Bus Owner Caught Trying to Hide Illegal Gas Cylinders After Deadly Fire

[Bday Prang]

1 hour ago, Captor said:

Also Mercedes should look into this and sue bus owners for using their brand name on buses that obviously are not Mercedes anymore.

Another with the same weird fixation.   Would the course of action you are suggesting, have any effect on incidents like this ?    No it would not , so give it a rest for gods sake

I saw a car the other day with a sticker on it saying " my other car is a porsche"   should the owner be fully investigated and  prosecuted if his other car is not actually  a Porsche ?

[richard_smith237]

7 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

 It seems you have been asleep. 

 

The driver ran from the scene, leaving the rear door shut leaving those poor little children to perish. 

 

The driver's bus was illegally modified, his death trap blew, as a human being, he had an obligation to help the people on board his bus. 

 

 

No he didnt... 

 

This is a screen shot of the video showing the driver run to get a Fire extinguisher after trying and failing to open the rear doors...   By then it was probably all tragically too late. 

 

There are two specific videos doing the rounds.

1) Screen shot below is from one of the videos.

2) Another video taken from the opposite side showing the driver franticly trying to get access to the bus from the other side.

 

The driver did flee though - but only after all attempts to rescue the kids failed.

He probably feared for his life....  not a correct action at all by the way, but the manner in which the 'some-media' and people on forum are spreading this misinformation is poor form. 

 

One video here (though the ack of urgency is heartbreaking - the driver already seems to know all souls have been lost).

https://www.tiktok.com/@kiepertot.28/video/7421123731168251154

 

 

The bus driver 'escaping the scene' seems like a narrative everyone is keen on to direct their anger... 

Finally, as this thread shows, it is the owners who need to be targeted.

 

[Bday Prang]

6 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

Well I am if I dare say so, I was preparing and taking HGVs for testing in the UK 50+ years ago, I worked for the local council, we could not have one fail, in 9 years I had 2 fail, first one a spring leaf had cracked on the way, I actually heard it as I drove over a pot hole, second was my fault as one brake failed due to the adjustment cam clicking over too far, unbeknown to me. We didn't have a rolling road for testing, at our workshop.  

As long as you removed any superfluous "mercedes benz" stickers , that's the main thing apparently according to some on here.

I don't doubt your knowledge or experience in vehicle testing, ignore the comments from the usual idiots

[richard_smith237]

6 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

1 hour ago, Captor said:

Also Mercedes should look into this and sue bus owners for using their brand name on buses that obviously are not Mercedes anymore.

Another with the same weird fixation.   Would the course of action you are suggesting, have any effect on incidents like this ?    No it would not , so give it a rest for gods sake

I saw a car the other day with a sticker on it saying " my other car is a porsche"   should the owner be fully investigated and  prosecuted if his other car is not actually  a Porsche ?

 

If I'm not mistaken, companies such as Mercedes, Volvo sell the chassis... So the chassis and engine are Mercedes and everything else in 'added on'... 

 

 

The simple reality is that no public transport should be permitted to use CNG.

Busses, Vans or Taxis.

 

It was Thaksin Shinawatra who instigated the use of CNG in public transport vehicles and taxis...   if you look into why, it can be found that at the time he had his fingers in....  you guessed it... 

 

---------

 

My son has been on field trips.. and each time I have checked the school and 'bus company policy' regarding safety.... 

....  The don't use diesel busses only (I still have the email responses from the school and bus companies themselves).

 

Edited October 4 by richard_smith237

[Bday Prang]

14 minutes ago, lordgrinz said:

 

I'm blown away that the company owner hasn't already succumbed to violence.

He is probably in hiding if he has any sense, or perhaps he has hired some security. 

[Bday Prang]

3 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

The simply reality is that no public transport should be permitted to use CNG

Following this incident I agree, but if I am to be totally honest it is not something I have ever given any thought to previously .  The same probably goes for most people.   I do however remember a year or two ago when a minibus exploded during an accident killing an extraordinary amount of passengers. I think the issue raised then was overloading of passengers, I don't remember any calls for gas to be banned 

[brianthainess]

6 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

No he didnt... 

 

This is a screen shot of the video showing the driver run to get a Fire extinguisher after trying and failing to open the rear doors...   By then it was probably all tragically too late. 

 

There are two specific videos doing the rounds.

1) Screen shot below is from one of the videos.

2) Another video taken from the opposite side showing the driver franticly trying to get access to the bus from the other side.

