HIT-AND-RUN; CRACK FIND; PILOTS AGROUND; WIFE DEALS FOR HUBBY

Police are tracking down a trailer truck driver who allegedly hit a teen motorcyclist in Kamphaeng Phet and fled the scene.

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A pickup truck hit the body of Natthawut (surname withheld), 17, a student at a technical college, on the rebound moments after the trailer truck hit him, dragging his body some distance along the road.

The pickup driver stopped at a petrol station in Taitrung sub-district, Muang district, when staff pointed out the body was trapped underneath.

Police called to the scene found an Isuzu pickup truck with a box compartment, registered in Chiang Mai and loaded with dried mangoes.

Natthawut's body was caught beneath the truck's chassis, about 20 centimeters above the ground.

A friend of the student's who passed by on a motorcycle recognised him from a keychain he had bought the young man, and provided initial identification. It was later confirmed at the scene by Natthawut's distraught father.

The pickup driver, Kriangkrai (surname withheld), denied involvement, saying he hit an object in the middle of the road without realising it was a body.

The student had been hit by a trailer truck which passed by earlier, he said, citing a witness.

Confusingly, news reports quoted him saying that he had spoken to the witness to the accident but still drove over the body.

About 300 metres away, along the southbound side of Phahon Yothin Road near the petrol station, officers found a severely damaged Honda Wave motorcycle.

The rear of the vehicle showed signs of strong impact, its licence plate was missing, and there were long scrape marks along the road.

Kriangkrai said he was travelling from Lampang to Bangkok. It was raining and dark when he saw a white object reflecting light on the road.

He attempted to brake and swerve but couldn't, fearing he would lose control due to the heavy load.

He chose to drive over the object and pulled into the petrol station nearby, when staff told him he had dragged a body underneath.

Kriangkrai insisted he hadn't hit the motorcycle.