Policeman dies in high-speed motorbike chase

KATHU: One policeman died and another was injured last week when their motorbike crashed as they chased a gold robber. Kathu Pol Capt Kittipong Klinekaew said his station received a call that a man had grabbed a gold necklace from a woman’s neck at Phuket Highland Ville on the Samkong-Kathu Road. As the robber drove his motorcycle towards Patong, Policeman Ekachai Chookeu and Pol Cpl Chaiwat Choknat gave chase. At the sharp curve near the Esso gas station on Phra Baramee Rd, the police bike went out of control, hitting a van coming in the opposite direction. Ekachai died immediately and Chaiwat was rushed to Patong Hospital, then Wachira hospital and finally Phya Thai Hospital, with severe upper body injuries. The robber escaped.