Sontaya Jonglaaiat, 21, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, near the Tahchatchai police checkpoint, after rescue workers responded to a call to provide assistance to a Chinese tourist whose motorbike was struck by the same truck.
The truck driver stopped his vehicle in the left-hand lane to help the Chinese tourist, who suffered only minor injuries, then Mrs Sontaya slammed into the back of his stationary vehicle.
A helmet was found on the road within metres of the impact point, where Mrs Sontaya’s motorbike remained upright, jammed under the rear of the truck.
Mrs Sontaya was the sixth person to die in Phuket road accidents in less than a week.
Earlier today two women died after a runaway cement truck crushed them and their motorbike on Patong Hill. (See story here.)
On Friday, Laksameeduen Sawasdeeraksa, 27, died from serious head trauma after she collided with a power pole while swerving to avoid a runaway truck that mowed down several house and shopfronts after its brakes failed while descending Patong Hill. (See story here).
Later that same day, three people escaped life-threatening injuries after a pick-up truck crossed the central reservation of Thepkassttri Rd and slammed into a car stopped at traffic lights on the other side of the road. (See story here.)
Late on Thursday night, two Burmese workers died when the truck they and 40 other labourers were travelling in the back of failed to climb Nakalay Hill in Kamala and rolled downhill. The workers were thrown from the back of the truck, which came to rest only after landing in a canal.
Of those who survived, seven were hospitalised and 26 injured. (See story here.)