Thai van driver fined after schoolboy falls through back door
A Thai schoolboy survived after falling from a school van onto the road when the rear door accidentally opened while the vehicle was in motion in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat.
A Thai man, Supachai Saetuang, who was driving behind the school van and witnessed the incident, shared dashcam footage on Facebook to warn other school van drivers and motorists to be vigilant.
In the footage, the school van and other vehicles can be seen moving forward after the traffic light turned green. The school van driver, who was initially in the left lane, switched to the middle lane on the right just as the rear door unexpectedly opened.
A boy, estimated to be under 10 years old, fell onto the road in front of Supachai’s car. Fortunately, Supachai was driving at a low speed and managed to stop in time. The boy sat on the road in confusion, and a woman exited her car to check on him.
The young victim was able to stand up and did not appear to have suffered any serious injuries. Supachai was heard honking his horn to alert the school van driver, who stopped around 100 metres from the scene.
Supachai urged school van drivers to ensure that all doors are securely closed before starting their journey to prevent such accidents.
Other school van drivers commented on the incident, voicing their suspicions that the driver replaced the standard car seats with ones without backrests to accommodate more students and increase earnings. They believed this modification contributed to the boy’s fall when the rear door opened.
The van driver, identified as Jakkapong, later turned himself in at Mueang Nakhon Si Thammarat Police Station yesterday, February 25.
He told the police that he wished to apologise to the young boy and his parents. He suspected that the rear door lock might have been faulty, causing it to open unexpectedly.
Following an investigation by the Nakhon Si Thammarat Provincial Land Transport Office, it was confirmed that Jakkapong indeed replaced the seats with backless ones, as speculated by netizens. As a result, he was fined, although the exact amount has not yet been disclosed to the public.
Latest Thailand News
