Tour Bus Carrying American Tourists Crashes Into +10 Motorcycles

[Artisi]

Oh dear! I've booked a bus tour of the area over New Year for my family. Already paid. Does anyone know the name of the tour company? I hope it's not the same one I'm using.

Don't worry, they have crashed all their busses.

[Garry]

Is it any better to take trains, that derails once a week, (if they are not on strike), or drive yourself? Try One Two Go Airline maybe?

Let's face it. When you come to Thailand you remove 3-4 years from your life expectancy. I recently followed a bus down Doi Suthep and watched in horror as the driver over-steered more than just a couple of times. Like all Thai drivers he was , well, a poor driver. This post will probably be removed for criticizing Thai drivers, but it is time to call a spade a spade, especially when Thailand is trying to cut in half the number of road deaths.

I was following a really nice passenger coach up the mountains from Chiang Mai onto Chiang Rai; 'You know the ones that are all decked out with all the mod cons for the passengers and fancy paint jobs'. Too bad about the driver though, he was driving like he was in a sports car. I didn't think buses could lean that far, but I am since the wiser. On hindsight I should have gotten my wife to take a photo.

Edited December 29, 2009 by Garry

[wintermute]

A busload of American tourists? Must have been the heaviest bus in all of Thailand at the time.

[craigt3365]

Is it any better to take trains, that derails once a week, (if they are not on strike), or drive yourself? Try One Two Go Airline maybe?

Let's face it. When you come to Thailand you remove 3-4 years from your life expectancy. I recently followed a bus down Doi Suthep and watched in horror as the driver over-steered more than just a couple of times. Like all Thai drivers he was , well, a poor driver. This post will probably be removed for criticizing Thai drivers, but it is time to call a spade a spade, especially when Thailand is trying to cut in half the number of road deaths.

I was following a really nice passenger coach up the mountains from Chiang Mai onto Chiang Rai; 'You know the ones that are all decked out with all the mod cons for the passengers and fancy paint jobs'. Too bad about the driver though, he was driving like he was in a sports car. I didn't think buses could lean that far, but I am since the wiser. On hindsight I should have gotten my wife to take a photo.

My wife was on a bus from Bangkok to Khorat. The driver was crazy. She told me the passengers were yelling at the driver to slow down, but he wouldn't. Guess he had a schedule to meet, on too much yaba, or something. She said it was the wildest ride she has ever had on a bus.

[toptuan]

My wife was on a bus from Bangkok to Khorat. The driver was crazy. She told me the passengers were yelling at the driver to slow down, but he wouldn't. Guess he had a schedule to meet, on too much yaba, or something. She said it was the wildest ride she has ever had on a bus.

OMG. That had to be extreme for the Thais to start yelling at the driver.

[Asa]

did they arrest the Americans?

They don't do that in LOS, only in the Middle-east.

[Netfan]

did they arrest the Americans?

Yep farang in the bus that is the cause of the accident, all farang passenger will then be liable. That is common thai law and practice. A thai is not in fault if a farang is within 25 mtrs of the incident.

The driver ran away anyways, so who else could you blame ?

I blame the motorbikes. If they hadn't of been there there wouldn't have been anything to hit, so no accident.

[dman961]

Oh dear! I've booked a bus tour of the area over New Year for my family. Already paid. Does anyone know the name of the tour company? I hope it's not the same one I'm using.

Don't worry, they have crashed all their busses.

OH NO! Not a tour bus? AAaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!

[Johpa]

Like all Thai drivers he was , well, a poor driver. This post will probably be removed for criticizing Thai drivers, but it is time to call a spade a spade, especially when Thailand is trying to cut in half the number of road deaths.

Sorry to disagree, but I think the average ability of Thai drivers found on the roads today is actually pretty darn good, especially compared to say 20 years ago. There are still significant problems with the endemic use of stimulants amongst truck drivers and long haul bus drivers where the profits from the drugs are spread around so that nothing is done ( the Thai police as an institution have not improve over the decades). But most Thais in cars are decent drivers these days, not great, but vastly improved from the skills of their parents, who are my age peers.

[Tanaka]

Ban buses from the roads!

And motorcycles smaller than 400cc!

[Tanaka]

Like all Thai drivers he was , well, a poor driver. This post will probably be removed for criticizing Thai drivers, but it is time to call a spade a spade, especially when Thailand is trying to cut in half the number of road deaths.

Sorry to disagree, but I think the average ability of Thai drivers found on the roads today is actually pretty darn good, especially compared to say 20 years ago. There are still significant problems with the endemic use of stimulants amongst truck drivers and long haul bus drivers where the profits from the drugs are spread around so that nothing is done ( the Thai police as an institution have not improve over the decades). But most Thais in cars are decent drivers these days, not great, but vastly improved from the skills of their parents, who are my age peers.

When was the last time you drove in Thailand and how much mileage have you done here? Think you are the first person I hear to claim thais are darn good, decent drivers. Compared to monkeys? Words fail me now.

[Tanaka]

When they ordered the bus they should have up-sized the brakes!

Venting the brakes air tanks daily and giving the bus a service job since it was new, could have prevented what happened?

[geriatrickid]

When was the last time you drove in Thailand and how much mileage have you done here? Think you are the first person I hear to claim thais are darn good, decent drivers. Compared to monkeys? Words fail me now.

