PATTAYA, Thailand – A 17-year-old Myanmar national died after he was found unconscious near a tree tunnel in Huai Yai, Banglamung, during a heavy thunderstorm on October 3. Police suspect he was struck by lightning.
Huai Yai police were notified at about 1 p.m. that a person had reportedly been struck by lightning and killed inside Suan Yai Suk farm, along Rural Road 2081 between Bira Circuit and Huai Yai.
Police and rescuers from the Sawang Boriboon iwent to the scene and found the teenager at a workers’ accommodation area. He was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and black trousers, with his clothing badly torn and his body showing severe burns.
The farm owner, identified as Ek, told police that he was driving workers back to the farm when he reached the tree tunnel, about three kilometres from the workers’ accommodation. He found the teenager lying unconscious beside the road, with weak breathing. Heavy rain was falling at the time, with thunder and lightning heard repeatedly in the area. The farm owner carried the teenager back to the workers’ accommodation and called rescuers for assistance, but the teenager later died from his injuries.
The victim’s uncle, 55-year-old Min Su, told police that the teenager had arrived to stay with him only three days earlier. Before the incident, the teenager had gone outside without saying where he was going. The family later learned that the farm owner had found him beside the road.
Police initially suspect the teenager was struck by lightning near the tree tunnel before being discovered and taken back to the workers’ accommodation. However, the exact cause of death will be determined after his body is examined at Wat Yannasangwararam Hospital. Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death.
