Phuket cops on the prowl for hit-and-run driver

Phuket cops are on the prowl for a hit-and-run driver who sideswiped a motorbike, knocking the rider onto the ground. The incident happened on Saturday at 12.02am on Wiset Road in the village of Rawai.

CCTV footage showed that the car was half in the left lane while it passed the Honda Click motorbike before it sideswiped the motorbike and knocked the rider down.

The 24 year old motorbike rider luckily didn’t have any serious injuries.

Chalong Police are now on the lookout to nab the driver. Chalong Police Chief Colonel Ekkarat Plaiduang said the car’s license plate was clearly recorded as ขฉ4075, The Phuket News reported.

This news comes after another hit-and-run incident in Phuket last month.

On February 10, the culprit hit a 54 year old woman and seriously injured her. The culprit did not stop his car after hitting the woman. Officers and rescuers rushed the woman to Patong Hospital, but she was soon transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital due to the nature of her injuries.

Police used CCTV footage to track down the motorbike, which was returned to a rental shop on Pracha Nukroa Road in Patong on February 14. Police went to the shop to speak to the rental operator. The rental operator said he noticed some scratches on the motorbike, which had been fixed. The culprit, Naji Sami Bouakkz, was matched with the motorbike that hit the pedestrian in CCTV footage. Police arrested Bouakkz.

Since the start of this year, Phuket has seen 25 people killed and 4,230 injured in road accidents, according to the Thailand Road Safety Committee (ThaiRSC).

The Thailand Road Safety Committee (ThaiRSC) reported in January that as many as 939,713 road accidents were reported in Thailand last year, up 4.7% from 2021. Road accidents killed 14,737 people, and injured 924,799 last year, ThaiRSC said. The committee reported that 536 deaths and 7,885 injuries were among foreigners.