NONTHABURI — A 23-year-old competitive cyclist was killed during a night ride in a Bangkok suburb last night.
Prapot Kaewpila was trying to speed through a small opening between a truck and motorcycle at the entrance of Soi Pracha Chuen 9 when he hit the motorbike. Both its rider and Prapot went down, and as dashboard cam footage from another vehicle showed, Prapot’s head was immediately run over by the truck. He died instantly.
Police Capt. Niphon Ponsawat from Rattanathibet police station, who arrived on the scene at about 9pm, said police are looking for both the truck and motorcycle taxi drivers, who fled the scene. Police have their license plate numbers.
Cyclists are a regular sight on both sides of Pracha Chuen Road at night. The road, which is the border between Bangkok and Nonthaburi provinces, is popular as a long, straight, canalside run.
An unidentified friend of Prapot’s told police the cyclist regularly joined races and won sixth place at a competition west of Bangkok in Nakhon Pathom province earlier this year.