5 foreigners injured in minibus-truck crash in southern Thailand

A Thai driver crashed a minibus into a truck on a road in the southern province of Phetchaburi at 8.55am today, December 19, injuring five foreigners. Two of them suffered serious injuries.

Officers from the Thayang Police Station and rescuers from the Sawang Sanphet Dhammasatan rescue team rushed to the scene of the accident on Phetchakasem Road in Thayang district of Phetchaburi province this morning to rescue five foreign passengers and a Thai driver.

At the scene, a bronze minibus with registration number ฮฉ 9074 was found slumped against a truck carrying a rice harvester.

The driver managed to escape, but the five foreign passengers were trapped inside the damaged vehicle. They could not get out of the car because the passenger door was completely damaged.

Rescuers had to cut off parts of the minibus to get the foreign victims out of the car. Three of them suffered minor injuries, while the other two were seriously injured. They were taken to a nearby hospital for further treatment.

The Thai minibus driver, 49 year old Weerawat, reported that he picked up five foreign passengers from Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok and was on his way to take them to a hotel in the Hua Hin district of Prachuap Khiri Khan province in southern Thailand.

Both drivers violate the law

Weerawat explained that he was driving in the middle lane of the road and wanted to overtake a car in front of him. Unexpectedly, the truck carrying the harvester was parked on the side of the road and some parts of the harvester were sticking out of the truck.

Weerawat said he could not avoid the protruding part and crashed directly into it, damaging the left side of the widescreen and the car.

The truck driver, Boonchai Huab-in, told officers that he had stopped at the roadside to do an errand and did not expect his car to cause the accident.

According to the law, it is illegal to carry an object that protrudes from the body of the vehicle if the driver has not put up a red flag or other sign to warn other motorists. It is also against the law to overtake another vehicle on the left-hand side.

The police had not yet pressed charges against any of the parties involved. They were summoned to the police station for further questioning. The condition of the five passengers was not known at press time.