Speculate all you want, but you still will have to wait for the Police Report which won't be revealed to AseaNowAndThen, or the Media, but to the Provincial Court who will hand down their finding, after the vehicle has been examined and the scene examined and measured along with any skid marks on the road surface or damage to the road surface, or objects which may have been on, or fallen onto the road. There a thousand variables which have to examined and taken into account before anyone can make a positive finding. The injured driver will be interviewed by the Police along with all available witnesses in due course, and hopefully the Media and Reporters will be ignored. So, when you are reading this and every other article submitted on this site, one should take it with a pinch of salt until fully and properly investigated by those who have the legal qualifications to do so. RIP to those deceased and hope those injured passengers recover quickly. Thank you.

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.

THis is why there needs to be a proper crash report every time - to stop ridiculous prejudiced assumptions that serve no purpose but to delay progress in road safety.... Ultimately it is that attitude that is killing people on Thai roads

R.I.P.

20 hours ago, webfact said:

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.

So not an accident?

Just another inexperienced driver hired to ferry the public around the country.

Sack the transport minister and hire someone who cares.

 

14 hours ago, kwilco said:

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

It's a bend in a mountain road no doubt with a considerable gradient..

Drivers should drive accordingly, the road is not at fault.

10 hours ago, tandor said:

Speculate all you want, but you still will have to wait for the Police Report which won't be revealed to AseaNowAndThen, or the Media, but to the Provincial Court who will hand down their finding, after the vehicle has been examined and the scene examined and measured along with any skid marks on the road surface or damage to the road surface, or objects which may have been on, or fallen onto the road. There a thousand variables which have to examined and taken into account before anyone can make a positive finding. The injured driver will be interviewed by the Police along with all available witnesses in due course, and hopefully the Media and Reporters will be ignored. So, when you are reading this and every other article submitted on this site, one should take it with a pinch of salt until fully and properly investigated by those who have the legal qualifications to do so. RIP to those deceased and hope those injured passengers recover quickly. Thank you.

tl;dr use paragraphs next time please ser

These yellow buses are well beyond use by date.

The maintenance process is about on par with the drivers skills. 

Many countries require a PSV (public service vehicle) licence to drive and operate. 

 

But hey.. TIT.

19 hours ago, jaiyen said:

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

Err. Well...

Yes /No.

Regulations exist.

But pretty sure that the main qualification is not been to prison for tgree years ..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_licence_in_Thailand#Types_of_Driving_Licence?wprov=sfla1

 

Some dont even have a regular licence. 

 

Police forensics will reveal that the brakes didnt function. 

The driver inexperienced..

 

At least he didn't do a runner.

(Probably couldn't)

 

I've been an automotive engineer a long time. 

Worked and lived many continents. 

 

Sadly the folding money removes a lot of regulations here.

23 hours ago, bigupandchill said:

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

These things have an exhaust brake or engine retarder..

The best brake on any vehicle is the engine. 

7 hours ago, hotchilli said:

It's a bend in a mountain road no doubt with a considerable gradient..

Drivers should drive accordingly, the road is not at fault.

You know this bend?  

1 hour ago, kwilco said:

You know this bend?  

Personally no, I don't know this bend...

But I have driven on all kinds of roads in many countries on all surfaces, gradients and conditions... for over 50 years.

I've Never gone in a ditch once.

Like I said, you drive to the conditions, not rely on luck.

11 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Personally no, I don't know this bend...

But I have driven on all kinds of roads in many countries on all surfaces, gradients and conditions... for over 50 years.

I've Never gone in a ditch once.

Like I said, you drive to the conditions, not rely on luck.

your posts are a joke! - What on earth have your comments got to do with this accident? - I do know the road and have much more relevant experience than you but I use reason and evidence for my comments not some weird belief that being an "automotive engineer " helps in anyway - your observations are  pure prejudice and nonsense.

8 hours ago, dallen52 said:

These things have an exhaust brake or engine retarder..

The best brake on any vehicle is the engine. 

I reckon that this bus is too old to have such a function. It seems that exhaust brakes are an unknown quantity over here and I have only ever heard one operating on a hill in the 7 years I have been here. 

Being a retired HGV driver, I cannot understand why retarders and the like are not more common. Maybe they are fitted but nobody has shown drivers how to use them??? They make a heck of a difference when used correctly on your braking. 44 tonnes down from Tunnel de Frejus into Italy on a winding mountain road on an exhaust brake is an absolute must otherwise brake fade and worse will occur.  

14 hours ago, kwilco said:

your posts are a joke! - What on earth have your comments got to do with this accident? - I do know the road and have much more relevant experience than you but I use reason and evidence for my comments not some weird belief that being an "automotive engineer " helps in anyway - your observations are  pure prejudice and nonsense.

I bow to your seniority and intelligence... please feel free to skip my posts in the future if you don't like my content

It's a free world and I'll post what I like.

I didn't say I was an "automotive engineer" not sure where you imagined that from?

I said I was a lifelong driver... without accidents.

On 11/30/2022 at 7:00 PM, 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? 

Wouldn't make one bit of difference to a useless inexperienced driver. 

Experienced drivers drive to the prevailing conditions. 

On 12/1/2022 at 2:22 AM, dallen52 said:

Err. Well...

Yes /No.

Regulations exist.

But pretty sure that the main qualification is not been to prison for tgree years ..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_licence_in_Thailand#Types_of_Driving_Licence?wprov=sfla1

 

Some dont even have a regular licence. 

 

Police forensics will reveal that the brakes didnt function. 

The driver inexperienced..

 

At least he didn't do a runner.

(Probably couldn't)

 

I've been an automotive engineer a long time. 

Worked and lived many continents. 

 

Sadly the folding money removes a lot of regulations here.

...and as an automotive engineer apparently totally unqualified to comment on this topic. Are you even an automotive "engineer"?

19 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Personally no, I don't know this bend...

But I have driven on all kinds of roads in many countries on all surfaces, gradients and conditions... for over 50 years.

I've Never gone in a ditch once.

Like I said, you drive to the conditions, not rely on luck.

Go to Google Earth pro, search for Mae Sot, then follow the route 12 to Tak and drag the little street view man onto the route 12.

 

That will show you the road in daylight and you can track it back to the Tak/Kamphaeng Phet junction at the route 1 and you will se what a scary road it is.

On 11/30/2022 at 8:11 PM, tandor said:

The injured driver will be interviewed by the Police ..............

In the initial OP, the driver was injured. Later on he was one of the dead.

Soon to be renamed  "Bend of 200 corpses" ....... it's in the name

to be careful on that bend ....but ...

 

regards worgeordie

Nice to know the bus drivers are trained well in the LOS

On 12/2/2022 at 3:02 PM, billd766 said:

Go to Google Earth pro, search for Mae Sot, then follow the route 12 to Tak and drag the little street view man onto the route 12.

 

That will show you the road in daylight and you can track it back to the Tak/Kamphaeng Phet junction at the route 1 and you will se what a scary road it is.

Try 1095 for a scary drive. 

1 hour ago, Artisi said:

Try 1095 for a scary drive. 

No thank you. The route 12 was bad enough.

 

I gave up biking about 3 years ago when I realised that if I dropped my Honda Phantom I could never pick it up on my own. I also realised that if I was underneath it I was buggered unless someone came to help me.