PRACHIN BURI: The Thai driver and 16 Cambodian passengers were injured when their pickup truck crashed into a roadside lamp pole in Kabin Buri district shortly before dawn on Thursday.
The accident happened on four-lane Highway 359 (Sa Kaeo-Prachin Buri) in tambon Khao Mai Kaeo about 5.20am.
The silver Isuzu truck, registered in Chachoengsao province, was taking the passengers from Bangkok to the Cambodian border.
The vehicle was wrecked, the front smashed in and the roof collapsed. A front seat passenger was trapped and rescue workers using a hydraulic wedge jack took about 20 minutes to free the person.
Pol Capt Pakorn Thongpraiwan of Kabin Buri station, said the driver was seriously injured and sent to Kabin Buri Hospital. Of the 16 injured Cambodians, three were severely hurt and two were children.
They were returning to Cambodia to renew their passports, he said.
One of the passengers said the accident happened while they were sleeping. He assumed the driver also dozed off.