News Forum - Australian man kills 2 teens in Songkhla crash, another seriously injured

[Thaiger]

An Australian man has hit and killed two teenage girls on a motorcycle with his car in the southern province of Songkhla, Thai media reported on Friday. Another teenage girl who was also on the motorcycle was seriously injured in the accident. The tragic accident happened on a road in front of a Royal Navy Shooting Range, and officers found the three girls lying unconscious on the road. The two girls who died were 16 year old Pitchapa, and 16 year old Anusara. Another 16 year old girl in the group was seriously injured. The news outlet Amarin TV reported […]

The story Australian man kills 2 teens in Songkhla crash, another seriously injured as seen on Thaiger News.

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[reallyreal]

I hope he goes  to prison for a long time. Was he a legal driver? Was he drunk? Was he ripped on ganja? Too many foreigners treat the roads  here as though they are part of  their holiday  experience. 

[Fanta]

8 minutes ago, reallyreal said:

I hope he goes  to prison for a long time. Was he a legal driver? Was he drunk? Was he ripped on ganja? Too many foreigners treat the roads  here as though they are part of  their holiday  experience. 

People make mistakes and this was a mistake. It was not a deliberate or malicious act. It was a tragic mistake. A Thai prison is not a normal prison and hoping he goes to one for a long time means you don’t know what you are hoping for. 

[HolyCowCm]

13 minutes ago, reallyreal said:

I hope he goes  to prison for a long time. Was he a legal driver? Was he drunk? Was he ripped on ganja? Too many foreigners treat the roads  here as though they are part of  their holiday  experience. 

Takes two to tango, and if you read the article it says quite common for accidents in this area as is a straight road and speeding is normal. Now I do think he has to live with this tragedy for the rest of his life and hopefully he has some money to give the parents, although money cannot bring back the girls. If you really wnat ot put the absolute blame on someone, then let's say the girls families as they are not legally old enough to ride and also wasn't there 3 on the bike? But one thing for sure, if he had driven safely and smart this would not have happened. Jerky u-turns and speeding bikes kill so many people here all over the country.

 

[Janneman]

41 minutes ago, reallyreal said:

I hope he goes  to prison for a long time. Was he a legal driver? Was he drunk? Was he ripped on ganja? Too many foreigners treat the roads  here as though they are part of  their holiday  experience. 

Relax man, and have a Red Bull

[Bertik]

19 minutes ago, Janneman said:

Relax man, and have a Red Bull

I agree.   Lets get the facts before condeming

 

[KaptainRob]

46 minutes ago, Fanta said:

People make mistakes and this was a mistake. It was not a deliberate or malicious act. It was a tragic mistake. A Thai prison is not a normal prison and hoping he goes to one for a long time means you don’t know what you are hoping for. 

Examining the scene via street view, I hypothesise the driver did a u turn thru the beachside carpark confident that no cars had been behind him.  Within 30 seconds or so he was exiting and no doubt concentrating more on the left, the bike on his right partially obscured by shadows of trees.

The above is my opinion and it would not surprise me to hear the driver was impaired in some way, eg wearing sunglasses or with a heavy tint on front windows, even both.  IMO heavy tinting is a major causes of cars impacting with motorbikes, especially at night.

[HolyCowCm]

5 minutes ago, KaptainRob said:

Examining the scene via street view, I hypothesise the driver did a u turn thru the beachside carpark confident that no cars had been behind him.  Within 30 seconds or so he was exiting and no doubt concentrating more on the left, the bike on his right partially obscured by shadows of trees.

The above is my opinion and it would not surprise me to hear the driver was impaired in some way, eg wearing sunglasses or with a heavy tint on front windows, even both.  IMO heavy tinting is a major causes of cars impacting with motorbikes, especially at night.

