Car accident at the Shrimp Market at Mahachai of Samutsakorn Province
Background of the case:
Due to an accident in 2011 between a truck and pickup that carried around 80 Burmese migrant workers, seven workers died and 73 workers got injured.
HRDF, with the cooperation of Rak Thai Foundation and the Lawyers’ Council of Thailand, provided free legal assistance to the victims of the accident. HRDF filed a civil lawsuit against seven defendants: the owner of the truck, the driver of the truck, Sinmankong Insurance company, the owner of the pickup and the driver of the pickup.
Outcome of the case:
On 2 May 2013 an agreement was reached in the civil case black no. 347/2555 between Burmese worker Ms. Namphon and six other Burmese workers as plaintiffs versus Mr. Sarawut Phutphan and four other defendants. The parties reached the agreement in accordance with the dispute settlement process. The defendants no. 1, 2 and 5 (the owner of the truck, the driver of the truck and Sinmankong Insurance company) agreed to pay compensation to all seven plaintiffs, whereby plaintiff no. 1 received 100,000 THB, plaintiff no. 2 received 225,000 THB, plaintiff no. 3 received 210,000 THB, plaintiff no. 4 received 225,000 THB, plaintiff no. 5 received 225,000 THB, plaintiff no. 6 received 225,000 THB and plaintiff no. 7 received 225,000 THB for compensation, and all seven plaintiffs agreed to withdraw the lawsuits against the defendants no.1, 2 and 5
Since HRDF had provided legal assistance to the plaintiffs from 25 November 2011 until the dispute settlement, the plaintiffs decided to donate 7,000 THB to the HRDF office in Mahachai, in order to express their gratitude for the free legal aid received.
On 5 May 2013, HRDF office Mahachai donated 2,000 from 7,000 THB to the “Life College” Library.
In addition, on 9 June 2013 HRDF donated another 3,000 TBH to the library of King Fisher Factory.
Finally, on 11 June 2013 HRDF spent the remaining 2,000 THB to support the establishment of an informal school for children of migrant workers through MWRN.
