Van driver on pills doesn’t notice sparks for 10km

If you’re going to drive under the influence, make sure you have a spare tyre and not just spare Yaba pills. In what can only be described as a wild ride, a 29-year-old van driver was arrested by Tha Chatchai Police this morning for driving his vehicle without its left front tyre for a staggering 10 kilometres.

Pichai Klomsanoh, a resident of Koh Kaew, was found to have 12 Yaba pills and admitted to having taken three pills just before embarking on his bizarre journey.

The Toyota Commuter van was called into the police around 9am by stunned motorists who saw it sparking its way down the road on Phuket’s busiest highway, Thepkrasattri Road. Witnesses reported seeing the van missing one wheel shooting sparks as it drove a distance of about 10 kilometres. The van’s license plates clearly identify the vehicle as a Phuket-registered public transport vehicle.

The Tha Chatchai Police set up a checkpoint in Mai Khao specifically to catch him. He was stopped there and arrested on the spot. Having searched the driver, police found him in possession of 12 meth pills (commonly known in Thailand as Yaba). The drugs were in his pockets, and he admitted that they were his pills.

The van driver said he took three other pills earlier in the morning around 7am, two hours before he was spotted sparking down the street. Police brought him to Phuket Checkpoint where he tested positive for drugs. He was transported under arrest to the Tha Chatchai Police Station and faces charges of driving under the influence of drugs and illegal possession of a category one drug (methamphetamine).

There was no mention if he would face additional charges like reckless driving for his fiery stunt. There has also been no comment from the department that oversees all public transport, the Phuket Land Transport Office. But the transport van driver’s drug-fueled wild ride ended in a sobering arrest.