1 hour ago, bluesofa said:

I'd venture to say that's due to the combination of low quality, low safety standards and irresponsible driving.

Not forgetting speed and alcohol

3 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

In 90% of the accidents, the drivers need a good beating...

unfortunately quite true and is part of the ugly underbelly of this place

54 minutes ago, zoza said:

If you are on or even near the roads in Thailand you are playing Russian Roulette,

even the pavements are not safe, this because of an attitude in Thailand that they

not going to have an accident so they do not have to follow the rules.

and the police do not want to be bothered with having to enforce them.

the ruling elite look after the ruling elite, and the poor pay the price of having a very

poor educational system, and on top of that no criticism is allowed so nobody is held accountable. and it goes on and on...... RIP people  

kinda needs to be placed as a sticky on any travel web site section aboit thailand..

3 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

Yet again, driver survives and does a runner !!!

I really wish they would put a mandatory jail sentence on anyone fleeing the scene of an accident.

If he gets beaten up by the crowd while he waits, unlucky...

The original post header is correct.

This is not an 'accident ' there is nothing 'accidental' about a bus driven by a driver colliding with a truck and 16 people dead.

It's the drivers of coaches that need to be fitted with a wrist band, not the tourists.

20 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

Yes, very true. Often difficult to change the phrases you've been brought up to use.

 

In the UK, the police used to refer to an RTA - Road Traffic Accident. Now that too has changed to RTC - Road Traffic Collision, as 'accident' implies no one was to blame.

 

I remember as a fresh-faced youth learning to drive, being told that "accident" was the wrong word it should be a "carelessness".

 

Another disaster ending and destroying so many lives, but the basic fault is corruption and inefficiency which show no sign of changing.

I thought that the last time this happened the action was all double decker buses were to be BANNED!

The "order" failed to filter down! - again............

Sad RIP

3 hours ago, YetAnother said:

my intelligent thai friend told me, in cases like this, to flee , so to avoid beatings and killings by the locals; told me to go to the police station for protection;  hmmmm; police,protection,local mobs;;

not good

too funny!!

I wonder what percentage of the deceased were wearing seat belts? 

Tragic loss of life . It will go on until the people who matter clean up the road laws . But this can can happen anywhere . Needs road checks for license. Tax insurance  . driving here 16 years and never been asked to show any documents. 

Many vehicles on Thai Roads are not road worthy No tyres are checked all adding to danger . 

2 hours ago, bluesofa said:

I know there has been a loss of life here, and that is genuinely sad.

 

However, I’m waiting for the all-too-often-made calls to begin about banning double-decker buses as they’re dangerous.

I’ll get in first: If only they would think, and look at accident rates involving double-decker buses in other countries. I’m sure it must be the UK where there are more (and taller) double-decker buses than anywhere else, yet accidents there are very, very, rare.

 

It’s the drivers here that need banning. They need to be responsible and concentrate on their driving, not trying to get down hills with sharp bends at break-neck speed (no pun intended), or perform dangerous overtaking manoeuvres.

 

As soon as this particular incident is out the news, it will be forgotten again until the next accident.

 

Are double-deckers used for intercity runs in the UK? If not, surely you're comparing apples and oranges.

The government does nothing in law enforcement, therefore who cares in the end. 

Maybe the government recognizes now that the road carnage is all the year long and not only on big festivities! The most incident happen because of the high velocity from unresponsible drivers!

From what I read, there was no Accident, but on going Negotiations, but im sure its just a case of break failure.  

 

4 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

Yet again, driver survives and does a runner !!!

I really wish they would put a mandatory jail sentence on anyone fleeing the scene of an accident.

If he gets beaten up by the crowd while he waits, unlucky...

Don,t worry he will come back after he sobers up or gets a good nights sleep, probably driving to long and fell asleep or the other.

4 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

Yet again, driver survives and does a runner !!!

I really wish they would put a mandatory jail sentence on anyone fleeing the scene of an accident.

If he gets beaten up by the crowd while he waits, unlucky...

I just hope, that you never have a fatale accident and get beaten up. I agree only with the first part of your comment, as an accident can happen to every one, except to you. 

3 hours ago, mok199 said:

that is a tangled twisted mess...all this life lost and songkran ,''the road carnage fest'' is still two weeks away...

This was just a dry run

2 minutes ago, Oliver946 said:

I just hope, that you never have a fatale accident and get beaten up. I agree only with the first part of your comment, as an accident can happen to every one, except to you. 

