The woman, named as Aroon Thongsarn, was taken into custody at the scene, in front of Wat Kajorn Rangsan on Ranong Rd, near the Phuket office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT Phuket).
The police were informed of the incident at 2:10pm, said Pol Lt Romtheera Suwannaphan of the Phuket City Police.
Officers arrived with Kusoildharm Foundation rescue workers to find a Mercedes-Benz, a C 300 Bluetec Hybrid registered in Bangkok, stopped in the middle of the small one-way street.
The Benz had sustained heavy damage to its front in the collision with the Toyota sedan that had stopped in front of it. The windshield of the Benz had a head-sized hole smashed through it.
Witnesses reported that the Benz had crashed through several of the roadside stalls set up for the Vegetarian Festival before hitting several motorbikes and coming to a stop only after it had slammed into a car stopped in front.
One man was killed when he was struck by the car. His body was on the road between the front of the Mercedes and the back of the Toyota sedan. Local media reports said that the man, 49 years old, had pushed his wife and child to safety before he was struck.
Seven other people were reported as injured in the incident. All were rushed to Vachira Phuket Hospital. Initial reports noted that three of the injured were ‘green’ patients, three were categorised as ‘yellow’, and one was red, meaning critical.
Ms Aroon was taken to Phuket City Police Station to be tested for alcohol and “for further legal”, police confirmed.
Police have yet to confirm what charges she may face for the incident.
Local media reports late last night noted that Phuket City Police Chief Col Prathueng Pholmana had explained that Ms Aroon had first struck a motorbike, then lost control of the vehicle. She may have panicked and pushed the accelerator instead of the brake.