 

The driver did flee though - but only after all attempts to rescue the kids failed.

He probably feared for his life....  not a correct action at all by the way, but the manner in which the 'some-media' and people on forum are spreading this misinformation is poor form. 

 

One video here (though the ack of urgency is heartbreaking - the driver already seems to know all souls have been lost).

https://www.tiktok.com/@kiepertot.28/video/7421123731168251154

 

 

The bus driver 'escaping the scene' seems like a narrative everyone is keen on to direct their anger... 

Finally, as this thread shows, it is the owners who need to be targeted.

 

Yes he made every attempt he could IMO it went up very quickly to a point it would have been impossible to even get near it. I dread to say this but he could have also heard screams from inside. He will have to live with this trauma all his life. Also the door looks partly open, the rubber seals inside the struts/cylinders would have melted IMO causing the door not to be able to opened. 

[outsider]

This is the kind of thing that Thai citizens and netizens should be outraged about. Not over some smooching couples on a beach. And the outrage should be strong and fiery enough so those involved - driver, bus company, its owners, the mechanics involved and officials who 'approved' the buses to go on the road, be persecuted and sued to the full extent of the law. And beyond. Nothing can be said and done to bring the little ones and their teachers back. I hope the ones they've left behind can find the strength to go through this 🙏

Edited October 4 by outsider

[Mr Meeseeks]

I'm pretty sure I was ridiculed on here for my comments regarding the unsafe nature and unroadworthy condition of these types of buses.

 

The home-made construction and lack of safety testing of Thai buses was all exposed years ago in a Channel 4 (UK) documentary after three English lads perished in a bus accident.

 

Shame it takes such an awful tragedy in Thailand for people to wake up to the truth and the way this cesspool really operates. 

[Mr Meeseeks]

5 hours ago, herfiehandbag said:

Hundreds if not thousands probably.

The inspection regime, such as it is, is just another example of the utterly cynical, universal penetration of corruption into the countries governance . It is hard to think of any institution, sphere of activity or activity which officialdom engages in which is not rotten.

 

Individual people make a society. It is a sum of the parts. If those parts are not suitable, the end product is not going to be worthy. 

 

Worse still, if we cannot recognise that the parts are the problem, or that they are in some way defective, then a solution is thus impossible. 

[jonbsails]

Remember when the Chinese bus operators were charging undermarket prices and the domestic bus companies asked for help, for protection from the unfair unlicensed cut throat Chinese bus companies? Well, nothing happened. So bus companies resorted to cutting corners, and pressuring drivers to maintain a brutal schedule that was intolerable for the drivers and the machines.

That's it, in a nutshell.

Next on the agenda?

As the investigation gets closer to the bribery, this brilliant investigator will get re-assigned ....or told to concentrate on the designated scapegoat, and hit the one bus company exec hard. 

Fortunately for these officials, they have their scapegoats...the driver and the company executive!

That is akin to saving a couple of people from dysentery in a town with their outhouses emptied into their drinking water supply. And doing NOTHING about the outhouses dumping human excrement into the drinking water supply.

Most people will be satisfied that these 2 evil agents of Satan will have been dealt with in a most serious manner. They will destroy these 2 puppets, and the puppet masters will just slip out the back, their entire apparatus intact, and ready to put into action  next it will be a mining disaster, or a train derailment, or  a bridge collapse, or a dam bursting, Always there will be a scapegoat, and the BIG scapegoat today is "CLIMATE CHANGE!".

 

 

[trainman34014]

Personaly i would 'Suspend' the Bus owner by his neck with a rope from a Lamp Post.  Same for any Corrupt 'Officials who have been involved in any of this.

 

Until this Country get serious about Punishment nothing will ever improve.

[Bert got kinky]

58 minutes ago, HK MacPhooey said:

The driver is still culpable for 1) not checking condition of the tires, emergency exits etc 2) reckless driving 3) not assisting more with the evacuation including ensuring all doors and emergency exits were open and smashing windows if necessary... the mechanics at the garage removing the illegal gas tanks on other buses are also guilty of assisting to conceal the illegal modifications across the fleet. 

 

 

1) not checking condition of the tires, emergency exits etc

This is Thailand, drivers are not given the choice of what they are driving or have a say in the condition of the vehicle.

It's easy for us to say that the driver can refuse to drive the vehicle but they know that if they don't drive, they don't eat!

