Driver Rams Traffic Police Before Sobriety Checkpoint; Senior Officer Severely Injured, Gun and Ammunition Found
A driver rammed a traffic police officer near an alcohol checkpoint on Bangkok's Bangna-Trat Highway early May 22, leaving the senior officer with severe head injuries; police found a handgun and ammunition in the vehicle and detained two t
At 1:30 a.m. on May 22, 2025, Pol. Lt. Col. Paibuun Mala, an investigative deputy commander at Bangna Police Station, received a report of a vehicle collision involving a traffic police officer near an alcohol checkpoint on Theprat Road (Bangna-Trat Highway) at kilometer 1 outbound in Bangna District, Bangkok. He rushed to the scene with volunteers from a charitable foundation.
At the four-lane road location, officers found a white Mitsubishi vehicle with Ubon Ratchathani license plates with severe front-end damage, parked along the left lane. Nearby, a white motorcycle with Trat license plates was overturned and heavily damaged. An injured traffic police officer, Pol. Lt. Col. Tharawan Piromjitcharoen, 59 years old, a traffic deputy commander at Bangna Police Station, was found with a severe head wound and bleeding. He was immediately transported to Thai Nakhon Hospital.
During vehicle inspection, officers discovered one handgun and ammunition concealed inside the car, which were seized as evidence. Two male teenagers, approximately 25-30 years old—the driver and passenger—were taken into custody at Bangna Police Station for drug testing and blood alcohol measurement.
Pol. Sgt. Maj. Somkit Bampenboon, traffic chief at Bangna Police Station, stated that before the incident, more than 10 traffic officers had set up an alcohol checkpoint on Theprat Road (Bangna-Trat Highway) outbound. Pol. Lt. Col. Tharawan was standing on the roadside footpath about 100 meters before the checkpoint when a white vehicle suddenly accelerated and struck the parked motorcycle. The impact threw the officer's body, with his head striking the ground severely.
Police are continuing detailed interrogation of the two teenage suspects before proceeding with legal action.
