Water truck crashes in Kata

KATA, PHUKET: A six-wheel water tanker owned by the Diamond Cottage Resort and Spa yesterday rolled about 10 meters downhill on Patak Rd, crashing into two nearby shops in Kata Center and damaging their front canopies.

Fortunately, no injuries were reported.

Staff at the hotel said the tanker was pumping water into the hotel at about 3:30pm when the handbrake failed.

The damages will be covered by insurance, the staffer said.

Kata-Karon has been the sight of many accidents involving water trucks in recent years, with several motorcyclists killed.

Cement trucks speeding through the narrow roads of Kata have also been a cause of protest.

In January this year, a mob of angry residents used their vehicles to block the main road through Kata following an accident in which a cement truck allegedly speeding through the area collided with a parked van and motorcycle. Two men were injured.

Many resorts in hilly parts of Kata-Karon use water tankers to truck in water from tin mines because the municipal supply does not reach them.

The number of water trucks moving through the streets increases in the high season, when demand for water is highest and the municipal supply dwindles due to lack of rain.

— Gazette Reporters