Major u-turn for Phuket’s roads; life delivered, not taken

PHUKET: Phuket rescue workers, regular crusaders rendering assistance to all those involved in accidents on the island’s notorious roads, were called to a very different emergency before dawn this morning: the delivery of a baby girl.

Staff at the rescue operations center in Mai Khao received a call at 5:15am, asking for assistance to transport Jintara Butrarit, 24, from her home just south of the Tah Chat Chai Checkpoint to Thalang Hospital.

“We were nearly at her house when we saw Miss Jintara already in the back of a neighbor’s pickup truck about to head to the hospital, so we decided to escort the pickup instead of taking her there ourselves,” one rescue worker explained to the Phuket Gazette.

“We also radioed ahead to Thalang Hospital, asking them to send a medical team to meet us on the way. We didn’t think Miss Jintara would make it. The baby was about to come out,” the rescue worker said.

They were right.

As the pickup reached the intersection with the spur road that leads to Phuket International Airport, Miss Jintara’s contractions peaked – her baby was on the way.

The driver pulled over and the delivery of a new life began.

“The Thalang Hospital team met us at the intersection, where they assisted in delivering the baby,” the rescue worker said.

At 5:30am, Phuket welcomed a new resident.

Miss Jintara and her newborn daughter, who has yet to be registered a name, are now safely recovering from their early-morning ordeal at Thalang Hospital.

“They are both fine and healthy,” a hospital staffer said.

— Thawit Bilabdullar