Drunk Thai man killed after lying on road in Phuket (video)
A Thai man died after lying on the road drunk outside a nightclub in Phuket in the early hours of February 2.
A video of the accident was shared on social media as an example and warning to partygoers. The video showed the deceased, who was wearing a black T-shirt, sitting on the road and then lying down. The street appeared to be empty as it was early in the morning, around 4.30am.
The man’s friend approached and urged him to stand up and move to the side of the road for his safety. However, the man remained where he was. Tragically, a red sedan approached at high speed and struck the man.
Moments before the accident, the friend spotted the oncoming car and leapt to safety in a bid to save his own life.
Channel 7 reported that the tragic accident happened outside a nightclub on Phoonpon Road near Soi Phoopon 7 in the Talat Nuea sub-district of Phuket province.
Witnesses told the media that a group of people were playing on the street. They were reportedly under the influence of alcohol as they just left the nightclub. The man in the black shirt then lay down on the road, making some of his friends laugh.
However, many other friends asked him to get up and stop playing, saying it was too dangerous. The friend in the video tried to pull the man off the street but failed, as the footage shows.
According to witnesses, the man was taken to hospital but later succumbed to severe injuries. The driver of the red sedan did not flee the scene. He waited to surrender to police, saying he saw the man but could not stop in time because he was driving at a high speed.
A similar incident was reported in Chon Buri province on January 27 when a homeless woman under the influence of alcohol was killed after lying on the road. CCTV footage revealed that the woman had been walking along the footpath with another woman when she suddenly ran into the middle of the road and lay down. Locals said this wasn’t the first instance of her lying on the road while drunk.