In late May, local news was flooded with stories about a man who miraculously survived after a 46-tonne cargo container toppled off an 18-wheeler truck and crushed his Toyota Fortuner, flattening the vehicle while he was still inside.
He came out of the horrific incident suffering from severe nerve damage in his left arm, chest pain and some bruises -- injuries which he himself described as an "act of God" considering the weight of the container could have easily killed him.
However, almost two months after the incident -- more than a month after he was cleared to leave the hospital -- he says he still has not received "a single baht" of compensation from the logistics firm operating the truck.
"Had I died from the crash, my family probably would have received some money to arrange a funeral, compensation would be easier, and everything would have been settled in an instant," the driver, Vorawut Uyartmak, told the Bangkok Post.
"But I survived, and here I am, stating that I have not received justice regarding this accident."
At 41, Mr Vorawut is living with his wife and two children, who are in third and ninth grade. He works as a foreman in catering and onboard equipment for Thai Airways International, which involves checking the quantity and quality of his assigned items before they are loaded onto aircraft.
The incident occurred a few hundred metres from his home in Lat Krabang, nearby his workplace at Suvarnabhumi Airport. The truck was driving on an adjacent lane to Mr Vorawut's car at around noon on May 27, when it suddenly veered to the side to avoid hitting a passing motorcycle.
The sudden change in direction caused the large truck's container -- carrying 46 tonnes of soybeans -- to topple directly onto the car, a white Toyota Fortuner, as the two vehicles came parallel to one another. The Fortuner was crushed instantly.
The truck driver, 33-year-old Narong Wongpen, was unhurt. He confessed to drink driving, with later tests by police revealing his blood alcohol content was 0.049, while the current limit for temporary licence holders is 0.02.
Police filed a criminal case against Mr Narong soon after the incident, with the Min Buri Provincial Court ruling on May 28 that his licence be suspended for six months, and he must pay a fine of 6,000 baht.
Mr Vorawut, meanwhile, was stuck inside his wrecked vehicle two hours and 45 minutes before authorities could pry him out, according to police reports.
Caught on camera: Mr Vorawut holds up pictures of the accident scene.
"As the truck was veering towards me, I heard a cracking sound from the container. My first instinct was to duck down, and I think the position I was in at the time saved me," he said. "I never lost consciousness, and I remember hearing a bystander shouting three times that I was already dead.
His body was trapped between the steering wheel and the car's roof. "Authorities were trying to make small talk with me every two minutes or so, to make sure I was still alive," he added.
At present, Mr Vorawut is still healing from the nerve damage in his left arm. According to him, it will take another three months for doctors to decide if he will need surgery. Although he goes to work as usual, he is physically unable to fulfil most of his duties. He is also currently ineligible for overtime payment, something he normally does to earn extra income.
The foreman said he used to earn around 80,000 baht per month, comprising his 24,000-baht salary, overtime payments, and extra work as a document inspector for the Thai Airways' Employee Saving Cooperative. "I now earn only my base salary, but 20,000 baht of it already has to go into the cooperative, due to loans I made to buy a house and a car. This leaves me with a few thousand baht per month," Mr Vorawut said.
"I have children who are both in school and parents who have retired, but I'm lucky that my wife is also working, so there is still some money coming in. However, my family is quite stressed that my medical bills will pile up and we will have no way to pay for them."
He said he has still not received any compensation from the logistics firm overseeing the truck's operations, KPS Transport. The firm could not be reached for comment last night. According to him, representatives from the firm have met him five times, with each meeting resulting in lower compensation claims. "I originally asked for 4.7 million baht from them, after factoring in the price of a new car, medical bills, absence of extra income due to my physical condition and personal trauma," Mr Vorawut said.
"After the fifth time, I lowered the figure down to 1.32 million baht, which is just enough to cover a new car, and they still would not pay."
As part of his own insurance policy, he would have received 730,000 baht, but the company had deducted fines from his claim, leaving him around 500,000 baht. Last Tuesday Mr Vorawut travelled to Government House to file a formal complaint asking for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to invoke Section 44 of the interim charter to increase safety precautions and penalties for trucks. He said the Insurance Commission will begin formal negotiations on Aug 1. According to him, he will file a civil court case against KPS Transport if the firm persists in not paying.
"It's simply a matter of holding yourself responsible for your actions," he said. "Imagine if something like this happened to someone who was in a worse financial state than I was. How would they send their kids to school or pay for food without receiving some sort of compensation for the financial damages caused?"
debilitating injury: Mr Vorawut suffered nerve damage in his left arm.
Despite his plight, Mr Vorawut is glad that he did not sustain more injuries. Popularly referred to by several media outlets as the "Fortuner Lad" for the car he was driving at the time, the moniker has also been used by foreign media to refer to his fortune in still being alive. The last two digits of the crushed car's licence plate, "95", also recently came up in the two-digit lottery. "Maybe I was spared because I helped some people in a past life," he said. "I still wear the same amulet that I was wearing at the time of the accident around my waist, for good fortune."
A spokesman for KPS Transport said yesterday the firm was unlikely to pay out of its own pocket for the damage, as Mr Vorawut had already received an insurance payout.