Swiss man, 57, killed by Phuket passenger van

PHUKET:  A 57-year-old Swiss man was killed when the driver of a passenger van lost control while coming down a steep hill north of Promthep Cape this morning (Dec 13). The van swerved across the road and struck the Swiss man on his motorbike before slamming into a roadside power pole.

Acting Lt Col Ying Pimprapat of the Chalong Police was called to the scene, on the coastal road south of Nai Harn Lake, at around 8am. Acting Lt Col Ying was told that a foreign tourist had been seriously injured in an accident.

Police along with paramedics from Rawai Municipality and an ambulance from Chalong Hospital arrived at the scene to find the Phuket-registered commercial passenger van, fitted with green licence plates, on its side beside the road.

The driver, Somchai Kobkoi, 44, was waiting at the scene.

A Phuket-registered Yamaha N-Max scooter-motorbike destroyed by the force of the impact was beside the power pole, which bore marks from the impact.

The Swiss man, from Lostallo, near the Italian border, was on the ground, seriously injured, unconscious and unresponsive, beside the motorbike. 

Emergency responders performed CPR and rushed him to Chalong Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Acting Lt Col Ying reported an “eyewitness” explaining that the passenger van, registered as a taxi vehicle, was travelling downhill at high speed when the driver lost control.

The van swerved across the road and struck the motorbike driven by the tourist, then slammed into the power pole broadside, leaving the van on its side beside the road.

Acting Lt Col Ying said the witness statement was recorded as evidence, and that officers will check any CCTV in the area to confirm the exact cause of the collision.

The body of the Swiss man was taken to the morgue at Vachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket Town.

The Swiss Embassy in Bangkok has been informed of the accident so that the man’s relatives can be informed of his death, Acting Lt Col Ying said.


* The Phuket News has confirmed the identity of the Swiss man who died in the accident but is withholding from publishing it until it has been confirmed that his next of kin has been notified.

Source: The Phuket News

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