RAYONG — Two people are dead and three others seriously injured after a pickup truck collided with a 10-wheel lorry at a dangerous junction without traffic lights in Rayong province on the morning of May 2, 2026, in a crash that witnesses say was a matter of when, not if.

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The collision occurred at approximately 9:00 a.m. at a four-way intersection in Soi 6, Sai 15, Phana Nikhom subdistrict, Nikhom Phatthana district. Emergency services arriving at the scene found the pickup truck mangled beyond recognition, with two occupants trapped inside the twisted metal. Rescue workers used cutting equipment to extract the victims, but both were later confirmed dead at the scene.

The deceased were identified as a 28-year-old woman, Ms. Parinda, and the male driver of the pickup truck. Three surviving passengers — one woman and two men — were given first aid at the scene before being rushed to Nikhom Phatthana Hospital with serious injuries. The lorry driver sustained only minor injuries and remained at the scene to speak with police, seemingly unharmed while others lay dead on the asphalt.

Witnesses told police that the junction has no traffic lights and is known locally as a hazardous crossing, the kind of intersection where drivers must rely on judgement rather than signals. On this morning, judgement failed. The lorry was travelling from the direction of the nearby industrial estate, while the pickup truck was heading out to fish — a routine journey for workers in an area where industrial and agricultural life collide. Both vehicles failed to slow down at the intersection, and the result was a high-impact crash that left no room for survival for those in the smaller vehicle.

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Police investigators from Nikhom Phatthana Police Station are continuing to examine the circumstances surrounding the incident. Officers plan to question the lorry driver and the injured passengers in detail, and are reviewing nearby CCTV footage to establish which vehicle, if either, had the right of way. In Thailand, at unsignalised junctions, drivers are required to yield to vehicles approaching from the right, but in practice, such rules are often ignored, with tragic consequences.

Authorities have indicated that legal action will be taken against anyone found responsible for reckless driving causing death. The bodies of the deceased have been transferred to Nikhom Phatthana Hospital for post-mortem examination, and relatives have been contacted to arrange funeral rites.

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The crash has reignited calls for traffic lights to be installed at the intersection, which locals have long described as an accident waiting to happen. For two families, that waiting is over. A 28-year-old woman and a pickup truck driver are dead, three others are in hospital, and a lorry driver who walked away with minor injuries now faces questioning that could determine whether he spends years behind bars. Officials have reiterated the risks posed by unsignalised intersections and the importance of reducing speed in such areas. But for the victims of the May 2 crash, those warnings come too late. The junction remains unlit, and the traffic continues to flow — until the next time it doesn’t.

-Thailand News (TN)