I agree with you as judging from ther Amarin link photos he did the car park quickie. Those vehicle windows do look fully blackened and I also agree are a huge problem here. I had to fight my wife on our new cars to keep the tint to one of the lightest levels here. i do not beleive in fully blacked out vehicle windows. Only morons get those. Probably didn't even hit the brakes except for a slight tap and then hit the gas and go and too late. I don't think any trees if you see the second photo, just no common sense and he should really never drive again with this tragedy on his hands. Still U-turns are a huge part of deaths here and the best drivers are offensive and defensive using common sense to make sure at every point when driving. To say sorry is already too late and a meaningless 5 letter word.

https://i0.wp.com/thainewsroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/559040.jpg?resize=640%2C336&ssl=1

https://i0.wp.com/thainewsroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/532414.jpg?fit=640%2C336&ssl=1

[SomtamMcSporran]

1 hour ago, reallyreal said:

I hope he goes  to prison for a long time. Was he a legal driver? Was he drunk? Was he ripped on ganja? Too many foreigners treat the roads  here as though they are part of  their holiday  experience. 

You uncompassionate barstweard.

[Boddown]

Accidents happen all the time and people die usually because someone made a mistake or speeding or many other things bit this definitely was not intentional and will be something the driver has to live with bit if legal riders of legal age followed the law sometimes these accidents would not happen but rip to poor girls who lost the lives and I hope it doesn't turn into a money fiasco like is common here my thoughts to all involved.

[SomtamMcSporran]

1 hour ago, HolyCowCm said:

then let's say the girls families as they are not legally old enough to ride and also wasn't there 3 on the bike?

I thinkthey were 16, totally legal

[Ramanathan.P]

The main issue is the road design in Thailand with U-turns in the middle of the highway and trunk roads. This poses major risk for motorcyclists even though they follow the rules. I have been travelling from South to North frequently in Thailand for vacations in my motor cycle. Each time I approach U-turns along the highway, I purposely switch on all the 5 spot lights in my motorcycle alerting those who are about to take the U-turn to watch out. This saves me a lot. Despite of this, there are few incidences where heavy trailers simply cut through making U-turns resulting in me applying emergency brake even though it is my right of way.....The element of risk is always there.   

[Giltee]

1 hour ago, Janneman said:

Relax man, and have a Red Bull

I think you should wait to get the facts before commenting and let the police do their investigation. Hopefully questions will be asked like: Why was there 3 on the bike, were they wearing helmets, did the driver have a licence or know the road rules, how fast was she going, was the brakes of the bike working, did it have its headlight on. This is a tragedy but I’ve nearly hit motorcyclists because they’ve come from nowhere at speed often doing crazy things like cutting corners, on wrong side of the road and without decent lighting. I ride a large motorcycle and I don’t trust anyone on roads in Thailand because so many don’t seem to know the road rules and you never know what they’re going to do. Sadly this Aussie will have to live with his mistake for the rest of his life 

[KaptainRob]

51 minutes ago, HolyCowCm said:

I don't think any trees if you see the second photo

See here >

[Guest1]

27 minutes ago, SomtamMcSporran said:

I think they were 16, totally legal

That may or may not be depending on the engine size of the bike. 15-18, afaik, under 125cc (up to 110cc?) it is legal. 125 or bigger is from 18 on legal.

Of course, with driving license and only two on the bike, of course. Which may get the Australian off the hook for heavy punishment. As long as his insurance is paying out and the contract is high enough, or he is adding something to it.

Oh:  The survivor can become the measurement: If livelong in wheelchair....?

And looking at the pictures from the scene, there is no doubt, that the Australian did not look long enough to the right side. In "best case", he saw them, far away, and did not expect their speed. In worst case, he did not see them at all b/c of the  black windows. (Which I think has happened here)

[SomtamMcSporran]

38 minutes ago, Ramanathan.P said:

The main issue is the road design in Thailand with U-turns in the middle of the highway and trunk roads. This poses major risk for motorcyclists even though they follow the rules. I have been travelling from South to North frequently in Thailand for vacations in my motor cycle. Each time I approach U-turns along the highway, I purposely switch on all the 5 spot lights in my motorcycle alerting those who are about to take the U-turn to watch out. This saves me a lot. Despite of this, there are few incidences where heavy trailers simply cut through making U-turns resulting in me applying emergency brake even though it is my right of way.....The element of risk is always there.   

You should go in the left hand lane, you have no right of way. 

