Bangkok cops summon ‘meth head’ Bentley driver

A Bentley driver involved in an expressway collision that left eight people injured will face an additional charge after drugs were found in his blood. The suspected meth-head Bentley driver rammed into the back of a Mitsubishi Pajero in the early morning of January 29

National police chief Damrongsak Kittiprapas said yesterday that investigators must press additional charges against Suthat Siwapiromrat after a blood test at the Police General Hospital found unspecified narcotics in his system. An initial test had detected a substance that could have been methamphetamine, ketamine, diazepam or nordiazepam. Further tests will determine exactly which drug it was.

Early last Sunday morning, a speeding Bentley incompetently driven by Suthat rammed into the back of a Mitsubishi Pajero on the Chaloem Maha Nakhon expressway in Bangkok.

The crash caused the Pajero to turn over before being struck by an oncoming vehicle in the right-hand lane. The incident left six people in the Pajero – one of them a four-year-old child – seriously injured, along with two firefighters who were traveling in the other vehicle.

After the crash, Suthat left his Bentley, strolled down the expressway until he could hail a cab and left.

According to one according of the first responders, the suspected ‘meth-head’ Bentley driver appeared to be intoxicated.

Surat refused a breathalyser test, claiming he had chest pains due to the airbag inflating at the time of the accident and agreed to take a blood test instead. The blood test showed an alcohol level of 10.73 milligrammes, well below the legal limit of 50mg. Police claim the blood test was conducted within an hour of the incident but other sources strongly disagree saying the delay was four hours.

The police handling the case has drawn the usual criticism from “activists” who believe that rich people should be allowed to kill others on the streets of Bangkok and walk away scot free.

Surat is wealthy and well-connected but does that mean he is entitled to destroy lives with impunity? A director of several companies, the ‘meth-head’ Bentley driver has taken the wise precaution of being a generous political donor. He is the brother of New Economics Party leader Manoon Siwapiromrat.

Damrongsak said the MPB had set up a panel to question the officers who failed to conduct the breathalyser immediately after the crash. Perhaps he will transfer some of them to inoperative posts for a little while until they get their breath back?

Damrongsak earlier in his career ruled that a breathalyser test must be conducted immediately after a crash. If a driver is injured and cannot take a breathalyser test, the driver must undergo a blood test. Any driver refusing to do so is considered legally intoxicated.