Hong Kong tourist dies after falling from local bus in Thailand

A Hong Kong tourist died after falling from a moving share taxi in Thailand.

Chi Fai Lam, 48, a police sergeant in Hong Kong, was trying to get off from the back of the 'songthaew' - a pickup truck used as a bus - when he tumbled off the speeding vehicle along Pattaya Second Road in Pattaya City on July 22.

Dramatic CCTV footage shows the moment the tourist lost his balance and cracked his head on the pavement, as shocked locals called after the songthaew driver who continued driving away.

Chi Fai Lam was rushed to the hospital, but later died of severe injuries.

Pattaya City Police Station officers reviewed the CCTV footage and identified the driver as Thongchai Thongrueng, who claimed he was unaware of the accident.

Thongchai said: 'I really didn't know that I had caused a tourist to fall from the vehicle. In the morning, I picked up about seven to eight tourists from the Dolphin Roundabout in North Pattaya, then drove along the beach road and dropped off tourists at the entrance of Walking Street.

'I checked that all tourists had disembarked and didn't know when this tourist had boarded. I only found out when the vehicle owner called to inform me. I immediately came to meet the police officers.'

An onlooker, Sriprai Phanthongdee, 56, said she was sitting on the sidewalk when she heard other people calling to help the injured tourist.

She said: 'The driver did not stop to help the injured person. Instead, he quickly drove away, so I called the police because it seemed he was trying to escape.'

Police Lieutenant General Saksira Phuek-am, Commander of the Tourist Police, said Thongchai will be charged with 'reckless driving causing death to others, being a driver causing damage to a person, failing to stop to provide assistance, or failing to identify oneself to the authorities.'

He said: 'The wife of the deceased wishes to take the body to Hong Kong to carry out a religious ceremony. Pattaya tourist police will contact the Chinese embassy to coordinate the pickup of the body.'

Meanwhile, local authorities and the Pattaya City Police held a meeting with songthaew operators to discuss safety measures when serving tourists.

Thailand has one of the world's worst road safety records. Ministers have set the goal of reducing fatalities from 32.7 deaths per 100,000 people to 12 per 100,000 people by the year 2027.

However, a lack of road safety education in schools along with notoriously easy driving tests, police failures to enforce road laws, and chronic under-investment in infrastructure, all appear to hamper the efforts.