Owner of truck that allegedly damaged Bangkok road denies paying bribe
The owner of the truck that allegedly caused a portion of Bangkok’s Sukhumvit Road to collapse has denied speculations that the truck was overloaded and that the green sticker on the truck’s windshield was a sign that a bribe had already been paid to officials.
On Wednesday (November 8) concrete slabs placed across the road at the entrance to Sukhumvit Soi 64/1 collapsed under the weight of the truck, which was transporting dirt from a construction site. Two motorbike riders crashed during the incident and needed hospital treatment for their injuries.
The slabs had been placed across a section of the road where workers were laying underground power lines.
Move Forward Party MP Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn on Thursday speculated that the truck had a star-shaped sticker with the letter “B” in the centre, similar to those used earlier this year in a long-running racket that allowed overloaded trucks to avoid police checks.
On Friday, Phacharaphol Jantharinthrakorn, the owner of the truck, was summoned by Phra Khanong police and questioned for over six hours. The owner told the press that he had not instructed the driver to load the truck in excess of the legal limit.
Explaining the sticker, he said it had nothing to do with bribes. He said “B” stood for his nickname “Big”, and the green colour represented the day of his birth — Wednesday. The star shape he said stood for his ambition to become a rising star (in the business).
Phacharaphol added that he had put the sticker on the truck in 2018, long before the news of the bribery sticker scandal.
Phacharaphol’s attorney added that before the incident the truck had been carrying dirt via this route regularly with no problem. He suspected the collapse could have been caused by the concrete slabs being loose due to the daily opening and closing by workers.
Phacharaphol was charged with ordering others to overload the truck, and was released without bail shortly after being fingerprinted.
Officials said the case would be filed at Phra Khanong District Court on Saturday.