Utter nonsense!!

2 hours ago, Get Real said:

I can clearly see that some people is doing their best to pave way for the "The Carnage Festival" lurking around the corner.

This one will help to take the edge off the "Carnage Festival"

52 minutes ago, fantom said:

The original post header is correct.

This is not an 'accident ' there is nothing 'accidental' about a bus driven by a driver colliding with a truck and 16 people dead.

Erm There is actually, his parents  created it.

2 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

I remember a few years back when I said to the Mrs I am going to bus it down to Phuket to catch up with the boys and the reason I wanted to get the bus, is that I would take in the countryside, her reply was swift, NO, you are NOT.

 

I said and why do you think I am not, and she said; if you want to spend some happy time in Phuket, you have to get there 1st, so I have been flying ever since , smart girl my Mrs...

LOL. 

I made many trips by bus to Phuket, and many, many thousands still do, without incident.

Life is dangerous, PERIOD.

1 hour ago, SWW said:

We need to stop using the word 'accident' for such incidents. It was a 'crash'.

That's like the airlines telling passengers about the flotation vests and cushions to be used "in the event of a water landing".  A "water landing" is a crash.

The Thais obviously don't care, reflected in having no proper system of driver instruction or test, so why should we foreigners? Just leave them to it. Nothing will ever change until a VVIP or member of the royal family gets killed.

And while on the subject of senseless waste of life - there is a rule in place that those huge double-trailer lorries that haul sugar cane to the factories are supposed to have their load properly covered and secure. But, as is usual in Thailand, no-one takes any notice and the police don't enforce it because they get paid anyway, with the result that some of the load falls onto the the road. This particularly presents a serious hazard to motor cyclists, and sometimes they hit the sugar cane and are thrown off their bike. Sometimes, as happened close to my house last week, the motorcyclist falls under a lorry and is killed. But, like failing to teach Thais to actually drive properly, nobody cares. Life is cheap. Easier to accept the deaths than do anything about it.

 

Nobody cares. Nobody cares.

6 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

LOL. 

I made many trips by bus to Phuket, and many, many thousands still do, without incident.

Life is dangerous, PERIOD.

I have worked out that flying, i.e. 1 hour 50 direct from Udon Thani to Phuket, has its advantages, and when I add up how many buses have crashed and lives lost on the roads, flying has a better record by far, and the hostesses are to die for, that and I will let you work out the rest.

I think bus accidents for the many reasons given are worldwide. UK has them. In fact the mayor of London has the same concerns. HOWEVER, I did not look for number dead. I know USA has 12,000 kids injured each year on school buses but that is just a number....have no idea what is behind the number.

RIP

It makes my blood boil every time I read the driver did a runner! 

Was he under the influence of alcohol or did he really run away and immediately report himself to the police out of fear for his life as suggested in earlier posts? 

1 minute ago, 4MyEgo said:

I have worked out that flying, i.e. 1 hour 50 direct from Udon Thani to Phuket, has its advantages, and when I add up how many bus crashed and lives lost on the roads with buses, flying by far has a better record, that and I will let you work out the rest.

When I travel in LOS I consider the scenery and the journey itself as part of the experience, which isn't anywhere near as good in a plane.

I'd normally go by train, but, as no train to Phuket, I used to go by bus and enjoyed it immensely.

I no longer go to Phuket, but that's because it's a <deleted> <deleted>, and nothing to do with the buses.

2 hours ago, Lungstib said:

Are Thai buses and trucks made to good standards of safety? Several after accident scenes show awful damage and scattered vehicle parts. They do seem to break apart rather easy.

Nothing wrong with the buses...Many buses on the roads here are high quality Scania or Volvo....

The problem here is solely with the drivers and probably lack of maintenance.....

You can't build a bus that can withstand an accident going downhill trying to negotiate a bend at 100 km/h +

Just practicing for Songkran ! Either that or really trying to get the figures higher in the weeks leading up to it to make the Songkran figures look better !

RIP to the MURDERED passengers. I guess offer of 5000 baht compensation each to cover death and hospital fees coming soon

24 minutes ago, Oliver946 said:

I agree only with the first part of your comment, as an accident can happen to every one, except to you. 

 

It sure can, however it happens a lot more regularly to mini van and bus drivers... I never asked you to agree with anything, it's my opinion only...