Police were called to the scene, in front of a Mobil petrol station on the inbound side of the road, at 4:50am, said Lt Col Banditha Thong-un of Phuket City Police.
Rescue workers and ambulance teams from Mission Hospital and Koh Kaew Municipality arrived to find the woman, later identified as Suthida Chaiyot, unconscious and seriously injured. She was rushed to Vachira Phuket Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
The crash occurred in heavy rain on a wet road. At the scene, officers found a Mercedes-Benz tour bus operating the Su-ngai Kolok–Phuket route, along with Ms Suthida’s red Honda Wave motorbike lying in the middle of the road.
About 50 metres away, a Nissan pickup truck driven by 19-year-old Phonthep Kongthong was parked with damage consistent with the accident.
Police said preliminary investigations indicated that Ms Suthida was riding from the Bang Khu intersection when the tour bus, driven by 54-year-old Anupong Srikaewchang, pulled out of the petrol station. Her motorbike collided with the bus before she was thrown onto the road and hit by the pickup truck in the dim light.
At last report, both the bus driver and the pickup driver were taken to Phuket City Police Station for questioning as officers continued their investigation.