A child died Sunday after his father, who was intoxicated, crashed his motorbike on a one-meter-wide path while crossing a canal in the capital’s Nong Khaem district.
The three-year-old boy was riding on the bike of his father, 38-year-old Songsak Taborn across the pathway at dawn when Songsak hit a water meter, knocking him to the ground unconscious. The child was flung into the canal where he drowned.
Songsak was taken to Ratchaphiphat Hospital after bystanders, who assumed he was traveling alone, contacted paramedics. The boy’s body was only discovered later Sunday after his mother heard about the incident and suspected the boy had drowned.
The couple reportedly separated about two weeks ago due to Songsak’s alcoholism and irresponsibility, Bangkok Post reported.
According to the mother, Songsak initially denied being with their child at the time of the crash. She then went to his house in search of her son but failed to find him. Songsak described to her the location of the accident after she pressed him for details.
The man suffered head injuries and a broken arm, and witnesses said he still appeared intoxicated when he went to see his son’s body at the police station. He then confessed to taking the boy along when he went drinking with a friend Saturday night before riding home while “very drunk.”
A police investigator said Songsak will be charged with reckless driving causing death.
