Chinese Tourist Dies After Falling From Songthaew In Pattaya

[webfact]

The songthaew passenger vehicle from which the Chinese tourist fell. Photo Amarin TV

 

A CHINESE man holidaying in Pattaya who fell from a songthaew passenger vehicle early this morning (July 22) later died from his injuries after being rushed to a hospital, TV Channel 7 and Amarin TV said.

 

The tourist, identified as Mr. Chi Fai Lam, 48, was seriously injured after falling from the songthaew on Pattaya Sai Song road at around 8.30 a.m. with the driver not stopping to help him.

 

Ms. Sri Phai Panthongdi, 56, a motorcycle taxi rider who was waiting for a passenger at a nearby stand, said someone called out that a tourist was lying injured on the road after falling from the public vehicle with the driver zooming off without helping him so she quickly called the authorities to come and help and investigate.

 

by TNR Staff

 

Full story: THAI NEWSROOM 2024-07-23

 

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

 

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[scubascuba3]

I wonder if the Chinese man and driver had an altercation, usually driver accelerates slowly away when someone gets on

Edited July 22 by scubascuba3

[Georgealbert]

This Thai language news report contains the CCTV of the moment he fell from the bus.

 

https://www.77kaoded.com/news/sangk/2584515

[bkk6060]

From my experience they have little if no shock absorbers.  If a person has a bad back I do not recommend it with all the road construction not safe.

If someone thinks standing on the back of it holding onto the rail is cool, good luck.  One big bounce and you will be laying on the road.

[VBF]

6 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

From my experience they have little if no shock absorbers.  If a person has a bad back I do not recommend it with all the road construction not safe.

If someone thinks standing on the back of it holding onto the rail is cool, good luck.  One big bounce and you will be laying on the road.

Whenever I see people standing on the back step and hanging on  to a songthaew (Baht bus) I wonder about some idiot driver hitting the BB from behind.

I used to hang on the back of these - now i wait for the next one 'cos i'm not usually in a hurry either to get on my journey or to die!

[jacko45k]

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

I wonder if the Chinese man and driver had an altercation, usually driver accelerates slowly away when someone gets on

Suspicious that he seemed to leave the scene quickly.......link suggests the guy was trying to get off at the time.....you would expect the driver to be stopped waiting to be paid. 

Edited July 22 by jacko45k

[RichardColeman]

Boy, this is going to cost the TAT a lot in chinese leaflets and promotions

[redwood1]

1 hour ago, Georgealbert said:

This Thai language news report contains the CCTV of the moment he fell from the bus.

 

https://www.77kaoded.com/news/sangk/2584515

 

This video is not working for me......What did the video show?

[redwood1]

42 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Suspicious that he seemed to leave the scene quickly.......link suggests the guy was trying to get off at the time.....you would expect the driver to be stopped waiting to be paid. 

 

So was the baht bus moving and he fell or did he fall as he was getting off?

[redwood1]

99.99999999%  of people do not fall of baht buses.........But I am sure some dim bulb will say baht buses should have seat belts now...

Edited July 23 by redwood1

[redwood1]

Or officials will say baht buses should be banned......I have never seen a single person fall off in the last 20 years.....I always ride standing up.... 

[roo860]

15 minutes ago, redwood1 said:

 

So was the baht bus moving and he fell or did he fall as he was getting off?

Baht bus slowed down, he fell whilst getting off.

[redwood1]

4 minutes ago, roo860 said:

Baht bus slowed down, he fell whilst getting off.

 

So he did not wait for the baht bus to fully stop before stepping off?

[ricklev]

I am not at all saying it happened here, but I have had a baht bus driver deliberately try to make me fall while I was getting on the truck.  It was pretty clear that it was intentional in the way he jerked forward and then braked the truck.  He almost succeeded.  I had had no interaction with him prior to that.  I assumed it was due to him being in some kind angry mental state and did not make an issue of it and walked away.  The memory has stuck with me for many years though.  

[roo860]

1 minute ago, redwood1 said:

 

So he did not wait for the baht bus to fully stop before stepping off?

Correct 

[redwood1]

This link has the video....But its still not 100% clear whats going on......It kind of looked like he might have thought the baht bus was stopping so he stepped off without really looking if the baht bus had stopped..

 

The baht bus driver did nothing crazy...

 

 

https://news.ch7.com/detail/741860

Edited July 23 by redwood1

[jacko45k]

50 minutes ago, redwood1 said:

 

So was the baht bus moving and he fell or did he fall as he was getting off?

I read what was available here and the link and if he had just got off the driver would usually wait for the money... unless he paid from his seat through the little window. 

