A senior director at Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Commission has been charged with drunk driving causing death after his pickup truck struck and killed a food delivery rider on a Nonthaburi overpass, setting off a wave of public anger and raising uncomfortable questions about accountability at one of the country’s most powerful oversight bodies.
Jarong Kroamoh, 52, director of the NACC’s Bureau of Investigation and Special Affairs — whose job it is to investigate wrongdoing — was found with a blood alcohol level of 189 milligrams per 100 milliliters of blood after the collision on the Bang Rak Noi flyover on Ratchaphruek Road at around 11 p.m. on May 27, according to several news sources. Thailand’s legal driving limit stands at 50 milligrams. The breathalyzer reading placed him nearly four times over that threshold.
The victim, Sornnarin Nakhongsi, 43, a food delivery app rider, died at the scene. Police said his pickup rear-ended Sornnarin’s electric motorcycle on the outbound lane of the overpass. Officers who arrived shortly afterward confirmed the severity of the impact.
The crash quickly became more than a road death story. Witnesses at the scene alleged that an attempt was made to switch drivers before police secured the area. A friend of Jarong, identified by police as Thamrong, later told investigators he had been behind the wheel — a claim he repeated during questioning. According to several news sources, Thamrong may face legal action for providing false statements to investigators. Police said forensic evidence, physical crash damage, and witness accounts all pointed to Jarong as the driver.
The damaged Mitsubishi pickup, its tire burst from the collision, was found approximately one kilometer from the crash site, a detail police say they are still investigating.
Jarong’s initial response made the situation worse. After exiting his vehicle, he reportedly identified himself as a senior government official and claimed connections to high-ranking police officers in Nonthaburi — a claim several witnesses said they witnessed firsthand. The NACC subsequently issued a statement clarifying that Jarong was not, as he allegedly suggested, a spokesperson for the commission. He was, it confirmed, the director of its Bureau of Investigation and Special Affairs.
In the hours after the crash, Jarong denied being behind the wheel. By Friday morning, he had changed course. He surrendered to police at Bang Srimueang station, acknowledged the charges, and admitted from the outset that he had been driving the black Mitsubishi pickup, according to several news sources. Investigators had already gathered what they described as sufficient evidence to proceed.
Restaurant staff on Ratchaphruek Road, questioned by police, told investigators Jarong had consumed three bottles of wine while dining with a friend from late afternoon until shortly before the crash. A liquor bottle was also found inside the pickup by forensic officers.
He now faces three charges: drunk driving causing death, reckless driving causing death under Section 291 of the Criminal Code, and failure to stop and render assistance to the victim.
The fallout continued to escalate on Friday afternoon. Jarong, accompanied by his wife and lawyer, went to Wat Thung Khru temple in Bangkok to pay his respects to the deceased and offer an apology to the family. Shortly after arriving at around 4:30 p.m., a fellow delivery rider and friend of the victim punched him in the face as he approached the coffin while carrying incense and a ceremonial tray. He was left with a split lip. Order was restored at the temple, but footage of the incident circulated widely online.
NACC Secretary-General Surapong Intharathaworn said the agency had been informed of the incident and was establishing a fact-finding committee. According to several news sources, Jarong had not been removed from his position as of Friday, though a temporary reassignment was under consideration pending the investigation’s outcome. Police, for their part, rejected public concern that Jarong’s seniority at the NACC could shield him from legal consequences, and said the case would be handled transparently.
The case has drawn a level of public attention rarely seen for a traffic fatality — not because the circumstances were unique, but because of who was involved. Thailand loses thousands of lives each year on its roads, and drunk driving crashes remain a persistent and largely unresolved public safety crisis. That this particular crash involved the man responsible for overseeing special anti-corruption investigations at the country’s primary graft watchdog has given the story a dimension that goes beyond the individual.
For Sornnarin Nakhongsi’s family, none of that context changes what happened on the Bang Rak Noi overpass on a Wednesday night.