[HolyCowCm]

1 hour ago, SomtamMcSporran said:

I thinkthey were 16, totally legal

Yeah maybe actually 15 as had to relook. My kids waited until later. I think most majority of all thai kids don't think have it and wait.

[HolyCowCm]

Those

1 hour ago, KaptainRob said:

See here >

I don't think those trees would effect anything as in line of sight or even the shade. If anything there might have been a parked car or truck at the exit end, but common sense in driving is stop, look both ways and then look again and then go.. Even look where the girls are on the bike per photo. The guy was negligient

He entered at that end right there and exited on the opposite side of the parking lot having no trees or shade in line of sight. I plainly just don't think he looked again or stopped. 

Below is the exact area where the whole incident happend and the full view of the carpark. Yo ucan also see the place the cc tv was at whcih then you cna pinpoint his vehicle in the other photos. My apologies for too many pictures over limit per rules. But is easy to show it this way.

 

[Pinetree]

4 hours ago, reallyreal said:

I hope he goes  to prison for a long time. Was he a legal driver? Was he drunk? Was he ripped on ganja? Too many foreigners treat the roads  here as though they are part of  their holiday  experience. 

what utter rubbish.  You have no idea how or why this happened.  I suggest that you Keep your ignorant, uninformed, comments to yourself. 

[HolyCowCm]

31 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

what utter rubbish.  You have no idea how or why this happened.  I suggest that you Keep your ignorant, uninformed, comments to yourself. 

He did go a wee overboard, but hope he was just tooting off and didn't mean it. 

[Ramanathan.P]

1 hour ago, SomtamMcSporran said:

You should go in the left hand lane, you have no right of way. 

What I mean is that...... I have the right to go first and they have to wait for me to pass straight for them to take their U-turn......Because i am on the straight road.

[Janneman]

4 hours ago, Janneman said:

Relax man, and have a Red Bull

It seems a lot of folk are missing my point. Some years ago a famous Thai person killed a cop while driving at very high speed. He was arrested I think but thanks to his money he managed to get out, and flee the country. Now he is happily living in Austria, spending the money he inherited. Yes, the Red Bull heir.

Now that is someone they should put in prison. Not this Australian. As far as I can see it is an accident. Stupid, yes. Sad, yes. But not something to put someone in prison for.

[KaptainRob]

1 hour ago, HolyCowCm said:

He entered at that end right there and exited on the opposite side of the parking lot having no trees or shade in line of sight. I plainly just don't think he looked again or stopped. 

From experience in accident investigation (via volunteer work) I can assure you that a mb speeding along and under the shade when the errant driver glanced right (as would have been his 1st check, could easily have been missed* yet ended up in clear view (as seen in the pics) while the driver was looking left.

He should have looked right again as is normal practice for most of us from downunder.

*especially with sunnies and/or heavy tint.

[Chatogaster]

7 hours ago, Thaiger said:

An Australian man hit and killed two teenage girls on a motorcycle with his car in the southern province of Songkhla, Thai media reported on Friday. Another teenage girl who was also on the motorcycle was seriously injured in the accident.

 

The car (driver) may have messed up by making a sudden U-turn/intermediate move or (a claim by a precursor of this article that was dropped in this article:) by suddenly pulling out into oncoming traffic. It nothing like that happened, it would be more correct to state that the 3 victims hit the car with their motorcycle and killed 2 of themselves as a result and additionally caused damages to other parties in the process.

This article hints that there wasn't any sudden cause except (possibly) the speed of the motorcycle, but it's not definite about it. So can there by any excuse for offering a title that's very definite about who killed whom?

 

[ChrisS]

"Australian man kills 2 teens in Songkhla crash"

Interesting headline, sounds like Thaiger has decided to be judge and jury before any investigation is carried out. Did the car hit the bike or did the bike hit the car? Was the bike speeding? Did the rider of the bike and the driver of the car both have appropriate licences and insurance? How road worthy were both vehicles? Why were there 3 passengers on a bike designed for 2? Were all the riders on the bike wearing crash helmets? How dark were the car windows tinted? Was the driver also wearing sunglasses?. . . .  All of these questions need answering before anyone stating that the man killed the girls.

Edited September 4, 2022 by ChrisS