An off-duty police officer who killed a Bangkok ophthalmologist after speeding through a zebra crossing on a Ducati big bike has been ordered to pay her parents 27.3 million baht in compensation to the deceased woman’s parents.
On Monday, March 25, the Civil Court ordered 23 year old Norawich Buadok to pay the sum to the parents of 33 year old Dr Waraluck Supawatjariyakul. She died on a pedestrian crossing in the Ratchathewi district of the capital on January 21, 2022, after being struck by Norawich’s speeding Ducati motorbike.
Norawich was employed in the Protection and Crowd Control Division of the Metropolitan Police Bureau on the day the incident happened.
According to a Bangkok Post report, he had picked up a police document earlier that day and was seen overtaking a number of vehicles around 30 metres before the pedestrian crossing. It’s estimated he was travelling at between 108 and 128 kilometres an hour when he struck Waraluck as she was using the pedestrian crossing in front of Bhumirajanagarindra Kidney Institute Hospital.
Norawich did not stop to help his victim, who died within an hour of being struck by the police officer’s bike.
Waraluck’s parents, Dr Anirut Supawatjariyakul and Ratchanee Supawatjariyakul, brought the civil case against Norawich. They sued him for 72.26 million baht, based on lost financial support from their daughter’s earnings. They also sued for 539,493 baht in funeral costs.
The court ordered him to pay 27 million baht in compensation for the lost earnings and 331,230 baht in funeral expenses. The court arrived at the figure based on Waraluck’s salary as a doctor at the Police General Hospital, and additional earnings from part-time work at 3 private hospitals.
The victim’s parents also sued the Royal Thai Police, but that case was dismissed, with the court ruling that Norawich was solely responsible for their daughter’s death.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
