The report was in the public domain: a poor woman collecting garbage was killed. A doctor at Wichaiyuth hospital claimed Sornram lost consciousness at the wheel, as the heart-throb had been deprived of sleep for a week and had taken flu medicine before going for a drive in his black BMW. The doctor insisted the actor had no trace of alcohol in his body.

From the very first, the media and people in general speculated about the possibility of Sornram driving under the influence of alcohol as the likely cause of the accident. Why did they bring up the point of drunk driving?

Firstly, they guessed that the unlucky 33-year-old actor would try to hide the fact from the public if he was actually drunk before fleeing the scene of the accident. He denied that in interviews published in Thai language newspapers. He claimed that, after getting out of his car to see what had happened, he walked about for a while trying to get someone to help the victim. But the security officer at a nearby condominium who ran into the actor right after the accident told police that the actor said to him he had dozed off while driving, before leaving the scene.

The assumption of drunkenness must have a lot to do with the "Don't Drive Drunk" campaign by the Ministry of Public Health. Most people take it to mean, don't drive after drinking too much alcohol, when in reality alcohol is not the only danger people should be aware of.

According to the Police Department's traffic accident research last year, 19 per cent of accidents were caused by drivers falling asleep behind the wheel, and 90 per cent were caused as a result of feeling drowsy, in addition to the side effects of medicine and alcohol.

Article 43 of the Land Transport Act 1979 states that "one must not drive while intoxicated", and the penalty - according to Article 160 - is three months imprisonment or a fine of between Bt2,000 and Bt10,000. But, in Article 300, the imprisonment term is at least three years and the fine is up to Bt6,000 if a drunk driver harms a third party. Also, in Article 291, the imprisonment term is up to 10 years and the fine is Bt20,000 if a victim is killed.

The doctor reported that Sornram had no trace of alcohol in his body. He said he conducted blood tests twice - when Sornram was first admitted to hospital and again five hours later. The dead woman's husband said he believed the actor when he said he was not drunk but had fallen asleep behind the wheel.

Interestingly, Sornram was among other celebrities who were presenters of the "Don't Drive While Drowsy" campaign.

Apichet Kittikorncharoen, or "Big" from D2B, was another interesting case as he crashed his car into a pond as a result of exhaustion and lack of sleep due to his tight work schedule - 20 hours a day. Apichet went into a coma and never recovered.

But it seems that not many people, most notably celebrities, have learned any kind of lesson from this incident. Other celebrities involved in car accidents include Patratida "Tang Mo" Patcharaweerapong, Dome Pakorn Lump and Annita.

Whether traces of alcohol were found in Sornram's blood or not, is not the main point. The media repeatedly warns us about driving under the influence of alcohol and doctors often talk about the effects of alcohol in the blood, but another matter is usually ignored. As everybody knows, driving after drinking alcohol makes drivers lose focus - and undoubtedly contributes to accidents. In Sornram's case, being in a state of exhaustion is little different. Both drinking and exhaustion cause the same drowsiness, loss of consciousness, and impairment of a person's ability to drive safely.

A veteran actor, Setha Sirachaya, who visited the actor, said firmly, "Don't drive if you feel terribly sleepy."

After going through the Pantip website, I found this comment: "If I was tired, sleep deprived and suffering from the side-effects of a flu shot, I think I would not be too interested in driving at 11pm to buy a computer game - which is allegedly where Sornram was headed. If you are tired don't drive, period!"

There are certainly similarities between two given causes of car accidents but an ill-judged difference is that driving when drowsy is less significant. Nevertheless, both can end up in the same disastrous way.

Sornram's interviews also surprised me. He said that the accident happened because he was feeling drowsy and then fell asleep behind the wheel, not because he was drinking alcohol. But you have to wonder - after seeing pictures of his ruined car - the damage is such, it suggests he was also speeding.

Kitchana Lersakvanitchakul

The Nation