Video: Yet another crash occurs at Heroines Monument

PHUKET: A crash occurred early this morning when a salaeng (motorbike with a sidecar) crashed into a taxi, which then slammed into a barrier at the Heroines’ Monument roundabout.

Capt Kraisorn Boonprasob of Thalang Police received the report at about 5:30am.

“The taxi, driven by Prapoj Boontang, was heading to Patong from Phuket Airport,” Capt Kraisorn told the Phuket Gazette. “The two passengers were not injured.”

The road circling the monument was littered with breakfast food items and Thai sweets that a vendor, driving the salaeng and named by police only as Nitthaya, was transporting to sell today.

The bumper, front left fender, headlight and bonnet of the taxi were damaged by the impact with the motorbike.

“Ms Nitthaya was taken to Thalang Hospital to be treated for minor injuries,” said Capt Kraisorn.

A dashcam video was uploaded by a Facebook user, named as Woranat Nicky Donyangprai, at about 7am, which showed the crash taking place.

“The salaeng was heading toward the monument from the left. I saw the taxi getting hit from its left side and the sidecar getting flung into the air due to the impact,” Mr Woranat told the Phuket Gazette.

“The taxi driver was not speeding, but it seems the motorbike was going the wrong way and taking a shortcut to cross the monument instead of going around it.”

Police have yet to charge anyone in the incident.

A number of accidents have occurred at the monument in the past few months, resulting in two deaths, which included a police officer (stories here and here).

Daily commuters have complained about the steel railings placed to block people from using the roundabout, saying that this might be one of the reasons these collisions occur, as drivers on Thepkrasattri Road assume that no traffic will be coming in from either side.

Additional reporting by Zohaib Sikander.

— Winai Sarot