Victims must get payouts

Since Wednesday, netizens have been posting their condolences online, sending their best wishes to the family of Narasiri “Nong Cartoon” Saksitthipan, who passed away peacefully on Wednesday after having been bedridden in a vegetative state for 11 years since she was hit by a truck in a street-racing accident as a young child.

- 

Her passing has stirred up old memories — amplified by the media — of that tragic accident on Sept 19, 2014, when a runaway pickup truck driven by Nampueng Jaisa-ngiam crashed into her family's steakhouse in Bangkok's Bang Bon district.

The impact killed her father, Phanuthat, 42, while five-year-old Nong Cartoon suffered extensive brain damage despite being wrapped in his arms.

The case is another sad testament to how reckless driving can destroy the lives of victims and their relatives.

Beyond the loss of life, it resulted in Nong Cartoon’s mother, Saranya Chamni, who is now 45, having to undergo the traumatic ordeal of trying and failing to win legal compensation. In this case, “the long arm of the law” has failed to provide justice for the victims.