Zoom and gloom as woman biker slams van at red light in Pattaya

Thailand’s roads turned deadly again as a young woman was left fighting for her life after ploughing her motorbike into the back of a stationary van in Pattaya in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The horror smash happened at 3.30am yesterday, July 21 on Sukhumvit Road near Soi Siam Country Club, when 24 year old Chanaphon Huadsi crashed her white Honda Zoomer-X straight into a Toyota Commuter van waiting at a red light.

The rear windscreen of the van was blown out and the mangled bike was found wedged into the back of the vehicle.

The van’s 56 year old driver, Ram Si Khao, told Pattaya police that he’d stopped at the red light when he heard a huge bang.

“I looked back and saw the motorbike jammed into the back of the van. I called the police straight away.”

Rescue workers from Sawang Boriboon Thammasathan and medics from Bangkok Pattaya Hospital rushed to the scene and gave the rider emergency treatment before speeding her to Pattaya Hospital in a critical condition, Pattaya News reported.

Police say they are now combing through CCTV and evidence from the scene to establish exactly what happened. Investigations are ongoing.

Meanwhile, Pattaya’s infamously chaotic streets saw yet another pile-up just after 5am on July 16, when a milk truck, a dodgy U-turn and a drunk driver collided in a spectacular crash at the Match Factory intersection on the Sattahip route in Na Kluea.

The crash involved two pickup trucks, left both motors completely written off, and resulted in three people being rushed to hospital.

It came just days after another horror smash at the same junction, which left a pedestrian in critical condition.

Volunteers from the Sawang Boriboon Thammasathan Unit were on the scene within minutes to help the injured and clear the wreckage. Police are now calling for urgent safety improvements at what locals are calling a “death trap” crossing.