Durian Farmer Dies After Mower Flips Into Canal

A 76-year-old durian orchard owner from Khlung District, Chanthaburi, died after his small grass-cutting machine lost traction and flipped into a water canal while working at night. Officers from Makham Police Station, led by Deputy Superintendent Winit Simali, and rescue volunteers arrived at the 6-hectare orchard in Patawi Subdistrict, Makham District, at 9 a.m. on July 23, 2025.

At the accident site about 50 meters into the orchard, investigators found evidence of mowing along a curved and sloped water canal. The small mower was found overturned in the canal with the victim's body submerged, while his wife and son were grieving nearby. When the wife saw her husband's body pulled from the canal, she collapsed, and rescue volunteers had to administer emergency first aid.

The victim, identified as 76-year-old Virot (surname withheld), was still holding his phone tightly in his left hand and wearing a headlamp on his head. It is estimated he had been dead for 6 to 10 hours. A 37-year-old Cambodian laborer, Nuem, who discovered the body, reported that Virot was a hardworking orchard owner who often worked from dusk until late at night, always wearing a headlamp while inspecting and mowing the property himself. He had been working in the orchard for the past two nights before this incident.

Police initially believe that while Virot was operating the mower at night, although he wore a headlamp, the light may not have been sufficient. The canal area was thick with overgrown grass, curved, sloped, and slippery. The mower lost traction, flipped over, and fell into the canal, pinning the victim underneath. Though the victim initially tried to grab his phone to call for help, he was trapped under the machine and submerged in water, unable to save himself. The body has been sent to Makham Hospital for autopsy to determine the exact cause of death before being returned to the family for religious funeral rites.