Lt Col Sanit Nookong of Thalang Police received a report of an accident on Thepkrasattri Rd in tambon Srisoonthorn at around 6.12am.
Having arrived at the scene, next to Tha Ruea Shrine, police officers and rescue workers found a 22-wheeled petrol tanker crashed into a dark-red Isuzu pickup. The force of the collision made the pickup turn perpendicular to the traffic flow and block the right lane of the highway.
The left lane was blocked by a damaged Toyota Hilux Vigo standing not far from the Isuzu and the tanker. The pickup had damage on both its front and rear right side.
Only the Isuzu driver sustained minor injuries, the truck driver and the people in the black Toyota escaped unharmed. None of them were named by police.
The driver of the 22-wheeler (a UD Quester truck towing a tanker-trailer) explained that he was driving from Surat Thani to an Esso gas station in Saphan Hin. The vehicle lost control while passing the Chinese temple south of the Heroines Monument because of the wet road and a “deteriorated front tire”, explained the driver.
The tanker first hit the black Toyota and then slammed the red Isuzu before coming to a stop in the right lane.
Police are yet to announce what charges the driver could face. It is unclear if the man knew about the tire problem before starting his journey from Surat Thani to Phuket or if the issue emerged as he was driving.