Chumphon Tour Bus Crash Leaves Two Dead, Many Injured

[webfact]

 

A tour bus and a truck carrying rubber wood logs collided yesterday, resulting in two fatalities and multiple injuries. The collision took place in Chumphon province, causing significant disruption and distress.

 

Police Lieutenant Colonel Somboon Phumkajorn of Tha Sae Police Station reported the incident happened at 10.30 pm. The tour bus, operated by Sombat Tour travelling from Bangkok to Ranong, collided with a Hino truck at a U-turn on Phetkasem Road, near the Khao Phang Highway Police Station in Tha Kham subdistrict, Tha Sae district, Chumphon province.

 

Emergency services from Chumphon Khet Udomsak Hospital, Tha Sae Hospital, Thonburi-Chumphon Hospital, and rescue units from Chumphon Charitable Foundation rushed to the bus crash. The bus had 28 people on board, including 24 passengers, two drivers, and two hostesses. The front of the bus was destroyed, with debris and rubber wood logs scattered across the road.

 

The bus driver, identified as Thanakorn Uang-ngan, was found deceased at the wheel, crushed during the impact. A female bus hostess, seated near the front, also succumbed to her injuries. Rescue workers used hydraulic cutters to extract the bodies from the wreckage.

 

Further investigation revealed two Isuzu D-Max pick-up trucks were involved in the aftermath of the collision. The first, driven by 45-year-old Sornchat Setthaphakinkin, a resident of Nakatam subdistrict, Chumphon, collided with the rear of the tour bus after the crash.

 

The second, another Isuzu D-Max, was unable to brake in time and crashed into the first pick-up truck. The drivers of both pick-up trucks were unharmed.

 

The 42-year-old truck driver, Manoch Noijiew, transporting the rubber wood logs from Pakchan subdistrict, Kra Buri district, Ranong to Trang province, stated he had signalled properly before making the U-turn to refuel.

 

“I had given all the necessary signals but as I was making the U-turn, I heard a loud crash.”

 

Sornchat, the driver of the first pick-up truck, explained he was travelling in the left lane at a normal speed of approximately 80 kilometres per hour.

 

“The accident happened very quickly. The bus collided with the truck, and the next thing I knew, there was a wheel blocking my path.”

 

Police are currently gathering witness statements and physical evidence from the scene to determine the exact cause of the bus crash. The exact number of injured individuals is still being verified, with many having been transported to nearby hospitals for treatment.

 

Picture courtesy: Siam News

 

-- 2024-06-17

 

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[lom]

19 minutes ago, webfact said:

I had given all the necessary signals

Flashed his hi-beam, aka "give way, here I come"

[Gottfrid]

21 minutes ago, webfact said:

I had given all the necessary signals but as I was making the U-turn, I heard a loud crash.

Yeah, probably same as other truck drivers. They honk the horn and flash their light, but never look or break. They believe signals make them the king of the road and everyone jump away.

[Ralf001]

Bus built with bondo !

 

[Georgealbert]

41 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Bus built with bondo !

 

The front of the bus crumpled under the impact, don't think the driver stood a chance with that amount of damage.a few additional images.

 

[Bangkok Barry]

 One - it isn't a tour bus, From the photo, it's a regular bus service

Two - someone wasn't paying attention and was going too fast to avoid a collision. Perfectly normal here.

[hotchilli]

23 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 One - it isn't a tour bus, From the photo, it's a regular bus service

Two - someone wasn't paying attention and was going too fast to avoid a collision. Perfectly normal here.

Seems the bus hit the back of the truck... nuff said.

[Burma Bill]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

A tour bus

 

Please excuse my ignorance, but why are these "service buses" referred to as "tour buses"?

This one was a regular interprovincial bus from Bangkok to Ranong (see photo above)

[Tubulat]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

Seems the bus hit the back of the truck... nuff said.

Yes, so It seems the truck filled with logs had almost completed the u-turn.

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 One - it isn't a tour bus, From the photo, it's a regular bus service

Two - someone wasn't paying attention and was going too fast to avoid a collision. Perfectly normal here.

One - that's irrelevant to the circumstances.

.

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

someone wasn't paying attention and was going too fast to avoid a collision. Perfectly normal here.

Seems the bus hit the back of the truck... nuff said.

...seems that the bus hit the truck that U-turned in front of it.

[Liverpool Lou]

47 minutes ago, Burma Bill said:

 

Please excuse my ignorance, but why are these "service buses" referred to as "tour buses"?

This one was a regular interprovincial bus from Bangkok to Ranong (see photo above)

What difference does it make?  Why was the other vehicle described as a truck, not a lorry?

[Liverpool Lou]

14 minutes ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

27 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

One - that's irrelevant to the circumstances.

.

do tell us all what is relevant since you seem to know it all.....oh great one.....enlighten us common people

Work it out for yourself but the description of the type of bus involved is irrelevant to the accident.

