Four dead as pick-up slams into power pole in Chanthaburi - family on way home from seaside trip

[webfact]

Picture: Thai Rath

 

A seaside family trip to the sea ended in tragedy yesterday when a pick-up slammed into a roadside tree in Makham district of Chanthaburi in eastern Thailand.

 

Rescue services attended the scene on Route 319 by the entry to Wat Chaman.

 

Thai Rath said that initially there were 7 injuries with four trapped and unconscious in the main cab of the pick-up.

 

Four were pronounced dead at Makham Hospital - two women and two children, a boy and a girl. 

 

They were on their way home to Doi Dao district after a Songkran trip to the coast. 

 

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[Tropicalevo]

So very sad. RIP.

[Excel]

So was it a tree they hit as the report states or a power pole as the headlines ? The picture show a power pole. Never the less its a shame Thais never learn and allow passengers to travel in vehicles not designed for the numbers of passengers.

[Will B Good]

Wife was dropped off last night after a songkran party in the village........the back of the truck had seven or eight teenagers in it, all well oiled,......and I imagine the driver was probably in no fit state ........they just don't care/don't think.

 

 

[Excel]

1 minute ago, Will B Good said:

Wife was dropped off last night after a songkran party in the village........the back of the truck had seven or eight teenagers in it, all well oiled,......and I imagine the driver was probably in no fit state ........they just don't care/don't think.

 

 

You can't cure stupidity

[tomyami]

RIP, In broad day light would love to know what level of competence was at the wheel you have to go off the road to hit it.

These types of crashes when happen in my country are usually late night single occupancy suicides.

[Will B Good]

1 minute ago, Excel said:

You can't cure stupidity

What annoys me intensely is that they don't modify their driving with the kids in the back, but actually drive more recklessly......arrggghhh.

[Excel]

4 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

What annoys me intensely is that they don't modify their driving with the kids in the back, but actually drive more recklessly......arrggghhh.

I didn't think it possible for the Thai male pick-up driver to drive more recklessly then they do already.

[Will B Good]

4 minutes ago, Excel said:

I didn't think it possible for the Thai male pick-up driver to drive more recklessly then they do already.

Tootling around Isan it seems they only have access to cars geared with two options...... extremely slow or extremely fast.......there's never anything in between that passes for ordinary driving.

[CharlieH]

Reported troll posts and responses to them removed.

[RocketDog]

7 hours ago, Will B Good said:

Wife was dropped off last night after a songkran party in the village........the back of the truck had seven or eight teenagers in it, all well oiled,......and I imagine the driver was probably in no fit state ........they just don't care/don't think.

 

 

Good thing none of them tried to relieve themselves over the edge of the truck.

Actually they probably did but just got lucky.

 

You got close : they don't care to think or think to care.

Edited April 16, 2022 by RocketDog

[Phuket Stan]

I read an article a few months ago that 70% of accidents in Thailand involved a pickup....Does anyone know if this is true.....The driving habits of some of the drivers are deplorable......"Hey Look at Me.....I have a pickup with lots of Power " attitude....I call it the small penis syndrome

[richard_smith237]

47 minutes ago, Phuket Stan said:

I read an article a few months ago that 70% of accidents in Thailand involved a pickup....Does anyone know if this is true.....The driving habits of some of the drivers are deplorable......"Hey Look at Me.....I have a pickup with lots of Power " attitude....I call it the small penis syndrome

If discounting motorcycles....  and counting vehicles with 4 wheels or more, I would believe that 70% of the accidents involve pick-ups for a number of reasons (which people may or may not like or agree with).... 

- More pickups outside of the city

- Pickups less stable at cruising speed

- More cars in the city - slower speeds = less cars in accidents

- More pickups outside of the city = more pickups going faster, more accidents

- Darker roads outside of the city = more pickups in night time accidents

- More educated people in cities than countryside = more poorly educated people in pickups

- Further to drive to bars etc in country = more people drink driving for further distances in pickups

 

Like it or not... the ‘assumption’ (because thats all it really is) - is that there are more pickups driving faster in the countryside by people who are less educated than those driving cars in the city, by people who have further to drive, roads are darker at night, they drive further while drunk etc  and they are driving cars which are inherently less stable than cars at speed and on wet roads.

