I can't imagine the pain her family are going through now. My daughter is 15, I'd be shattered if she met the same fate. When will Thais start training drivers and enforcing licence tests and road rules ? ? In decades of driving I've never run a red light and I don't see how anyone else could do so !
Posted by
ralph
on
November 16, 2011 02:28
A sad loss we all agree, another senseless death, by careless drivers......BUT, wow..he didn't answer when yelled at, so is assumed to be Burmese, what an assumption...lesson for all...learn to say.. ''get stuffed,'' in thai..then they might assume you are thai....ED, this IS tongue in cheek..
Posted by
Laurie Howells
on
November 16, 2011 08:40
Editor Comment:
If your comment adds nothing to our knowledge of this case or other tragic cases, please don't waste readers' time, Laurie. It's inappropriate and a sign of insincerity.
I came up on this accident after it happened. This is very sad case that happens to many times. One thing I see almost everyday are under age kids riding motorbikes leaving school without helmets. Can the schools make sure the kids don't leave school without their helmets?
I realise the girls already completed school for the day and not wearing their helmets. I think the schools should also enforce the helmet laws. I would like to see the do police check at the schools.
Posted by
Billy
on
November 16, 2011 11:08
Editor Comment:
Some schools are part of the ''100 percent helmet'' project, agreeing under the campaign to penalise students if they are caught repeatedly without helmets. Nothing makes the point in a more blunt way than a needless death like this one.
Editor,
You say "if they are caught repeatedly without helmets". You know you can only die once. I can understand this kind of penalty if you can die repeatly - but who can?
Posted by
Retired roadworker
on
November 16, 2011 13:39
Editor Comment:
Perhaps you have forgotten that children need to be told things more than once, retired roadworker, even where tragedy is a likely outcome. Or were you the kind who sat in the front row, did everything the teacher told you to do, and remembered everything you were ever taught?
Drivers often speed through these lights on red, I've almost been knocked off my bike on two occasions. Being the entrance to a park area, maybe the authorities should consider traffic calming speed bumps after the immigration office and before the lights.
Sincere condolences to the girls family and friends.
Posted by
agogohome
on
November 16, 2011 18:03
Answer to ED, Maybe that was just close to what I did at school beside listen to my parents. That's why I'm 68 years old and still driving both car and motorbike.
Posted by
Retired roadworker
on
November 17, 2011 14:33
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FFFFFFFF . . . ! How sad, yet again, to read of these accidents. R I P and condolences to all family and friends.
Posted by Robin on November 15, 2011 16:03