A clip shows a 22-wheel semi-trailer dropping sugarcane onto a pickup truck’s windshield, causing the pickup to lose control and collide head-on with a 10-wheeler, which led to the death of a young teacher. The deputy police chief and provincial transport official visited the scene and ordered intensified enforcement of sugarcane truck regulations across the province.
The accident occurred on the Chaiyaphum–Nong Bua Daeng road near the downhill close to Chor Raka intersection. It resulted in the death of Mr. Phiphatphong Thongyu, 35, known as “Teacher Khrung,” a teacher at Ban Pao Wittaya School, who died inside his pickup truck after trying to swerve to avoid sugarcane that had fallen onto the road.
On 15 Jan 2026 GMT+7, Mr. Anan Nakniyom, Governor of Chaiyaphum Province, urgently ordered related agencies to jointly investigate the facts. CCTV footage from a nearby scrap shop revealed the tense moment when the victim’s pickup truck drove against a 22-wheel sugarcane truck, which lost many sugarcane stalks that struck the pickup’s windshield violently. This caused the pickup to lose control and crash head-on into a 10-wheeler following the sugarcane truck, resulting in the fatality.
Initial investigations found that the 22-wheel semi-trailer involved was transporting sugarcane stalks cut from the fields using wooden side stakes instead of metal or other strong materials. Carrying heavy loads over uneven construction roads caused these wooden stakes to break, dropping sugarcane onto the road and creating an obstacle. Police have since intercepted the semi-trailer parked roadside; the driver confessed to causing the sugarcane to fall.
Police Colonel Anupap Phiw-on, Deputy Commander of Chaiyaphum Provincial Police, said after inspecting the scene, "The police will prosecute to the fullest extent with no tolerance. From now on, traffic discipline enforcement on sugarcane trucks will be intensified 100% to prevent such incidents from recurring."
Mr. Prinya Hasdintra Na Ayudhya, Director of Chaiyaphum Transport Office, stated that the transport office already has a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with sugar factories and farmers. This incident clearly shows negligence due to unsafe vehicle modifications. If legal violations are found, both the driver and operators will face the highest level of prosecution. He also ordered sugar factories to strictly screen and prohibit non-standard trucks from entering their premises.