German couple killed at a Khao Lak crossing join a grim roll call of foreign tourist road deaths. Four have died on its Phetkasem corridor since 2022, while Koh Samui’s notorious bends have claimed Australian, Indian, Swiss and other lives.
The horrific deaths of two German tourists in Khao Lak have exposed a grim roll call of accident blackspots for foreign visitors at Thailand’s holiday resorts. Wilbert Schwiers, 64, and Gabriela Gulden, 63, died on Friday after police say a pickup ran a red light at their pedestrian crossing. Yet they were far from the first foreign victims along Khao Lak’s Phetkasem Road, where two others have died and four have suffered serious injuries since 2022. Meanwhile, Koh Samui has its own deadly record. Australian sprint star Jemma Stapleton died at Lamai’s Zigzag Curve this year, while three foreign tourists were killed on the notorious Khao Pom descent.
A German couple arrived in Khao Lak for a holiday last week. Two days later, both were dead. Wilbert Schwiers, 64, and Gabriela Gulden, 63, were struck while crossing Phetkasem Road on Friday night. They were using a controlled pedestrian crossing outside Orchid Khao Lak in Nang Thong. Police say a white Mazda BT-50 drove through a red signal before hitting them. Their holiday was due to continue until October 9. Instead, it ended on the resort’s main highway.
The couple had already reached the central reservation before continuing across the road. Then the pickup struck them. Both suffered critical injuries and were rushed to Khao Lak Medical Centre. However, neither survived. Police say the Mazda continued towards Thai Mueang without stopping. Investigators later traced the vehicle to a 37-year-old Phang-nga man.
The following afternoon, the man surrendered at Khao Lak Police Station with the damaged Mazda. Police charged him with reckless driving causing death and dangerous driving. A further charge concerns failing to stop, assist the victims and report the crash. Police said he confessed to the initial charges. Separately, investigators awaited alcohol and drug test results.
Khao Lak road toll rises to four foreign deaths as repeated crashes expose danger along tourist corridor
Yet Friday’s double fatality was not an isolated horror on Khao Lak’s main highway. Instead, it added two names to a disturbing four-year record. Four foreign tourists have now died crossing Phetkasem Road through the resort since August 2022. Another four suffered serious injuries in two separate crashes. The latest deaths came only three days after officials again discussed pedestrian safety and traffic signals.
Crucially, these accidents did not all occur at one identical pedestrian crossing. However, they happened along the same highway through Khao Lak’s main tourist communities. Phetkasem Road cuts through Khuekkhak, Nang Thong and Bang Niang. Hotels, markets, restaurants and other businesses operate on both sides. Consequently, visitors regularly cross a major highway carrying through traffic along the Andaman coast.
The documented fatal sequence began in August 2022. French tourist Jean-Yves Bornarel, 53, was using a zebra crossing in Khuekkhak. A vehicle struck him and left him critically injured. Mr Bornarel died while being taken to hospital. The driver remained at the scene and later faced a reckless driving causing death charge.
Afterwards, attention turned towards the crossing itself. Contemporary reports placed it outside a convenience store in Khuekkhak. It stood about 500 metres before the Khao Lak traffic lights. A local rescue worker also raised concerns about its position. The crossing stood just beyond the crest of the road. Therefore, motorists approaching from the north had restricted visibility.
Speed concerns grow after two tourists die and Czech couple are seriously injured on Khao Lak road
At the same time, concerns were being raised about vehicle speeds through Khao Lak. Phetkasem Road had been widened through the tourist area. Meanwhile, the municipal speed limit was reported at 70km/h. A rescue worker complained that insufficient measures forced motorists to reduce speed. Within weeks of Mr Bornarel’s death, another foreign pedestrian was killed.
Swedish tourist Bjorn Olof Johansson, 40, died crossing Phetkasem Road in September 2022. CCTV recorded him attempting to cross the highway in Takua Pa district. He was approaching the central reservation when a white sedan struck him. The impact threw him about 40 metres. Emergency workers rushed him to hospital, but he later died.
The 26-year-old driver remained at the scene. Police said the motorist admitted speeding and later charged him with reckless driving causing death. By then, two foreign tourists had died crossing Khao Lak’s widened highway within about one month. Importantly, their deaths occurred at different crossings several kilometres apart. Nevertheless, both were attempting to cross the same Phetkasem Road tourist corridor.
Another serious collision followed in November 2022. Czech tourists Vladimir Koci, 64, and Jana Koci Lhotakova, 50, were crossing Phetkasem Road in Khuekkhak. A pickup struck them and both suffered serious injuries. Meanwhile, its driver told police he had been travelling at 80km/h. He also said he had not seen the couple before the collision. Thus, within several months, two foreign pedestrians were dead and another two seriously injured.
German family struck at Bang Niang crossing as officials order fresh road safety measures in Khao Lak
Yet the sequence continued. In April 2025, German tourists Phillip David Lothar, 34, and Linda Raub, 32, were crossing outside Bang Niang Market. They were pushing their 23-month-old son Fiete across the highway. One vehicle stopped to allow the family through. However, a passenger pickup travelling in another lane continued forward and struck both parents.
