Bodies collected after Chiang Mai crash
Relatives and friends of 28-year-old TV host and stylist Jatupat "Centimetre" Khemnak and 30-year-old "Next to Normal" store manager Supakit Kerdsam collected their bodies from Maharat Nakhon Chiang Mai Hospital's morgue on Thursday for religious rites.
Jatupat and Supakit were killed when their Honda CRV collided with a Toyota and plunged into a roadside canal in Chiang Mai's Muang district on Wednesday night.
Jatupat's body was later brought for a funeral at his hometown in Nakhon Nayok while Supakit's body was sent for a funeral at Wat That Thong in Bangkok.
The crash was reported to police at 9.30pm, after which Phuping Rajaniwet precinct's inspector, Lt Colonel Thongchai Buangern, and rescue workers visited the three-prong intersection connected with a bridge crossing the canal towards the entrance of Wat U-Mong in Tambon Suthep. They removed the two men from the CRV and took them to hospital but they were pronounced dead on arrival.
Chiang Mai police chief, Maj General Pichet Jeeranantasin, told officers to check CCTV cameras and inspect the scene to ensure justice for both sides.
The Toyota driver, Wichitra Pukboonreung, 25, who was slightly injured, told police that she was heading straight at the intersection when the CRV suddenly overtook on the left side, cut in front of her and took a sharp turn. Wichitra claimed that she could not brake in time so her car crashed into the CRV, sending it crashing into the bridge and the canal. Wichitra said her vehicle also almost fell into the canal as the front wheels were off the bridge.
Thongchai said the CCTV showed the CRV was in the correct lane to turn although it was unknown whether it signalled. The Toyota was in the U-turn lane and was probably at fault as it drove straight, resulting in the crash, the police chief said.
He said the police would charge Wichitra with reckless driving resulting in deaths and property damage.