[Srikcir]

1 hour ago, Tubulat said:

Yes, so It seems the truck filled with logs had almost completed the u-turn.

A single lane uncontrolled U-turn is inappropriate for a logging truck or any more than two axle vehicles. If a U-turn is allowed for big wheelers it should have a two lane median and the exit lane into the U-turn should have warning lights. But Thailand seems to value highway costs over the dead and injured.

[Tubulat]

1 minute ago, Srikcir said:

A single lane uncontrolled U-turn is inappropriate for a logging truck or any more than two axle vehicles. If a U-turn is allowed for big wheelers it should have a two lane median and the exit lane into the U-turn should have warning lights. But Thailand seems to value highway costs over the dead and injured.

It is the Petkasemroad to the south, most of the traject is 2 times 2 or 3 lanes.

[hotchilli]

2 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

...seems that the bus hit the truck that U-turned in front of it.

Well the driver won't be making that mistake again.

[Tropicalevo]

1 hour ago, Srikcir said:

A single lane uncontrolled U-turn is inappropriate for a logging truck or any more than two axle vehicles. If a U-turn is allowed for big wheelers it should have a two lane median and the exit lane into the U-turn should have warning lights. But Thailand seems to value highway costs over the dead and injured.

That's a tad unfair.

Thailand has no control over when or where someone decides to make a U turn .

[Gandtee]

Most long vehicles here do not have side lighting. So when they are sideways on to oncoming traffic such as at U Turns they are unlit. I nearly ran into one that came out of a side turning on an unlit stretch of road. 

[Srikcir]

6 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

That's a tad unfair.

Thailand has no control over when or where someone decides to make a U turn .

There are numerous deliberate highway U-Turns in Thailand and have been the scene of many collisions. No reason to believe the instant case that it doesn't involve a physical highway U-Turn versus a random unplanned U-Turn where none physically exists. 

[In the jungle]

1 hour ago, Tubulat said:

It is the Petkasemroad to the south, most of the traject is 2 times 2 or 3 lanes.

 

It is two lanes each direction where this crash happened.

[ChrisY1]

2 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

What difference does it make?  Why was the other vehicle described as a truck, not a lorry?

A lorry?.....Can't the Brits leave some of their sayings at home.....it's truck everywhere in the world...except Britain!

[gregk0543]

8 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 One - it isn't a tour bus, From the photo, it's a regular bus service

Two - someone wasn't paying attention and was going too fast to avoid a collision. Perfectly normal here.

 

It has Tour written on the front window. Sombat Tour to be exact. Why wouldnt you think it is not a tour bus? In Thailand these are all called Tour buses.

[still kicking]

11 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

Yeah, probably same as other truck drivers. They honk the horn and flash their light, but never look or break. They believe signals make them the king of the road and everyone jump away.

I see crashes in my country as well but maybe ones in a blue moon but in Thailand is a daily story.

[JeffersLos]

12 hours ago, webfact said:

rubber wood logs scattered across the road.

 

At least they didn't need to worry about it rolling away. 

[bkk6060]

What a terrible way to die.

[AustinRacing]

10 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 One - it isn't a tour bus, From the photo, it's a regular bus service

Two - someone wasn't paying attention and was going too fast to avoid a collision. Perfectly normal here.

They are referred to as tour buses. I’m on one from bkk to Sakhon right now!  Hope I won’t be on the news. 

[Bangkok Barry]

8 hours ago, gregk0543 said:

 

It has Tour written on the front window. Sombat Tour to be exact. Why wouldnt you think it is not a tour bus? In Thailand these are all called Tour buses.

 

Why? Because for some reason most regular bus services are called tour buses. It's another example of Thais using English words that they don't understand. The bus in the photo is a regular service that goes from A to B, unless it was hired in this case to be a tour bus. Which I doubt is the case. It doesn't 'tour'.

Putting Tour Bus on the front doesn't make it a tour bus, in the same way that putting VIP on the front doesn't mean it is for VIPs. VIPs do not take the bus.

[Bangkok Barry]

6 hours ago, AustinRacing said:

They are referred to as tour buses. I’m on one from bkk to Sakhon right now!  Hope I won’t be on the news. 

 

They might be referred to as tour buses, but they are not on tour. See my post above. Stay safe.

[Lazybones]

18 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 One - it isn't a tour bus, From the photo, it's a regular bus service

Two - someone wasn't paying attention and was going too fast to avoid a collision. Perfectly normal here.

The call regular bus services tour buses in Thailand. 

[Bangkok Barry]

3 minutes ago, Lazybones said:

The call regular bus services tour buses in Thailand. 

 

It doesn't matter what they call them. They do not tour, they go from A to B. Do Americans call buses that go from, say, New York to Boston a tour bus, or in the UK from London to Glasgow a tour bus? Are  VIP buses in Thailand for VIPs? English words in Thailand mean nothing. I stayed in a hotel called * Suites in Bangkok and it had normal rooms. The manager told me that suites was just a name.