 

Some, all or a combination of individual facets of the above may lend to the theory that more pickups are involved in accidents than in cars. 

 

-------

 

When driving a car & riding a motorcycle, only in the day time, carefully, never speeding, never drunk, never jumping lights or overtaking dangerously etc... vastly reduces (but never removes) our risk of being involved in an accident compared to what the national road stats may suggest. 

 

My Wife has had quite a few accidents in the past...  And far fewer since we have been married. 

She now doesn’t use her phone while driving, doesn’t drive while drunk - its incredible the difference those two things have made to her ‘accident stats’ (from something in the region of an accident per year, to none in 10 years !).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 16, 2022 by richard_smith237

[keithkarmann]

1 hour ago, Phuket Stan said:

I read an article a few months ago that 70% of accidents in Thailand involved a pickup....Does anyone know if this is true.....The driving habits of some of the drivers are deplorable......"Hey Look at Me.....I have a pickup with lots of Power " attitude....I call it the small penis syndrome

I call it the lack of quality brain cells syndrome.

[spidermike007]

Not to sound insensitive, as this was quite tragic. But, there are only a few ways that a vehicle ends up wrapped around either a pole or a tree, both of which are very unforgiving. 

 

1. The driver was simply not paying attention to the task at hand. 

 

2. Bad weather conditions. Regardless, vigilance must be maintained in proportion to your speed and the road conditions. 

 

3. Excessive speed, reckless driving, poor driving skills, or drunk driving. 

 

There is always the chance of a front tire blowout, or a mechanical failure. But, those are more remote. 

[richard_smith237]

4 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Not to sound insensitive, as this was quite tragic. But, there are only a few ways that a vehicle ends up wrapped around either a pole or a tree, both of which are very unforgiving. 

 

1. The driver was simply not paying attention to the task at hand. 

 

2. Bad weather conditions. Regardless, vigilance must be maintained in proportion to your speed and the road conditions. 

 

3. Excessive speed, reckless driving, poor driving skills, or drunk driving. 

 

There is always the chance of a front tire blowout, or a mechanical failure. But, those are more remote. 

Unfortunately, in Thailand (and some other countries), there is a #4.... 

 

4. Swerving to avoid the car coming towards you on the wrong side of the road (while its over taking).

[Stargeezr]

webfact says it was a tree, but it looks like a very cement power pole to me.

  Tragic way to end the holiday though, RIP to the deceased.

 

[it is what it is]

8 hours ago, Phuket Stan said:

I read an article a few months ago that 70% of accidents in Thailand involved a pickup....Does anyone know if this is true.....The driving habits of some of the drivers are deplorable......"Hey Look at Me.....I have a pickup with lots of Power " attitude....I call it the small penis syndrome

 

i read somewhere that after the usa thailand has the largest ownership of pick ups, not sure why they are so popular, few people actually need a pick up. anyway, i digress, if a large percentage of  drivers own pick ups then is follows a large number may well be involved in accidents,

[hotchilli]

20 hours ago, webfact said:

Four were pronounced dead at Makham Hospital - two women and two children, a boy and a girl. 

Forget the photos for a lasting memory of a day at the beach.

[peter zwart]

21 hours ago, Will B Good said:

Wife was dropped off last night after a songkran party in the village........the back of the truck had seven or eight teenagers in it, all well oiled,......and I imagine the driver was probably in no fit state ........they just don't care/don't think.

 

 

Without knowing the exact cause, it seems that it was again a lack of responsibility.
 

[peter zwart]

11 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

If discounting motorcycles....  and counting vehicles with 4 wheels or more, I would believe that 70% of the accidents involve pick-ups for a number of reasons (which people may or may not like or agree with).... 

- More pickups outside of the city

- Pickups less stable at cruising speed

- More cars in the city - slower speeds = less cars in accidents

- More pickups outside of the city = more pickups going faster, more accidents

- Darker roads outside of the city = more pickups in night time accidents

- More educated people in cities than countryside = more poorly educated people in pickups

- Further to drive to bars etc in country = more people drink driving for further distances in pickups

 

Like it or not... the ‘assumption’ (because thats all it really is) - is that there are more pickups driving faster in the countryside by people who are less educated than those driving cars in the city, by people who have further to drive, roads are darker at night, they drive further while drunk etc  and they are driving cars which are inherently less stable than cars at speed and on wet roads.

