Killer hill inspected by Transport Minister

By The Nation

 

 

Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith led a team to inspect the Doi Ruak hill area on Highway No 12 (Tak-Mae Sot) in the border province of Tak on Sunday, after three recent major crashes killed 27 people.
 

Arkhom was welcomed by Tak governor, Charoenrit Sanguansat, who also provided an update about the authorities’ progress in the Songkran road-safety campaign.

 

 

In the past two weeks, the Doi Ruak hill area has seen three major crashes. A fire onboard a bus transporting registered Myanmar workers resulted in 20 deaths on March 30. Then six Myanmar workers died in an April 9 bus crash.

 

 

The third incident took place shortly after the April 9 crash while officials were assisting at the crash scene. In that crash, a bus lost control while running downhill and crashed into a highway police car, hit a road barrier and slid 50 metres before fatally hitting Tak labour protection official Marida Thanyakitrungroj, 35.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30343208

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-04-16

Look at our  lovely new shiny hi viz jackets  "opportunity", please continue the hilarity of road safety in Thailand, you know, youre doing such a "great"  job.

Nothing wrong with the road or the hill, it's the imbeciles that dont know how to drive is the problem!!!

inspection followed by a''probe ''followed with another photo opp and pie chart ,followed by the seafood buffet..

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith led a team to inspect the Doi Ruak hill area on Highway No 12 (Tak-Mae Sot) in the border province of Tak on Sunday, after three recent major crashes killed 27 people.

i know this road. it has many death turns; in more than a couple cases, the thai 'solution' , rather than straitening or widening the dangerous curve, is to paint the highway  roadway red !

Does anyone know why they don't straighten out the hairpin curves even on 4 lane highways in Thailand? I find it quite bizarre since these curves waste so much of people's time and fuel/brakes when you add it up and they are of course dangerous. What happens is when the road sharply turns right most vehicles switch to the right lane. And when it swings left most vehicles switch to the left lane. And a lot of these drivers swing all the way to the edge and drive on the shoulder. This is a real hazard as people try to pass / get passed by people doing this.

 

19 minutes ago, canopy said:

Does anyone know why they don't straighten out the hairpin curves even on 4 lane highways in Thailand?

Because they will upset the spirits that possessed the engineers that forced them to build the curves and these same spirits live off the energy of the highway victims.

Skill and knowledge is non existent in 

those drivers who drove those buses,

too easy to obtain such a public licence, most can not drive a car around a slight bend without wanting to hit the breaks and shift half over to the inside lane, 

looking and planning ahead while driving does not enter their brains.

It's all the hills fault,send it to an inactive post somewhere,or

put some signs up, USE LOW GEAR, in Thai and English,they

will most likely be ignored,but what else can you do to educate 

Thai drivers,they know best,,which is why there are so many

deaths on the roads.

regards worgeordie

1 hour ago, mok199 said:

inspection followed by a''probe ''followed with another photo opp and pie chart ,followed by the seafood buffet..

 

With ample appeasing of the guardian spirits of Thai roads - Lord Sangsom and Lord Laokhao.

 

A visit to Harry Hill would have would have brought better results.

Make Minister drive on hill everyday!

Then fixed.

"KILLER HILL"? After the visit, the hill will never kill again...

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith led a team to inspect the Doi Ruak hill area on Highway No 12 (Tak-Mae Sot) in the border province of Tak on Sunday, after three recent major crashes killed 27 people.

Inspection's done!  Now, go back to your office and continue your nap.  You can inspect the killer hill again, next year.

This report is utter nonsense.

 

The hill is not a killer, the idiots that drive up and down it ARE THE KILLERS

Hill looks fine to me.

Problem is Somchai and Noi,  showing each other,  there driving skills.

whilst, Texting, Drinking, Speeding, or any other activity that requires no 

attention to be given,   to driving or riding, whilst on the roads.

Way to go, Boys. 

 

Nice high viz jackets in Photo,  you can put them away now,

all ready for next years photo op 

 

Edited April 16, 20188 yr by stanleycoin

5 hours ago, canopy said:

Does anyone know why they don't straighten out the hairpin curves even on 4 lane highways in Thailand? I find it quite bizarre since these curves waste so much of people's time and fuel/brakes when you add it up and they are of course dangerous. What happens is when the road sharply turns right most vehicles switch to the right lane. And when it swings left most vehicles switch to the left lane. And a lot of these drivers swing all the way to the edge and drive on the shoulder. This is a real hazard as people try to pass / get passed by people doing this.

 

Corruption! Influential people who own land in area of roads that have an acquirable budget need to get a slice of the budget. So diversions that would appear to make no sense are enabled.

Oh, that naughty killer hill. Smack, smack smack...!

so he went to see the hill but was given an update on the songkran campaign

 

 

I drove this road last June whilst more of it was under construction (due to finish this year IIRC). It will be a vast improvement on what was there before.

 

However, the camber on some bits did seem a bit off compared to what I would have expected from a modern road. Combine that with poor driving skills and these won't be the last crashes on this stretch of highway.

 

On this occasion I personally would cut the authorities a bit of slack- the embankment leaves a lot to be desired and it looks like part of the old road below it.  That's a huge drop down and they should fill in dodgy areas so if a vehicle does turn over it has far less space to roll. The Jersey barriers along the side of the road are a clear indicator that they HAD detected an issue along here but they were not big enough to be effective against the might of a bus- with its high center of gravity it will just roll over them.

Edited April 16, 20188 yr by Psimbo

7 hours ago, jonstarjon said:

Corruption! Influential people who own land in area of roads that have an acquirable budget need to get a slice of the budget. So diversions that would appear to make no sense are enabled.

... or, as often happens, intransigent people holding out for more cash WON'T sell. There have been numerous cases like this in Phuket, just to name one place.

8 hours ago, stanleycoin said:

Hill looks fine to me.

Problem is Somchai and Noi,  showing each other,  there driving skills.

whilst, Texting, Drinking, Speeding, or any other activity that requires no 

attention to be given,   to driving or riding, whilst on the roads.

Way to go, Boys. 

 

Nice high viz jackets in Photo,  you can put them away now,

all ready for next years photo op 

 

No, they get to keep them.

They will buy new ones next year.

What else is the budget for?

Edited April 16, 20188 yr by JAG

The Thais should be very lucky that they don't got roads like the ones they got in Nepal or parts of northern India. (More than 140,000 people were killed on India's roads last year, according to figures released by the Indian government.)

No, Thailand is not lucky at all in that respect. There are different metrics on accidents, but when you look per capita Thailand can rank #1 as the most dangerous roads in the world. So your chances of dying can be worse than even Nepal and India.