Thai govt to urge operators of double decker buses to convert to single decker for safety reasons

[webfact]

Government to urge operators of double decker buses to convert to single decker for safety reasons

By Thai PBS

 

 

The Ministry of Transport is now working closely with the Ministry of Finance to help operators of double decker buses to convert to the safer single decker bus after they were considered unsafe following several fatal bus crashes involving double decker buses.

 

The move by the two ministries came after the prime minister voiced concern of the safety standards of double decker buses and instructed relevant government agencies to resolve the problem.

 

Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said yesterday that the prime minister voiced concern at the cabinet meeting over the safety of double-decker buses after these vehicles were involved in a number of accidents.

 

Full story: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/government-urge-operators-double-decker-buses-convert-single-decker-safety-reasons/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2018-03-28

[SkyNets]

So a single decker is safer than a double, aww nothing to do with the driver then. Probably a sneaky way to show the death toll has halved without doing any work.  

[Just1Voice]

You mean convert them BACK to their original state they came from the factory, instead of the illegally modified double deck state? 

Edited March 28, 2018 by Just1Voice

[JOC]

Meanwhile at the conversion factory.....

Edited March 28, 2018 by JOC

[mike324]

2 minutes ago, Just1Voice said:

You mean convert them BACK to their original state the came from the factory, instead of the illegally modified double deck state? 

Yup Nakohn Pathom is one of the areas where these double decker buses are converter by welding pieces of metal to create the 2nd floor. These double decker buses crumble like a piece of paper when invovled in accidents. Just look at the picture above, the entire top half of the bus is gone!

[DM07]

...and if that doesn't help go to mini-buses...and if that doesn't help go to vans...all the way back to ox- carts, because it never has anything to do with the drivers!

EVER!

[trainman34014]

Why not try 'converting' to drivers with no Booze or Drugs in their systems, that have been properly tested for driving ability and have at least half a brain ?

[Just1Voice]

56 minutes ago, trainman34014 said:

Why not try 'converting' to drivers with no Booze or Drugs in their systems, that have been properly tested for driving ability and have at least half a brain ?

That "half a brain" part might be tough. lol

 

[Get Real]

4 hours ago, SkyNets said:

So a single decker is safer than a double, aww nothing to do with the driver then. Probably a sneaky way to show the death toll has halved without doing any work.  

Yeah, but the problem will still be status quo! They will need double amount of buses. 

[yellowboat]

True, they should sell the double decker buses to countries that know how to drive like Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore or Hong Kong. 

[scorecard]

6 hours ago, SkyNets said:

So a single decker is safer than a double, aww nothing to do with the driver then. Probably a sneaky way to show the death toll has halved without doing any work.  

 

Yes, it's mostly about the drivers.

 

Not my area of expertise at all, but surely there is also a point about height and centre of gravity, balance etc, when these double deckers go around corners, going down steep inclines with bends in the road, too much weight on the top level, etc. etc. 

 

My guess is that not one Thai bus driver has any specific training or even elementary knowledge about these subjects. 

 

 

[Muhendis]

Thai drivers should try this:

 

[Surasak]

So, the prime minister has no more sense than the idiots who drive these double deckers!?

[pieeyed]

I thought mini me made it law a few years ago that the double decker buses were not allowed to operate anymore.

[Ossy]

Good thinking, as usual, MoT . . . one smash will then only wipe out nine lives, instead of 18 . . . that's the ticket.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

So it takes Prayuth to tell these guys that they need to wind down the double decker buses?

 

They can't figure it out on their own, amid the mounting fatalities and buses not meeting safety standards, as the Transport Ministry responsible for overseeing such things?

 

What a dysfunctional government!

 

[Expatthailover]

19 hours ago, trainman34014 said:

Why not try 'converting' to drivers with no Booze or Drugs in their systems, that have been properly tested for driving ability and have at least half a brain ?

You'd lose half the drivers in Europe and usa if that condition was rigidly applied

[Russell17au]

On 28/03/2018 at 3:19 PM, mike324 said:

Yup Nakohn Pathom is one of the areas where these double decker buses are converter by welding pieces of metal to create the 2nd floor. These double decker buses crumble like a piece of paper when invovled in accidents. Just look at the picture above, the entire top half of the bus is gone!

That picture is a properly constructed double decker bus so that throws your theory out the window. Double decker buses have been around in many countries for many years, it is not the bus that is the problem it is the government driver education, training and licencing and the lack of patrolling police that is the problem

[mike324]

On 3/29/2018 at 7:39 PM, Russell17au said:

That picture is a properly constructed double decker bus so that throws your theory out the window. Double decker buses have been around in many countries for many years, it is not the bus that is the problem it is the government driver education, training and licencing and the lack of patrolling police that is the problem

No, you obviously haven't seen these factories that make these double decker bus by HAND. Over 80% of the double decker buses in Thailand are not properly constructed, they do not meet the safety requirements. They are just metal sheets and frames welded together by hand with no standards. These buses are too expensive to import hence, its made in thailand instead with chassis of old buses.

 

That picture is a prime example of one that is not properly constructed, take a look at the stair by the door, they are simply unpainted pieces of sheet metal. Another give away is all the big pieces of windows on the 1st floor, properly constructed buses don't have that many big panels of windows on the 1st level. 

 

Here is a link for your reference, I've been to one of these bus factories myself 

http://travel.cnn.com/bangkok/life/thailands-bus-artists-629230/

[lamyai3]

Double decker buses make no sense here. Adding a third deck would be much better to appease the road Gods - three is a more auspicious number than two, and is even the square root of the luckiest number of all, nine. 

[Crossy]

 

Quote

 

urge

ərj/

verb

verb: urge; 3rd person present: urges; past tense: urged; past participle: urged; gerund or present participle: urging

1. 1.

   try earnestly or persistently to persuade (someone) to do something.

   "he urged her to come and stay with us"

 

 

Yeah, right. Government has done something (urged), operators will react (by doing sod all).