Grandmother and grandson flee for their lives as train smashes pick-up at “faulty” crossing

A grandmother and her ten year old grandson were lucky to escape with their lives after getting stuck between the barriers of a level crossing in Prajuab Khiri Khan on Sunday. 

Locals told the Daily News that the automatic crossing was always going wrong. 

Pornthip Malaiket, 58, was driving home in her four door Toyota pick-up.

She said that she heard no warning siren and the barriers were up as she went over the crossing in the Sala Mor Phrom area of Ban Ta Hoo Kwang in Thap Sakae. 

When she was half way across, the barriers came down both in front of her and behind trapping her vehicle on the rails. 

She quickly opened her door and that of her grandson and both fled as a train approached. 

She looked back as the train slammed into her vehicle propelling it into a field. 

The train – the Surat Thai to Bangkok Sprinter 40 – was stopped 500 meters down the tracks when Thap Sakae police arrived on the scene. 

Locals told Daily News that the automatic crossing was frequently faulty. Sometimes there was no warning sound that the barriers were descending and sometimes the barriers even came down when there was no train coming. 

An investigation is underway. 

Thai Visa / Daily News

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