Thai man shares final moment with girlfriend killed in Korat crane collapse
A Thai man shared heartbreaking footage of the final moments he spent with his girlfriend before she was killed when a construction crane collapsed onto a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima yesterday, January 14.
The woman, Chananya Wongchan, was among 32 victims who lost their lives after a crane from the elevated Bangkok–Nong Khai high-speed railway construction fell onto a moving passenger train. The disaster occurred at around 9am and sparked nationwide grief and outrage.
Chananya was reportedly travelling to attend her father’s funeral. In her final Facebook post, shared shortly before boarding the train, she expressed her love and farewell to her late father writing…
“Rest in peace father. We rarely meet and talk, but I always love you. May you find eternal peace. I’ll be back to see you very soon.”
Tragically, Chananya never reached her destination and was unable to say goodbye to her father in person.
Her boyfriend initially shared news reports about the crash on his Facebook account, Petch PS, saying his girlfriend was on the train and that he could not contact her. He told friends and followers that he was rushing to the scene in the hope of finding her alive.
Five to six hours later, he posted an update confirming the worst. Alongside a photo of a burnt train carriage, Petch wrote…
“Following the crane collapse incident, I already found my girlfriend’s body. Today is the most heartbreaking day of in my life.”
Petch later shared CCTV footage from the condominium where they had been staying together. The video showed the last moments before they left the room, shortly before Chananya boarded the train that claimed her life. In the caption, he wrote…
“If I knew that this would be our last goodbye, I would hug you tighter than ever. You know, my heart is breaking and I don’t want to live anymore.”
Friends, acquaintances, and thousands of netizens flooded the comments section with condolences and messages of support, urging him to stay strong during his grief.
Chananya’s story is one of many deeply personal tragedies to emerge from the crash. Channel 7 reported the story of a 71 year old undertaker who was forced to retrieve the body of his own daughter from Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital.
The man broke down in tears while speaking to the media. He said he has worked as an undertaker for more than 10 years and handled over 1,000 bodies, but he never imagined he would one day have to prepare his own daughter’s body.
In another case, a family of three were all killed while travelling to attend a relative’s funeral in Si Sa Ket. The father of the family posted pictures of him and the eight year old son on his Facebook account shortly before getting on the train.
In another tragic account, a Thai man told reporters that after recently losing his mother, he lost his wife and sister-in-law in the train disaster. The two women were travelling to Si Sa Ket to attend his mother’s funeral when the crane collapsed.
As investigations into the cause of the collapse continue, stories like these intensified calls for accountability, safety reforms, and justice for the victims and their families.
