A teenager was killed and his young friend seriously injured when their motorcycle hit a lorry during an illegal race on a highway in Nakhon Si Thammarat early on Tuesday morning.
The dead youth was identified only as Jakrapong, 16, and the injured boy as Theerawat, 14.
Eyewitnesses said they were among about 50 teens who were racing around 20 motorcycles on the main highway, Route 41, in Thung Yai district at about 1.30am. The younger boy, Theerawat, was driving and Jakrapong was riding pillion.
Truck driver Jamnian Thongklod, 51, said the racers were overtaking his 10-wheeler. He heard a loud noise that he mistook for a burst tyre. Later a van caught up with him and the driver informed him that a motorcycle had rear-ended his truck.
The van driver, Anant Chuaikerd, 60, said Theerawat's motorcycle first hit the rear of the lorry. Both youths fell on to the highway and his van ran over them. The truck dragged the motorcycle about 100 metres along the road.
