11-year-old boy drives pickup into monks, killing eight in Thailand

A pickup truck driven by an 11-year-old boy struck a group of monks walking in northeastern Thailand’s Mukdahan province, killing eight people and injuring more than 20 others. The crash happened at about 11:55 a.m. local time near the Huai Sing area in Na Si Nuan village, in Muang district.

The monks were on pilgrimage, moving along a route of about 260 kilometers from one temple in Mukdahan to another in neighboring Ubon Ratchathani province. Some reports said the group had started walking about 30 minutes before the crash. Mukdahan Governor Vorayan Bunarat said five monks died at the scene and three more died later in hospital, while four of the injured were in critical condition.

Provincial police chief Major General Pairoj Thaiphutra said the boy had special needs and had taken the pickup truck from his family home without permission. Police said he drove about 10 kilometers before hitting the monks. He was in custody while investigators worked to establish the circumstances, and officers had not yet questioned him because he was in shock and unable to give a statement.

The crash has turned a fatal collision into a test of how Thailand handles child drivers, rural road access and the safety of religious processions. Thailand raised the age of criminal responsibility to 12 in 2022, which means a child under 12 is not punishable under the Criminal Code. Children over 12 but under 15 are dealt with under a separate juvenile framework.

Mukdahan sits in Thailand’s Isan region on the Laos border, where Buddhist festivals and pilgrimage traditions remain part of local life. The deaths have drawn attention not only to the loss of eight monks, but to how an 11-year-old had access to a pickup truck, enough time to drive it across rural roads, and no barrier that stopped the journey before it ended in a mass casualty crash.