An American pensioner was killed in a horror motorcycle crash in Thailand on Tuesday.

Edward Lee William Jr, 67, was tragically run over by a trailer truck as he was riding on his Ducati along Phet Kasem road in Phang Nga province on January 31 afternoon.

Truck driver Surasak Sodsai, 37, claimed the rider had been speeding close to his truck, despite him honking the horn several times.

He claimed that Edward kept driving near the vehicle's right side but then lost his balance and was dragged under the truck's wheels.

Surasak said: 'I was transporting a backhoe to work in the Takua Thung district. I was on the left lane driving at around 60 kilometres per hour.

'Before the victim fell, I saw him from my side mirror approaching and trying to squeeze into the side.'

Police Lieutenant Siwasit Petchsuran of the Muang Phang Nga Police Station dispatched a team to recover Edward's remains.

He said that officers are currently gathering evidence in the case.

The policeman added: 'We have not found CCTV cameras that showed the accident on this part of the road. We have to rely on the evidence from the driver.

'From the initial investigation, we believe it is an accident.'

The policeman said that Edward did not have a passport or identification card with him. However, they found some paperwork in his pocket with his details which they checked against the bike registration.

They have now contacted the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok with details of the death.

Thailand has one of the world's worst road safety records. Ministers have set the goal of reducing fatalities from 32.7 deaths per 100,000 people to 12 per 100,000 people by the year 2027.

However, a lack of road safety education in schools, cheap loans for cars, notoriously easy driving tests, police failures to enforce road laws as well as endemic corruption and chronic under-investment in infrastructure hamper the efforts.