If Thai drivers refused to drive dangerous vehicles, they wouldn't get any work and the transport owner's know and thrive on this point..

 

2) reckless driving

From another news article on this forum:

it was discovered that one of the 11 gas tanks had come loose, causing a gas leak from a connecting pipe. Furthermore, the front axle had broken, dragging against the road and sparking the fire.

https://aseannow.com/topic/1339748-transport-department-clarifies-fatal-bus-fire-incident-to-committee-cng-leak-confirmed/#comment-19279072

Exactly how does an explosion, which was not caused by the driver nor did he have any control over, equate to 'reckless driving'?

 

 

 

 

 

[Chivas]

Horrendous....

 

Perversely its now likely every non authorised installation is being hastlly being removed from Coach fleets across the country though to late for those children

[300sd]

2 hours ago, watchcat said:

 

It didn't.

Oh. Originally they had said the front tire blew and the bus hit a cement support and then it erupted in flames. Perhaps that didn't happen.

[Artisi]

1 hour ago, Bday Prang said:

And quite rightly so , Its just a sticker for god's sake and has NO bearing on the incident whatsoever, 

To some who haven't a clue about anything worthwhile or constructive it's  a big deal, the bus has a MB sticker on it - it must be nearly enough to brankrupt them. 

[Captor]

56 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

If I'm not mistaken, companies such as Mercedes, Volvo sell the chassis... So the chassis and engine are Mercedes and everything else in 'added on'... 

 

 

The simple reality is that no public transport should be permitted to use CNG.

Busses, Vans or Taxis.

 

It was Thaksin Shinawatra who instigated the use of CNG in public transport vehicles and taxis...   if you look into why, it can be found that at the time he had his fingers in....  you guessed it... 

 

---------

 

My son has been on field trips.. and each time I have checked the school and 'bus company policy' regarding safety.... 

....  The don't use diesel busses only (I still have the email responses from the school and bus companies themselves).

 

They don't use diesel buses? So you let him to do the field trips with CNG buses then?

 

Unbeleiveable the MB etc. selling chassis only. That makes their brand name less valuable.

[metisdead]

A spelling/grammar police post has been removed.

[Captor]

1 hour ago, Bday Prang said:

Another with the same weird fixation.   Would the course of action you are suggesting, have any effect on incidents like this ?    No it would not , so give it a rest for gods sake

I saw a car the other day with a sticker on it saying " my other car is a porsche"   should the owner be fully investigated and  prosecuted if his other car is not actually  a Porsche ?

Wow...

[jchfriis]

1 hour ago, Bday Prang said:

sugar and spice and all things nice ?   Everybody , except you it seems,   knows what she is made from, and it is what, or rather more importantly , who,  she is made from that has got her to where she is. If you are expecting a spark of genius or any sort of departure from the norm you are going to be bitterly disappointed

Sorry, should have put a laughing emoji in my post. I’ve lived here long enough to have learned a bit about how things are done (and not done) here. I still think it’s a good opportunity for her. Do I expect anything to be done to fix the problem? Absolutely not!

[Artisi]

2 hours ago, brianthainess said:

Well I certainly would not enter a burning inferno, no more than I would run into the sea with a bad rip to try to save anyone. And by the way I have saved kids from drowning 4 in all. His Poor 'behavior' (spelt correctly) was running away from a situation he was unable to control, in fear or panic we will probably never know, but he did try his best, by attempting to extinguish the fire and trying to open the door. 

He cleared out for his own safety after an attempt to do the right thing: it's not unknown for the locals to react in a violet manner based on their perception of right and wrong - - - it seems this is also a traint of many posters here who also have a warped sense of right, wrong and the facts. 

[Artisi]

13 minutes ago, Captor said:

They don't use diesel buses? So you let him to do the field trips with CNG buses then?

 

Unbeleiveable the MB etc. selling chassis only. That makes their brand name less valuable.

Seems you have a lot to learn about motor vehicle manufacturers only selling chassis and ancillary items, with many sourcing gearboxes and rear axles from other suppliers. 

[TroubleandGrumpy]

Will this be the catalyst that turns Thailand away from being the illegal and corruption hub of SEAsia and the resultant economic and social decline that has been going on for several decades?  I certainly hope so - but me thinks that just like the Red Bull situations, that Mountain B night club fire that killed so many, the recent Doctor killed on a pedestrian catastrophe, and now the John Deer bribery scandal, this will soon be swept under the carpet that covers all the illegal and corrupt activities in Thailand - and nothing will change and the decline will continue because the elite/mafia are making money and dont give a rat's rear.  Sad to think that Thailand is going to become the economic and social basket case (hub) of SEAsia, all because no one in authority is willing to tackle the ever growing corruption that has become more and more endemic. 

