Stricter road-safety measures promised after 4 Japanese tourists killed

[janclaes47]

3 hours ago, Thian said:

Getting rid of all the roosters and soidogs around his house will help for better nightrest.

 

And good coffee or red bull can also keep one awake.

 

 

 

Prevent them from making double shifts would also be a good start

 

[petermik]

Another day another sad story about the carnage on the roads here,nothing will ever change,talk is cheap taking actions cost money.....it won,t happen.

Condolences to the bereaved families

[MaxYakov]

3 hours ago, kotsak said:

Reminds me of the videos posted by a some guys on Youtube who use the BeamNG software

 

 

No living soul was either injured or killed in the making of this video (probably). Maybe tourists should visit a virtual Thailand using modern video technology. This would save a lot of lives. I never felt compelled to actually go to Ayutthaya (or most other places in Thailand for that matter - for reasons that should be obvious). If I do decide to go somewhere, it certainly won't be in any kind of van!

[thaibeachlovers]

ordered RL Service to turn over all their 80 passenger vans to the department for a safety inspection. All of the company’s drivers have been summoned to take a road safety course.

 

Really? Anyone that has ever travelled in a van knows why it happened and nothing is going to change that, IMO.

[thaibeachlovers]

4 hours ago, Thian said:

 

 

And .................. red bull can also keep one awake.

 

 

It might keep you awake but not necessarily a safe driver.

I tried it and it made my visual and mental acuity degrade. I became dangerous driving with it. I never used it again.

Coffee does work though, but I suspect not on people that drink a lot of it.

[thaibeachlovers]

4 hours ago, Thian said:

Getting rid of all the roosters and soidogs around his house will help for better nightrest.

 

 

 

 

The neighbours that own the dogs and roosters would not take kindly to that.

Also, I learned to sleep through the dogs barking and the roosters crowing.

[nausea]

16 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Really? Anyone that has ever travelled in a van knows why it happened and nothing is going to change that, IMO.

It might help if more people stopped accepting crazy driving behaviour as normal and unchangeable. My SO stopped a van in mid-journey and got out with a few choice words, cos of a crazy driver. Admittedly that was on a commuter route, inter-city might be more difficult, but if people in general took a more assertive, pro-active attitude things might change, with the vans anyway.

[balo]

7 hours ago, rooster59 said:

All of the company’s drivers have been summoned to take a road safety course.

Who will be in charge of the safety course ? Yes you guessed it.

 

 

 

[thaibeachlovers]

All this could change almost straight away if the government required all passenger vans to have speed limiters installed within 3 months.

[DD13]

6 hours ago, worgeordie said:

" had already revoked the licence of the van involved in the accident "the van is a right off,

so that means nothing,maybe they need to put governors on these vans to limit the speed,

but no matter what regulations they introduce,nothing is going to change,its the drivers,Stupid.

regards worgeordie

That "Authority" spokesperson should be advised 

If you haven't got anything sensible to say...... Shut up

[toofarnorth]

7 hours ago, ezzra said:

Good to start the day with a joke...

If that is a joke I have heard it before ....every time a minibus goes up in flames.

[Sir Dude]

Stricter road safety measures mean little if they aren't pro-actively enforced with a little more zeal than is currently evident (all very well to cynically rant and rave afterwards to make it look good). Really, they need regulate more seriously the morons that are allowed to drive these things. It's not the vans or the roads that are dangerous, it's the imbeciles driving everything that is the problem, till that situation changes you can whistle for any improvement as these idiots think the rules somehow don't apply to them because they are special and that the rules are only for others. 

 

Personally, I gave up all forms of public transport long ago as the fools in control of the mode of transport think it's some kind of joke and the companies demand they complete the journey in some blindingly fast amount of time. Have any of you noticed buses etc. stopping in somewhere like Wang Noi just for the driver's attendant to run in with a time card to get it punched and then run straight back to the bus? Ludicrous!

 

As for 50k baht fine...turn it into 5 million baht fine and you might get a grudging nod towards safety from these greedy out-of-control transport mafia businesses.   

Edited November 11, 2017 by Sir Dude
Typos

[Surasak]

Reminds me of the Goon show from the 50s. That was seriously funny. This is serious and not in the least bit funny. 

[richard_smith237]

It really is a terribly tragic that those in positions of decision making power are simply too apathetic about this issue for anything to change.

 

The solutions are simple and start with taking this issue seriously rather than the weekly comment to the media in response to the latest tragedy. 

 

The simple solutions involve:

- Better / more intelligent and road design

- Actual Policing & Patrols rather than the lazy check points

- Strict fines / bans

- Harsh penalties for DUI

- Equality of the rule of law

- Driver education (on TV at prime time)

 

 

[Jonnapat]

How can dead victims be compensated?

As usual, cash seems to be the answer to all evils in Thailand 

[Muggi1968]

I guess it would be possible to prevent the Thais from continue driving mad by cutting off their hands at strike 3......(after 3 violations) 

[CLW]

We all know that unfortunately nothing will change. Not in this life.

What about the minibuses, the new drivers license test system, the laser speed guns etc...

