A British woman has died after being hit a car while crossing a road with shopping bags in Thailand, police said.
The woman, 75, was struck by a fast-moving SUV vehicle at around 1pm local time on Wednesday on Bang Kruai–Sai Noi Road in Nonthaburi, just outside Bangkok.
Officers found her with severe head and neck injuries at the scene, according to a report in local newspaper Khaosod English.
The driver, a 40-year-old woman named by local media as Jarunan, has since been arrested and charged with reckless driving causing death.
Footage of the incident on social media shows a white SUV driving at a fast speed it while a person crosses the road in the distance. The car appears to attempt to slow down, but then strikes the pedestrian before pulling up.
“I feel terrible that she had to lose her life. If she had only been injured, she could have recovered,” Jarunan told police officers after the crash. She was said to be in shock at the scene, local media reported.
A spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office said they are “supporting the family of a British woman who has died in Thailand and are in contact with the local authorities”.
According toThe Thaiger, the driver told police she was travelling from Lam Luk Ka district in Pathum Thani to meet a friend at a supermarket before the incident.
Somsak Duangsano, the deputy mayor of Sai Noi subdistrict, said he knew the British couple because they frequently attended games at the Nonthaburi football team. They had lived in Thailand for eight years.
He said they had booked a place in Pattaya where they had planned to celebrate Christmas together, adding that he was ready to prepare a Thai Buddhist ceremony for the woman.
Thailand is one of the world’s deadliest countries for road users, ranking ninth for road fatalities out of 175 World Health Organisation (WHO) member countries.
In 2021, there were 18,218 road traffic deaths in Thailand, an average of 50 per day, according to WHO estimates. Motorcyclists, however, account for 83.8% of all traffic deaths in the country.
