KANCHANABURI — Pracha "Kamnan Sia" Pothipipit, a former Democrat MP, and another man were critically injured in a head-on car crash on Saturday morning.
Police were alerted of the accident on Bo Phloi-Chong Dan Road in Bo Phloi district at 9am.
Mr Pracha, 72, was found in the driver's seat of a Toyota Hilux Vigo truck. He sustained some head wounds.
The truck hit a roadside tree and its engine compartment was smashed, with the front right wheel dislodged.
Rescue workers had to apply spreaders for half an hour before they could extract him.
Mr Pracha was sent to Bo Phloi Hospital but since his condition is critical, he was later transferred to Phaholpolpayuhasena Hospital.
The other vehicle was an Isuzu pickup truck driven by Thanabat Chongwattanpaisal, 25, a Bo Phloi native. Its front was also smashed and the front right wheel dislodged as well.
He was also taken to Phaholpolpayuhasena Hospital.
Mrs Khemporn, Mr Pracha's wife, and his family members are seeking a helicopter to take him to a Bangkok hospital.
She said Mr Pracha drove from his house in Khempracha Farm, heading to Bo Phloi.
Police are investigating the cause of the head-on crash.
Mr Pracha, a well-known figure in the central province, has several thousand rai of sugarcane plantations, as well as the Khempracha egg farm and a large cow farms in Bo Phloi.
Mr Pracha and his wife come to the Criminal Court in Bangkok on March 25, 2015. (Bangkok Post file photo)
He was a village head and kamnan before being elected mayor of Tha Rua Phra Tan tambon municipality in 1991.
Four years later, he joined the Democrat party at the invitation of Maj Gen Sanan Kachornprasart, a former party secretary general.
He was elected Kanachaburi MP three times in 1995, 1996 and 2001. But no sooner had he been in parliament than the Election Commission gave him a yellow card. A re-election was held and he lost to the now-defunct Thai Rak Thai candidate Maj Gen Sornchai Montriwat.
He took a break from politics for 10 years before Suthep Thaugsuban asked him to return in the 2011 election. This time, he beat Paibul "Kamnan Yoon" Pimpisittavorn of Pheu Thai.
As an influential and political figure, Mr Pracha has faced several lawsuits. He was accused of colluding in construction projects in the province and of trespassing land in Dan Makhamtei district and in in Suan Phung district, Ratchaburi. He was sentenced to one year in jail and is in the appeal process.
In January this year, Mr Pracha and his wife were sentenced by the Criminal Court to 11 years and four months in jail for encroaching and occupying more than 50 rai of Ratchaphatsadu or state land where his farm is today. They were granted bail during appeal.