Terrible crash in Chon Buri kills 4, including pregnant worker

A terrible crash on Motorway Route 7 in Chon Buri killed four people early this morning, including a pregnant worker. The accident occurred when a van carrying migrant workers rear-ended a trailer truck on the Pattaya-inbound lane in the Nong Khang Khok sub-district of the main city district.

Rescuers and police rushed to the scene to find a passenger van with Bangkok licence plates that had sustained significant damage to the front. An 18-wheel trailer truck hauling a container was found nearby, Bangkok Post reported.

The van driver and 12 passengers were trapped inside the vehicle and had to be retrieved from the wreckage. Unfortunately, the driver, 55 year old Pattaradet Kaew-in, and three passengers lost their lives, while the nine injured, five seriously, were transported to Chon Buri Hospital.

A police investigation found that the van was carrying 12 migrant workers from Cambodia and Myanmar who had hired the driver to take them to the border province of Chanthaburi to renew their migrant worker cards.

The truck driver, 50 year old Sayen Phalaphon told police that he was driving along the motorway when the van suddenly rammed into the back of his vehicle, and the brakes were not applied. Police suspected that the van driver might have fallen asleep.

The ThaiRSC reported in January that as many as 939,713 road accidents were reported in Thailand last year, up 4.7% from 2021. Road accidents killed 14,737 people, and injured 924,799 last year, ThaiRSC said. The committee reported that 536 deaths and 7,885 injuries were among foreigners.

Meanwhile, the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department’s Road Safety Centre reported 2,440 road accidents during the annual “7 dangerous days” (December 29 to January 4) when people head to their hometowns to mark the new year.

During this time there were 2,437 injuries and 317 deaths, with Surat Thani having the highest number of accidents at 79 and Kanchanaburi with the highest number of injuries at 81. Chiang Rai recorded the most deaths at 15.