TWO INDIAN tourists died and four others plus the driver got injured while travelling from southern Hat Yai city to Bangkok after their van slammed into a 10-wheel truck in Chumphon province, Siam Rath newspaper said this morning (Dec. 9).

 

At  1 a.m. Pol. Capt. Theeraporn Kongnuan, deputy inspector at Thasae police station in Chumphon, was alerted of this accident at Kuan Sai U-turn point on Phetkasem road at Thasae district, and quickly rushed there.

 

Upon arriving he saw the 10-wheel truck parked at the U-turn lane with the left side hit and slightly damaged and the driver waiting for officials to arrive.

 

by TNR Staff

Top: Scenes from the accident that occurred soon after midnight last night, Dec. 9, 2023. Photos: Siam Rath

 

Full story: THAI NEWSROOM 2023-12-11

 

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when is a bus not a bus - when it's a van

 

how many accidents happen at u-turns on Thai roads ?

 

RIP to these victims

From the link:

When the vehicle reached the accident point, which is an uphill stretch of the four-lane Phetkasem road and where the U-turn point is located, the truck was about to make a U-turn when the van travelling behind slammed into it.

 

What I don't understand is the truck was damaged on the left-hand-side while attempting to turn ?

U-turns are usually turning right?

Both vehicles were said to be travelling in the same direction?

 

So, I guess the TAT response will be promoting an Indian tourist buy 3 hotel weeks get one week free later this month.

14 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

From the link:

When the vehicle reached the accident point, which is an uphill stretch of the four-lane Phetkasem road and where the U-turn point is located, the truck was about to make a U-turn when the van travelling behind slammed into it.

 

What I don't understand is the truck was damaged on the left-hand-side while attempting to turn ?

U-turns are usually turning right?

Both vehicles were said to be travelling in the same direction?

 

U turns usually right except when their left! 

26 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

From the link:

When the vehicle reached the accident point, which is an uphill stretch of the four-lane Phetkasem road and where the U-turn point is located, the truck was about to make a U-turn when the van travelling behind slammed into it.

 

What I don't understand is the truck was damaged on the left-hand-side while attempting to turn ?

U-turns are usually turning right?

Both vehicles were said to be travelling in the same direction?

 

Possibly, only possibly mind you, perhaps the truck moved out to the left to begin the turn right, which many of them do. Why, I even see cars do that, the ones whose drivers think they're driving a 16 wheeler.

5 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

Possibly, only possibly mind you, perhaps the truck moved out to the left to begin the turn right, which many of them do. Why, I even see cars do that, the ones whose drivers think they're driving a 16 wheeler.

At that location the Phetkassem road is 4-lanes wide...  you'd think they could have missed each other.

Cops called at 1:00AM.

 

The company I worked for in Thailand had a policy against road travel at night on company business.  Smart policy in my opinion.

 

I wonder if the truck's rear/brake/turn lights were working.  I've experienced too many where I didn't even see them until I was right up on them, because they had no rear lights.  So in my personal travels, I tried to avoid driving after dark.  It's scary...

 

After midnight, maybe the minivan driver simply fell asleep.

Just too, too many accidents in Thailand. Not a week passes that you don't read some scary stuff. 

Yes, night driving should be a no-no.

I do a lot of driving here but always check into a hotel near the highway before dark. 

27 minutes ago, captpkapoor said:

Just too, too many accidents in Thailand. Not a week passes that you don't read some scary stuff. 

Yes, night driving should be a no-no.

I do a lot of driving here but always check into a hotel near the highway before dark. 

 

Perfectly sensible... 

 

Whenever we go anywhere, I'm the one driving (unless hungover) and when travelling on interprovincial highways we only do so at night. 

The one time that wasn't possible was a harrowing experience as it was so dark and we had to drive a safe speed (in the pitch black) and vehicles were screaming past.... there was no way they could see the road ahead within visible stopping distance - that was well over 10 years ago and we haven't driven a highway at night since. 

 

In this case, the tourists had little choice but to take 3rd party transport (the van) but they were in control of the time they took said transport.

 

For anyone reading - do not take highways at night. As others have pointed out, lighting on trucks etc can be extremely poor.