A mother wept after her four sons, riding a motorcycle back from Songkran water celebrations in Chiang Khan, were fatally struck by a pickup truck crossing into oncoming traffic, killing all four. The pickup driver has been unable to give a statement and is awaiting alcohol test results.
The incident involved four boys riding a motorcycle with four passengers returning from Songkran water festivities in Chiang Khan. They were fatally hit by a pickup truck crossing lanes on the road entering Loei-Chiang Khan at Ban Nabon, Na Sao Subdistrict, Chiang Khan District, Loei Province. The boys were students in grades 7 and 8, former alumni, and football players of Maha Thai Suksa Thabom School, Khao Kaeo Subdistrict, Chiang Khan District, Loei Province.
At 10:30 a.m. on 14 April 2026, reporters followed up at Chiang Khan Hospital and found Mr. Wuttichai, 28, the injured pickup driver with a head wound, resting under care. His mother and aunt were present. Police had attempted to question him, but he was unable to respond coherently, appearing dazed and unconscious.
Police investigators from Chiang Khan Police Station searched Mr. Wuttichai’s pickup truck and found drug paraphernalia on the driver’s seat, which was collected as evidence. Local residents recorded videos of the incident day showing Mr. Wuttichai, after colliding with the motorcycle killing four boys, exiting the vehicle shirtless and yelling loudly. He then ran into a nearby house about 50 meters from the scene, claiming ignorance and confusion about how he got there until police took him away.
Before the accident, Mr. Wuttichai had been drinking alcohol with friends in the village. A friend who drank with him asked him to drive to pick up his wife at Kaeng Khut Khu, leading up to the accident where the motorcycle carrying the four boys was struck, causing their deaths. The alcohol test results are pending from the hospital, and no charges have been filed yet.
Reporters then visited the homes of the boys — Pongsiphat, 14; Chuanakorn, 13; Pattharaphong, 14; and Kittikhun, 16 — the motorcycle riders. Each family had taken their sons’ bodies from Chiang Khan Hospital the previous night to conduct Christian funeral ceremonies at home amid deep grief.
Mrs. Anusara, 41, mother of Chuanakorn, tearfully recounted that her son went to Songkran celebrations with friends in Chiang Khan the previous evening. Around 9 p.m., she tried calling him but he did not answer; a friend answered saying they were about to return home. Then an aunt informed her of an accident at Ban Nabon on the way to Chiang Khan. Rushing to check, she found it was her son and collapsed in shock. She expressed a wish for the drunk driver to receive the maximum penalty or even the death sentence.
Reporters also went to the homes of Pongsiphat, Pattharaphong, and Kittikhun, located near each other in the village. Their parents, grieving their sons' deaths caused by a drunk pickup driver, called for life imprisonment or the death penalty for the driver. The boys’ bodies are scheduled for burial at the village Christian cemetery on Saturday, 18 April 2026.