[4MyEgo]

Tomorrows news, Thailand's national road toll has been reduced to 23,999, one less death than last year, our new stricter policy on reducing road deaths is working as there was no increase in deaths this year.

[NeoDinosaw]

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

All this could change almost straight away if the government required all passenger vans to have speed limiters installed within 3 months.

In Europe the maximum speed for minivans used to be 80 kph when I drove students in them many years ago. That seems a very sensible limit.  The vans did not have speed limiters, but all were fitted with tacometers.  Is it still the same ?

[Dodgydownunder]

The Thai government is shit scared of loss of Japanese investment in this country (think Toyota, Honda and all the huge electronics companies in Samut Prakan). They will be crapping their pants about the negative publicity this is getting in Japan and will bend over for the Japs like no other country. Maybe something will actually be done to improve the public transport system after all.

Edited November 11, 2017 by Dodgydownunder

[petedk]

4 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

ordered RL Service to turn over all their 80 passenger vans to the department for a safety inspection. All of the company’s drivers have been summoned to take a road safety course.

 

Really? Anyone that has ever travelled in a van knows why it happened and nothing is going to change that, IMO.

 

Really What happened?

 

It says in the other paper that he admitted to falling asleep.

 

I have to travel by company van very often and I have seen the driver slowly close his eyes many times. I usually make a loud noise to wake him up (clap my hands or whatever). 

 

There was one day when he dosed off and I banged on his seat back and shouted "wake up". All the Thai passengers were sleeping and were woken by my noise. The driver refused that he was sleepy and I was branded as the bad farang. Never mind I was still alive.

 

A colleague's brother drives vans picking up Koreans from the airport and driving them to the hotel upcountry. He is sometimes forced to drive for up to 20 hours a day. Last year he fell asleep and had an accident. Six Koreans were taken to hospital for minor injuries, but a subsequent complaint led to the driver being sacked.  Two months later he was re-employed on the same conditions.

 

The same here. Nothing will ever change despite all the cries of "stricter road measures". 

 

[Artisi]

11 hours ago, tracker1 said:

The last speed reported on the van GPS showed it was travelling at 93kph at the time of impact, and there was no sign of braking on the road. Knew those GPSs would be good for something after the incident not sure they were going to save lives ! Again more Gunna Do from the authorities !

Of course the GPS's are useful,  to report back to base or after an accident, as for prevention nope, never, noway.

[CLW]

The Thai government is shit scared of loss of Japanese investment in this country (think Toyota, Honda and all the huge electronics companies in Samut Prakan). They will be crapping their pants about the negative publicity this is getting in Japan and will bend over for the Japs like no other country. Maybe something will actually be done to improve the public transport system after all.

Only if it comes to an official announcement or travel warning / advice etc. from the Japanese government.
Sad that it has to come so far that these innocent people lost their lives but I would welcome such a step.

[jvs]

Too many negative responses ,imo you can not blame the government

for this accident.will things change?They already have,the van had a device that starts making a beeping sound when speed goes over 93 km per hour.I was in a few other vans who have the same thing installed.

I have not seen any minibus going at speeds well over 100kph lately.

If the device had not been installed more than likely all of the people inside would have been killed.

I do not know if the driver fell asleep or not,time wil tell.

The bus was going 93kph at time of impact,we do not know what was going on with the truck in front,did the driver brake?Was he just driving slow?Did the lights work?

Maybe the van driver was tailgating,that i have seen a lot and it would not surprise me at all.

Imo the first person responsible is the driver,the second his boss,and lastly the government(police) for not enforcing the rules.

 

[amdy2206]

I see, it does not matter if Thai's die - that is ok - but if others die the situation is different. Thai lives are obviously thought if as not worth much!!!

[Mr22Tim]

It’s like gun deaths in America . Nothing has changed and nothing will change. I have driven on and off in Thailand for 39 years (mostly larger motorcycles. Ridden long distance overnight buses a 100 times and seen the carnage. Took the old American full size 

cars stuffed with people from

Hat Yi to Penang and back a dozen times Nothing has changed nor will it change

until attitutes change. There is only talk and promises, but

always after yet another tragedy. That anger fades until the next episode of senseless death, and on and on

[natway09]

The Transport Ministry & Police need some outside help here but they are too stubborn to admit it.

A vehicle is like a gun, in itself not dangerous if properly maintained & used with due care,, in the hands of Thais they both become a lethal weapon.

What is it with these mainly gentle Thais anyway the moment they get behind a wheel?

[dcnx]

A whole 2.2 million baht total for all of them. That probably isn’t even enough to transport the bodies home and pay for a good funeral.

 

The company should be forced to pay the families at least 10 million baht each. It’s going to take drastic measures to get any changes here. 

[Thian]

On 11/11/2017 at 1:27 PM, thaibeachlovers said:

It might keep you awake but not necessarily a safe driver.

I tried it and it made my visual and mental acuity degrade. I became dangerous driving with it. I never used it again.

Coffee does work though, but I suspect not on people that drink a lot of it.

I drink a very lot of coffee and yes it works good for me...When driving i slap myself in the face when i get sleepy.

 

But Thai call everything coffee, also moccona. I need real fresh coffee and loads of it.