 

Nothing is going to change unless/until those responsible for the Red Bull manslaughter, the Pedestrian manslaughter, the Mountain B manslaughter, and this multiple manslaughter, and all the bribery scandals, are brought to justice and are severely punished.

[brianthainess]

9 minutes ago, Artisi said:

He cleared out for his own safety after an attempt to do the right thing: it's not unknown for the locals to react in a violet manner based on their perception of right and wrong - - - it seems this is also a traint of many posters here who also have a warped sense of right, wrong and the facts. 

I agree  one poster even suggested he should have stayed in the bus to help get the kids out.  .......................

[NoDisplayName]

6 hours ago, itsari said:

Find some room for the inspectors responsible for allowing the practice in the first place.

 

The techs doing the annual inspections would not necessarily have any knowledge of the illegal modifications.

 

If the paperwork says "6-cylinder NGV", they'll inspect the six cylinders all colocated in the proper designated location, along with the lines and couplings in the engine compartment.

 

It's not likely they'd be tracing the gas line throughout the entire chassis.

 

An unauthorized modification, with additional lines spliced in, leading to five other tanks in concealed locations, would not be noticed.

 

Unless there was a leak at the time of inspection, the bus would pass.  In that case, the owner would simply take the bus for repair by his own mechanics and return to redo the inspection.

 

I suspect the owner would have his own mech do a simple leak test on the system before taking it in for inspection.

 

It works until it doesn't.

[itsari]

27 minutes ago, NoDisplayName said:

 

The techs doing the annual inspections would not necessarily have any knowledge of the illegal modifications.

 

If the paperwork says "6-cylinder NGV", they'll inspect the six cylinders all colocated in the proper designated location, along with the lines and couplings in the engine compartment.

 

It's not likely they'd be tracing the gas line throughout the entire chassis.

 

An unauthorized modification, with additional lines spliced in, leading to five other tanks in concealed locations, would not be noticed.

 

Unless there was a leak at the time of inspection, the bus would pass.  In that case, the owner would simply take the bus for repair by his own mechanics and return to redo the inspection.

 

I suspect the owner would have his own mech do a simple leak test on the system before taking it in for inspection.

 

It works until it doesn't.

It would be comforting to know that the inspectors know nothing about the practice of adding extra tanks and therefore not guilty in aiding and abetting manslaughter.

 

Somehow I find it unlikely that the inspectors have no knowledge of the extra tank installations practiced by bus companies .

 

Thank you for your reply

[Presnock]

5 hours ago, Expat68 said:

Should be charged with manslaughter 

Multiple accounts of that since he should get prison for each child killed, plus endangering the remainder, plus for causing injuries, plus fleeing the scene.

[smew]

Corrupted officials and inspectors probably family or close friends.

 

bus company owners 23 yrs in jail( each)

 

inspectors that certified work 26yrs in jail.

Bus company chief mechanic 20 yrs in jail, driver 15 yrs in jail:

NO Pardons allowed at all.

 

This is the only measure that will work and maybe just maybe stop reoccurrences of such heartbreaking heinous crime !!!!

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, Bday Prang said:

2 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

The simply reality is that no public transport should be permitted to use CNG

Following this incident I agree, but if I am to be totally honest it is not something I have ever given any thought to previously .  The same probably goes for most people.   I do however remember a year or two ago when a minibus exploded during an accident killing an extraordinary amount of passengers. I think the issue raised then was overloading of passengers, I don't remember any calls for gas to be banned 

 

I agree.... Its CNG in public transport has never been banned... It was actively pushed by none other than Thaksin back in the day.

 

I also agree that 'most people' would not be aware of the risks and not know to show concern about CNG in a public vehicle, but enough on this forum have raised such concern.

 

Back in 2017, I raised concerns to my Son's school regarding 'school bus transport' before a field trip - I make this point only to highlight that the concern (e-mail) was forwarded directly to the bus company (Montri) who in their response also highlighted that their vehicles are diesel only. Thus, companies which could be considered more professional at the time, seemed aware of the risks associated with CNG.

 

 

[off road pat]

11 hours ago, it is what it is said:

 

still blaming the driver?

Reed the article !