A motorcyclist has been arrested on a charge of reckless driving after he ran into an elderly South Korean man last Thursday, while he was on a zebra crossing in front of Bhumirajanagarindra Kidney Institute Hospital in Bangkok.
Both the motorcyclist, identified only as ‘Kwanchai’, and the South Korean man were injured. Kwanchai was cleared of drunk driving after he passed a breathalyser test.
Pol Col Watchavee Thamsena, the superintendent of Phaya Thai police, said yesterday that Kwanchai is due to report to the police tomorrow for questioning, after he has recovered from his injuries.
He also said that, if the suspect admits the charge, he would be sent to the public prosecutors to be indicted in the Dusit District Court. The victim can file a complaint demanding compensation through the court.
Phaya Thai district police said that the accident occurred at the same spot where an ophthalmologist from the Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University, Dr. Waraluck Supawatjariyakul, was killed by a motorcycle being ridden by a police officer about three years ago.
In Dr. Waraluck’s case, the defendant, Police Lance Corporal Norawich Buadok, was sentenced by the Criminal Court to one year and 15 days in prison and fined 4,000 baht.
The Appeals Court decided to increase his imprisonment to five years and one month, without suspension, on the grounds that the nature of the offence is serious because the defendant is a police officer who should strictly comply with the law.
The case is still pending in the Supreme Court.