Mr Lothar and Ms Raub suffered serious injuries and required intensive medical treatment. Their toddler escaped serious injury. The collision immediately renewed scrutiny of pedestrian safety along Phetkasem Road. Notably, the family had been using the zebra crossing directly outside the busy market.
In response, Phang-nga Tourism Business Association president Lertsak Pongklin raised concerns about the crossing. He said similar accidents occurred there almost every week. He also linked many incidents to motorists failing to slow down. The provincial governor subsequently ordered another package of safety measures along the road.
Officials were told to repaint pedestrian crossings and install speed bumps. Clearer speed-limit signs were also ordered. As part of the response, officials were instructed to repair pedestrian traffic lights. The measures followed a collision which had nearly killed an entire visiting family. Less than 18 months later, another German couple were dead.
Latest German deaths lift Khao Lak foreign pedestrian toll as Koh Samui reveals its own deadly roads
Friday’s collision also carried a significant difference. Mr Schwiers and Ms Gulden were using a signal-controlled pedestrian crossing. Police say the traffic light facing the approaching Mazda was red. Moreover, the German tourists had already reached the central reservation before continuing across the highway. Moments later, the pickup struck them.
Khao Lak therefore has four documented foreign pedestrian deaths along the corridor since August 2022. Mr Bornarel was killed first, followed weeks later by Mr Johansson. Mr Schwiers and Ms Gulden became the third and fourth victims on Friday. Additionally, four foreign tourists suffered serious injuries during two other crashes.
The accidents occurred at different crossing points. Therefore, they cannot accurately be described as repeated fatalities at one identical crossing. Even so, all eight foreign victims were struck while crossing Khao Lak’s Phetkasem Road tourist corridor. The cases now stretch across more than four years.
On another front, Koh Samui has developed its own grim record involving foreign road victims. Again, the crashes occurred at different locations. However, particular bends and steep roads have repeatedly featured in serious accidents. One recognised danger point is Khao Pom in Taling Ngam. Another is the Zigzag Curve in the Lamai area.
Australian sprint star Jemma Stapleton dies at Lamai curve as Koh Samui’s dangerous roads claim lives
Australian athlete Jemma Stapleton, 25, was killed at the Lamai Zigzag Curve on June 10. Ms Stapleton was a prominent Melbourne sprinter and Stawell Gift finalist. She finished third in the women’s Stawell Gift in 2025. She then returned to the final in 2026. Weeks later, she was holidaying with her family on Koh Samui.
Ms Stapleton was riding a motorcycle along Thawirat Phakdi Road at about 3.45 pm. Rain had left the road wet. CCTV showed her motorcycle losing traction as she entered the curved section of Highway 4169. It then slid across the centre line and into approaching traffic.
A black Subaru driven by a 38-year-old Russian man was travelling in the opposite direction. A second vehicle driven by a Thai woman was also involved. Ms Stapleton suffered severe head injuries and died at the scene. In a particularly harrowing detail, her family members were travelling behind her on separate motorcycles.
Surat Thani Provincial Police subsequently ordered a detailed investigation. Officers examined CCTV, witness accounts, forensic evidence and road conditions. The crash site was identified as the Zigzag Curve in Lamai. However, another Samui road carries a longer documented history of fatal crashes involving foreign visitors.
Khao Pom rises through Taling Ngam on the island’s western side. The road contains sharp bends and steep downhill sections. Swiss national Andrey Francis, 77, was killed there in January 2017. He was descending Khao Pom on a motorcycle with a 40-year-old Thai woman riding as his passenger.
Three foreign tourists die on dangerous Khao Pom descent despite warning signs and previous crashes
Rain was falling as they approached a downhill bend. The motorcycle then left the road and struck a roadside kilometre marker. Mr Francis was thrown down the hillside and died. His passenger survived with injuries and was taken to Koh Samui Hospital. Five years later, the same Khao Pom road claimed another two foreign lives.
Indian tourists Vinay Dutt Kaushik, 35, and Dhruv Tripathi, 34, died there on June 12, 2022. The pair were travelling together on a rented Honda motorcycle. Significantly, they had arrived in Thailand through Suvarnabhumi Airport only the previous day. Their planned holiday was due to continue until June 25. Instead, both were dead within a day of arriving.
The men were descending Khao Pom towards Koh Samui’s main ring road. At the crash location, the road was steep and contained a sharp bend. A witness told police the rider appeared unable to slow the automatic motorcycle sufficiently. Seconds later, the machine left the bend and slammed into a metal roadside barrier.
Both men were thrown from the motorcycle. Their bodies were found beyond the barrier on the mountainside. Both suffered catastrophic injuries and died at the scene. Crucially, local rescue workers already knew the location as a dangerous road with previous accidents.