I think the person's point you are commenting on reflects the fact that a great many Thais have taken driving courses prior to getting a license. It's not much but it's something. Case in point, my friend finally decided to get a license despite driving illegally for over 15 years. He took the course and he actually knows what some of the road signs mean now. Local vehicles are built to better quality standards today than 20 years ago. In any case, it's a miracle it was 20 bikes and not 20 riders and really not that newsworthy.

[Dakhar]

did they arrest the Americans?

Yep farang in the bus that is the cause of the accident, all farang passenger will then be liable. That is common thai law and practice. A thai is not in fault if a farang is within 25 mtrs of the incident.

On several occasions I wsa the passenger in a car when the police had pulled the driver over. EVERY time, it turns in to my fault, and the cop lets on through....

My point is, how does it become my fault, I am just sitting in the car with my head phones relaxing, and the next thing you know fingers start pointing and the word "falang" starts getting thrown around.

So ya, I have no doubt the "falangs" in the bus are going to be blamed....

You know, if Falangs would just eat rice like the rest of the civlized world, Thailand would be a wealthy place!!! IT is all our fault!!!

[Johpa]

When was the last time you drove in Thailand and how much mileage have you done here? Think you are the first person I hear to claim thais are darn good, decent drivers. Compared to monkeys? Words fail me now.

I have been driving in Thailand far longer than the vast majority of the posters here. I just spent a month driving throughout the north. My point was that compared to decades ago, Thai drivers are much improved. You noobies and you racist neo-sahibs who are so quick to generalize any negative comments about the Thais have no clue just how more common near-death experiences on the roads were 20 years ago as compared to today. And not only are the drivers better, the highways are also much improved from the old two-lane undivided roads that once served as major cross-country roads.

Or maybe it is that with the advent in Farang lands of the endemic use of the cell phone whilst driving that drivers in those countries are now little different than Thai drivers, or at least I fail to see much difference.

[brahmburgers]

I was following a really nice passenger coach up the mountains from Chiang Mai onto Chiang Rai; 'You know the ones that are all decked out with all the mod cons for the passengers and fancy paint jobs'. Too bad about the driver though, he was driving like he was in a sports car. I didn't think buses could lean that far, but I am since the wiser. On hindsight I should have gotten my wife to take a photo.

My wife was on a bus from Bangkok to Khorat. The driver was crazy. She told me the passengers were yelling at the driver to slow down, but he wouldn't. Guess he had a schedule to meet, on too much yaba, or something. She said it was the wildest ride she has ever had on a bus.

Interesting, two posts with different spins, though we don't know whether the passengers in the first mentioned bus were also yelling at the driver. Before I'd read the 2nd post ("...passengers were yelling..."), I thought that all Thai passengers always kept quiet no matter how insanely the bus was being driven. That's been my experience in about 40 bus trip in LOS. Plus, noise is always waaaaaay too loud and painful, but that's a slightly different topic.

Good to hear some Thais speak up sometimes - about dangerous driving of public transport. We need a lot more of that, but more importantly, we need for each public transport vehicle to have a broad sign facing all passengers, which states in Thai and English the following:

Your drivers name is ______, ID# is _____________

To report serious incidents re; this vehicle, please call xxx xxxxx xxx or email: [email protected]

Granted, the phone probably won't answer with a real person, and if so, that person won't be able to speak decent English. Certainly, nothing tangible will be done to rectify the situation, if a serious call were fielded. But it's a start.

There could also be a phone# posted on the back of the vehicle, so following vehicles could report dangerous driving. Again, even if enacted, expect the same non-action as mentioned in the previous paragraph.

Those giant tour buses do get driven like souped up go-karts. It's a minor miracle that there aren't more crashes. Drivers and owners should be taken to account in the most serious ways - suspensions, fines, confiscate vehicles, jail time ....whatever it takes to make traveling safer. Farang tourists might be dumb about a lot of things, but when in comes to basic safety issues, they're going to tell others, and it will translate to less tourists coming to Thailand - period.

[golferchin76]

No disrespect intended to the injured, hopefully they aren't seriously hurt, BUT - why do these bus crash stories continue to be news? They aren't going to stop, it's the same story over and over again. Just substitute the province and number of dead / injured. "A bus went out of control today due to faulty brakes / driver sleeping killing / injuring ___ people. The bus driver ran / died

Obviously if something was going to be done to stop these "accidents" - besides the drivers taking that solemn oath to not crash a couple of years back - something serious I mean, it would have happened already.

If you ever drive on highway or motorway or Asia road, chances are you will be enraged by tour bus drivers. These mothers drive 120km/h and tailgate you, high-beam you, and want you out of their way. 120km/h on Thai assembled double decks, that's dangerous both to the passengers and others who use the public road. Unfortunately, the traffic law in Thailand does not restrict buses to left lanes. I run a logistics company and my 10 wheel trucks and tractor/semi stay in left lane at 60km/h, with GPS tracking in check for truck location and speed. I just hate these tour bus drivers from experiences. A lot of them have no regard to safety of others. They even undertake at speed in excess of 130km/h, and if you dare to over take them (horn them, race them, etc), when they run in groups in high season, some of them will swing the chassis to scare you. Mothers.

[FM505]

Being Americans, they'll get foreign aid sent to the vicitms' families.

In fact, I'm not sure of your point at all - please clarify?

You can't be serious...