Ubonrat’s Fight for Justice: Overcoming Injustice in Thanyaburi Motorcycle Accident

In the bustling and vibrant streets of Thanyaburi, the unthinkable happened to 29-year-old Ubonrat. It was June 17, around 10 PM, when fate played its cruel card. Fresh off a long work shift, Ubonrat was cruising on her motorcycle, her dinner destination painted on her mind’s canvas. However, a quick pause to answer a phone call steered her evening into chaos, as unexpectedly, a white pickup truck plowed into her like a rogue tidal wave.

The force of the collision was catastrophic, propelling Ubonrat through the air and laying her down several meters from where the initial impact occurred. The pickup’s trajectory didn’t finish there; it barreled on and squared off with a tree—an unwilling participant standing more than 100 meters from the clash’s onset.

In the daze left by the collision, Ubonrat, phone still clutched in her hand, hadn’t even registered the accident. But slowly, her consciousness caught up with reality, ushering in waves of pain and the realization of her injuries. Quick to her senses, she called upon her relatives, rallying support even as the chaos unfurled.

Emergency services swooped her off to a hospital, where the affair took an ominous turn. X-rays warned of swelling and internal bruising on her head—a stern reminder from the harrowing crash. Yet Ubonrat, undeterred by adversity, made an audacious decision: she chose home over the hospital bed, driven by the nurturing pull of her two children who needed their mother.

Recovery was no walk in the park. It came as a grueling ordeal of persistent pain managed by a cocktail of seven or eight pain relief tablets each day, sometimes punctuated with injections strong enough to usher peace even into the throes of agony.

Merely two days into that journey, Ubonrat found herself at the local police station, seeking truth, justice, and maybe even a sliver of hope. But instead, she hit a wall of audacity. The driver of the pickup truck now had the gall to accuse her of wrong-doing, claiming she rode against traffic. A wicked twist to the tale that Ubonrat refused to leave untold—she gathered CCTV evidence to battle these false claims.

The wheels of justice turned slowly. Conversations mediated by the investigation officer painted a hopeful picture as the driver pledged compensation and set a date for reconciliation on July 1. Yet, when that day dawned, the promise evaporated like morning mist under the sun. The driver was a no-show, opting instead to push the rendezvous to an uncertain August 6—raising Ubonrat’s suspicions about whether justice would be served.

Debates wove through the fibers of law and reality: why wasn’t the driver, with an alcohol level of 252 mg%, charged with driving under the influence? Why was he still walking free, only his promises detained?

The aftermath left Ubonrat not only devoid of compensation or contact from the driver, but jobless too. The cruel crash saw to it that her motorcycle was rendered useless. And with her position at her new job—a mere week old—crumbled due to her absence, she lost 3,500 baht (US$108) in wages, the amount a painful cut from her means of survival.

From the gutsy shade of virtual advocacy, Ekkapop Luengprasert, the stalwart founder of the Sai Mai Must Survive Facebook page, took note. His belief resounding: such cases where drunk drivers shirk responsibility were no rarity. Ekkapop saw the immediate necessity for justice, which required legal action against the false narratives spun and the collision caused. A step further, he vowed to interface with Thanyaburi Police Station’s chief and the Ministry of Justice, embarking on a journey to secure justice and much-deserved compensation for Ubonrat, as reported by KhaoSod.

In these tangled vines of misfortune and injustice, one nods to the enduring hope that persists—a spirit unbreakable, just like Ubonrat. As the pages of this story unfurl, we hold vigil, waiting for justice to lend its hand and set right the uneven scales.