Parents Demand Action After Chinese Driver Flees Hit-and-Run Death
A 16-year-old died after a Chinese driver fled the scene of a motorcycle collision in Pattaya on February 21; despite an arrest warrant issued in March, the suspect remains at large seven months later.
The parents of Tommy, a 16-year-old half-Thai, half-Swedish boy, have appealed for help tracking down a Chinese man accused of reversing his pickup truck across lanes without signals on February 21, causing their son to collide with the vehicle on his motorcycle. After the accident, the Chinese driver fled the scene while Tommy lay severely injured with convulsions, leaving him unattended for 40 minutes before he was transported to hospital. Tommy was admitted to the ICU for six days before dying on February 27. The family is frustrated that despite a police station being only five minutes away from the accident scene, no officers arrived to investigate that night. Although a warrant was issued by Pattaya Provincial Court on March 2, seven months later the suspect has not been arrested. Police confirmed they have issued an arrest warrant and notified all airports and border checkpoints nationwide. Chachoengsao Provincial Police checked immigration records from the first day of the incident and found no evidence that the suspect had left the country. Police are also coordinating with Interpol to secure a red notice for international tracking. The suspect has not returned to his residence since the night of the accident.
