A taxi crashed into a truck when the bungling cab driver reached for his phone to make a call.

Cabbie Sunthorn Wattanatesakorn, 39, was taking a passenger to the Kheha BTS station in Samut Prakan, Thailand, when he noticed another commuter waiting for a ride near the Wat Asokaram temple on June 20 evening.

Sunthorn turned from the wheel and reached for his phone at the back of the car to call for one of his colleagues. But in that split-second, he rear-ended a 10-wheeler truck.

Officers from the Mueang Samut Prakan Police Station responded to the scene after receiving a report at 10:30 pm.

They found Sunthorn and the passenger, a Burmese woman named Tha Sin U, 23, injured on the sidewalk. Sunthorn had a wound on the back of his head, while Tha Sin U was bleeding at the mouth. Both were in a dazed state and were given first aid before being taken to a hospital, officers said.

Also at the scene were the wrecked yellow-green Toyota Altis with shattered windscreens and the white Nissan truck with a damaged rear.

Speaking in the video, Sunthorn said: 'I noticed someone hailing for a taxi near Wat Asokaram, so I attempted to grab my phone to call another taxi to pick up that passenger. However, in that moment of distraction, I collided with the truck.'

Truck driver Dongdorn Basri, 45, said: 'I parked my truck to grab something to eat at the convenience store inside a gas station when the crash happened. I ran over to check on the people in the cars before calling for emergency assistance.'

Police said they will review the surveillance footage and interrogate Sunthorn when he has recovered.

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.