A village chief and four other residents were killed when their pickup rammed another truck loaded with eucalyptus logs in Chon Buri’s Koh Chan district early Wednesday, police said.
The accident took place on Prokfa-Nong Yaimat Road in tambon Koh Chan when the pickup rear-ended the 10-wheeled truck as it climbed a hill. The impact also injured one woman.
The dead include driver Winai Juengsuksomsawat, the 43-year-old head of Moo 9 village in tambon Koh Chan, his 17-year-old son Charnwut, assistant village chief Wiwat Khenprathum, 37, and two other women passengers.
Truck driver Somchai Seeda waited for police at the scene.
A police investigation found that the lorry's exhaust smoke caused a poor visibility as the village chief sped up to take the hill.
Mr Winai was driving villagers to Nakhon Ratchasima for a tambon field trip when the crash occurred.