[brianthainess]

4 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

I wonder if the Chinese man and driver had an altercation, usually driver accelerates slowly away when someone gets on

If you read the full story he was getting OFF.

[brianthainess]

4 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

This Thai language news report contains the CCTV of the moment he fell from the bus.

 

https://www.77kaoded.com/news/sangk/2584515

As said in the full story it looks like he tried to get off the moving taxi, he puts a foot down first. 

[Srikcir]

"Police said a surveillance camera clip shows that the tourist did fall backwards with his head  hitting the road while apparently trying to get off the vehicle."

Driver not at fault. The event was an Accident.

[brianthainess]

2 hours ago, roo860 said:

Baht bus slowed down, he fell whilst getting off.

Didn't look like it slowed down to me, looks like the poor fool stepped off a moving taxi.

[brianthainess]

4 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

"Police said a surveillance camera clip shows that the tourist did fall backwards with his head  hitting the road while apparently trying to get off the vehicle."

Driver not at fault. The event was an Accident.

I wouldn't call trying to get off a moving taxi an accident, it's just stupidity. 

[brianthainess]

1 hour ago, jacko45k said:

I read what was available here and the link and if he had just got off the driver would usually wait for the money... unless he paid from his seat through the little window. 

Or he thought he could get off without paying, ............. Chinese just saying.

[brianthainess]

2 hours ago, redwood1 said:

This link has the video....But its still not 100% clear whats going on......It kind of looked like he might have thought the baht bus was stopping so he stepped off without really looking if the baht bus had stopped..

 

The baht bus driver did nothing crazy...

 

 

https://news.ch7.com/detail/741860

That stupid box with the arrow blocks the moment he stepped onto the road from a moving taxi. the other vid here shows it better.

[webfact]

Chinese man dies after falling off baht bus in Pattaya (video)
by Petch Petpailin

 

Photo via Matichon

A Thai baht bus driver in Pattaya denied any knowledge of an accident in which a Chinese man fell from his vehicle and later died.

 

Locals in Pattaya condemned the baht bus driver, later identified as Thongchai Thonglueng, for his alleged cruel behaviour after he left the 48 year old Chinese man, Chi Fai Lam, lying in a pool of blood on Pattaya Sai 2 Road on the morning of July 22. Witnesses rushed the Chinese national to hospital but he succumbed to his injuries.

Security camera footage showed the Chinese man falling from the dark blue baht bus but the driver sped away without checking on him. The vehicle’s registration plate was identified as 10-6324, and the driver was later identified to be Thongchai.

 

Thongchai was summoned to Mueang Pattaya Police Station for questioning that afternoon. He insisted that he was unaware his passenger fell from his vehicle.

Thongchai explained that he picked up seven to eight passengers from the Dolphin Roundabout and dropped them off at Pattaya Walking Street. He checked the passengers in his rear-view mirror and saw that no one remained. He claimed he did not know when the Chinese man boarded his vehicle or when he fell off.

 

A witness, 56 year old motorcycle rider Sriprai, told Matichon that many people shouted at the baht bus, asking the driver to stop but he ignored them and sped away.

 

Police did not reveal the next steps in their investigation and did not clarify what legal action would be taken against Thongchai.

 

A similar accident was reported in the Isaan province of Udon Thani in April when a 76 year old Vietnamese woman fell out of a tuk tuk and later died in hospital. The Thai tuk tuk driver also claimed he was unaware that his passenger fell from the vehicle, only realising the accident had occurred when he reached the passenger’s destination.

 

In a related report, a foreign man narrowly escaped death in May when he was hit by a bus while cycling on Pattaya Sai 2 Road. The bus driver did not stop to check on the foreign cyclist and there was no report on whether he was called in for questioning or legal action.

 

 

Source: The Thaiger 2024-07-23

 

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

 

Get our Daily Newsletter - Click HERE to subscribe

[Ohyesuare]

Just a freak accident I guess, the baht bus doesn't even seem to be going that fast.

[Rimmer]

A post linking to and asking others to share the link has been removed

[PJ71]

They should just ban these baht buses altogether, they're nothing but a menace.

[KhunBENQ]

44 minutes ago, Ohyesuare said:

Just a freak accident I guess, the baht bus doesn't even seem to be going that fast.

Wish that others would watch the video like you do.

1) The Baht bus (bb) didn't speed!

2) the bb did not break nor accelerate.

Not speeding away/fleeing.

3) seems the Chinese had no idea that he had to ring a bell. Maybe panicked that the bus didn't stop.

4) tried to simply jump off the driving bb.

This was intentional.

 

In this case I believe the driver didn't notice.

Edited July 23 by KhunBENQ

[brianthainess]

According to the BP he was a Hong Kong Police Sergeant, here on holiday with his family.