American Ex-pat Dies after Hit and Run Accident in Phuket

Thalang –

An American motorbike rider has been pronounced dead at the scene after a truck driver hit him and then fled the scene of the accident in the Mai Khao sub-district.

The Tha Chatchai Police were notified of the accident at 7:30 P.M. on Thursday (January 11th) on the Thep Krasattri Road southbound lane near Soi Luan In.

Police, rescue workers, and the Phuket Express arrived at the scene to find the damaged motorbike on a footpath. The body of a foreign rider was found nearby with severe head injuries.

He was later identified by police as a 60-year-old American man. (The Phuket Express is withholding his name pending embassy and family notification). He worked at a hotel in Maikhao as the director of recreation, stated police, and was a fairly well-known local ex-pat.

Witnesses told police that there was a truck turning into a soi in front of the motorbike rider who was coming on straight away. The motorbike was struck by the truck and the rider fell onto the ground with the truck driver then running over the rider. The truck driver did not slow or stop and appeared to immediately flee the scene after the accident.

Thalang police are checking CCTV footage nearby for further legal action and to identify and arrest the driver of the truck. They have also encouraged the driver of the truck to turn himself into police and surrender.

This accident came only a few hours after a famous Iranian boxer died in a motorbike accident in Phuket.

The original version of this article appeared on our sister website, The Phuket Express, owned by our parent company TPN media.

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Goongnang Suksawat
Goong Nang is a News Translator who has worked professionally for multiple news organizations in Thailand for many years and has worked with The Pattaya News for five years. Specializes primarily in local news for Phuket, Pattaya, and also some national news, with emphasis on translation between Thai to English and working as an intermediary between reporters and English-speaking writers. Originally from Nakhon Si Thammarat, but lives in Phuket and Krabi except when commuting between the three.