Thai police were not at all cooperative when the daughter of a Maltese man who died in a road accident went there to recover the body.

Alfred Balzan, 78, died after he was run over by an Isuzu SUV while driving his motorbike in the town of Phitsanulok last month.

His funeral was held in Cospicua on Saturday.

His daughter, Trudel Ajayi, travelled to Phitsanulok just two days after the fatality to bring the body back for burial. She was hoping she would get hold of more information about what happened and the ongoing investigations.

But Ms Ajayi was shocked to hear the police say they would only be giving a speeding ticket to the woman who ran over her father. The police would not cooperate, she lamented.

She said the officers insisted on addressing her in their language and it was only thanks to a Thai friend of the family who offered to act as translator that she could understand them.

The police would not give her footage showing the accident, Ms Ajayi added.

The footage she got was that from the CCTV camera of a grocery shop. This shows a sizeable vehicle speeding forward with what appeared to be a person caught under the front wheels. It was only when the Honda Wave hit the bumper of the vehicle that the driver stopped, Ms Ajayi said.

The driver, she added, alleged that Mr Balzan was taking too long to go round a bend and reach the main road.

“The police there are not interested in justice,” Ms Ajayi said.

Mr Balzan had been living in Thailand for 14 years, spending a few months in Malta every year to visit his family.

Teary-eyed, Oswald Balzan said his father was taken away too soon. He said Malta’s consul in Bangkok was helpful, adding that it took a seven-hour drive to reach the consul from Phitsanulok.

The Balzan family has filed a criminal complaint and instituted a civil case against the driver.

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