A medical student driving from Bangkok ran over and killed a police officer at a checkpoint northeast of Bangkok on Saturday.
Traffic police officer Soontorn Biatkoontod, 56, died shortly after medical student Surapa Tangpakkul, 24, slammed her black Toyota into a police checkpoint in Nakhon Ratchasima province.
Coming weeks after b-lister Anna Reese provoked outrage by leaving the scene where she killed a police officer with her car, Soontorn’s death met a somewhat different response.
Footage of the crash captured from another vehicle’s dashboard camera shows Surapa’s black Toyota speeding down the right lane and gaining on the white car ahead before veering out of the lane to avoid hitting it. A pickup truck ahead of the white car reportedly braked suddenly, possibly due to the police presence on the road.
A number of commentators however have faulted the police for operating what they see as some kind of unmarked traffic stop, without traffic cones or warning signs, leading them to say the medical student may not deserve all the blame.
“You can’t blame the black car. Police are wrong too to not set up any traffic signs. Notice that the white car had to hit the brake abruptly, too,” user Tanongsak wrote.
Another user educated the public how a proper checkpoint should look.
Lt. Soontorn was admitted to Sikhio Hospital where he died of his injuries.
Police said they will charge Surapa, Thairath reported.
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