Lt Sunan Petchnoo of the Thalang Police was informed of the accident, in front of Muang Thalang School on Thepkrasattri Rd northbound, at 4am on Monday.
Police arrived at the scene with Kusoldharm rescue workers to find a gold-coloured “green-plate*” Toyota Altis taxi smashed into the base of a footbridge pillar.
Three injured people were still at the scene when police arrived. They were named as taxi driver Theerapol Seewan, 31, from Prachinburi, and his two passengers, Chinese tourists Mr Ruan Huiqiang, 22, who had suffered injures to his chest and Miss Ying Leyan, 22, who suffered injuries to her head.
All three were taken to Thalang Hospital for treatment. (See story here.)
However, the driver named in the police report, Mr Theerapol, was not the same person named on the registered taxi, as required by law.
The name on the taxi was Tammarong Chuwyoaksr.
As per laws introduced in 2012, the name of the registered owner of the vehicle must be shown on the vehicle. The name must be shown along with the complaints hotline number 1584.
“The registered owner of the taxi should not lend the vehicle to other people unless the other driver has a Type 4 Driver’s Licence. This is because if they do not have a Type 4 licence any insurance on that vehicle will be invalid,” Chutinan Jindachoue, chief of the Driving Licence Department at the Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO), told The Phuket News this week.
“However, it is fine for the registered owner to lend the car to someone with the necessary Type 4 licence,” she added.
“Having brought this to our attention, we have checked the details of Mr Theerapol’s driver’s licence and we confirm that it is Type 4,” Ms Chutinan added.
Meanwhile, Lt Sunan of the Thalang Police confirmed to The Phuket News that the insurance on the vehicle covered all medical costs incurred by Mr Ruan and Miss Ying.
“The insurance on the vehicle has covered the treatment costs of Mr Theerapol and the two passengers he was carrying at the time of the accident,” he said.
Lt Sunan also confirmed that Mr Theerapol had been charged with reckless driving causing injury.
*A registered commercial passenger vehicle.