Warning signs and safety measures had already been installed. Furthermore, specific warnings cautioned riders using automatic motorcycles about the steep descent. Reports following the Indian tourists’ deaths also referred to previous injuries and fatalities. Accordingly, Mr Kaushik and Mr Tripathi were not Khao Pom’s first foreign victims. Mr Francis had died there five years earlier.
Khao Pom death toll reaches three as other fatal crashes claim young foreign visitors across Koh Samui
The documented cases therefore establish at least three named foreign deaths on the Khao Pom road. Meanwhile, Ms Stapleton died at another identified danger point near Lamai. Her death added another prominent foreign name to Koh Samui’s road toll.
In parallel, other parts of the island have claimed more foreign visitors. Two German students, aged 26 and 24, died on Thawirat Phakdi Road in August 2017. Their motorcycle collided head-on with another vehicle in Maret. The crash occurred in front of Samui Court.
A Russian tourist was driving the other vehicle. Police reports said the German motorcycle had been overtaking a pickup. It then entered the opposing lane. The Russian driver was subsequently charged with reckless driving causing death.
More recently, Australian Carlos Guirguis died following a motorcycle crash on Koh Samui in March 2025. He was only 19. Separately, British tourist Tiger Duggan, 23, suffered catastrophic injuries in another Samui motorcycle crash this year. His accident occurred on February 1. He survived initially but died on February 19.
The Samui cases occurred at different locations and under different circumstances. Therefore, they cannot be presented as one sequence at a single notorious bend. Khao Pom itself, however, has a documented history of repeated fatal crashes. Three named foreign visitors died there in the identified cases.
Khao Lak pedestrian deaths mount despite repeated warnings, safety measures and repairs to crossings
Likewise, Ms Stapleton’s death occurred at another known curve. Her crash happened at Lamai’s Zigzag Curve. Other foreign fatalities occurred elsewhere across the island. Together, they document a wider series of fatal road accidents involving overseas visitors on Koh Samui.
The Khao Lak record is different. Its documented victims were pedestrians rather than motorcycle riders. Yet the numbers are stark. Four foreign visitors have died crossing Phetkasem Road since August 2022. Another four suffered serious injuries while attempting to cross the same wider corridor.
Moreover, official concern long predates Friday’s double fatality. Warnings followed the deaths in 2022. Further action came after the Bang Niang Market collision in 2025. Officials ordered crossings repainted, speed bumps installed and clearer speed-limit signs erected. Pedestrian signals were also targeted for repairs.
Then came Friday night. Mr Schwiers and Ms Gulden had arrived in Khao Lak only two days earlier. They were crossing at a controlled pedestrian signal. Police say the approaching Mazda faced a red light. The couple had already reached the central reservation before continuing across.
Seconds later, the pickup struck them. Both were rushed to hospital, but neither survived. Police say the Mazda continued from the scene. The suspected driver surrendered the following afternoon with the damaged vehicle.
Khao Lak and Koh Samui road deaths leave a grim roll call of foreign visitors killed at holiday resorts
Now four foreign pedestrians have died along Khao Lak’s main tourist corridor since 2022. Another four have suffered serious injuries. Meanwhile, Koh Samui has accumulated its own roll call of foreign road victims across several dangerous locations.
Among them was Australian athlete Jemma Stapleton, who died at Lamai’s Zigzag Curve. At Khao Pom, Swiss tourist Andrey Francis died in 2017. Indian visitors Vinay Dutt Kaushik and Dhruv Tripathi were killed on the same descent in 2022.
Elsewhere on Samui, two young German visitors died in March. Australian Carlos Guirguis was 19 when he died following a motorcycle crash. British tourist Tiger Duggan was 23 when he died after another crash.
Drunk driver mowed down a Thai woman and her German friend in Saturday’s early hours. Both died
Two German tourists killed at Phang-nga zebra crossing. Pickup driver tore into them on Friday night
Police on Koh Samui give briefing on the death of Australian sports star Jemma Stapleton on June 10th
These were separate crashes with different circumstances. The locations also differed. However, Khao Pom’s fatal history is documented. So is the repeated sequence of pedestrian deaths and serious injuries through Khao Lak.
At Khao Lak, one geographical thread remains unmistakable. All eight documented victims were crossing Phetkasem Road through the resort’s tourist corridor. Four survived with serious injuries. Four did not.
The first documented death in this sequence came in August 2022. The latest two came on Friday night. Wilbert Schwiers and Gabriela Gulden had barely begun their holiday. Two days after arriving in Khao Lak, both were dead.
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Further reading:
Drunk driver mowed down a Thai woman and her German friend in Saturday’s early hours. Both died
Two German tourists killed at Phang-nga zebra crossing. Pickup driver tore into them on Friday night
Policeman jailed, sacked from the force over death of young doctor at a zebra crossing in Bangkok
Police charges against top cop’s Porsche driving son at the centre of fatal Bangkok car accident
Lopburi child killer is a primary school director who murdered 3 people this month just for kicks
