Kanchanaburi—
At 4:00 PM, on December 3rd, 2023, Tha Muang police officers received an accident report of a pickup truck colliding with a motorbike on Ban Tham-Muang Chum road, Tha Muang, Kanchanaburi. There was one casualty reported.
The Tha Muang police and rescue teams rushed to the accident scene and found a crashed motorbike and a body which was publicly identified as Ms. Daorung Klinhom, 48. The pickup truck driver reportedly attempted to flee after the incident, however, the Tha Muang police blocked the path and asked the driver to step out of the vehicle.
After over one hour of negotiations, police were able to apprehend the unharmed driver who was publicly identified as Mr. Somya Banthawtuk, 53, and appeared to be wearing a Thai police undershirt. Somya reportedly said to the police that he was afraid of getting assaulted by villagers surrounding his vehicle.
The Tha Muang police officers conducted alcohol tests on Somya and the victim’s family reported to Thai media that the alcohol contents were over 300 mg%.
However, Thai reporters searched for Somya’s identity online and discovered that he appeared to be Pol. Lt. Somya Banthawtuk, the Mueang Kanchanaburi Deputy Inspector of Crime Suppression.
According to a report by the police, local CCTV showed Daorung, the victim, was heading home by her motorbike, at the incident scene, Somya drove across his lane and collided hard with Daorung’s motorbike.
Initially, Somya was escorted to Tha Muang police station for further legal processing and crime charges.