 

Some, all or a combination of individual facets of the above may lend to the theory that more pickups are involved in accidents than in cars. 

 

-------

 

When driving a car & riding a motorcycle, only in the day time, carefully, never speeding, never drunk, never jumping lights or overtaking dangerously etc... vastly reduces (but never removes) our risk of being involved in an accident compared to what the national road stats may suggest. 

 

My Wife has had quite a few accidents in the past...  And far fewer since we have been married. 

She now doesn’t use her phone while driving, doesn’t drive while drunk - its incredible the difference those two things have made to her ‘accident stats’ (from something in the region of an accident per year, to none in 10 years !).

 

 

 

 

 

 

I call it the small penis syndrome..........100% spot on

[2009]

It is an absolute circus.

[pokerface1]

8 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Not to sound insensitive, as this was quite tragic. But, there are only a few ways that a vehicle ends up wrapped around either a pole or a tree, both of which are very unforgiving. 

 

1. The driver was simply not paying attention to the task at hand. 

 

2. Bad weather conditions. Regardless, vigilance must be maintained in proportion to your speed and the road conditions. 

 

3. Excessive speed, reckless driving, poor driving skills, or drunk driving. 

 

There is always the chance of a front tire blowout, or a mechanical failure. But, those are more remote. 

A few of the above could be remedied by knowing

How do I regain control in my car?

 

To regain control of your car, do the following:

Shift gear to neutral: Even if you've lost control of the car, power is still being sent to the wheels. ...

Steer the way you skid: This essentially means that you should try to steer your car in the direction the back of your car is going to.

In fact the above skill should be  practiced and incorporated into license testing 

When your life is on the line you'll wish you knew how to save it.

[Will B Good]

1 minute ago, pokerface1 said:

A few of the above could be remedied by knowing

How do I regain control in my car?

 

To regain control of your car, do the following:

Shift gear to neutral: Even if you've lost control of the car, power is still being sent to the wheels. ...

Steer the way you skid: This essentially means that you should try to steer your car in the direction the back of your car is going to.

In fact the above skill should be  practiced and incorporated into license testing 

When your life is on the line you'll wish you knew how to save it.

All totally superfluous if you have an amulet of course. 

[spidermike007]

5 minutes ago, pokerface1 said:

A few of the above could be remedied by knowing

How do I regain control in my car?

 

To regain control of your car, do the following:

Shift gear to neutral: Even if you've lost control of the car, power is still being sent to the wheels. ...

Steer the way you skid: This essentially means that you should try to steer your car in the direction the back of your car is going to.

In fact the above skill should be  practiced and incorporated into license testing 

When your life is on the line you'll wish you knew how to save it.

You are talking about skill, knowledge, smarts and being prepared. None of which this simpleton was or is. 

[Road Warrior]

what a waste of life's - driving standards unbelievable . cant be brake failure .or just speeding as they all seem to do !

[brianthainess]

2 hours ago, pokerface1 said:

Shift gear to neutral:

About the worst thing you could do. Who ever taught you that ? Change down to 1st and use power to steer out of it.

Edited April 17, 2022 by brianthainess

[KhunBENQ]

16 hours ago, Phuket Stan said:

read an article a few months ago that 70% of accidents in Thailand involved a pickup

I bet that in the village more than 70% of four wheelers are so called pickups.

So called because the majority of them is not used for work/business but for person transport.

All thanks to the stupid tax/subsidy policy.

Most metal for the money. Clog narrow city roads with the oversized vehicles. Drivers fighting to maneuver them.

Buying with the least possible security features making them more risky on wet roads etc 

Edited April 17, 2022 by KhunBENQ

[pokerface1]

6 hours ago, brianthainess said:

About the worst thing you could do. Who ever taught you that ? Change down to 1st and use power to steer out of it.

oh yes I've tried that technique as well but prefer not to blow up the gear box again lol 

[JeffersLos]

On 4/16/2022 at 8:11 AM, webfact said:

two women and two children, a boy and a girl. 

The 2 women were wearing seatbelts and the 2 children were properly secured in kids seats?