HUAI YAI, CHONBURI: A 55-year-old Chinese man was injured early Monday morning after crashing a pickup truck into a high-voltage electricity pole near Pattaya while apparently heavily intoxicated, Huai Yai police said.
Officers from Huai Yai Police Station received a report at about 1:30 a.m. on August 31st of a pickup truck driver that had lost control and struck a utility pole on a soi next to Wat Thepbutr in Moo 6 in the Huai Yai subdistrict. Rescue volunteers from the Sawang Boriboon Thammasathan Foundation in Pattaya were called to the scene.
They found a black, lifted four-door Toyota pickup, with its front end heavily damaged after hitting a roadside high-voltage pole. A nearby water pipe was also ruptured, and vehicle debris was scattered across the area.
The driver, later identified as Mr. Huang, 55, a Chinese national, had already been pulled from the wreck by local residents before official help arrived.
Officers said Huang appeared to be extremely drunk, speaking incoherently and appearing barely conscious. He could not recall what had happened. Rescuers treated him at the scene for facial cuts and swelling, then police and rescue workers took him to Huai Yai Police Station to recover and for further investigation.
A witness who was driving past said the pickup driver first appeared to slow down, then suddenly accelerated and slammed straight into the pole with a loud crash. The driver was found inside the vehicle looking as if he were asleep and unresponsive. Residents helped him out and sat him by the roadside before calling police and rescue teams.
Huai Yai police said they are still gathering details and will proceed according to the law.
