PATTAYA, Thailand – A dramatic police pursuit near Pattaya ended in a violent crash after a suspected drug offender attempted to flee a roadside inspection by highway police, losing control and slamming into road construction equipment before overturning and crashing into a tree.
Pol. Col. Warawut Nittayawan, Superintendent of Huai Yai Police Station, together with Pol. Lt. Col. Pacharuk Suriya, a traffic investigation officer, inspected the scene of the accident involving a suspicious sedan that fled from highway police and overturned, leaving the driver critically injured. The incident occurred on February 9 on Highway 331, in the Huai Yai area near Pattaya.
At the scene, police found a black Toyota Vios, Rayong license plate 6752, overturned on its roof and severely damaged. Personal belongings were scattered across the road. Inside the vehicle was a male driver, estimated to be between 40 and 50 years old, wearing a red T-shirt and grey shorts, with a waist bag strapped across his body. He was found semi-conscious, breathing faintly, with a lighter clenched in his mouth. Rescue workers from the Sawang Boriboon used hydraulic cutting equipment to free the injured man and rushed him to Wat Yansangwararam Hospital.
A subsequent search of the vehicle uncovered methamphetamine and crystal meth hidden inside a small metal container, along with drug-use paraphernalia, bundles of plastic bags previously used to store narcotics, and numerous small zip-lock bags believed to be intended for drug distribution. Police also found an employee ID card belonging to a man identified as Praphat Promlee, described as a temporary business partner employee of a company in an industrial estate. The evidence was seized, and officers later placed the injured suspect under police guard at the hospital pending legal proceedings.
Highway police officers said the incident began around 1 p.m. while they were patrolling Highway 331 near Pattaya. They noticed a sedan parked on the roadside in the Khao Mai Kaew area, heading toward Bo Win district, without license plates. When officers stopped to conduct an inspection, the driver suddenly accelerated, made a U-turn, and fled toward Sattahip at high speed.
Near Ban Chak Ngaew in Huai Yai subdistrict, where road construction was underway, traffic was already congested. Despite this, the suspect accelerated aggressively, swerving from the far-right lane into the middle lane, breaking through traffic cones, and crashing into the large wheel of a road roller. The impact sent the car careening off the road, striking a tree and overturning.
Road workers at the site said they narrowly avoided disaster. A 45-year-old worker identified as “Jiab” and a 35-year-old road-roller operator known as “New” said it was sheer luck that workers were stationed on the far-left shoulder. Had they been working in the inner lanes, the speeding vehicle could have plowed directly into them, potentially causing multiple injuries or fatalities.
