Lt Col Thada Sodarak was called to the scene, in front of the Watchara Marine & Motor Sport Center, at 5:30am.
Police together with an ambulance from Mission Phuket Hospital rushed to the scene to find a black Phuket-registered Ford Ranger pickup truck with heavy damage.
The power pole itself had been broken and was leaning onto the showroom roof.
The pickup driver, named by police only as “Mr Nat”, escaped with only minor injuries as airbags in the cab had deployed on impact.
Mr Nat told police that he was returning home after finishing work in Wichit when he fell asleep at the wheel and hit the power pole.
“At this stage, police have not decided what charge Mr Nat will face,” Lt Col Thada told The Phuket News’ Thai-language sister newspaper Khao Phuket.
Accident insurance will pay for the damage to property, he confirmed.
The power pole being brought down caused a power surge along electrical cables, affecting power supply up to some two kilometres away.
The surge caused one cable connection some 2.2km away to explode, which sent a live cable dangling to the ground and setting on fire a white Bangkok-registered Nissan March parked by the side of Thepkrasattri Rd.
Firefighters from the Koh Kaew Tambon Administration Organisation (OrBorTor) were soon on the scene to extinguish the fire, which had damaged only the back rear left corner of the car.
Phuket Electricity Authority (PEA) officer Worrawit Sinlalap explained that the pickup truck colliding with the power pole had caused a ‘Trip Lockout’, causing the power surge.
The cable connection blown loose by the power surge was old and needed replacing, he added.
PEA workers had begun replacing the damaged power lines and couplings, meaning power supply had to remain offline until workers had safely conducted the repairs.
“The power outage will affect the areas along the northbound side of Thepkrasattri Rd in Baan Sapam and Baan Tha Ruea,” the PEA said in its announcement earlier today.
Power supply was expected to be returned by 1pm, the PEA noted.