A SAD ACCIDENT occurred in Chiang Mai this afternoon (Nov.20) after a pickup truck carrying a family of five, the couple and their three daughters, overturned while coming down from the top of Thailand’s highest mountain Doi Inthanon, Sanook.com reported.
The accident occurred at 12.50 p.m. when the Bangkok-registered black pickup truck flipped over on road 1009 at an elbow curve where accidents frequently occur.
Three of the victims died within the vehicle while two died upon being flung out by the force of the accident. It is suspected that the driver was speeding and was also not familiar with this route.
It was later discovered that the man is in fact Mr. Sompong Srianan, the mayor of Lak Hok municipality, Muang district, Pathum Thani province, who died with his wife and three daughters.
Doi Inthanon, located in Chom Thong district, Chiang Mai province, is an ultra prominent peak, known in the past as Doi Luang (‘big mountain’) or Doi Ang Ga, meaning the ‘crow’s pond top’. Near the mountain’s base was a pond where many crows gathered.
The name Doi Inthanon was given in honour of Inthawichayanon, last King of Chiang Mai, who was concerned about the forests in the north and tried to preserve them. He ordered that after his death his remains be interred at Doi Luang, which was then renamed in his honour, Wikipedia said.
Today, the summit of Doi Inthanon is a popular tourist destination for both foreign and Thai tourists, with a peak of 12,000 visitors visiting the summit on New Year’s Day. In addition to a range of tourist facilities on the summit, there is also a Royal Thai Air Force weather radar station at the summit and the Thai National Observatory at km44.
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The accident that killed a family of five tourists at Doi Inthanon today. Photos: Sanook.com
