Dr Smith’s injuries not life threatening
RANONG: The injuries sustained by Dr Smith Dharmasaroja, Director of the National Disaster Warning Center, during a car accident in Ranong late Wednesday afternoon are not life threatening, the Gazette has learned.
A reliable source told the Gazette this morning that Dr Smith can speak, talk, watch television and read newspapers as normal, but he is being kept under close watch by staff at the intensive care unit (ICU) of Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok.
Dr Smith is wearing a neck brace to limit movement of his head, the source said.
Siriraj doctors ordered that Dr Smith remain in the ICU for 72 hours after a brain scan revealed evidence of a small blood clot deep inside his brain.
Doctors expect the clot to dissolve naturally within a few days, the source added.
Dr Smith was airlifted to Siriraj Hopsital yesterday morning from Thonburi Chumphon Hospital in Chumphon, to which he was rushed after a car accident on Route 527 in Pakjun district, Ranong.
Dr Smith was returning to Bangkok by pickup from a seminar in Phuket at the time of the accident.
