BANGKOK: A Thai army colonel has won praise in South Korea after joining allied military officers in an emergency roadside rescue following a serious trailer truck accident near the Sinpung rest area.
Col Srisawat Sriprakhon, a student officer at the National Defence College of the Republic of Korea under the Royal Thai Army’s Directorate of Civil Affairs, helped rescue the driver after the vehicle overturned on Friday (May 15).
The incident occurred at around 7pm as Col Srisawat was travelling back from the “2026 KNDU–NDU–NIDS Trilateral Security Conference” in Seoul.
He was returning with allied military officers from the Republic of India and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, along with a vehicle supervisor and driver, making five personnel in total.
The group had attended the conference at Harmony Hall on the fifth floor of the ROKAUS Hotel in Seoul’s Yongsan district and was heading back to accommodation at the Korea National Defence University (KNDU) in Nonsan.
About 45 kilometres before reaching their destination, the group came across a severe road accident involving a large trailer truck that had lost control and overturned in the middle of the road.
Col Srisawat and the other officers immediately stopped their vehicle and rushed to help.
An initial check found the trailer driver seriously injured, unconscious and in urgent need of assistance.
The officers worked together to break a window, unlock the door and safely extract the injured driver from the wreckage.
They also helped remove scattered vehicle debris from the road and supported traffic management at the scene to prevent further collisions or secondary accidents.
Three South Korean civilians later joined the rescue effort, helping the group care for the injured driver until he was safely evacuated shortly before an ambulance arrived.
The driver was then taken to hospital for treatment.
The rescue operation took around 30 minutes and drew widespread praise for the quick thinking, courage and public-minded spirit shown by Col Srisawat and the allied officers. - The Nation/ANN
