Police Sergeant Dies Riding Against Traffic on Rama 2 Bridge
An off-duty police sergeant was killed early Sunday when his motorcycle, traveling the wrong way on the Rama 2 elevated loop bridge in Bangkok, collided head-on with a van. The 25-year-old van driver said he could not brake in time. Police are reviewing CCTV to determine why the officer entered the expressway against traffic, suspecting he may have been attempting a shortcut.
At 03:38 on November 9, 2026, Lieutenant Colonel Ernstak Phetkhiao, Deputy Inspector (Investigation) of Samae Dam Police Station, received a report of a van colliding with a motorcycle on the Rama 2 loop elevated road heading toward Kanchanaphisek Road in Bang Khun Thien District, Bangkok. He proceeded to the scene with Police Lieutenant Colonel Trairat Pengnu, Superintendent of Samae Dam Police Station, a forensic doctor from Siriraj Hospital, and volunteers from the Poh Teck Tung Foundation.
The accident occurred on the elevated road about 100 meters before the Kanchanaphisek Road exit. It is a two-lane road. In the far-right lane, a Toyota van with Bangkok license plates was found with severe front-end damage and a shattered windshield. In front of the van lay the body of the deceased, identified as Police Sergeant First Class Neung, a platoon commander (investigation) at a Metropolitan Police Bureau station. The body was lying face down in a pool of blood, wearing a white short-sleeved T-shirt covered by a black jacket and police trousers. He was not wearing a helmet. His neck, arms, and legs were broken, and a service pistol was found on his person.
About 20 meters away, a Honda MSX motorcycle without a license plate was found with heavy front-end damage. Officials had to urgently move the vehicles to ground level due to concerns about secondary accidents.
From the investigation, the 25-year-old van driver stated he was driving from Rama 2 Road on the outbound side in the parallel lane. After passing Sakae Ngam Road, he reached the Rama 2 elevated section and moved left toward Kanchanaphisek Road heading for Bang Khae, driving in the right lane. Upon reaching the accident point, he did not know how the police officer came to be riding the wrong way up the elevated road. He could not brake in time and crashed hard into the motorcycle, killing the rider.
Lieutenant Colonel Ernstak said initially no charges have been filed against the van driver because the deceased officer was not on duty and was riding the wrong way himself, as evidenced by the front-end damage to both vehicles. It is suspected the officer may have been riding against traffic to take a shortcut onto Sakae Ngam Road, thinking the middle section had little traffic and would be safe. Police must check nearby CCTV cameras to determine exactly where the officer entered the elevated road.
The body was handed over to Poh Teck Tung Foundation volunteers to be transferred to the Department of Forensic Medicine at Siriraj Hospital for a detailed autopsy.
