Country singer’s crew in bad smash

PHUKET: Four members of the road crew supporting country music star Got Jakraphan were seriously hurt in the early hours of yesterday morning when their 10-wheel truck overturned on the bend next to Pop Cottage in Kata after the brakes failed. While visiting the injured men at Wachira Phuket Hospital, Got told the Gazette, “I’m currently on tour around the South. I arrived in Phuket the same time they did, but I came in the bus with the dancers. “This is the first time in my three years of touring that we’ve had this kind of accident. I will pay all the hospital costs, and I have asked that they be moved from the public ward into private rooms. “Everyone is very shocked but anyway, the concerts must go on even though I feel very sad.” There were about 12 people in the truck when it crashed, including stage staff and sound crew. Local people rushed the four badly injured men to hospital, along with two others who sustained lesser injuries. Two of the four, 25-year-old Amnat Iewsakoon and Somchai Feuangjan, 20, suffered head injuries and had to be placed on life support. Got said he did not hear about the accident until yesterday afternoon. “The crew come from all over Thailand. I’ll be contacting their relatives,” he added. The singer was scheduled to perform two concerts in Phuket. The first, in Patong last night, was delayed several hours while Got visited the hospital. Tonight he will perform another concert, this time free, on the open ground behind the Mazda showroom on Phang Nga Rd, Phuket Town. The last time Got was in Phuket was last November, when he performed a free concert at the Tesco-Lotus Superstore, drawing a crowd estimated at 10,000.