Three more dead at "Bend of 100 Corpses" in NW as bus carrying migrant workers overturns

[webfact]

Picture: Thai Rath

 

Thai Rath reported yet another accident at a blackspot on the Mae Sot to Tak Road in Thailand's north west.

 

This time a bus carrying 46 Myanmar workers bound for Hat Yai in the south overturned at a bend known as "Khong 100 Sop" - the bend of 100 corpses.

 

It happened on a windy and hilly section of a hill called Doi Ruak.

 

The media reported that the bus was driven by a driver without enough experience who failed to use their brakes properly resulting in brake failure coming down the hill.

 

The runaway bus ended up overturned in a roadside ditch after hitting a barrier. 

 

Many of the passengers were trapped in their seats and rescue services needed to cut them and the deceased out.

 

Three died and 44, including the driver, were injured and taken to King Taksin Hospital.

 

Myanmar consulate officials from Mae Sot were scurrying to help their compatriots after a memorandum of understanding was signed to help people in such cases concerning legal workers. 

 

Mae Sot police led by Pol Col Likhitpong Srinarang are investigating this latest tragedy. 

 

-- © Copyright  ASEAN NOW 2022-11-30

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

Monthly car subscription with first-class insurance, 24x7 assistance and more in one price - click here to find out more!

 

Get your business in front of millions of customers who read ASEAN NOW with an interest in Thailand every month - email [email protected] for more information

[bigupandchill]

What is there to investigate? Driver riding the brakes rather than using the gears, overheats and fails causing the accident.

[webfact]

Four killed and dozens injured in bus accident in Tak Province
 

Image Credit: Manager Online

Three migrant workers from Myanmar and a Thai bus driver were killed and about 40 others injured when their bus crashed through a road barrier into a roadside ditch and overturned in the Mueang district of Tak Province on Tuesday night.

 

Pol Col Likhitpong Srinarang, superintendent of Mae Thor police, said that the bus driver might not have been familiar with the road from Mae Sot district to Mueang district because, according to the survivors, he applied the brake frequently as the bus was travelling downhill in Mae Thor sub-district, until he eventually lost control of the vehicle and ploughed through the barrier.

 

EMTs had to use hand tools to extract several Myanmar citizens who were trapped inside the overturned bus.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/four-killed-and-dozens-injured-in-bus-accident-in-tak-province/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-11-30

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

Monthly car subscription with first-class insurance, 24x7 assistance and more in one price - click here to find out more!

[jaiyen]

Do they have such a thing as an HGV licence in Thailand or can anyone drive buses and trucks ?

[cnx101]

26 minutes ago, jaiyen said:

Do they have such a thing as an HGV licence in Thailand or can anyone drive buses and trucks ?

Probably hasn’t got any type of license 

[phitsanulokjohn]

1 hour ago, jaiyen said:

Do they have such a thing as an HGV licence in Thailand or can anyone drive buses and trucks ?

Not sure, but I bet a 12-14 year old has probably driven one.Welcome to the land of anything& everything goes.

[sikishrory]

Bend of 100 people incapable of slowing down and turning?

[Devlin]

5 hours ago, bigupandchill said:

What is there to investigate? Driver riding the brakes rather than using the gears, overheats and fails causing the accident.

In answer to your over simplistic question, for starters how about… road surface suitability for grip & condition, repair records, gradient, safety barriers, signage, lighting, weather conditions? runaway escape lane? CCTV to check other driver involvement? 

[Lucky Bones]

1 hour ago, jaiyen said:

Do they have such a thing as an HGV licence in Thailand or can anyone drive buses and trucks ?

If you can reach the pedals with the seat pulled way forward you are good to go.

[Lucky Bones]

14 minutes ago, phitsanulokjohn said:

Not sure, but I bet a 12-14 year old has probably driven one.Welcome to the land of anything& everything goes.

As Max would have said

"....and loving it."????????

[bradiston]

1 hour ago, jaiyen said:

Do they have such a thing as an HGV licence in Thailand or can anyone drive buses and trucks ?

I believe there is a PSV license for public service vehicles. A lot of Bolt drivers were out of the blue rounded up recently in Pattaya I think for not having one. Do baht bus drivers have to have one? Do they have public liability insurance? Do they have training for the PSV license? Does anybody care?

[worrab]

6 minutes ago, Devlin said:

In answer to your over simplistic question, for starters how about… road surface suitability for grip & condition, repair records, gradient, safety barriers, signage, lighting, weather conditions? runaway escape lane? CCTV to check other driver involvement? 

Might be a simplistic answer but even including your statement, all these things should be taken into consideration. And if he knew the road then why did it runaway. I too suspect that his approach was too fast, had not come down the gearbox and relied on brakes which were going to fade rapidly. Who teaches these drivers and tests their capabilities? If at all!!

