A motorbike taxi driver was killed when a drunk driver crashed into his motorcycle and narrowly missed a police officer’s bike.
Police and Sawang Boriboon Foundation medics were called to Sukhumvit Road Soi 54 around 5:30 a.m. Jan. 9. Dead at the scene was Chalerm Ubonpho, 51, who had suffered a fatal skull fracture. He had not been wearing a helmet.
Excessive alcohol was determined as the cause of this fatal accident on Sukhumvit Road Soi 54.
Chalerm’s motorbike was hit by a Mitsubishi Lancer driven by 34-year-old Kriangkrai Changsawang, who was found to be inebriated. The car, which had smashed into a fence, was totally destroyed, but the drunk driver escaped with just minor injuries.
A second motorcycle, belonging to Sgt. Maj. Nopadon Lunbut, a patrol officer at Banglamung Police Station, was also lying damaged nearby.
Nopadon said he’d been on patrol when Kriangkrai’s Lancer came at him and Chalerm at high speed. The policeman managed to veer onto Soi 54, where he crashed, but the taxi driver wasn’t as lucky. The Lancer squarely hit the rear of Chalerm’s bike, vaulting the driver into the air. He smashed his head on Kriangkrai’s car and died.
The drunk driver was charged with vehicular manslaughter and drunk driving.