[Foghorn]

Myanmar consulate officials from Mae Sot were scurrying to help their compatriots after a memorandum of understanding was signed to help people in such cases concerning legal workers. 

Good to know , I know the uk consulate with do jack siht to help the British people

[Clarkey611]

It is sad that it will soon be the "bend of a thousand corpses"

[Peterphuket]

51 minutes ago, sikishrory said:

Bend of 100 people incapable of slowing down and turning?

the driver was not aware of the name of the bend.....

[kwilco]

Just blaming the driver is ignoring the elephant in the room. Thai roads are so badly designed and maintained they exacerbate any accident into tragediy

 

This is an accident black spot - it doesn't happen because drivers suddenly go crazy there, it is down to the road design.

[Surasak]

2 hours ago, jaiyen said:

Do they have such a thing as an HGV licence in Thailand or can anyone drive buses and trucks ?

A rhetorical question. Its the lack of any driver training AND who would train the drivers? No one here has the experience?

[bfc1980]

1 hour ago, Devlin said:

In answer to your over simplistic question, for starters how about… road surface suitability for grip & condition, repair records, gradient, safety barriers, signage, lighting, weather conditions? runaway escape lane? CCTV to check other driver involvement? 

I drove on that road last week from Bangkok to Mae Sot and the surface is in very good condition. There are regular escape roads/hills. The lighting on the road is pretty bad though. It was a terrifying road to drive in the dark but most other vehicles were sensible in their driving. 

[thailand49]

These vehicle are equipped  with Surprises I can take a pretty good  guess no training not training as to how to test to see if they are working and retaining air prior to operation.

[keithkarmann]

1 hour ago, worrab said:

Might be a simplistic answer but even including your statement, all these things should be taken into consideration. And if he knew the road then why did it runaway. I too suspect that his approach was too fast, had not come down the gearbox and relied on brakes which were going to fade rapidly. Who teaches these drivers and tests their capabilities? If at all!!

Who is experienced and qualified to teach anyone to drive in Thailand?

[HauptmannUK]

That's actually a pretty good stretch of road. Well surfaced, signed and with barriers.  I think the problem is that its a very long, and potentially quite fast, downhill stretch and poorly trained drivers ride the brakes instead of dumping energy through the gears. The brakes overheat and fade and then the driver loses braking...

[Mavideol]

long time we didn't had a brake failure report  555

[PETERTHEEATER]

I should be interested to know how effective the mandatory seat belts installed on the bus were in reducing casualties.......????

[billd766]

2 hours ago, Devlin said:

In answer to your over simplistic question, for starters how about… road surface suitability for grip & condition, repair records, gradient, safety barriers, signage, lighting, weather conditions? runaway escape lane? CCTV to check other driver involvement? 

To answer you, why did no other vehicles have an accident at that spot that particular time and day. There are a very few runaway escape lanes. From the photo it looks like it happened at night on a fairly well lit road. There are unlikely to be any CCTV cameras, the gradients are horrendous but there are "safety" barriers for what they are worth in quite a few places

 

I have driven that road quite a few times before both in a car and on a motorbike before it was improved.

 

On the bike all I could smell for kms was burnt asbestos, burnt rubber from heavy breaking (which makes the road very slippery when it rains) and there is little more terrifying than being tailgated by a 20 wheel truck and trailer, a full sizes bus like the one that crashed or worse still, a minibus.

 

There was no where safe to pull over and let the numpties go past as the traffic stream was more or less continuous.

 

If you really want to know how dangerous the road is, then try driving from Tak to Mae Sot and return. Fortunately for me I don't ever need to use that road again.

[Aussieroaming]

Poor driving would be a more accurate headline.

[ChrisKC]

5 hours ago, jaiyen said:

Do they have such a thing as an HGV licence in Thailand or can anyone drive buses and trucks ?

HGV is for heavy goods vehicles and not what bus drivers need; it is a PSV - "Public (or Passenger) Service Vehicle" licence

[tandor]

10 hours ago, bigupandchill said:

What is there to investigate? Driver riding the brakes rather than using the gears, overheats and fails causing the accident.

really!...unqualified remarks and not even an RIP for those killed.

[RichardColeman]

Commiserations to the relatives of the innocent dead. NO sympathy for the idiot driving.

[tandor]

6 hours ago, jaiyen said:

Do they have such a thing as an HGV licence in Thailand or can anyone drive buses and trucks ?

In this instance, you need a endorsements on your licence to drive different types of passenger vehicles, depending on vehicle carrying capacity.

[kwilco]

6 hours ago, jaiyen said:

Do they have such a thing as an HGV licence in Thailand or can anyone drive buses and trucks ?

there are 4 classes of Goods vehicles . 3 and 4 are full size HGVs. Drivers who want P1-P4 licences must meet the minimum age requirements as well as pass an approved course at the local transport office or approved driving school